October 31, Lower Sabie

Happy Halloween.  Sitting in the AfriWeb "Internet Cafe" at Lower Sabie on a cool, heavily overcast morning.  Got up early this morning and decided to take a stab at seeing/shooting lions.  One more time.  Yesterday evening, I came across some lions who had just made a kill.  Couldn't really see them - they were sleeping back in the bush.  Just a hint of tawny color and movement of heavy breathing while digesting a full meal.  So my plan was to head out as soon as the gate opened and get there before the hoards and have some quiet time with the lions.  It sort of worked.  I did get there well before everyone else.  Had to look around a bit - they'd cleverly moved to the other side of the road in order to lie about in the open.  They're fiendishly clever.  It was overcast and dark and they were far enough away that there was really no opportunity to photograph them. But it was nice to have my quiet time with lions and just breath it in.  Eventually another vehicle arrived.  Then a big photo safari vehicle full of real photographers.  Brother.  Remind me to shoot myself if I'm ever tempted to do that.  At that point, the lions all stood up and started walking through the bush toward the main road.  So we all drove around the corner a hundred meters or so and tried to guess where they'd emerge.  Then they came out onto the road - eight of them.  A couple of young males, four females and a couple of youngish cubs.  And they just casually walked up the road toward Lower Sabie.  At that point it was all over.  Huge crowds of people keeping pace with them.  Like disciples.  Again, there's the experience of big males walking by so close that you literally could lean out of the window and touch them.  It's breathtaking.  What people don't realize is that these aren't Hollywood lions.  They're scarred, lumpy, dirty.  The little ones both looked to have some sort of abscesses.  Anyway, the scrum got too big so I eventually passed all of the lions (on the right of course) and left that herd of sorry people.

Then, a few kilometers down the road, I see another big traffic jam.  You have to realize that there aren't lots of roads.  There's really only one way to go anywhere.  So, I'm thinking, great, more frickin' lions.  But they weren't lions.  It was a pack of wild dogs, moving fast along the road.  Now lions are cool, but dogs are a much more significant sight.  They're highly endangered.  They also move fast so they're not that easy to see and they seem to concentrate on the southern end of the park where I am now.  So, now I'm in another scrum, following the dogs.  I love to see the dogs but I'm realizing how much I'm not liking people, or at least how people behave under a circumstance where there's truly a once in a lifetime opportunity to see a rare predator and not everyone can have the same view.  But as every photographer knows, everyone is a 'photographer', in their mind's eye at least.  And, the dogs are moving.  So, I bailed, eventually working my way past the dogs, past the photo safari lady who's concern for her clients trumped anyone else's experience.

So I was angry and agitated.  One of the things about spending so much time alone here is that it's easy to stay too much in your head and obsess at the rudeness and boorishness of people, meaning of course people besides me and my friends.  I was wondering what would happen if I lost it and ended up in a fist fight in the middle of a road in Kruger National Park.  But then I remembered that I am 56 and have never actually been in a fist fist fight, really.  I'm guessing no good would come of that and the ultimate indignity would be to lose a fight to a French tourist.

So in this state of mind, I headed back to the camp at Lower Sabie to take a stab at breakfast.  And, amazingly, the restaurant was empty.  The 'barista' was pleasant and poured me a competent double espresso, and then another.  I decided to have yogurt and granola in the restaurant and Norbert the waiter was pleasant and attentive.  And actually walked around the corner to the shop to get jam because the restaurant didn't have any.  And I sat there overlooking the Lower Sabie River, watching hippos and a fish eagle, pestered by beautiful birds begging for food, and all seemed to reach balance again.

I don't know if there's a lesson here.  I'm trying to be more accepting of the fact that people all show up with various portions of selfishness, cluelessness and charity.  All I want is more quiet time with the wildlife.  And perfect lighting.  I came from halfway across the world.  I deserve it, right?

ps

Do you realize that in certain European countries, men wear capris?  Seriously.  Makes me want to wash my hands and go to Talledega.

October 28, Olifants

Sitting on the table on the patio of my bungalow at Olifants, watching a yellow camp bird attacking it’s reflection in the sideview mirror of my neighbor’s Land Cruiser.  Just signed release to do an ‘afternoon walk’.  Afternoon walks are an opportunity to take a 2 hour walk through the bush with a couple of rangers.  A chance to get off one’s butt and walk a bit (and it’s been days since I’ve done any walking to speak of) in the company of someone who knows something about the bush.  I’ve did several last year and the rangers varied from arrogant and uncommunicative to interesting and informative.  Their first role of course is to keep the guests safe – I get the impression that there’s a ton of paperwork if you get a guest hurt and if you get a guest killed, well, forget about it….

Bottom line is you get what you get.  I think rangers are like school teachers maybe – they start out with a deep passion for their work but they’re badly underpaid and under appreciated.  Some soldier on without losing their enthusiasm and some become withdrawn and maybe a little bitter.  We’ll see.  Best thing is to be on foot for a while.  My experience is that it’s rare to see any big animals but it is an opportunity to talk about the all the little things one can find in the bush and I think the rangers appreciate someone with an interest in trees and birds and spiders.

I’m completing my second full day at Kruger.  I’ve been disappointed in my shooting.  Seems like I was way ahead  two days in last year, but maybe I’m not remembering that right.  Trying to remind myself to stay patient.  It’s hard shooting from a car and to a large extent, you take what’s given to you.  You just have to be ready to see it and exploit it when something cool shows up.

Oh, look at the time.  Gotta go.

October 27, Satara

Yesterday I was up at about 3:30 am.  Tossed around for a while and gave it up, packing and getting things prepared.  Skyped Gina and Aislin at 6am.  It was great to see and hear them and Az insisted on dragging poor Tunzi the cat onto the table so that I could see her too.  I heard about the snow in Bend on that cool beautiful morning in Johannesburg.  Breakfast and shuttle to the airport to pick up rental car.  All went seamlessly and I headed out in my Corolla at 7:30, immediately heading the wrong way on R21.  But it was quickly remedied and, with the exception of a missed turn in Belfast, made it to the Orpen gate without adventure.  It was hazy and smoky along the way – farmers burn their fields here in the same way that we do in Oregon.  When I reached Kruger and entered the Orpen gate, there were giraffe and impala and kudu all waiting and before I’d reached the camp (about 50k), had seen elephant, zebra and hippo as well.

Satara is one of the larger camps and it’s a bustling place, full of noisy tourists from around the world.  Checked in at about 3pm, and went to the store for some basic provisions and then out for a quick drive south.  One of the really striking things on arrival here is fire.  There have obviously been many massive grass fires – right up to the gates of Satara – and many are still smoldering.  It’s cool, windy and it’s difficult to differentiate the smoke from the low overcast.

Lions, lions, lions

In a way, I hate seeing lions at Kruger.  Don’t get me wrong – I love the idea of lions.  They’re big and nasty and are both sociable and incredibly violent.  But they’re also the rock stars of KNP and anytime lions are visible the result is a huge, noisy traffic jam.  Diesels rattle, tourists talk loudly (really, is there anything louder than a German tourist?) and you can’t get by on the road.  But, they are lions and there was a big male sleeping on the road just south of the park.  The road parallels a dry riverbed which is low that the bed is out of sight.  Along the river however is a large tree full of vultures.  That means two things.  First, the lions have a kill down in the riverbed.  When lions have a large kill, they will hang around for several days, eating at their leisure and keeping the scavengers away.  They’ll tag team it – one will eat and guard the kill while the others lumber off somewhere to sleep or walk to the nearest water for a drink.  So, in this case that means that a) there are other lions around, out of sight and b) the kill is fresh enough that they’re bothering to keep the vultures away.  I made a mental note to come back next day and finished up with my short drive.  Dinner, glass of wine and to bed early.

Woke up at about 1:45am.  One of the consequences of jet lag.  Thought about stuff for a couple of hours and went back to sleep.  Awakened at about 4:30 then by the birds and by hyenas very close to the camp.  Man, there’s nothing like hearing hyenas at night.  Out the gate at 5:30am, heading south.  And of course, there’re two lions sleeping in the road a few hundred meters north of the kill.  A crowd was gathering and there wasn’t really much of a shot so made my way through the scrum and went on to the site of the kill.  For the hell of it, I parked and started taking shots of the vultures, practicing with my new window mount.  Then I looked to the right and a beautiful dark male with a dark stripe down the center of his mane walked up out of the draw and lay down about 20 meters away.  I shot for a while and then he got up and walked directly behind my car and started to call.  If you’ve never been near a roaring lion, it’s an awesome experience.  He was literally 5 feet behind the car, rattling my guts with his call.  Then his calls were answered from down in the riverbed and I was in the middle of lions roaring in stereo.  I so wished Aislin was there – I think she’d be amazed by the experience. 

Drove on for 3 hours on this cool, overcast morning and then headed back toward Satara to have coffee and check out.  Now there were two males sleeping in the road. - the dark male with the dark strip in the mane and another male – probably the one returning his calls.  Sat in the car not 5 feet away, marveling at the full bellies and the labored breathing of the truly engorged.

Now back here at Satara, enjoying an espresso and preparing to check out and begin heading north to Olifants.  Need to stop at the store and buy additional electrical adapters (one consequence of jet lag is leaving a bag full of adapters at the hotel in J’burg, damnit).

It’s good to be back and I’m slowly regaining the routine of life here.

Johannesburg, 10/25

Long day but arrived at J'burg early and without incident.  Won't dwell on it but international travel in coach class is, well, miserable.  It's really tough when you hit the 10 hour mark and you realize that you have almost 6 more to go.  But it's done.  Arrived early to a beautiful late afternoon in J'burg.  Got to hotel without incident.  Had dinner in the Spur Ranch Restaurant.  It's a chain of family restaurants with a Western US theme.  The logo's an indian chief in warbonnet, and the dishes have names like "Steak Cherokee", or the "Peppamelt Cheese", which I guess is the Western version of a sandwich from the 'Hood.  I went for the "Monkey Gland Rump".  That delightful name comes from a sauce which is a little sweet and spicy.  Conjures up visions of squeezing lots of monkeys but it's apparently just a colorful name for a sort of chutney.

I'm conking out now and I think I'll get some sleep.  Tomorrow, up early, skype Gina and Aislin, breakfast, shuttle to airport to pick up rental car, then drive to Kruger.  This time tomorrow in Satara.

October 21. Preparing....

A quick note.  Prepping for a new trip to South Africa and Botswana.  This will be my third trip in three years to Southern Africa.  In 2008, I spent about three weeks at Mashatu Game Reserve in Botswana as a volunteer for the research program there.  It was a fantastic experience.  Last year, I did something a bit different and spent about 3 weeks in Kruger National Park in South Africa and then just a few days at Mashatu.  This year, a slight variation on the theme.  I'm going to Kruger for about three weeks.  Then, I'm heading back to Johannesburg to pick up my girlfriend Gina and her 12 year old daughter Aislin.  Together we'll spend a week and a half in Kruger and then head to Mashatu for three days.  Then home.

It's Thursday morning and I leave Sunday.  I'm fairly well situated to go with just a few loose ends.  I don't exactly look forward to the travel but as you know if you've done any overseas traveling, you put your head down and get through it.  And then take some days to recover.  Good thing is, I have some days.

I'm expecting that the two phases of this trip will be very different.  I'll have almost three weeks by myself. This gives me some concentrated time to work on photography.  While I don't have a specific assignment, I treat this time as work and work very hard at it.  If you've ever traveled with a photographer, you know that it's not very much fun.  Photographers are very self-centered and totally focused on their tasks.  There's no time or energy to worry about whether others are enjoying themselves.  Then, I head back to J'burg and start a new phase.  I expect to carry cameras but I'm hoping to be able to set the photography aside and enjoy our time together in that beautiful place.  I'm especially looking forward to seeing that world through the eyes of the 12 year old Aislin.  Aislin's a cool kid - full of enthusiasm and curiosity.  She loves animals but her life path has so far not allowed her exposure to much of nature.  I can't wait to watch her expression when we back the car up to give way to an elephant on the road.  I can't wait to see her eyes when she watches a lion amble by.  I'm very much looking forward to the adventure.

And maybe this time we'll see a mamba.  Bashi owes me one.