Collected Moments of Survival

The fine water droplets gently caress my skin. I am ensconced in a waterproof envelope and my gear is buried in layers of waterproofing. I pull my hat down over my hair as we set off with dawn breaking on the horizon. Barely 100 meters outside the camp we stop at the waterhole. On a dead tree in the centre of the small dam are two Pied Kingfishers desperately feeding a screeching juvenile. In the background a Giant Kingfisher is also searching for its breakfast and off to one side a little Malachite Kingfisher flits to and fro. In the water we can see a small Crocodile patrolling his territory while a Hippo keeps surfacing with a short spray and snort before disappearing again. Sadly, the light is really so bad the best trade off is to simply sit back and enjoy the spectacle. Our next encounter is with a young male Hippo heading determinedly towards a very small mud pool. He approaches the pool and with a hefty slump he falls into the mud. It would seem that he has been ousted ...

It is raining. The rhythmic thud of the windscreen wipers across the dripping glass, are a sharp reminder that I am heading into yet another, soggy weekend. The tyres cut into the water on the tar sending a rooster spray into the air. Once we hit Nelspruit and leave the escarpment behind us, the rain will magically dissipate, and there will only be hot dry Lowveld air. Ha ha, of course, as Nelspruit emerges from the gloom of mist and rain it is confirmation that I am in for another WET safari. By now I am well prepared with wet gear protection so I refuse to feel discouraged. Photography with no light is by now no longer such a big challenge. I have had many opportunities in 2011 to adjust to this. However, I am in Africa, aren’t I? The excitement of spending a weekend at Londolozi in the Sabi Sands Reserve however is not dampened by any amount of rain. I am on my way to Star in My Own Safari – a competition run by the Safari Interactive Magazine in conjunction with L...

Early morning warm-up. It is 5.30am and the sun is edging its way onto the Eastern horizon of the Makgadigadi Pans. We do not have far to drive. Just a couple of kilometres from Jack’s Camp is a group of habituated Meerkats, the reason for the trip to Makgadigadi. Family Bonding time. Extravagantly indulgent, this trip is costing an arm and a leg, but is a 25 th Wedding Anniversary celebration and therefore cost can be (relatively speaking that is) ignored. Slow start on a warm day. Finding a Meerkat in the wilds of Africa, or more specifically, Southern Africa is not an easy task when time is limited and expectations are high. Certainly there are Meerkats spread all over the Western climes of Southern Africa but the crucial factor determining a trip dedicated to them is that they should at least sit still long enough to be photographed and not be hightailing it off in the opposite direction at the approach of a vehicle. The grasslands are waiting. E...