Collected Moments of Survival

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...

The question of course is how it should end?  Waking early today is really easy. The anticipation of even more bush action makes rising an absolute pleasure. However, the rain is back again. A gentle mist has settled over the Sabi Sands Reserve. Our smiling faces belie the obvious challenges of travelling on an open vehicle with rather sensitive camera gear. Using blankets and ponchos, we wrap everything up tightly and head out. This time we head out West of the Lodge and we are looking for a pride of Lionesses that have brand new cubs. A sudden shout from Geoffrey our tracker brings the vehicle to a stop. He points off to the right into a sea of long grass. We scour the bush desperately screwing up our eyes and only after he literally takes out his ruler and pointer can we see what it is that has him so excited. The tiniest tip of a Leopard’s ears. It is the mating couple. They are far from where they were last night. It is astounding that he managed to see this tin...