The rains are back again today.
The mournful cry of the Trumpeter Hornbill can be quite disturbing. It sounds so much like a child wailing. So when you hear it in the middle of the bush it can shock you for that split second until you refocus.
This weather we’re having is very unusual having been with us for the last 5 days. And today the drizzle comes and goes.
I tried to get out and did get wet. But in an opening of about an hour of no rain it was amazing what I saw. Considering that usually in this weather most of the game disappears. But maybe after so many days of it they’ve decided to pop out the woodwork. Most of it was happening on Banyini.
The big herd of buffalo were feeding on the north western corner.
There were a number of giraffe on Banyini. This guy giving those long legs a rest.
A flock of Marabou Storks were at the pan.
This dung beetle made an appearance. Most of them had already gone underground for the winter but maybe the wet weather brought this guy out.
The butterflies seem to be enjoying this patch of fresh buffalo dung.
And the impala were feeding in the mopanie woodland.
These paintings are well spaced from each other and makes one wonder if they’re depicting the same scene or not.
The man with his bow and arrow is great. I just wonder why he’s depicted as having a skew arrow. Is this the hunter who can’t shoot straight?
3rd April 2000
Tjololo decided to parade himself in front of all Mala Mala’s guests soon after sunset. Not surprisingly they were all in awe of this truly stunning specimen that was indifferent to their presence as he swaggered only meters past the occasional vehicle while he continued on down the road marking as he went.
Once the guests had all retired to the comfort of their camps we continued on the beat with “The One Who Stands Alone”. Not long afterwards he disappeared into some thick bush and only a brief bleat alerted us that he had killed. He dragged his young impala kill down to the Sand river and treed it into an enormous Jakkalberry tree. That was him done for the night.
Yet another filming opportunity lost as thick bush intervened. At this stage my camera is having preconceived ideas of early retirement, not having been rolled for some time now.
Mala Mala rangers alerted us to a lion kill where we found 3 adult male lions having killed a subadult male buffalo and buffalo calf. All 3 of them were now spread out on their backs, their stomachs too large to carry any more weight without bursting.
The rains stayed away but the overcast weather prevailed.
I spent some time filming Quelea chicks being fed. They’re all about the leave the nest in the next 3 to 4 days. Their breeding is highly synchronised and when the chicks fledge the Quelea numbers will swell but at least another 6 million on Malilangwe alone. (That’s apparently a very conservative estimate)
At Bandama I encountered this white rhino bull. The wind was in my favour as I approached him on foot. Then waiting behind a small bush he kept grazing towards me. Marked and sprayed the bush next to me, then moved on past. Only then did he get my scent and bolt. Away, luckily.
A big herd of buffalo were on Banyini grazing in the savannah and this bull was feeling rather amorous but was quickly sorted by another bull when he saw what was going on.
I wasn’t able to pick up the elephant herds today, expecting them to be in the sandveld, which they tend to like after the rains. There was just this lone bull on Banyini.
As usual the giraffe were on the airstrip at sunset. For some reason they like to come out in the open here at this time of day. And it’s just bulls. Often they’ll be play fighting.
This outline was the beginning of a painting that was never finished. And must definitely have been the beginnings of an elephant. Or maybe this was a bit of bushmen abstract art.
But these dots are baffling. Could they be depicting elephant tracks? And those weird fine lines below?
Is this whole monster not possibly a millipede?
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