An Ant Bit me on my Bum!

Burchell's Zebra posing with their friend the Red Billed Oxpecker.
Size 50cm x 45cm

 

An ant bit me on my bum! A tiny little black ant that had no business being in my bed. However, when you are camping in the “wilds” of Africa, ants are probably the lesser of the challenges you have to deal with.

Among others there are marauding Vervet monkeys who, it may be added, can open many devices such as zips to tents and clips on “ammo” boxes. And the list goes on.

My first foray of my African Adventure started in the Kruger National Park. A mild introduction to the “wild” bit. However, the list of visitors to our humble abode makes up quite a long list.  These are all chancers of another ilk. They have learned to navigate past the ignorance of the homo sapiens and rely completely on our naive natures. Smash and grab takes on another meaning in the Kruger Park where one is want to lose any number of food items.

During my stay of 33 days I learnt to open and close doors with more diligence than I would be doing in a high crime area in the city. I lost a packet of crisps, two nougat bars, a litre of Fruit Juice, a butternut and then the list gets murky because of my complacency. 

At Letaba Rest Camp we didn’t put up our tent but only used the awning roof (a nifty roll out version that takes only a few minutes to put in place). And, then I thought an ammo box would do the trick. To my dismay the moment I left the campsite the marauders arrived. They efficiently negotiated the four clips holding the lid in place and the list then included a packet of apples, 4 different packets of pasta, dried fruit, almonds, instant yeast, sugar and I am sure there are some items I have missed.

I expect that in the next few months when I move onto the Kalahari and Namibia there will be some more interesting challenges but I hope that I have learnt my lesson with regards to securing food.

In the meantime, I have managed to produce some work.

This piece is available and there is of course more at www.christinelamberth.com, so if you are interested in acquiring a little bit of Africa from my pen then drop me an email at art@christinelamberth.com and I’ll be sure to respond ASAP.

        

        with love from Africa

        Christine