Back to the My Life When It is Written
August 18, 2007
I’m still looking for help in finding who did the quote I live by, My life when it is written will read better than it lived. Come on and help me out here. I was thinking it was Oscar Wilde, but not. Samuel Coolridge? Anyone who can offer assistance will be greatly appreciated.
It’s been a while since my last post, but to those who know me, they know my life usually revolves around animals. Two years ago this summer, I took off for a month’s vacation tracking lions. As if my life wasn’t interesting enough, I went from the noise, heat and congestion of a summer in New York City to a game reserve four hours north of Johannesburg. What follows are my notes, and some photos, from that time.
July 11, 2005
Just a quick note to let you all know how things are going.
As per my last trip to Africa, I’m freezing and putting on weight. How does that happen?
Our daily routine is up at 5am and out at 5:30am for the morning game drive. We are using telemetry equipment to track the two collared lions (one is the dominent male the other is a sub-adult female). Generally speaking, we find one or the other and then usually the less dominent male and the other sub-adult female are nearby.
However, our first encounter with them was on foot. We had tracked Blondie (the dominent male) to within 50 yards and could see Selati (the collared female) and Shaka (the other male) with him. We turned to walk back to the car, with me bringing up the rear. I thought I was being followed, but sloughed it off to feelings of paranoia. Then, our guide turned around and started throwing rocks and shouting (he also cocked the rifle)…yes, the female was having a bit of fun and stalking me. Well, now I know what it feels like to be bait. I remember the sounds of the lions at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago; imagine that same sound from 50 yards without a fence. What fun!
We also see impala, dikker, aardvark, genets, civets, a caricle (sp?), eland, wildebeest, sable, nightjars (interesting birds with lots of feathers).
Good Kitty!
July 18, 2005
Today was a very exciting day. We picked up two new volunteers – Magda from Holland and Paul from the UK – we selected names for the four main cats (and my choice was one of them, Mica), and we witnessed a kill.
Magda notices that Paul’s room is quieter than it should be and kindly knocks on his door. Yep, he’s fallen back asleep somewhere in mid-dress. Ah, the joys of rising at “sparrow fart” hour (thanks, Scott, for your colorful descriptions of what otherwise would be a boring o’dark hundred.)
We sleepy few go about getting ready for the drive, testing for the females (#80 at +1 at noon) or the males (#04 at –1 at 11 o’clock). Luckily for us they seem to be frequenting the same areas – Golan dam for a drink? Euphorbia Kopje or just below it? Well, anyway, for a few days it seems, we can find them without too much trouble.
Then, it’s off to the bucky. Oddly, we girls seem to be great about volunteering for spotlight, GPS or data recorder….it’s the telemetry duty that seems to come down to short straws.
After watching Inkanya and Shaka sleep away most of the day, we happened upon Inkanya (Blondie is still his call name) digging. It was dark and we positioned ourselves about twenty feet away. We settled in and realized that Blondie was on top of a warthog den. He would intermittently dig, snort and then stop for a while.
Approximately 11 minutes into the effort, Blondie’s digging took on more effort; it was only at that time that we moved the spotlight around and saw that Shaka was sitting regally a few feet away from him, doing none of the work. We started to hear squeals when the warthog decided to make a run for it, but to no avail. Blondie was on her throat immediately and Shaka was attacking her hindquarters with so much energy that her four piglets escaped. Luckily for us, since the little ones ran right at the Land Cruiser and I could not say for sure if all five of us would have remained in our seats with a 400 lb lion charging after them for dinner!
Not now, I’m sleeping
The days took their usual form of morning game drives @ 5:30a and afternoon ones @ 4:30p with various sightings of the lions – one morning I could get the signal, but couldn’t see the girls (now named Selati (collared) and Mica (uncollared)) until we looked up and there they were, perched on a kopje looking down on us. Or, during the week the boys (Inkanya (collar, dominant male) and Shaka (uncollared)) were playing coy and we’d have to walk to them…I really do need to update my lens prescription!
Paul provided some humorous experiences. Young and athletic, he was worried that he’d get bored with the simplicity of the routine. However, who was it that wanted protection when the “gerry” (giraffe) headed towards the car – they are very inquisitive by nature. Or another night when we had been talking about elephants only to be cut off at an intersection by a trotting rhino, he asked if that was the average height of an “ellie” or if the one we’d just spotted was short? About those English educations???
In between game drives, we managed to paint a room, make paper out of Rhino dung, test our spitting skills in an Impala dung spitting contest, visit a reptile reserve and learn something for the bush kids we were supposed to be entertaining (just how am I supposed to compete with an 8-year-old whose father is a reserve manager in a game of name that paw print?)
We also took time out to try and locate the elephant herd. The matriarch was collared years ago, so we could get her signal but they were usually up in the northwest section of the reserve. One morning we thought we’d get close (why was it always me that got to walk with the telemetry equipment? Didn’t they know that I can’t walk and chew gum at the same time?). Anyway, we’d get close and then they’d move – based on whether the wind had changed so they could smell us or we had walked to noisily. Scott was not to be deterred by the first failed 5k hike so off we went again, bushwhacking over mapone and buffalo thorn trees (not good for the tires, ask me about the girlie way to get an over-sized tire on the lug nuts!). We drove and hiked some more until finally we spotted a half dozen of the herd, but not the matriarch. We crouched in the bush so they couldn’t see us, but again the wind changed. There’s something about backing away, slowly and quietly, from large pachyderms that gets the pulse racing. Who needs aerobics.
Back at the bucky, another challenge awaits us. Yes! It is another chance to change a flat tire. So glad that Sophie taught us the “girlie” way to get those big tires over the lug nuts!! Everyone gets a chance to help with the tire changing – jacking up the car, loosening the lug nuts, taking off the tire, putting on the tire, tightening the lug nuts, removing the jack and…Scott? Did you remember to tighten the lug nuts again?
I would highly recommend the experience to anyone who wants something besides the usual tourist safari. Cherice and Scott Fuller are great people who love the animals and their country.
Posted in Stacy's Escapades, Travel, Things of Interest
