Collected Moments of Survival

Title:  The Gaze Size: 70cm x 90cm Charcoal on Paper Framed in White Wood Frame Available from Fine Art Gallery, Swakopmund, Namibia THE YOUNG MAN OF THE ANCIENT RACE, WHO WAS CARRIED OFF BY A LION; WHEN ASLEEP IN THE FIELD While out hunting a young man ascended a hill as this was the best lookout post where he could wait. The sun was beating down and as the young man waited patiently he suddenly started feeling very sleepy. He decided that as it was so very hot he would first lie down and sleep before he started out on his hunt. While he was sleeping a lion came walking by heading to the nearby waterhole as he was very thirsty. The lion saw the man sleeping in the noonday sun and very carefully he picked up the man and carried him off. The man awoke startled. He then realised that he was now in the grips of a lion.   He decided that it would be best to not to react and to pretend to be dead as the lion appeared to think that he was dead. Should he move, the...

There is nothing quite like the first time. The first time for anything seems to occupy its own little domain in the brain almost as if an extraordinary place is created within your head. And so it was with my first time for a cheetah kill. The cheetah in the distance. Tanzania’s Ndutu plains do not have a replica anywhere in the world. The vastness is difficult to describe. It is a flat, open space that appears to have no end. There are no hills or trees from horizon to horizon.  This is not a place for the fainthearted or the foolish. Fortunately I am in a safari vehicle driven by a local Tanzanian who needs no directional instruction. She ignores our vehicle as she scans the horizon. The sun has just emerged from its slumber and the honey gold glow is gently spreading over the plains. Uncannily my guide spots some movement far off in the distance and he deftly manoeuvres the safari vehicle over the scrubby bush. The progress over uncharted scrubland is both exciting...

So I’ll jump right in and admit that my preconception of an African wilderness certainly skewed my idea of what to expect in the Selous National Park in the south of Tanzania. On arrival however, I am in for a bit of a surprise. Heavily wooded hills that are impenetrable is not what I expected in the Selous. The early morning rays shimmer across the varied landscape and the soft Equator light gently plays on blades of grass that are dancing tantalisingly inviting a landscape orgy. Resolutely, we move forward, we are here to capture the many animal wonders of the Selous. Each morning we pass the Impala herds as they graze in the cooler part of the day. Their pelts glow bright orange and are smooth and clean.   In the nursery herds the young skip and hop and play while in the peripheral bachelor herds there is a constant interlocking of horns that reminds us that the rutting season is not far off. Unexpectedly coming out of the forest a small Elephant herd will b...

Undoubtedly you cannot ignore the sights and sounds of the birds of the Selous in Tanzania. On most safaris the moment you set foot into a reserve you will become aware of the noise that fills the air like a well orchestrated symphony. The Selous is no different in that respect, but what is surprising, is the sheer volume of visible species on show. We leave the Sand Rivers Lodge on our first game drive and not one kilometre from the lodge we witness a Tawny Eagle demolishing a Buffalo Weaver’s nest. The pieces of grass fly off in every direction while a single Buffalo Weaver tries in vain to bombard the gigantic raptor. The cacophony of calls resounds back and forth as all the nest inhabitants flap to and fro valiantly and futilely defending their home. We leave them to it and head off in the direction of the Beho Beho Hills in search of Black Rhino. All we find however, are many journeys of Giraffe and some Yellow Billed Oxpeckers. In the following days La...