On many occasions I’ve had elephant right up close, only to have them move off with not even the slightest of noise. Those big feet are amazingly silent. I had one experience with One-tusk who approached my vehicle while I was resting and I only became aware of her presence when I felt sand landing on me as she was dust bathing a few meters away.
I left the reserve in the early hours of the morning and with a detour through Johannesburg’s traffic and big smoke to drop off my camera for servicing, I eventually arrived at my destination 14 hours later. Not bad timing for 1300kms.
I just can’t resist getting into the bush at dawn.
There is always change awaiting, and that first light of dawn is stunning.
With a busy day ahead of me I was out at first light patrolling the airstrip.
All the usual players were there and a lone giraffe bull. He was perfectly positioned for the sunrise, but there was no sunrise. A solid cloud layer obliterated any signs of light peeping through.
I was lucky to get up really close to a herd of zebra this morning as they stood close together grazing and resting, and was drawn to the confusion of all those stripes. It is often thought the stripes are an anti-predator colouration as it’s hard for a predator to single out an individual among the mass of stripes.
I loved all the different patterns I saw through my lens as I moved it around their bodies. All very abstract.
I wasn’t able to stay long before heading back to camp to slog it out in the office for the rest of the day.
Tomorrow I leave on my travels and will be away a couple of weeks. I will be keeping Wildcast going with daily videos shot over the last few weeks. And periodically I’ll update you on my travels. Tomorrow it’s to the big smoke of Johannesburg! I’m hardly excited about that one.
With technology problems and having to work on Wildcast early this morning, I missed the dawn patrol on the airstrip.
When I did get down their all the usual characters were still there and now tucking in to their day of feeding, playtime being over.
It was a cloudless day and by 9am the sun was already baking down which convinced me the elephant would be swimming today for sure.
We headed to Lojaan dam where they had swum yesterday and finding some good shade we waited it out. Not a bad place to wait in the cool next to the water with Africa’s wild calling all around.
3 hours later there was still not a ripple in the water. The elephant weren’t coming here today.
We visited Nduna dam and all other water points to the south of the hills but still no joy.
By now it was too late in the afternoon and the elephant would already have had their swim.
Back on the airstrip I was happy to see the bachelor herd of impala at the eastern end. This end of the strip is higher than the west and ideal for filming animals against the sunset.
There was a heavy haze in the air, which meant sunset would be a golden ball on the horizon. Perfect!
But it didn’t happen. Some sneaky cloud hovering on the horizon did a perfect job in obliterating any chance the sun had of peaking through. And it was just then that 3 giraffe bulls sauntered across the strip with their full compliment of oxpeckers all vying for a spot to roost. In an effort to rid themselves of the feathered creatures the giraffe swung their necks in gentle fighting mode but had little joy in unsettling the birds. And so the non-existent sunset turned to night.
It was the only time I had the camera out all day and so it was with desperation I filmed the giraffe to have something to show on Wildcast.
Heading home this Klipspringer stood like a sentinel on the overhanging rock. A fitting place for this antelope so well adapted to climb these rocky outcrops.
The impala rams were doing their daily sparring session on the airstrip at dawn, and with not a cloud in the sky the morning light was brilliant.
The morning jackal patrol was on time as usual as the family went about chasing insects.
After all the normal airstrip behaviour, it was time to move on. The elephant had snuck past the airstrip in the night, their tracks were all over.
We eventually picked them up south of Chikwelane. Mandlovu and her family were there, Toothpick and others. In total about 40 elephants.
They took to the hills and I followed but this time on foot. This is the way I love to get around the bush. And walking in the hills is just stunning with all those wonderful backdrops against the sandstone hills and being high up I am able to get some really great different perspectives on the elephant.
But Mandlovu had a different perspective on me.
Unfortunately the wind in the hills swirls around the place and one can’t plan one’s approach as it’s always coming from a different direction.
Mandlovu picked up my scent and was immediately upset. I tried talking to her as I do whenever I’m with her in the vehicle. She wasn’t impressed. She charged. It seemed like a mock charge but I didn’t hang around and scrambled up the rocks.
The herds moved on and I followed. All over the hills water is seeping into little marshes providing plenty of water for the elephant and great places to wallow and mud bathe.
After more than 2 hours of following them I lost them in really thick bush where the grass was a solid matt at least 6ft high. Taller than me.
It was too risky for me to keep following so I moved up the Nyamasikana River. It was easier going in the sandy river, but the camera and bean-bag were now really weighing me down.
A buffalo bull was sleeping in a pool in the river and unaware of my approach. Not a good thing. So I clapped my hands and spoke to him. He got up slowly and shook his head at me and then just stood there and had no intentions of moving away. If anything he had intentions of moving towards me! But when I tossed a stone in the water he took off into the thick undergrowth on the river bank.
I was happy to leave the soft sandy river bottom and took a well worn hippo path hoping it was a short cut to Lojaan dam. I had now been walking 3 hours and the camera was close to becoming a disposable item.
Crossing a small spring I noticed a pool just upstream with branches overhanging it. Just then it erupted as a hippo took fright charging out of there. I can only be grateful it took off the other way.
The path did eventually lead to Lojaan where several elephant bulls were wrestling in the water. This didn’t impress the resident pair of hippo.
It was here that I ran out of tape and all the more reason for me to locate the car.
Eventually after a long hot, dry, 4-hour walk I got some refreshment at the vehicle. Even the now hot water in the bottle was just the best.
We drove back to Lojaan dam and the elephant were still swimming but soon headed north.
What a magical day spending all that time so close to the elephants and just being out there walking the hills. That’s just the best thing for me. If only I could walk all day every day!
With only a few impala on the airstrip sparring and the jackal having moved south I decided to spend the day traversing the reserve north to south checking out areas I haven’t been able to access since the rains.
Khayeni open area was full of impala, zebra and wildebeest and a few giraffe. The cover there is thick and the Abutilon is standing 12ft high in places. This forbe needs some treatment, but it’s not unusual for these forbes to take hold in disturbed areas. I know management are planning to burn this area later in the year, which should remove most of the Abutilon.
The Chiredzi River has maintained a steady strong flow now for nearly 2 months. Of course the grass along the river is standing 6ft high and more in places. So spotting any animals was nigh impossible unless it was giraffe or elephant, but we didn’t see any of those either.
The Runde River was flowing across about half its width, the river being nearly a kilometre wide.
From the southern tip of the reserve we headed west to Chiloveka dam. That too was full. I remember not so long ago it had been reduced to a small mud puddle with hundreds of barbel choking in the thick mud.
Then the nightmare of a drive north through the clays. But not a nightmare ‘cos they were wet. On the contrary, they were very dry but the elephant had walked on the road when it was wet. Their huge footprints were now embedded in the hard clay. This was like driving from pot hole to pot hole. I would hardly get one wheel out a footprint and another wheel would be in one. Soon I realised it was slightly smoother driving off road, as the elephant preferred to stay on the road. But although this was better we were still only moving at about a walking pace.
So it was with much happiness that we reached Hwata pan and a smoother surface now that we were out the clays.
We continued east hoping to pick up on the elephant. There was evidence of them around Chivi but we had no joy and ended up at Nduna dam. Sitting on the rocks watching and filming the hippo was so tranquil and a great relief from the heat and bashing around all day on those ‘roads’. This hippo calf stuck to its mom’s side often resting on her back as she lay half submerged.
We spent an hour or more here before heading back west.
The airstrip was quiet at sunset and I needed to get back to camp to blow out the grass seeds clogging my radiator as this was causing my car to overheat.
It was dawn patrol again, but on a really cold summer morning. Low cloud cover had moved in and the wind was chilly.
Not surprising the morning didn’t produce much, and anyway I had planned to spend most of the day in the office catching up.
Of course I also went for a paddle on the dam and saw the most amazing display by a hippo. I think the young bull was worried about being cornered by me, although he was nearly a hundred meters away. But he bolted and 4 times he launched himself almost clear of the water. Much like a porpoise. And then crash back into the water. It was an amazing display, but probably his fastest way out the shallow waters.
I’m just so lucky! After hours of being couped up in an office, I can just drive down the road and have the most amazing adventures.
We were out about an hour before sunset. There was white rhino bull and cow grazing in some fairly open country. Seeing them from a distance and knowing they would bolt if I drove there, we walked. Several mopanie bushes gave us cover until we were about 30m away. We sat tight while the rhino grazed slowly towards us. Even though the oxpeckers on their backs alarmed at us a few times, the rhino didn’t take notice.
It was only when they were about 10m from us that I decided to get their attention. They looked up, saw us, but looked totally bewildered that they were about to walk over these apparitions. A slight movement from me and they bolted. The other way.
On the way home Manyari and her youngsters were lying up at a pan and slowly roused soon after our arrival as the sun was setting. Manyari had 4 youngsters with her, the missing lions were those we saw yesterday at Hwata.
After their slow awakening the lions moved off on the hunt.
This young female was last to leave, and lying out in the open like that I wanted to get some low angle shots of her. Now I only do this ‘cos I know these lions having spent a couple of years with them.
I got out the car and lay on the ground with her not more than 15m away. As soon as I did this she went into a crouching position. But this was more to prepare herself to flee than to charge. As soon as I had settled down she then relaxed but didn’t take her eyes off me giving me this most wonderful stare! It’s amazing how those orange eyes can stare right through you.
After about a minute she had totally relaxed down, got up, stretched right in front of me and moved on to join the others.
Isn’t that just the best after a day in the office? And I’m so so lucky I can do this every day. Well at least I’m not in the office all that time every day.
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