Wildcast

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!