Who is who?

Who of you have been on a safari? Ok, that's a lot of hands up. A trip to the park or even the zoo? Well, I don't know about the zoo, but I sure can tell you that I would not be surprised if I went there to see the leopard in its cage...and, wait for this..it wasn't there.
Darned cats! They are superb at hiding. Yet also superb at being totally visible when they want to be seen. Yet another typical cat trait. There is a ginger cat that owns our house - totally. Occupies it, owns it, (forget the landlord) uses it, abuses it, makes a mess, leaves hair wherever for the housekeeper to clean.. Well the list is endless. That Darned Cat. And that applies to the elusive little ones each time we go on safari. Love them. I think, I hope. No, I am sure I do.
So who is the "boss" out there? Of course we do know the answer. Not us. All the cliches are right - we are merely visitors, passer's through. Animals will dictate at times, what we will or won't see. I have tried, mostly, to be honest enough about that. Yes, it takes a good guide to get you there at the right time but it also takes that element which belongs totally to the animal we are hoping to see.
I am not one for the glitz and glamour of turning each corner and finding a 'big one' or a 'special'. Did we miss the ants crossing? Did we miss the dung beetle trying to cross? Did we miss the leaves falling? We need time to savour the world around us and on our safaris we do try and remember that. Not always. But nearly! And remember that every minute that I am out there looking at nothing, I am looking for the cats,and the specials. But I remember what else is around us.
Our last safari had a lovely surprise lion at sunset, a day of seeking out the 'girls' whom we did not see, and a lovely leopard sighting near the end of the tour. Add to that some of the most beautiful impalas; close up, calm and stunning elephants; kudu, sable and roan, warthogs and baboons, birds and birds, buffaloes falling (?) out of the trees (that's surely a cliche) and excellent human company with lovely food in camp to boot. Well, what more is there? Luxury? A, exscuse me for saying this, hair dryer? Yes if you insist..but that is second to the experience of finding out Who is Who on safari.
Enjoy. It's worth it.

Safari August-Sept 2010

Coming to share the shade of our truck - eventually we had to leave him in the sun!

A rewarding safari with the Vanson family and Will and Julie. Some excellent lion sightings and lots of other game. Seeing the mysterious Savuti Channel in full flow, and a partially flooded Savuti Marsh, was a bonus! Get out here and come share this wonderful, true African wilderness camping safari with us!

What is Time?

The Chobe River, one of my favourite spots here on this bend,to sit and watch the sunset from my boat, always accompanied by Marty the Jack Russell. Although clouds have these stunning formations, how often have you turned back to look at them again, just minutes later, and they have changed? An obvious observation, no great scientific enlightenment in that one. But that is time, all changes with and in time. Nothing in the material universe will stay the same. And we are but material as well,our bodies. And thus we change through life.
I have been watching the progress of my grey haired beard more recently, since the last two years. It seems to be on a mission of catching up for lost time!
It strikes me as difficult to keep aspects of time in place. I know that I have just recently struggled to get understanding on why something which has happened, is gone, done..never actually leaves us. Even when we think that it will no longer bother us, the present has a way of bringing the past back to either remind us of something or to hit us with some unpleasant memory or association. And we don't seem to have immediate control over the effect this has on us.
Time. Along time ago, can still be right here with us now. Memories, recollections, whatever they are called, never leave us.
And we must remember that what we are doing NOW, will be there in our future as a a memory. Why I can even remember when my beard was definitely NOT grey!
I have been on some wonderful safari tours since my last posting, sorry for the abscence, but I do not yet have, nor will I have, internet connection in the bush whilst on safari.
Here are a few photos to remind us that even out there all we see today will not be the same tomorrow. I am often asked whether my tours don't become boring, I am covering the same areas time after time,year after year.
I have never answered "yes"to that, because it is always changing and always something is new or different. Again,Time.
What is that young baboon thinking as he sits there? What is he doing now? Just as we would, I hope he savoured that beautiful moment and has it stored in his memory as a happy, peaceful time. And the trees, Baines Baobabs, have been there for thousands of years, but without memory as we know it. Yet they stand and change with Time. And we, whoever visits there, stand for a time around them and think of the quiet solitude they have endured.
Well, it's time for bed, too. The longer I stay awake, the less timeI have to sleep; and it's time for me to go, and spend some time resting before it's time to get up. Time and again, Time enters into our thoughts consciously, many times in our conversations. It is always there, passing, making what is our lives. Making my beard grow more grey!
Enjoy your time here (reading my page), and then go on to enjoy it whereever you might be from this moment on.