It’s still all happening on the airstrip.
Dawn started with a light drizzle but soon let up. So yet again another dawn with overcast weather. The impala were there in force with some wildebeest and zebra, the giraffe seeming to give the strip a miss today. What do they want on the airstrip when they are there, anyway? There’s nothing for them to browse.
When everybody took time out on the strip, I headed east. It looked like the elephant too had headed east and I eventually picked up a couple of bulls east of Chitindigova. The one dude in musth, put on an impressive display but then chickened out taking off south. All other elephant tracks headed south but I soon had to abandon them when the clays got too soggy not wanting to spend more hours digging myself out.
This herd of buffalo were north of Nyamsaan and in the few hours I was with them, they hardly moved. There’s so much food around, they really don’t have to move. And water is everywhere too.
It was interesting to see both the Yellow-billed and Red-billed Oxpeckers on the buffalo. The rare Yellow-billed Oxpeckers were nearly wiped out when man starting using pesticides to kill ticks on their cattle. Along with the ticks went the oxpeckers. This was a serious problem in South Africa. Luckily the problem was picked up and certain pesticides banned and the Yellow-billed Oxpeckers are bouncing back.
Almost being guaranteed of something, I returned to the airstrip at sunset. The impala were all there but I wanted giraffe against the horizon. They didn’t oblige.
A pair of jackal trotted through the impala herd and into the bush where they fed on a dead newborn zebra foal. Must have died the night before.
At least I was treated to the most stunning sunset. Africa has the best ones!
And I have the best job!
We started off with a brilliant dawn and the first few hours of the day the light was stunning.
Of course all the action was on the airstrip again. While I parked in the centre of the strip the giraffe, impala and zebra came and went all around me.
Today, and most days actually, all the giraffe were bulls. It’s not uncommon for the bulls to hang out together.
And today these 2 younger bulls, although just mimicking a fight, looked a lot more romantically involved than one would care to think. Even getting to the stage where they tried to mount each other.
I spent several hours on the strip, only really ‘cos I found I’d dozed off. I was lying on the ground getting those precious low angle shots and while waiting for animals to move into view I had obviously dozed off. I don’t know what shots I missed but I still got lucky with a few special shots.
Now awake I left the airstrip heading east in search of whatever I might find. I was surprised to find fresh elephant activity a few kilometres down the drag. I thought these guys were still all down south in the clays. I had actually tried to get down there earlier but it was a no go. Still too wet to even travel on the roads.
I was lucky to pick up the herds to the north of Chivi. But that didn’t last. In the middle of nowhere I had to cross the little Chimbiya stream, which was fine, as it’s got sandy bottom and no big deal. The big deal came when my back wheel slipped into a small elephant wallow on the edge of the stream. Now I was well and truly stuck. But that’s not a big deal. With my trusty hi-lift jack, a spade and an axe I can usually get myself out of almost anywhere and this wasn’t a big deal.
But I was frustrated as the elephant were all having a huge party on the edge of the stream about 80m away and I couldn’t get there to film.
So I jacked away, chopped up tree stumps, put them under the wheels and drove off only to get stuck a meter further. Progress was slow and now I had to dig away the far bank so the belly of the vehicle didn’t drag on it.
I had 2 wheels on the far side and just couldn’t get up. So I took a brave decision, I rammed the car in reverse and took off for the far bank. The wheels were spinning before I got to the far bank.
Forgetting about any short cuts, I settled in to the laborious task of working on each wheel. That done I was easily out, now an hour and a half later.
I was so worked up that I’d got stuck AND missed all the elephant action that I wasn’t in any mood to take photos of my dilemma, but eventually gave in with this self portrait.
The elephants by now had given me the slip and it started raining.
Cutting my losses I headed back to camp.
I tried to pick up on the lions from last night but had little joy. Actually had no joy!
The rains stayed away all night and all day, although a storm seemed imminent around midday and the humidity peaked making it really uncomfortable.
The airstrip with the only short grass on the reserve was again a hit with impala, zebra giraffe and wildebeest.
Banyini seemed pretty devoid of game except for these few zebra with little sticking out above the grass. Maybe that’s just it, the animals are all out there but totally obscured by the grass.
This nest of African bees was something not to be tampered with and I was only too happy there were no elephant around to possibly knock the branch. That whole bundle is all bees swarming on top of each other with the queen bee right in the middle completely protected by this mass of armed guards.
At sunset the young impala were winding it up on the airstrip. The cool of the afternoon sparked them into play careering around the place totally out of control. Once one got going the whole nursery joined it.
Such innocent little antelope but how magnificent in full flight.
I have seen it several times, but it’s not common and usually doesn’t last as long as it did today. Such a privelege.
Of course it was a day without elephant. They’ve given me the slip again having headed south into the clays and with rain predicted for tomorrow there’s little chance I’ll be seeing them.
The weather’s just not playing ball.
The skies cleared yesterday at sunset and all night the stars shone, and the sun even rose to a clear sky this morning. But shortly afterwards the clouds were in and drizzle scattered itself around the reserve on and off all day.
Obviously for me the ideal would be clear skies during the day and if it has to rain and be cloudy, then do that at night. But right now it’s all the wrong way round.
The elephants were just south of the airstrip at dawn and I got to spend time with Mandlovu and her family, and then with Tuchem. He had a stand-off with another bull as he dug up a tuber. I was filming them when Tuchem suddenly came at a fast walk straight to camera. I kept rolling. He didn’t stop until he got to the bull-bar where he placed his tusk. He watched me from there for about a minute and then moved off. What a dude! He even made a half-hearted attempt to put his foot onto the bull-bar. I suppose just ‘cos He Can!
The elephant herds then moved south into the clays just as the rains came. I ducked off and treated myself to a horse-ride. We were riding amongst the giraffe, zebra, impala and wildbeest, which is always just the best. And the rain actually held off for the hour and a half that we were out.
Later I headed back on patrol. The baboons have lots of time on their hands these days with so much food around. So in the evenings they can be found chilling out on the rocks while the little guys run wild having fun. They’re always such a pleasure to watch.
One day I really do want to do a film about baboons. They are so like us and one can watch them endlessly.
Heading home I found Manyari and her entourage of 9 lions near the Binya road heading east. Not surprisingly they were travelling on the road, as the grass all around is 5 to 6ft tall.
They kept on east and I went west back to camp.
The rains kept me camp bound all morning. Except I did venture to the dam for a paddle. It’s the best in the rain.
By midday it was clearing and I found the elephant herds to the east of the airstrip. I spent most of my time with Mama-notch. She’s another of those great elephants, of course different in character to the others. They all have different characters, which makes them all so special.
Mama-notch will feel nothing to share the same shade as me. She’ll walk past my vehicle almost scraping it without a worry in the world. AND she’s got a new calf only a couple of months old. Unlike One-tusk, she’s never touched my vehicle and never shown any interest towards it. Just treats it like it’s a rock. Although she hasn’t tried rubbing on it yet.
The herds were moving west and I was hopeful they’d end up swimming at Simbiri dam. They stayed in the woodland to the south of the airstrip.
Having not filmed anything today I was then hopeful they’d cross the airstrip against the beautiful sunset that I was sure would materialise.
I got all excited when a bull crossed but nobody followed. It was only just before dark that the herds starting crossing.
But in the meantime I was lucky when some giraffe arrived on the airstrip. When they saw me crawling along the airstrip to get closer and low on the ground, they stopped and stared for some time before giving up on this mad thing trying to ‘stalk’ them in open ground.
At least the elephants were good.
With all this rain we’ve been having, and which has just returned, the biting flies are pretty intense. But today whilst filming the elephant’s dust bathing, they were at their worst. This cloud of these tiny little critters, smaller than a pin head, were all over me. And let me tell you one thing, these little guys can bite! No major injury but when they’re all over you biting it gets pretty intense and it’s not a place you want to stay for long.
The elephants had the solution, covering themselves in dust/sand. I’m sure it would have worked for me too, but I’m just not quite ready or actually that desperate for a dust bath.
I wasn’t able to spend much time with them today as the rains arrived. By midday it was pelting down and it’s here to stay for about a week or more.
Back at camp it was vehicle maintenance. Another effect of the rain, the mud gets into my brakes. It has to be the worst thing for them. The muddy paste in the brakes is the perfect scouring agent and quickly wears them down.
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