Two glasses of wine down. It’s 8:17pm and I’m about done.
A good day, but not a lot to show for it photographically. It’s discouraging and I feel very far behind where I was a year ago. I’m wracking my brain trying to figure out what to do differently but it’s so much about luck. I don’t know.
But a good day nonetheless. Yesterday drove up from the chaos of Lower Sabie to spend a night back at Satara, which sits about in the middle of the park and is a good staging area. Generally, Satara hasn’t been my favorite camp – it’s large and congested and doesn’t seem to have the same character as some camps. But it was good. My room was clean. I was on the fence, which means I watched Cape buffalo drink at night and hyenas were trotting by when I woke up.
Hit the road early and finally the sun started to appear. When the sun does come, the light is very pretty here. Light in Bend is very harsh – I assume it’s the elevation, the dry air or the northern latitude or some combination. Here, it’s almost Gulf-like – it feels like the Gulf with breezes and a slight haze that gives the light a very soft quality. I hit a road this morning that had virtually no traffic so I might go for 45 minutes or more without seeing another vehicle. I’ve become a misanthrope here and would almost go somewhere where there are no animals if it means no people. Fortunately, I saw some nice things. Followed tracks for a long time on the unpaved road – tracks I didn’t quite recognize until I came around the bend and there were two white rhinos – a mother and her calf. That of course is what I’d been following and I saw other rhino tracks on that drive. Also so a pair of ostrich and their 6 chicks. I didn’t even recognize the chicks at first – there are so many various fowl running around the bush, but when the parents zigged off the road, these six zigged with them and then it was clear.
Good drive this morning. Then lunch at Letaba, check in, take a short nap, shower and back out. Went around the Englehardt damn this afternoon. It’s beautiful there and the light was beautiful. Lots of elephant sign around though I only saw one. Saw some old buffalo bulls. I really like Cape buffalo. They’re not as engaging as the cats, but they have some real character and I think the old bulls are photogenic as hell. Typically, the prime bulls, the cows and the calves stick together in fairly large herds. Bulls that are past their prime either leave or are forced out. They spend time in solitude or form loose associations with other bulls. Think your old bachelor uncle Gus and his card playing cronies. These are the bulls, by the way, who are the most dangerous. Because they’re not in the protection of a large group, they’re especially vulnerable to predators (meaning lions) and their defenses are set on hair-trigger. I saw several of these old bulls during the drive this afternoon. Two were settled in the shade, rump to rump, chewing cud. One looked strong and healthy but the other was clearly nearing the end of the line. He was big but he had one eye and numerous tumors on his belly and his horns were worn down to rounded nubs. I watched him for quite a while and then he struggled up to his feet to go graze for a bit. Almost nothing dies in the bush of old age and this old guy isn’t long for this world.
Heading back along the unpaved road, driving to beat the gate closure, I came across three cars parked. And of course it was lions again. There were about 6 females that I could see, lazing about in the open. Thinking about a hunt. That creates a dilemma of course. They didn’t have any kill that I could detect. That means that they’re hunting right now as I write this. Maybe kill that old bull. I could get up first thing and race to where I saw them last and hope to stumble onto the kill, if there is one. Position myself so when the light comes, I’d have something to shoot. Get there before the scrum starts, though by the time there’s any light, I’m certain that I’ll have some VW diesel rattling in my ear while the German tourists talk loudly about how there are LIONS there. That’s assuming we even find these guys of course.
Or, I could just go the other direction and see what I find. It’s making my head hurt. I think I’ll go to bed and something will come to me at 4:30 am.
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