People do live here.
Peter had
to buy supplies for a three-night stay at Khwai Bedouin Camp, so we spent some
time in Maun. Our bus was eventually
full of bottled water and food.
We arrived at
Khwai after a drive through flat land, often sandy, with little grass visible and
gray shrubs, passing some fenced areas with fewer than 10 huts – cattle, goats,
donkeys grazing. A
few fish farms were glimpsed. The main highway was sealed for a short
distance but became very corrugated and uncomfortable until we reached
the road into our camp.
Our tent
for the next 3 nights was spacious and comfortable.
After an early breakfast,
we set forth in an open-sided truck through private reserves and villages.
Our first
sightings were of animals in dry country, including Swainson’s francolin, tawny
eagle, white-browed sparrow- weavers, buffalo weavers, babbler, red-billed
oxpecker, ostrich, impala, steenbok, buffalo and giraffe.
Note: All
information is based on comments by guides, not on any research of mine.
Steenbok
are not herd animals. This small antelope
has large ears to help avoid predators.
A group of giraffes is called a jenny or tower. There
can be many males in a herd but there is a hierarchy.
The
lilac-breasted roller is the national bird of Botswana. It is
stunningly beautiful in flight, unlike the warthog, which runs in a
rather amusing way. Male warthogs have four warts, females only 2.
 |
| Wattled cranes |
 |
| Great White Egret |
 |
| Waterbuck |
 |
| Egyptian geese |
 |
| Senegal Coucal with frog |
 |
| There were many hippos in the water but this family chose the land. |
Other animals seen before lunch included tsessebe, a herd of impala, striped mongoose, pied kingfisher, 2 open-billed storks, spur-winged goose, grey heron, reed
cormorant, black crake, jacana, grey lourie, oxpecker on
impala, namaqua dove (the smallest dove), sacred
ibis and fork-tailed
drongo.
Peter commented that female
jacanas mate with 10 or more males, leaving them to incubate the eggs.
Added to the list of incredible sightings were Burchell’s and cape glossy starlings, crimson shrike,
rufous-bellied heron, red-billed hornbill, Bennett’s woodpecker and little egret.
 |
| Stopping for lunch |
 |
| Tom watches as Peter finishes the tuna pasta salad. Yum! |
|
|
In the afternoon, we saw an elephant, 3 yellow-billed storks, an emerald-spotted
dove, saddle-backed stork, malachite kingfisher and 2 black jackals.
 |
| Malachite kingfisher, a small kingfisher |
 |
| Saddlebacked stork, the second largest stork |
 |
| They stopped at the Tuck Shop for afternoon tea but no-one was there. |
 Another
freezing drive in early morning and no sightings for over an hour, meaning that
we had no respite from the wind caused by vehicle. However, all was forgotten when a honey
badger, teeth bared and growling, was seen briefly just beside our open
bus. It quickly ran away, with another
bounding ahead. Occasional sights of
giraffe and impala. Excitement for me at
the Moremi entrance gate (and toilet stop) in the form of good views of Tree
Squirrel and several Dwarf Mongoose.
At the
floodplain, a herd of Tsessebe showed us how they could be the fastest antelope
when a few took flight.
We saw our first
Glossy Ibis, Little Grebe, Maribou Stork
and Hooded Vulture. Other birds were Helmetted
Guineafowl, Saddleback storks, Grey Heron, Egyptian geese with goslings, Great
White Egret, Cattle Egret, Blacksmith Plover, Black-winged Stilt and Hadeda Ibis.
Two male lions were sighted about 200m across water from us, one with black and
tawny mane, showing he was older. The
latter eventually strolled off to the left, leaving the other, unmoving, lying
in the grass. Then a third black maned
lion came from the long grass on the right.
He prowled around the area beside the termite mound for some time, marking a place to the left. Peter thought they would be brothers, 6 to 9
years old.
 Three
Ground Hornbills were grazing beside the water.
They are the largest hornbills, living 40-50 years and make a deep
grunting noise. They can fly but prefer
to walk. From a distance, they resemble
large turkeys with heavy heads.
A Squacco
Heron was seen together with a Wattled Crane, Sacred Ibis
and Open-billed stork.
By 11am a
herd of Red Lechwe was grazing near water as they always do, to escape
predators more easily.
You can
identify a female elephant by its angular head.
Elephants have 6 sets of molars.
They live to 75-80 years and loss of remaining set of teeth is a
limiting factor. Pregnancy lasts 22
months and babies are weaned at 2 years. 
Dining at our Kwai camp was a very pleasant ending to the day.
6 August We left Kwai
at 9:15 after a pleasantly late breakfast of eggs, bacon, baked beans and fresh
pineapple. Uneventful drive to Maun,
then a 2-hour stop for supplies and lunch.I saw Herroya
women with large triangular headdresses and colourful dresses, indicating they
were married. Apparently they come from Namibia and are wealthy cattle farmers.
 On the long drive
through settlements and bare country, we saw huts, cattle, donkeys, goats, occasional
horse or dog. A water pipe runs beside the
road.
Backyards
flooded at Kunyerf, a sign that rainwater from Angola has finally reached the
Delta area after running down the Panhandle. This is an annual event which
affected us because we had to transfer everything to a 1984 Mercedes truck to
get to Guma Lagoon. Peter was not
surprised that this happened.
No
wildlife except elephants seen crossing the road at 4:30. After truck
transfer,we arrived in time for sunset and stayed in Hut 3, close to
dining room. All seemed good but we soon realised that the concrete
floor was very cold; two walls were screened canvas.
 |
| Red-collared barbet near our room |
Tue 7 Aug Guma Okavango Delta
 |
| Our guide Peter supervising |
French
toast breakfast around 8 was followed by ride in motor boat to an island where
we transferred to mokoros, 2 passengers in each, for our 2 hour glide through
the delta.
A cold SE breeze made this
tranquil experience a little less pleasant.
We went through narrow tunnels of papyrus and reeds, sometimes ferns;
larger expanses with waterlilies, white, mauve, one deep pink.
Some birds were seen– many reed cormorants, several
fish eagles splendid in the sky or on trees, squacco herons, little egrets and
one Giant Kingfisher, silhouetted nearby on a low branch.
 |
| By now, we had donned all the warm clothes available! |
We landed on Baboon Island
for a 45 minute Nature walk led by Simon, the head poler.
 |
| Camelthorn acacia |
 |
| Elephant damage to baobab |
A low grey shrub is wild sage, canes used for fish traps and leaves as mosquito repellent. Date palms grow by the water.
The
sausage tree is used for traditional mokoros, a practice now
discouraged to save the trees. Our mokoros were fibreglass. A single
pod may weigh 5kg. Buffalo eat
the fruit when it is small. The seeds are eaten by baboons and
mousebirds. They are powdered and mixed with Vaseline as a treatment
for skin cancer. Many creatures like the pink flowers, so leopards wait
for prey in the trees. He then showed us a sausage tree with antelope
carcass over a branch.
 |
| Look carefully to see leopard kill on branch |
He
explained how palm wine is extracted by firing the fan palm so sap flows and is
channelled using palm frond spikes into a cup.
The common name of elala meaning go to sleep comes from the traditional tale of a servant who drank the
wine and went to sleep instead of giving it to his master. Sugar is added to the sap and the wine tastes
like ginger beer.
Fan
palm
fronds are used for basket weaving. They
go white when boiled and may be dyed brown or black using other plants.
The nuts have 4 layers. People eat the second layer; carve the third
and sell the result. The fourth layer
is a seed which elephamts pass into
their dung, thus spreading the palm to distant areas.
Baobabs are
hollowed to provide homes or toilets without harming the tree.
We saw several
tall raintrees, poison apple shrubs with yellow fruit, and a pile of dung
sprayed by male hippo to mark territory.
On the way back in a motorboat, the pilot nosed into the bank for a close-up view of this very
large crocodile.
Wed 8 Aug Tsodilo Hills in Botswana and Mahangu, Namibia
At Guma Lagoon we rose at 6:10
and roamed around the campfire until a sunrise breakfast.
I saw a brown-hooded kingfisher outside our hut.
We
packed our lunches and all helped load the truck which got us to Etsha
at 8:35. Mark told us that Etsha 1 to 13 were refugee
camps built for Angolans during the South African/Angolan war. Now they
house Botswanan people.
A
settlement of army tents was provided by the UN for flood victims.
 |
| Walking to rock art sites |
Back in our tour vehicle, we drove along a good road
until the turn to Tsodhilo an hour later, onto a dirt road with cattle.
UNESCO World Heritage description:
With one of the highest concentrations of rock art in the
world, Tsodilo has been called the ''Louvre of the Desert''. Over 4,500
paintings are preserved in an area of only 10 km2 of the Kalahari
Desert. The archaeological record of the area gives a chronological
account of human activities and environmental changes over at least
100,000 years. Local communities in this hostile environment respect
Tsodilo as a place of worship frequented by ancestral spirits.
The
hills are granite with many colours streaked down them. Yellow
indicates lichen. I think the black is also lichen, only occurring on
rocks where water would flow. David says the black is a result of
chemical weathering.
The red paint comes from haematite mixed with fat and blood.
The hills are named male, female, child,
grandchild, the highest mountain in Botswana at 1300m being the male
hill. Today there are only duiker and
kudu in the area but the 3000 year old San paintings indicate the abundance of
game then. 
Many are in excellent condition and give realistic rendering of rhino,
giraffe, kudu, eland, monkey, elephant, warthog, hyena, scorpion.
When Laurens van der Post came here in 1950s,
he killed a warthog and climbed up to view paintings with bloody hands. A hive of bees attacked him and this was
believed to be a retribution from the gods inhabiting this mountain. He had to wash his hands and ask forgiveness
before further exploring. That panel is
now
knpwn by his name.
Three odd paintings interpreted
as a penguin and 2 whales are puzzling, unless the sea
extended here at one time
 |
| All paintings were exposed to sun and rain though the most famous ones of rhino are protected by overhanging rocks. |
 |
| There are no paintings in caves, despite evidence of caves used for shelter. |
 |
Red paintings of eland and boys with erect penises, showing they are now old enough to hunt.
James guided us on Rhino Trail at this World Heritage site. He is
from the Hambukushu tribe. He described himself as black and the San as
white. Nearby there are 2 settlements,
one of Hambukushu and the other San. He said
there were no problems with intermarriage, just where to live. They do not practise circumcision these days
unless following the English tradition!
|
 w |
| Some white paintings of domestic animals done 150-200 years ago when Bantu arrived here |
 |
| We saw several aardvark holes (also used by porcupines to escape predators). |
I was pleased to
get a close view of the Pearl Spotted Owl. It is a small owl, finding it safer to hunt in daylight.
 |
| Friendly squirrel |
We had another shoe quarantine bath in Botswana. Immigration
procedures exiting Botswana
and entering Namibia
took some time, but all officials were courteous.
Namibia was a German colony. Its population is under 2 million. The economy is based on diamond and uranium
mines, fishing, beef and goat production.
They are aiming to use solar power with the help of German companies.
At Greater Bwabwata National Park we saw hippo, crocodile, zebra, warthog, kudu,
impala, steenbok, giraffe, lechwe. Good
views of buffalo and Martial Eagle.
 |
| Dark Chanting Goshawk with snake |
First sightings of Dark Chanting Goshawk , Reedbuck and
Bush Buck. Many birds, now familiar
–Great White Egret, Cattle Egret, Wattled Crane, several Darter, Reed
Cormorant, Blacksmith Lapwing, Jacana.
 |
Baboon exploring elephant dung
 |
| Rainbow Lodge restaurant |
Rainbow
River Lodge on the banks of the Okavango River in the Caprivi Strip has
comfortable accommodation, including camping. An energetic troupe of
dancers and singers entertained us with local items and finished with
the national anthem of Namibia. We each paid 50 R and it was worthe the
money. We ate a good dinner of beef stew followed by an impressive
birthday cake for Ann.
We were comfortably
warm in a well-insulated room at Rainbow Lodge overnight. The temperature was 0 at sunrise with fog rolling up the fast-flowing river. Glad to stand around a BBQ fire while eating breakfast.
The road
to Chobe National Park was in very good condition. Peter
pointed out that in 1995 you needed a military escort to drive this road to Angola.
Passed a
large complex of new brick 2-storey buildings which are a donor-funded
university. Namibia
appears to have much more commercial activity than Botswana.
Had lunch
after crossing the river between Namibia
and Botswana.
The banks had a troupe of baboons which
became interested in our food. Peter
threw stones to chase them away. We had
a good view of a fish eagle perching just across the road. In the river
shallows were grey herons, a great egret, storks and a jacana.
Driving
through Chobe National Park, I saw a bustard. Zebra and elephants were around and on
exiting the park, banded mongoose and vervet monkey.
The town of
Kasane looked
fairly upmarket but we drove onto Kwalape chalets where Monique greeted us with
glasses of mango juice (there is a mango plantation en route). We were housed in a new block of 6
air-conditioned units a fair way from the restaurant where we dined at
7:15. I spent the time before dinner
dealing with laundry.
Dinner
looked up-market but the food was very bland with bony impala chops and chicken.
Chobe National
Park
had more tourists than anywhere else we have been and we realised why by the
end of the next day. A small modern town,
Kasane, borders the park and has areas
with homes for the wealthy, often white South Africans. Very luxurious hotels and chalets line the
bank of Chobe river near the town. The water craft included a floating hotel, Zambezi Queen.
Our guide
was Webby from Serval Safaris, driving an open vehicle in poor condition over
very sandy roads. Sometimes deep sand required much physical effort with gear
changes. Webby was a good guide,
identifying all animals and pointing out their characteristics. He told us that sable, roan and oryx all belong to the same family and both sexes have horns and white face masks. The male sable is black, the female brown.
 |
| Male sable |
 |
| Buffalo |
I finally
saw Blue Waxbills clearly and got some new birds – Swamp Boubou, Crested
Francolin, Common Sand Piper, Yellow-billed Egret, Red-billed Teal, Spotted
Dikkop (thick-knee but didn’t look like our curlews), Black-eyed Bulbul,
beautiful orange Heuglin’s Robin, White-browed Scrub Robin looking just like
our scrubwrens, Puff-backed Shrike, Cape Wagtail, White-bellied Sunbird. He identified Wire-tailed Swallows, too fast
for me to see any features. We had a good view of a “Black Goshawk” sitting
75cm up a small shrub, but I can’t find it in SASOL.
 |
| Grey louries now called Go-away birds because of their call |
 |
| Hammerkop |
A large lioness was silhouetted on a ridge, part of a pride of 7 which other tourists
had been lucky to see just before we arrived.
Six vehicles were hanging around hoping for a better view.
We
breakfasted on rusks and coffee at the “Stretching Point”, where a flat expanse
gave good view of any predators and distant views of animals. At least 12 other tourist vehicles were there
and the toilet facilities of Capparis along a mound were in much demand. Capparis tomentosa was the divesshrub in Chobe
NP. Not palatable to elephants, it
provides shelter to many creatures.
An open
vehicle took us at 2:15 to the “jetty” for our sunset cruise. Many other boats were full of tourists on the
same jaunt. Our guide was very
knowledgeable and expert at getting close enough to almost touch the
animals. Near sunset, our first sighting of a Puku, endemic to Botswana , was much appreciated.
Birds were everywhere and
seemed unperturbed by the onlookers – kingfishers, storks, egrets, some new to
us – grey-headed gulls, white-fronted bee-eater, black-crowned night heron,
white-faced ducks.
 |
| Pied Kingfisher dives vertically from a height to catch fish. |
 |
| Tiny Malachite Kingfisher |
 |
| Maribou Stork |
 |
| Black-crowned Night-heron and Egyptian Duck |
I was glad to get
really close to Maribou Storks and a handsome calm Waterbuck.
 |
| Waterbuck |
We had several close-up encounters with water
monitors, sizes varying from 25cm to 1m.
 |
| Happy to view this croc from a boat! |
 |
| Elephants on the mainland |
 |
| Male elephant swimming to island just before sunset |
All boats
got into position for a sunset, whose colour was enhanced by the very smoky
air.
During the
day I saw 52 bird and 19 other animal species, more than in any other area.
We were surprised and pleased to find 2 new Toyota people-movers, not open-air vehicles, to take us back to Kwalape.
Monday 13 August
Awake at
5am for Kruger pick-up. Three other
people were on the 6-hour drive, an Indian couple living in Heidelberg
and a Dutch lawyer from Amsterdam,
whose wife is working here for a while.
A white man drove us in a spotless Toyota
people mover to iBones, where we transferred to a comfortable open-roofed vehicle for
the final 15 km.
Our
impressions of Jo’burg and surrounds were unfavourable – very smoky from
industry, mining and burning off to protect farmland from fire. Small houses with no grass or trees.
 |
| Xstrata chrome mine |
Saw 2 ostriches and later impala, with the
inevitable yellow-billed hornbill. Came
to a more affluent area with a very upmarket tourist industry based on fly
fishing. Later we drove through
Hoedespruit with competing Spar and Pick ‘n’ Pay supermarkets and walled
housing areas.
After a
well-wooded area, the road became very
winding and led us up through a tunnel
to, I think, Blyde
Canyon, quite
spectacular. Downhill, orchards lined
the roads – orange, mango - fields bordered by conifers.
Africa-on-foot
Camp is in Klaserie, an area of private concessions adjacent to Kruger
NP. The guides in the various camps cooperate to share information and
take turns to view special situations or animals, ensuring that no
crowds spoil things for humans or animals. On private property, guides
can leave roads and scrub-bash to get close to animals. Also,
agreements exist to allow those from adjoining properties to drive
outside their own preserves.
Once we
reached Klaserie, acacia ‘scrub’ dominated and we saw our first Kruger giraffe,
Swainson’s francolin and tree squirrel. I asked Isaac about rhino and to my
astonishment, we saw one very close to the road within five minutes. It was a male named Legend by the guides,
about 12-15 years and very relaxed, despite his telltale gash on a leg from a
rhino scuffle. He even ambled along
parallel to the road instead of the usual dash for the distant bushes.
Our first
impressions of Africa on Foot Camp were good. Corlia met us with welcoming drinks and our
rondavel, Rooibos, seemed even more comfortable when we found hot water bottles
in each bed after our evening drive.
Lunch was at 2:30, followed by a game drive at 3pm. We filled in the interval with laundry.
 |
| Yellow-billed hornbills in camp |
Fellow
guests were 4 Italians and 2 French families, most of them speaking good
English. Staff are led by Roel, with Tracey
and Andrew, trainee guides.
Blankets
were provided for our game drive, very welcome as the vehicle had no roof. The seats were more comfortable than those in
Botswana
and the weather not as cold. The drive
was punctuated by radio chat among drivers, giving information about animal
locations. Our first sightings were
birds – a purple roller, white-backed vulture, yellow-billed hornbill,
Burchell’s starling, lilac roller, cape turtle dove, fork-tailed drongo, helmet
shrikes, white-headed shrike, crested francolin, blue waxbills. A few elephants
were grazing beside the road, including a little baby.
 |
| Can you see the hornbill in the foreground? |
Our driver drove straight towards them and
one seemed about to charge. The driver
was quite unperturbed, so we had excellent views.
The action
really started when buffalo were spotted.
Our driver, with an outrider on a seat on the bonnet, left the road and
drove over spiky acacia straight into the middle of the herd, which he
estimated at 300-400. We had 2m between
us and the milling herd surrounded us.
He pointed out the difference in head structure between males and
females. A calf was suckling very close
to us.
Close
encounters with the Ross pride of lions followed later. The 2 adult males were asleep about 5m from the rest, and stayed asleep
despite our vehicle driving through rough scrub to stop right beside them. They are brothers, one with more black mane
than the other. When we set off to get closer
to the lionesses, one male yawned, opened an eye and went back to sleep.
There were 7 lions lying in the grass nearby,
4 lionesses, 2 juvenile males and one 2 month old cub.
 |
| Can you see the cub? |
On the way
back in the dark, a porcupine walked across the road and we had good views as
it moved into the bush and presented its back to us. The guide said it was male.
Drinks were
taken around a brazier at 7pm. We bought
a bottle of SA cab sav – I liked it.
Dinner was veg soup, lamb stew and rice, sago-type pudding, all OK.
Tuesday 14 August
Roel woke
us at 6am with a knock on the door. A
quick coffee and rusk later, and we set off on our 3 hour walk, just us, Kees, Roel, Tracey and Andrew. We
had to walk in single file behind Roel (plus rifle), and stay quiet. It was very peaceful and an even steady
pace. We saw a duiker, wildebeest, brown
snake eagle, juvenile fish eagle. The blue waxbill makes a nest using grass
inflorescence, placing it in the midst of a thorny acacia and near a wasp nest
for protection. The pottery wasp had a
home up from the waxbill nest.
Roel
stopped often to quiz us about animal tracks and teach us about them. Hyena and cheetah claws are visible between
toe prints, but not so other cats.
A pile of
sprayed rhino dung marks the male’s territory (as we had seen with
hippos). Giraffe scats are very
compacted as they live in dry places and retain all the liquid they can when
defecating. They often poo as they
walk. The impala ram makes a pile of
dung and the herd add to it, leading to an impala midden.
Roel showed
us a silk-lined 3cm hole in the ground, belonging to the Baboon Spider, which
did not respond to poking with a straw.
After
breakfast at 9:30am, the Dutchman Kees came from his overnight place to stay here
and the only other guests left were Nino, his wife and son, who live in central
Paris.
We did more
laundry, quick-drying in the sun and wind.
I sat on the tree-house bed, alone, to write up this diary. Nothing was distracting me, though I had
great views over the bush.
After 2:30
lunch of spinach quiche and salad, we went in an open truck with for a 4-hour drive. Saw blue wildebeest, dwarf mongoose, steenbok,
elephants; parked next to the rhino Legend, 2 ½ tons. Learned that his ears are notched for ID
purposes and that a transmitter has been inserted in his horn.
 |
| Dwarf mongooses (mongeese?) |
 |
| Lilac rollers were often seen |
Birds
included crowned lapwing, Natal
francolin, buffalo weavers, Swainson’s spurfowl, longtailed shrike, lilac
roller, helmeted guineafowl, and a White-faced Owlet, which David filmed that night.
The most
memorable sighting was of the Ross pride, minus the adult males and the lioness
with cub, eating and fighting over a dead impala. Only the bones, sinews and horns were
visible, with 4 lions joined together by the carcass, growling and occasionally
erupting into fight, perilously close to us.
One lioness sat aloof, chest and
front legs pink with blood.
The lioness
with cub was sighted nearby and not pleased to see the vehicles (two other
groups joined us). Roel decided to leave
her in peace.
 |
| Leading her cub to safety |
Wednesday 15 August
Out walking
again before breakfast, this time led by Enoch, and joined by the French lady. Saw white-crowned shrike, cardinal woodpecker
and white-browed scrub-robin but missed a good view of the hoopooes. Heard a leopard several times and Enoch
alerted Roel in vehicle, so the people with him tracked and found the female
leopard. We couldn’t find her. Roel’s group also found a lioness with 3 cubs
about 6 weeks old. Enoch led us downwind
to watch an elephant herd at a waterhole.
We also saw impala, steenbok and warthog.
 |
| Leopard dung |
Our
attention was drawn to dung and footprints, with Enoch quite stern in his
questioning. He would not pick up any
carnivore dung because of possible disease.
We saw tracks of civet, genet, porcupine, hippo, leopard, lion, elephant
and jackal; dung of rhino, kudu, giraffe, impala, warthog.
Elephant
dung is fired so the smoke will repel mosquitoes or cure headache. Dung may be
soaked and the liquid taken by women in childbirth to reduce pain.
Enoch
shared his bushlore and stories about many plants. The Transvaal
gardenia is used by a woman to get bigger breasts. She has to go naked to the tree and pick a
branch, bring it home and hide it from her family. Next she goes out naked and throws the branch
behind her, not looking where it lands.
Soon her breasts start to itch and she must rub them. Once her breasts are big enough, she must
find the branch she threw away and bury it.
Knobthorn, Acacia nigrescens, is used for fencing
posts, to make a barricade against wild animals. The knobs are powdered to make toothpaste.
The magic
evergreen guarri bush (Euclea divinorum) is
used for water divining and also for beating out fires as the leaves do not
fall off the stem easily. Twigs are used
as toothbrushes.
 |
| Kees and Enoch beside guarri bush |
Acacia tortilis, Umbrella thorn, has 2 small hook
thorns to each long thorn. Giraffe love
it. To prevent over-grazing, the tree
produces unpalatable tannin after 5-10 minutes grazing. It also communicates with other trees so they
also produce tannin.
Sickle bush
Dichrostachys cinerea subsps Africana, has
very strong spikes.
Pretty
impala lily, Adenium multiflorum, has
latex which bushmen used on their spears.
Jacket
plum, endaba, Pappea capensis, has good fruit. You sit under it to solve your problems.
Tamboti
tree, Spirostachys africana, has
poisonous milky sap which can hurt your eyes but makes good furniture – only
dead wood is used. Timber should not be
used for firewood as smoke causes headaches and nausea and food exposed to the
smoke is said to become poisonous.
Buffalo thorn, Ziziphus mucronata, is known as the burial tree. Its twisted branch is lain atop a grave so
the dead person stays there in peace.
Bushmen
grapes, Rhoicissus tridentate.
Sclerocarya birrea, Marula tree scratch trunk, get red
sap which can be used for dyeing and is base for Amarula liqueur.
Acacia exuvialis, Flaky thorn has long spikes – ants
live inside thorn and protect tree.
 |
| African hibiscus |
A German
couple arrived before lunch – Lars and Kristina.
At 3:30 we
went driving. Saw warthog – said the warts protect their eyes when
fighting. The bateleur is now called the
short-tailed eagle but the juvenile form we saw has a longer tail. Young birds need a longer tail for steering;
older birds can manoeuvre better with short tail.
Saw a grey
heron at a dam.
Colour of
bums on impala helps them get rid of ticks, which are attracted to the warmer
black areas. Impala can reach the black
for grooming. Their teeth form a comb.
Giraffes have
ossicles, hard areas covered by skin, not horns. Saw a big male giraffe. Head of male is bigger as calcium is built up
when jousting for dominance. In zoos
they may live to 25 years. Tarred roads are slippery for giraffes.
News had
spread of a sighting of the lioness with a white and a fawn cub, so the tourist
vehicles took turns to view her suckling them from a distance. We could not see her head but had views of
the cubs.
Saw a herd
of elephants and 2 bushbabies. Did not
find a leopard.
Good meal
of chicken peri peri, veges, salad and mousse.
Elephants
came to camp while we watched them drink from the swimming pool. As you can see, the pool is small. We didn't get too close.
Thursday 16 August
The French
family left early but the rest of us walked this morning. Roel and Enoch
both came, together with Andrew and Tracey (= 4 guides).
We drove for 20 minutes before walking.
Roel told us about ant lions and showed us the tracks made as they move under
sand to another place. Elephants can
strip the bark off a branch and then extract the cambian cleanly with their
grooved teeth (hence scientific name of loxadonta).
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| Roel and giraffe leg bone |
Mopane
antibiosis can slow the growth of other trees, either other mopane or other
species. Mopane is high in protein.
Sociable
spiders stay dormant in winter until insects return.
When
starting a mound, termites first dig
tunnels to ground water which they use to foster fungal growth and
air-condition the mound. Liquid from the fungus is used to stick sand grains
together to form the mound.
Highlight
of the walk was a downwind walk to a group of 3 rhinos, one big bull, a young
male and young female.
The bull trailing
behind and the youngsters were unperturbed by us until the bull took the lead
and started walking away.  When we got
back in the truck, Roel drove us to the
rhinos for close-up photos.
On the afternoon
drive, a small crocodile lay on the bank of a dam. Spotlighting later, we had a good view of a
wild cat for the first time, just like a big tabby. said they are interbreeding elsewhere with
domestic cats. Also a young spotted
hyena stayed around long enough for us to appreciate it.
Fri 17 Aug
Very windy
and cooler this morning so the morning walk changed to a drive, as the weather
would make it difficult to see animals (especially predators). Saw the usual suspects on the drive – impala,
kudu. Had a close look at a baby
elephant suckling at the breasts between
her front legs (only elephants and primates have breasts at the top/front
of their bodies).
We were
surprised by an explosion of sand – a warthog shot out from its ‘front
door’. I did not know they spent the
night in a burrow. Saw a male and female
giraffe feeding and learned that they shed the skin on their tongues every 4
days or so, thus getting rid of the thorns embedded while feeding.
Left
Africa–on-foot at 10:30 and waited at iBones for 40 mins until shuttle arrived.
Uneventful
trip home on South African Airways flight which featured better service
and entertainment system (it all worked!) than the Qantas flight over.
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No elephants, but plenty of dung.
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