I have been fortunate enough to have visited many remote areas of South Africa and spend time there, and no doubt i will expand on those trips considerably. However, being a working lad living in Johannesburg much of my ‘bush time’ has been spent in the vastness of the Kruger. Just a few hours from Joburg it has been the most convenient place for me to go. Everything is there, it is quite easy to lose oneself and every twist and turn, every kilometre provides exciting new views and landscapes.
I was born in London, UK, and grew up there in the suburbs. Although i had a fair bit of wilderness experience in different parts of the world before i discovered the African bush i can honestly say that it was the most exhilarating discovery of my life to date.

I got lost in the bush, found myself, and came back a stranger.

The Kruger is to be found nestling in the north eastern corner of South Africa, bordering Zimbabwe in the north and Mozambique to the east. Forming part of the southern savanna woodland zone of sub-saharan africa, it varies between tropical and sub-tropical and is commonly known as the lowveld. Nestling is probably not a good word as the park covers over 20,000 square kilometres, larger than Israel and about the same size as Wales, in recent times a contractual extension with bordering private game reserves resulted in fences being removed which increased its size greatly. The road which runs from north to south is nearly 450 kilometres long.

Although it has grown considerably since, it was President Paul Kruger who originally proclaimed the areas between the Crocodile and Sabie rivers as a game reserve back in 1898.

Major J. Stevenson-Hamilton was appointed as the first official head warden in 1902, after the end of the Boer war. It was not too long before one of the parks most enduring tales took place when Ranger Wolhuter was attacked by lions whilst riding his horse back from a safari to check the northern sectors. Amazingly, after being dragged off for several hundred feet and badly mauled, he managed to survive by killing the male who had taken him using the pocket knife that he always carried with him. Then, with the kind of strength that only comes with shock and horror, he somehow hauled himself up a tree before the second of the two lions returned from chasing Wolhuters horse.

Proclaimed as the first national park of South Africa in 1926, it was officially opened to the public in 1927. In that first year there were three cars that visited!!

Home to around 150 different types of mammals, more than 500 bird species, 115 reptiles, over 30 amphibians and 50 freshwater fishes the Kruger probably has more wildlife variety than any other area or park in the world. The insects are also abundant with for example, at least 230 butterflies recorded. Botanically the Kruger is equally rich and diverse, with nearly 2000 species of plants, over 450 of these being trees and shrubs.

Throughout the park there are various sites of historical interest, including Thulamela which is the oldest existing man made construction in South Africa having been inhabited between 1240 and 1650, and the Masorini hill dwellers camp with its primitive iron casting pits. Elsewhere, one can find markings from the earliest of missionarys, traders, explorers, hunters, and prospectors.

Not far from the Letaba camp is a cross engraved onto an old leadwood tree. Clearly visible, although the original marking has been overgrown with bark, it is said that the mark was to show the earliest of missionaries (15th century)that it was the best place to cross the river on their way into what is now Mozambique.

Blending into the bush, each with its own style that are largely dependant on the immediate surrounds, are 25 camps dotted throughout the park, some of which are simply fenced off areas with ablution blocks for campers. Others are small private camps with a few generic rondavels, nine of them are larger and more accomodating for the average tourist with a shop and restaurant, a variety of huts, chalets, lodges and permanent tents to stay in.

For the serious nature lover, he or she who really wants to get away from it all, one of the best available camps in my opinion is Balule, it can be found situated on the Olifants river towards the eastern side of the Kruger. I have spent many days and weeks there, months overall, and have every intention of spending many more.

Set back about fifty metres from the river bank, the camp was originally built in 1926 for the builders of the nearby pontoon bridge and thereafter the occasional visitor to this remote part of the bush. The six whitewashed, circular, African Rondavels are exactly as they were back then. With no electricity or power of any sort Balule provides a perfect opportunity to transport oneself back in time to experience the African bush in all its glory and different facets with barely the touch of the human hand, as it was in the days of the colonists and indeed the early trekkers.

In the evenings, sitting under a complete blanket of bright and twinkling stars, hundreds and thousands of them, with the aromatic smells and crackling sounds of a leadwood fire burning down slowly, one can only feel truly blessed at being alive.

The night sounds of the bush providing testimony to the splendour of it all, cicadas and bullfrogs down by the water providing an operatic accompaniment to the sound of zebras stampeding in the darkness at the onslaught of a pride of lions, finally to hear one brought down with a crash and the death rattle as nature perpetuates herself, is nothing less than a wonder to behold for all the senses.

As the grey light of pre dawn breaks, a pale mist covers the ground, with the ghostly branches of the trees breaking out above in twisted distortion. Finally, but quickly, a great pink ball glides above the bush and seemingly sitting in the cupped, gnarled fingers of the trees, spirits the mist away to herald a new day, together with the dawn chorus of the lions roaring at the rising sun.

For the visitor to the park the day will start at varying times depending on which month you go, the gates at each camp are opened with the beginning of dawn. Whatever time it may be, that is the time to start, many of the nocturnal animals will still be up and about and it is the best chance of seeing them. Many animals will be making their way to water for a drink, either as an early morning ‘cuppa’ or as a ‘nightcap’.

A good plan is to get up a half hour before the gates are open, not only giving you time to wash up but also a chance to hear the bush coming alive again. Feeling rather than seeing, the transition of darkness into light. Once out of the camp it is probably favourable to get to some kind of watering spot, park up and let the bush come to you rather than trying to chase it around.

There is something quite amazing about watching a deserted stretch of land with some sort of water in front of you, look away to pour some coffee from the flask, look back and there may suddenly be dozens of animals before your eyes. Spooky….but there it is, that is the bush for you.

Still and silent in one ear, yet somehow an absolute symphony of sound in the other of birds, insects and small animals. Awesomely beautiful, almost surreal, enveloped by an incredible serenity that can suddenly, at any time be totally smashed by the sound and sight of a kill, the trumpeting of elephant or the roar of lion.

An impala breaks out of a bush, frothing and lathered….finished, having been run into the ground…to be immediately put upon by a pack of wild dogs….ten of them growling, spitting, barking…the first few bites are of living flesh…somehow the bleating of the ewe rising above the din…the last few bites less than a few minutes later….and the dogs are gone again..so is the impala.
Silence and serenity…Stillness. Gruesome, awful, sickening….but it is not…it is not the death of an animal but the survival of nature, the perpetuation of life.

It is still before 8.am and you have been up for 3 or 4 hours already…breakfast time.

Dotted around the park there are a few small areas of land that have been partially cleared. One will find an African ranger living there, normally a person who has lived in the area all his life, and knows the area inside out. They will have hot water available, a lit fire to keep away predators, and a few gas skottels on hand, perfect for rustling up an english breakfast. There cannot be a better place in the world to cook and eat one for those that go prepared. Sitting under a wild fig tree in an ‘out of Africa’ setting is quite fabulous, marvellous, for many it will be the highlight of the day, just, being there and living it.

Onwards with the safari, maybe taking a drive down the dirt track that runs alongside the riverbed, with its pools of sparkling water, flat rocks, and reeds. Hippos snorting and playing in the shallows, crocs lazing on the banks in the hot sun, a herd of buffalo walking along the sandy bed feeding on the vegetation growing profusely all along the way. A fish eagle perched in the deadwood tree, brilliant blue and cloudless background, calling out for its mate….for many the true sound of the bush in daylight. Herds of wildebeest, zebra, and differant types of antelope making their way down for a midday drink, single file, en masse…kicking up the dust in the ever increasing heat of the day. A couple of giraffes loping down too, keeping watch over the others as they drink.

Elephant….the true king of the jungle!!….where did they come from, huge, towering giants ripping up the foliage, knocking down great trees and eating the top leaves, yet somehow very gentle. Turn your head for a second and they can be gone, like magic, silent on their massive pads, unbelievable that such bulk can so easily disappear.

Round another bend in the river,and there under the thorn tree is the pride of lions…the true terror of the bush, looking for all the world like pussy cats as they laze around and sleep off their kill of the previous night.

Thats the bush, the unknown, unpredictable, you just never know what will happen, or when it will happen, absolutely anything could be around the next corner.

Unfortunately, apart from a few notes and a thousand memories i have little to show for all my safaris. However, a journey of a thousand miles requires the first footstep and from here on in i shall be photographing and writing about all the trips i make, no doubt incorporating many of my past stories and encounters along the way for anyone who has the inclination to read them.

I arrived back in Joburg on Sunday (20 September) after a good long break in the bush, three weeks or so in the Kruger and then over two more weeks in Botswana. Lucky me, I know.

As much as I love being up in the bush and experiencing new places and people there is nothing quite like coming home.

Johannesburg is my home and I truly love the place dearly, there is, I am sure, no other place like her and I consider myself very fortunate to call her home.

ALIVE…that is the one word I would use to describe how I feel being here, more so than anywhere else I have ever been to. There is electricity in the air, and I do not mean that to be an ironic joke although I suppose it is a pretty good sounding one all the same.

I can sense it and physically feel it.

I suppose the other irony in that is the fact that we have one of the highest crime rates in the world…according to published statistics anyway, and certainly one does not have to look far to find a horror story.

On the other hand, as a whole we have some of the most amazing people on the planet from all races and cultures. I am quite sure that if it could be measured we would have one of the highest proportions of broad smiles on any given day, rain or shine, good or bad.

I am one of those fortunate folk who wakes up in the morning and jumps out of bed in a good mood and looking forward to whatever the day has in store for me, good or bad, but on the few occasions when I may not have been so happy for some reason or another I only have to drive a short distance to see a big beaming smile from someone who is possibly not as fortunate as I, and my mood is immediately lifted.

I am not financially rich, nor even wealthy by today’s standards, but in fact I consider myself to be one of the wealthiest people I know, and a considerably large part of that wealth can be directly proportioned to the fact that Johannesburg is my home.

29/30.08.09

Knowing that i had about 600 klicks to do tomorrow and then from next Friday somewhere in the region of 5000klicks over the following three weeks i planned to do none today. It made sense and quite truthfully in my mind the trip was essentially over from a game viewing point of view, and indeed from the perspective of mulling over everything that i had wanted to think about and meditate on.

I was still up early though and after an early brief walk i sat with Ross by last nights fire, drinking coffee and chatting as we watched the bush through the fence. Somewhere around 7am i did go out for a brief drive around a dirt loop that follows the letaba. I found a little spot and parked up under the boughs of a few big trees overlooking the water pools in the river bed surrounded by flat rocks and reeds where i poured my last coffee out of the flask, had my last boiled egg and ripped a chunk of rye bread of my last loaf. The rest, which was not much i threw out under the trees and soon had a variety of red winged starlings, glossy starlings, bul buls, hornbills and guinea fowl for company. As i ate my last bush breakfast for the trip i watched three giraffe make their way from the other side of the river, drink gingerly one at a time in a pool of water before continuing on their way and disappearing off somewhere to my right.

I finished off the loop, which is about 7 klicks, checked out the old missionaries cross that was carved into the leadwood some 3 or 400 years ago and idled down to the big bridge for five minutes or so where i sat watching a hippo grazing, and had my last look this time around at the face in the cliff.

I was back in camp by 9.30 or so where i pottered around and caught up with my scribbling before taking a good long siesta.
A nice shower, letaba has excellent water pressure so it is almost like a good massage, followed by a nice lunch on the verandah of the camps restaurant overlooking a big wide bend in the river bed.

There were various animals around including a very nice sized tusker that was just below and lots of others coming and going from the water.

I took a good walk after lunch, checked the magnificent seven which now seems to have become the Magnificent nine and then walked along the path overlooking the river on my way back to my tent.

I was having supper with Ross and Eve again which Eve was cooking so lucky me all i had to do was chill which i did.

Later i looked at some of Eve’s pictures which were fabulous, there were a few that were simply superb and in fact have been printed by getaway and go magazines, not to mention winning her some handsome prizes…and rightly so may i say.

We had thai curry which was delicious, and once again the evening flew by with constant conversation. Ah elephant came by as we were talking which is always nice to see by torchlight, especially when so close, and at one point we heard a right old commotion somewhere in front of us and probably around 50 to 80 metres away. There were jackals barking and what we thought may be a leopard snarling. Later on, as i retired to bed i could hear several lions as well.

An excellent last night it has to be said.

The final morning arrived and as usual i was up way before six. There was a light mist over the bush in front of me,and i had the wonderful sight of a small herd of impala walking towards me looking quite ethereal as they emerged from the mist as i was brewing my coffee and drinking. I took a long walk around the camp after that, going off along the game path at the very base of the fence alongside the river as the sun rose up in the east.

Even there within the fence, as i walked along the path that had been made by various game inside i could feel and appreciate to a certain extent the sensuality that walking in the bush gives you. The light from the rising sun was fantastic, and with many trees growing high on the bank above me i could truly appreciate them all the more as the sun shone almost parallel with them, the base of their trunks being at least 15 feet above my head.

Back at camp i found Ross and Eve busy packing as they had decided to move on down south for the last couple of weeks of their trip and i got stuck into taking down my little tent and the final packing myself. By 8.45 they were on their way and by 9, i too left the camp heading for Phalaborwa gate.

Normally at this time i am pretty despondent about leaving but somehow this time around it was fine and i was ready to go home. I had done everything i had wanted to do and thought through everything i needed to with the added bonus of getting the opportunity to discuss some of it with what i now consider to be good friends.

The game viewing was not necessarily as good as it may have been and certainly the photo opportunities were not abundant, but strangely enough i felt that was going to be the case when i first set out, i just did not want to write it down in case i may make it worse and create some kind of self fulfilling prophesy so to speak. It is ok though, as i have said, this was all about time for me and achieving afew things outside of photography.

Mind you i am sure that the fact i am going away again in a few days helps considerably… and of course i will be back up for January 2010.

Jeez…2010!!!!

Hamba Kahle

Leopards are essentially shy and secretive nocturnal animals. Some books will go as far as to say that you will never see them at any other time. That is absolutely not true. I have seen them at all times of the day, hunting and on the move. If they are hungry enough they will hunt. If they are sleeping up a tree and a prey presents themselves on a platter so to speak they will go for it, even if they are not particularly starving hungry. Once again, depending on their character, and probably age and experience, they can be totally opportunistic.

One time, in the absolute heat of a scorching hot summers day in the early afternoon i was up on the Shingwedzi, (and believe me it can get just about ,as hot as it can get up there) when i spotted two leopards crossing a very dry section of the river. I was plotted up in complete shade on the river bank reading and writing and waiting for things to cool down a bit, even the birds were taking a siesta. The temperatures down on the dry river bed must of been absolutely blistering. Yet these two leopards, side by side, strolled down onto the sand, walked up the dry riverbed for about 100 metres and then up the far bank. As they walked along the riverbed the heat rising from the sand was so intense it created an illusion that almost made them look like they were wading through water.
They were not hunting, but clearly going somewhere with intent and focus. There was a pontoon another couple of hundred metres upriver so i drove up and crossed over when they went up the far bank and found them again. They were not hurried, nor were they looking around or deviating in their course in any way. They were just plodding on at a steady pace pedantically heading for some specific location. Where, i cannot say, i lost them when they passed a fairly wide open plain and entered a slightly thicker bush line after following them for about a kilometre . For as far as i could see, there were no large trees, rocky outcrops or particularly dense thickets that they could have been heading for. It was a great sighting and the last thing i expected to see at that time of day. From the moment i first saw them to the time i lost them was over 45 minutes, and in all that time they barely stopped or changed their pace at all, even as they climbed the river bank.They knew i was there, probably when they first walked down onto the sand of the riverbed, but for sure once i followed them over the river, and it did not bother them in the slightest.

Having said all that about different characters within different species, they do of course have basic habits and traits that they live by which are largely governed by their surroundings. Also the case with humans from different parts of the world is it not?
Leopards are solitary creatures for most of their lives, the only time one is liable to see them with others is when they are mating, or when a mother has cubs, or if their territories overlap and they are fighting which would invariably be male against male or female against female.

After mating, the male will leave the female to it. Generally she will go off and have the cubs in some secluded cave, hole in the ground or hollow tree, although the mother will probably move them around while they are still very young to avoid other predators. She will then stay with the cubs or cub as a family for up to 2 years, teaching them the ways of the bush and how to hunt and survive. Thereafter the young will go off to find their own territory and other leopards to mate with when the females are in oestrous.

Of all the big cats, their hunting and stalking skills are probably unsurpassed by any other breed. Depending on the surrounds and vegetation they will more often than not either stalk the prey until they are just a few metres away, lay in ambush until the unwitting ‘supper’ is a leap away, or lie up in a tree and drop down onto their prey as it passes underneath them..
They are versatile though, and clever. I have seen infra red video footage of a fully grown leopard, who, in the darkness of a moonless night stalked a couple of impala with virtually no cover until the gap between them was less than 10 metres. The impala, who apart from poor night sight, have amazing powers of perception, were none the wiser for the leopards presence whose night sight is clearly excellant. Even more incredible is that the two impala were part of a large herd that were dotted around, yet none of them were aware of the leopard whilst it was creeping up to its intended supper. At that point the leopard then proceeded to start tapping the ground with its paw, thereby letting the impala know that something was afoot (excuse the pun)and making them panic. Not being able to see, but knowing that a leopard was close they became virtually like rabbits caught in the headlights of a car and were then easy prey for the cat.

The tapping of the paw on the ground shows incredible awareness and perception, and again just goes to show that no animal can be absolutely and utterly typecast as they will and can adapt to all situations.

I would say that the favourite food of leopards, based on my own observations and experience is probably baboon, small buck and warthog. However, their diet as a whole takes in virtually anything from insects and mice to birds, fish and reptiles. I doubt if anything is actually safe from a hungry leopard. They will take livestock, and probably eat more other predators on the whole than any other cat, including other cats, but in particular dogs and jackals.

I have recently seen a couple of stunning photographs of a male leopard stalking and taking a crocodile! It was twice the length of the leopard but judging by the pics it did not stand a chance. The last picture in the sequence showed the leopard dragging the croc off into the reeds. I wonder if he took the kill up a tree…that would of made for an interesting picture!!

Generally speaking man-eating leopards are seldom heard of, and then, only when a leopard has grown old and is unable to hunt properly, mankind being by far the easiest of prey for carnivores. I guess it is only the inbred instinct of carnivores, borne over the last few centuries, that lets them know that with our weapons we are a very dangerous breed. However, just a few years ago in the Kruger, a game ranger was taking a group of tourist out for an evening drive. Still daylight they had stopped on a bridge in the south of the park for a sundowner and smoke break. The ranger who had his rifle with him was sitting slightly away from the group on the railings with his back to the bush. All the group heard whilst they were chattering away was the clatter of the rangers rifle as it fell to the ground. You can imagine how quickly they turned around, but no sign of the ranger and no noise. What was later discovered to be a very old leopard had taken the ranger with such ferocity and speed that he had him in the bush and was dragging him off even before the group had turned around! I have read quite a few of the books written by the old colonial white hunters who, without exception referred to a man eating leopard as the ‘yellow flash’

Surprisingly leopards are probably second only to hyaenas when it comes to eating rotten meat , and will feed on a stored carcass for several days, also, if the need arises they have no qualms about scavenging.

Their strength is amazing, and is seen clearly when carrying dead animals weighing more than themselves up the trunks of vertical tress with no branches for leverage, often the lowest branches can be several metres from the ground.

As i have mentioned already i have been fortunate enough to have seen leopards on many occasions in various situations, with kills, with cubs, mating and stalking prey. I have only seen one leopard kill actually happen though which was totally unexpected and an absolute luck. I had pulled up in a remote spot to watch a herd of impala whilst having some coffee early one morning, i think i may of distracted the impala because within less than a minute a leopard leapt out of some long grass and took a young impala that was probably less than ten metres away from where the leopard had been hiding.In fact i barely saw it, it was more a case of hearing it and then turning to see the result! It was over in a flash and the leopard immediately dragged the kill off into a thicket from where it had come. Believe me that was fortunate, i know some people who have been visiting the Kruger park for over twenty years and have never once seen leopard!
Most of my sightings have been from the safety of my landy, or in the past various cars, but i did have one confrontation where i came close to being in trouble. I was nearing the end of a six week safari and was about 100 klicks south of Zimbabwe and about 50 klicks or less west of Mozambique. I remember that i was a bit frustrated because i had not seen one leopard the whole trip. It had been a very eventful trip in many ways, but whenever i go on safari i always have it in my mind to find leopards, it just kinda seems to make safari’s whole somehow. I had come close to giving up a week before and was in the mood to go back to Joburg for a party that i knew was happening, but something made me stay. In fact i remember what it was, i had actually started to head for home after having lunching at satara when i came across a family of warthogs that spent over half an hour grazing around my car. Another guy in an old landy rocked up and was getting some great footage on some very fancy video equipment that he had. We chatted afterwards and he was saying that the warthog family was exactly what he had been looking for to put into a documentary he was making. Somehow that reinspired me and i turned round and instinctively headed north.

A couple of days later i arrived at an old favourite waterhole that i have spent a lot of time at. At that time there was an old ‘windmill’ driven waterpump there to replenish the water. I pulled up beside it and walked over intending to climb up and have a scout around. I was busting for a leak though so stood by a bush doing just that as i looked around. No sooner had i started when i heard a rustling about thirty metres off to my left coming from the lower branches of an acacia tree. As i turned and focused on the tree i noticed movement in the lowest bough and saw a leopards tail hanging down but curled and swishing from side to side!! Whoa…my heart instantly started pounding…i knew that the leopard could get to me in just a couple of seconds and i was a good ten paces from the car!!

So there i am, wearing only a pair of shorts peeing into bush with a leopard staring at me from the lower branch of a tree just metres away!!…i swear that for a second the world stood still for me, all i could hear was my piddle and the tail of the leopard swishing and once i had focused on the tail i could see her staring at me through the foliage of the branch she was on. My face would of made a classic photo at that point.

Suddenly a shape dropped out of the tree and i thought i was truly in deep shit when i realised that it was a dead Civet that the leopard must of just killed, i just noticed the banded tail as it fell. I stood stock still as the leopard followed the Civet with a surprisingly loud thud (maybe it was just that my senses were extremely acute by that stage). Fortunately the leopard picked up the civet and waltzed off into the bush that led down to a dried river bed, my reading of the situation was that she was pissed at me for disturbing lunch, but was not going to distracted.
I think i kinda glided back to the car in a split second!! And once i got over my initial shock and anger with myself for not checking the area properly before i got out of the car i tried to drive into the bush for a picture. No chance, i was in a Honda Ballade and within a few metres my rear wheel jammed up against a small broken tree stump hidden by the undergrowth. Hell!! I was kicking myself, if only i had just checked the tree first i would of probably been able to park up directly under the leopard which was only about ten or twelve feet off the ground on a fairly thick bough, and gotten some fantastic pictures, especially as the civet was fresh and an attractive animal in its own right. The pics would of been brilliant.
I drove back to the windmill and parked right beside it and climbed up. I saw the leopard again in the river bed amongst some reeds. She was a beautiful specimen, young female, maybe about two or three years old. She had the civet at her feet and was looking up at me on top of the windmill, quite disgusted with my presence. At that point she picked the civet up again and walked off out of my sight.
Six weeks looking for her and i completely screw it up!!…still, it was a memorable moment, one that i shall never forgot even if i did not get any pics.

Going back to baboons, it would seem as though the two species particularly hate each other in much the same way that the lion generally hates the hyaenas. I do believe that a leopard will kill baboons for any reason and at any opportunity. Possibly, because baboons can climb equally as well as leopards and better, and therefore are often to be found in trees. Also a troop of baboons with a few experienced old boys amongst them will also fight back and additionally, will kill the leopard cubs whenever they get a chance (as they would the cubs of any large predator).

There is an old Zulu story that says in days gone by the leopard and baboons were once friends. One day a female leopard chased a hare until the hare scrambled into an anthill for refuge. Leopard asked baboon to stand guard over the entrance of the anthill while she went to the river for a drink. Being a hot day however the baboon dozed off and the hare, hearing the baboon snoring made a run for it and escaped.
On her return the leopard saw the hare disappearing in to the nearby bush, rushed up to the baboon and slapped him awake roaring “O worthless monkey” (‘monkey’ being the biggest insult a baboon could receive) “ you have let my lunch escape you worthless ape”. The leopard stood there, eyes blazing with anger as the baboon backed off in fear. Not finished lambasting the baboon the leopard grabbed the baboon with its claws meaning to scold him further. The feel of the flesh of the baboon in her claws made her stop in mid sentence, her eyes gleamed and she licked her lips as she thought for a second. “You have lost me my lunch you stupid monkey and now i don’t care about our friendship anymore and i am going to eat you instead”
“Eek!” screamed baboon, “”wait, oh beautiful one! Let me at least pay for my crime in a proper way. Did you not know, most lovely of beasts, that the best way to kill a baboon is to drop it from a great height? We break into many pieces which makes for a lovely and tender easy meal for you. Leopard paused, surprised, as she thought about what baboon was telling her. Seeing leopards hesitation the baboon carried on babbling, not giving leopard a chance to think too much, “just throw me up into this tree and you will see me fall and split open like a ripe fruit”.
Leopard could not resist the thought so she tossed the baboon high up into the tree.
In a flash the baboon caught hold of the branches and climbed high up into the flimsy thorn branches at the top of the tree. He started to laugh and cackle, screaming loud abuse at leopard for ages at the top of his voice, even daring to call her a mangy cat, which really enraged leopard. Other animals, attracted by the commotion, started to gather round and leopards pride could not stand it, and she stormed off into the bush with her tail lashing with fury.
Leopard never ever forgot the insults from baboon, nor how she had been tricked, and she never forgave. To this day, The legend says, the leopard hunts the baboon in preference to all other food, and the baboon screams in fear at the mere sight of his deadliest enemy.
There is also an old Ndebele story about why a leopard hides its food up a tree. In days gone by the leopard, jackal and hyaena also used to be the best of friends, and whenever leopards made a kill they always left some for their friends the jackal and hyaena.
One day the leopard was not feeling so good so she asked the jackal to hunt some food for a change. The lazy jackal made an excuse saying he was too tired, so the leopard asked the hyaena to catch some food. The hyaena also said he could not because he had a sore foot. The leopard roared with anger saying that she thought they were her friends but in fact they were a no-good lazy pair and in future she would never leave them with any of her leftovers.
True to her word, ever since that day the leopard never leaves any food for her old friends and always put the kill high up into the tree out of the jackal and hyaenas reach. They have become largely scavengers now, eating any old scraps they can get. A sad day for them when they lost the leopard’s friendship!!

As The small plane banked to the left it seemed to break through the misty clouds that we had been flying through and there before me lay the Okavango delta in all its glory stretching beyond the horizon to the north. The setting sun shining down on dusty ground clouds creating magnificent shimmering layers of golden brown as the gusty breeze swept through the reeds and blue green waters below that wound their way through endless channels . Awesome in its beauty and immense scale i could only look on in wide eyed wonder as i feasted at the magnificent panorama.

The Okavango River has its source in the highlands of Angola before crossing Namibias Caprivi Strip and finally flooding into the seemingly endless swamps of the delta. It was apparently as much water as the whole area has seen for thirty years or more and although it had made game viewing a little harder during the first week or so on the ground i was very grateful at this moment for the picture it presented from the air.

I was in fact very grateful to be on the flight at all as i had missed the earlier flight that had been booked for several days earlier, this was due to me losing my cool with the customs police at Maun airport for giving me such a hard time as the pins in my body from an old operation created continuous bleeping noises every time i tried walking through the scanner. By the time i has sent through my boots, belt, pen, glasses, coins, neck chain and had my drink taken from me i had enough and told the other guys to go on without me as i just did not need the hassle.

Rightly or wrongly i was not happy with myself for losing it a bit and a couple of days later went back to the airport to apologise to the police and Mac air before spending some time in Maun enjoying quite a cultural experience before meeting the Americans who offered to let me join their flight which i accepted gratefully.

The cops were also great, and appeared to be very grateful that i had in fact called back to see them, offering to take me for a night out in Maun to see the local nightlife as i was on my own having changed my plans the day before the intended flight and staying in Maun for a week while the guys i had been travelling with went on to Savute, Chobe and Northgate in Moremi game reserve which borders the delta itself. The plan was to meet up with them a week later in Maun before going on to Planet Baobab next to the Makgadikgadi pan where we would be going out on quad bikes and spending the night out on the pan.

It is a long drive up to the north of Botswana and the next time i safari up there i will be planning a much longer trip with two days reserved to get up there and two days to get back. Maybe i am just getting older but i definitely do not enjoy the long journeys as much as i used to.

All the same though it was a very interesting journey, and the further north we went the more rural it became with some of the housing looking like it was unchanged in the last century!

After leaving at 6.30 in the morning and stopping for breakfast in Mokopane we arrived at the border by 1.20. No problems there and we were through by 1.40. After just missing a busroll where the roof had been completely flattened against the seats and stopping for some lunch we reached the Karma rhino Sanctuary just after 5pm where we booked into our very secluded chalets for the nights stopover.

It was my birthday in fact and as the sun was setting the guys rocked up with a roly poly jam sponge, some custard and a bottle of champagne which was consumed under a large baobab tree as the almost full moon was rising.

Later that evening we went through to the lodge and had a delicious oxtail potjie with some of the best pap i have tasted. A bottle of red wine to wash it down, parrafin lamps for illumination, and an absolutely awesome curved thatch to sit under, it was a lovely way to celebrate a birthday.

After coffee the next morning we hit the road north again for another 500klicks or so.

I am kicking myself for not getting a picture, but at one point we passed an old Mercedes parked up on the side of the road with a sign that said ‘For sale- One Goat”!!! A classic that would of probably won the sign of the month award in getaway magazine. Further on in Mopipi we saw a sign hanging on a tree that read ‘Mopipi tax collection Tree’…another good one, even better in some ways as it was an official sign.

At Rakops we tried to refuel, we found a place that sold petrol…i can hardly call it a petrol station….but unfortunately there was no power to pump it into the tanks so we had to press on. By the time we reached Matopi it was totally rural with donkeys, goats and chickens all over the place. Some of the cockerels were surely the biggest i have ever seen.

Arriving at Nxai pan soon after 1.30 pm we had to deflate the tyres to drive the 38 klicks to the campsite we were to stay at for the next two nights, and after building our camp we went off to a nearby waterhole to watch the sunset which was perfectly stunning. The picture was added to by four elephants walking down from our right to play in the water and have a good bath before actually drinking.

The next morning, after a very short game drive to the water hole i opted to spend the day in camp which was a lovely change from being in the cab for two days. There were some wonderful birds around, some of which can rarely if ever found in the kruger, Violet eared waxbill, red eyed bul bul, crimson boubou as well as a whole load of other more familiar sightings for me. Later in the afternoon five tuskers came strolling into the camp which was quite an experience. The leader of the group was probably one of the tallest ellies i have seen, i reckon he must of been well over 11 feet at his shoulder. They were all in musth too. At one stage the big one came within seven paces from where two of the guys were sitting, and i was just four paces behind them. It was quite a moment, and for the two guys who were sitting down looking up at this huge colossus standing before them looking them over it really was an experience they, nor i, will forget too easily .

There was plenty of other game around too, springbok, oryx, jackals to name a few. It is always nice to see springbok. The strange thing is that there are no springboks in the Kruger Park!!

Later in the evening after supper around the fire a couple of us walked out into the open veld nearby. The silence was overpowering!

Up earlt the next morning i got a nice big fire going again where we brewed up our coffee before decamping and setting off for Moremi game reserve up on the north eastern side of the Okavango delta.

We reached Maun around midday and there, whilst getting all our entry visas the car i was travelling in hit one of the rangers cars that had parked a little awkwardly behind us. It was a blow, but eventually was sorted with a payment of a couple of thousand Pula.

Eventually we arrived at Xakanaka where we were to camp for four nights which was a relief. The campsite was lovely, surrounded by water and reeds on both sides it felt very remote, and indeed for our entire stay we hardly saw any other vehicles at all.

On every night we had various animals in camp including hyaenas, elephants, jackals, that all came within a few steps of the tents. The fires in the evening were huge, the food delicious and for everyone the alcohol flowed, beers, wines and champagne!
I personally did quite a lot of walking although i was loathe to go to far as i was on my own with no protection, but all the same i still got to feel the sensuous feeling one gets when walking in the bush, it is a totally different vibe from driving.

A walk away from our camp i found the Xakanaka boat station where we able to organise boatmen to take us out onto the water through many channels that have been carved out over time by animals and weather. We took two boat rides in fact, one in the early morning and the second for a couple of hours in the late afternoon a couple of days later.

They were both special but for me the late one was the best. It culminated with our boat riding ashore on a small island of reeds that had been totally colonised by a whole variety of nesting birds, Marabous, white storks that had pink breeding plumage, black storks, darters….
It was quite fantastic, the sun was setting beautifully on the water behind us and i just kept clicking away as they were returning to roost for the night, a very special experience indeed.

Our time at Xakanaka camp went by all too quickly and soon we were decamping for a one night stopever in Maun to replenish supplies.

However, i myself had decided by this time that i was going to inquire as to whether i could book some space at Audi camp and stay there for the week whilst the guys went on to Chobe and another camp in Moremi.

We arrived in Maun around 1pm and sure enough there was plenty of space for me to stay, and after booking myself in i arranged to meet up with the guys a week later on their way through Maun as they headed for Makhadikadi and then home.

My week in Maun was great, i not only enjoyed a complete chill out week but also had a real cultural experience with the local people as well as meeting many tourists and in particular one game ranger who i spent several hours with. He was waiting for a party to arrive from Europe before he took them up into the delta in Mokoros for a week. (Mokoros are the original form of transport in the area, canoes carved from the trunk of a tree).

Additionally a good friend of mine from Johannesburg was coincidentally there at the same time and i was delighted to able to spend a good few hours with him too, a couple of breakfasts and a few beers!!

The bar at Audi camp has indeed become one of my favourite bars in the whole wide world, and for my own personal use i have affectionately named it the lizard lounge.

I took a couple of good long walks during the course of the week, on the first one i walked into Maun which was actually 12.8 klicks away. I was intending to walk across the river that was just 4 or 5 klicks from camp and then stick my thumb out for a ride, but i felt strong and kept going. I suppose it took me the best part of 3 hours and by the time i arrived i was more than ready to pull into Rileys for a big slap up breakfast which i did.

Rileys place is the original old hunters lodge, which, back then, was just about the only solid building in Maun. The restaurant is in fact housed in the original old building, as is Harry’s bar, but unfortunately…i think…they have put in modern false ceilings and killed off any sense of historic romanticism. However, in the gardens the trees are aged and stunning, their boughs spreading far with a huge variety of birdlife, and it is easy to imagine all the various travellers and hunters that must have rested under them in years gone by.

The following day i could not believe how sore the soles of my feet were, i could hardly walk properly for the next 24 hours!!…i will think twice before walking so far on hot dusty uneven ground again.

Later in the week i walked through the local village near to Audi camp and on down to the Okavango River lodge which is essentially the ‘local pub’. I did not stay too long as i was running out of time, in fact on the walk down i had been chatting to one of the locals who had invited me to sit outside his house for a cup of tea which had taken up my time. It was a lovely experience to sit with this old guy under his roughly made thatch stoop and he made a point of introducing me to all his neighbours and friends around.

Once again the week seemed to pass by very quickly and all too soon the morning came for me to decamp and meet up with the guys. They arrived at 10am sharp which was a pleasant surprise as i had envisaged waiting for several hours, and by 11 am we were heading out to Makhadihadi Pan.

The drive was a little less than two hours and by 1.30 we were having lunch in a fantastic place called Planet Baobab. I am quite sure that many people calling there for the first time will wonder what planet the architect came from but there is no doubt that b y the time they leave they will all be planning to come back. It is a truly fantastic spot in the middle of nowhere, completely off the wall and original.

After lunch on our arrival we all loaded up into a game viewing vehicle and headed out to the pan to pick up our quad bikes.

A Brilliant experience.

Riding out on the pan looking for the zebra migration was awesome and fantastic fun. I hung back from the others and got a true feeling of being completely alone in flat emptiness of the pan.

As we were returning the sun was setting and it turned out to be probably the most magnificent of sunsets on the trip as the sun disappeared behind the palm trees on the horizon. I had my video camera around my neck and have hopefully got some very good footage of the ride.

After the bike ride we boarded the game viewing vehicle again to move on to another pan where we slept out under the stars after a good braai around a raging fire. Waking in the morning i looked around and apart from the other guys dotted around in their sleeping rolls there was nothing to be seen anywhere right up to the distant horizon. The stillness, the nothingness and the silence was quite incredible to experience, and after stoking up the fire i sat in silence watching the light come up and finally the sun rise, soft ,pink and ethereal as silently rose up over the empty landscape.

It was essentially the end of the trip apart from the long two day journey home, which was not quite uneventful. I was ad to leave on the one hand but also looking forward to getting home again. It felt like i had been away forever and i was ready for the ‘stress of the saltmines’ again.
Till January.