Spending an afternoon with Rhinocerosesss

Animal Count: 3 white rhinos.

One of the game walks I was particularly looking forward to was with an expert on rhinos.  He was an expert guide on other things too (including an alarming array of easy to prepare posions), but his big thing are big things. Pretty well the biggest things, apart from some of the larger elephants.

The plight of the rhinoceros has been in the news for quite some time.  It's all to do with their horns. Because of their size and power, it is believed to be an aprodisiac in some countries, such as China.  The horn is made of keratin, the same material as hair or finger nails, and not bone.  It has as much medicinal value as chewing your fingernail, which means nothing. But traditional, cultural myths are hard to fight against, and so rhino horns are worth hundreds of thousands dollars on the black market. Imagine living in a poor country, with a large family to feed, and no job, and maybe HIV AIDs medication to pay for.  It's not hard to imagine you would be tempted to poach a rhino horn and set yourself up financially for life. 

Rhino horn has also traditionally been used for the handle of ceremonial daggers in some countries in the Middle East. Again, the rhino's strength and aggression are why their horns are so prized.  And if you are from India or China, and you have always grown up thinking rhino products are of value, and you can now afford what your father couldn't, it's not hard to see why you would want to have these items of elevated status.

The big problem is that the populations of China and India are huge.  Almost 1.5 billion in China and 1.25 billion in India.  They are the two most densely populated countries on the planet, and account for about 36% of the world's population. I can't quite get my head around that, because neither China or India are the largest countries by land mass.  That honour goes to Russia and Canada respectively.  Russia is the largest country in the world, but it's population is 143 million, while Canada, as the second largest country, has the puny population of 36 million.  Together Russia and Canada make up 2 and a half percent of the world's peoples, compared with 36%

So there is a big problem with poachers killing rhinos for their horn.  They come in at night, with guns to stun the animal and saws to take off the horn.  Sometimes a trusted guide or a vet turns criminal and come in a helicopter, shooting from the air, swoop down, get the horn and there they go.  Then the poor rhino is left to die, bleeding to death, sometimes over days.  It's very cruel.

skeleton of a white rhino killed for his horn

Note the gaping hole where the horn was cut off

And note the bullet hole

And so unnecessary, because, just like hair and nails, horns grow and can be thought of as a renewable resource, just like lumber.  Removed humanely, horns can be cut down, and then regrown about every 10 years.  So one rhino can provide 4 horns in the standard lifetime, with no more drama than a haircut or manicure.

Educating people about the issue is the key of course, but there's a problem.  We are running out of time. Or rather, rhinos are running out of time.  Rhino mommies have just one baby at a time, and two years apart.  So they take quite a long time to reproduce, and they are dying much quicker than that. 

There are five different species of rhino: Javan (in Java), Sumatran (in Sumatra), Asian one-horned (in India), White and Black (both in Africa).  In 1988 everyone thought Javan rhinos were already extinct, but there are actually about 60. Not zero, but pretty darn close.  60!!!  Sumatran rhinos are the smallest, but considered the most critically endangered because their 1000 or so are scattered and not so protected as some of the other animals in national parks.  Efforts are now being made breed those in captivity to try to save the species. Asian one-horned rhinos have only one horn (well, duh!) and can swim but that doesn't protect their numbers from being not much above 2500.  Once found living across the whole of Southern Africa in the hundreds of thousands, the white rhino was considered extinct in the late 19th century, but then a tiny population was found and now there are about 10,000 white rhinos, which sounds like a lot, but not compared to what they would be without poaching.  The black rhinos number anywhere from 2500 to 5000 depending on which saurce you believe. There are some that believe the world will be completely without rhinos by the year 2020.  By the way, white and black rhinos did not earn their name due to colour.  White rhinos have a wide mouth, as they eat only grass, whereas black rhinos have a sort of beaked overbite to bite off the twigs and bushes they eat besides grass. The only theory vis a vis names is that the Dutch (Afrikans) "Weid mond rhino”, means “Wide-mouth rhino.” but the Brits thought they were saying “white" and that was that. 

Some ideas to thwart the poachers include harvesting the horns at intervals and sell them through legitimate channels, with proceeds going to further breeding programs.  Others are to hire armed guards for every park (and almost every rhino), with directions to shoot to kill.  Fencing programs are the simplest idea.  Identifying horn products by their DNA to nab sellers and thus black market enforcers is perhaps the most complex idea.

Certainly one of my favourite safari moments was sitting low to the ground near 3 female white rhinos with a guide who has known one of them from the day she was born.  He called in a low 'moo' sound, which they knew, and they allowed us to hunch closer.  Then the guide ushered us to sit one at a time with "the girls" right behind us to have our photo taken.  One person considered it the supreme act of confidence to turn your back on 3 full grown rhinos only about 10 metres away!  But I never thought about that.  It seemed a natural thing to do and I placed my trust in the best of human and animal nature.

Day Break and Mended

No place does sunrises and sunsets like Africa.  I speak from some experience as we were up well before dawn, breaking camp and loading the truck and setting off just as a grey haze lightened the air.  We got used to saying good morning as we passed each other going to and from the toilet, or at breakfast dipping rusks in instant coffee.  I probably saw more sunrises in two months in southern African than I have the rest of my life. 

Maybe it's because when you are being driven out in the bushland it's so easy to sit and watch the sun rise. and the day begin, sending nocturnal animals to return to their hiding places. Likewise with sunsets, as we generally got to our new camp, set up, looked around, and settled ourselves someplace where we could watch the sun go down in good time before dinner was ready.

Sunsets were more dramatic of the two I think.  I have never really seen a sun like it.  Blood red and so clear cut it looked like it was cut out of a Japanese flag. A sort of haze around it, which only sharpened the circular orb.  Then milkey greens and pinks and oranges, and a shocking gilt edge etched on any clouds that happened along.

My iphone was not up to the challenge of translating what I saw into a photographic image to be shared, but I lay some out for you, so that you can imagine them even brighter and sharper and more brilliant as only nature can bestow.

*note - these photoswere all taken on different days
Some sunrises:

 

Some Sunsets:

 

For the Birds

I know there are bird lovers out there and I apologize for not having given you the same attention as I have the animal enthusiasts.  So here is the list of birds that I was able to identify during my time in Southern Africa. If you don't see your favourite African bird, it doesn't mean I didn't see it. I probably did. But I am limited by a brain that can only remember so much before being able to look it up in a book, or consulting one of our guides. I'm afraid you will just have to roll your eyes and say "tsk" and imagine them. 

Even so, there are quite a few.  So get yourself a cup of tea or something, and here we go. In no particular order:

Bird Count:

ostrich, francolin, guinea fowl, cape gull, jackass penguin, sacred ibis, flamingo (greater and lesser), pied crow, African skimmer, yellow hornbill, red hornbill, Egyptian goose, spoonbill, fish eagle, African darter, grey heron, parrot, turkey, social weaver, kori bustard, male chanting goshawk, secretary bird, house sparrow, dune lark, white backed vulture, brown snake eagle, cape glossy starling, spotted eagle owl, African red eyed bulbul, open billed stork, pied kingfisher, egret, lilac breasted roller, African jacana, crested barbet, African open billed stork, reed cormorant, Cape cormorant, alpine swift, laughing dove, blacksmith plover, southern ground hornbill, African pied wagtail, bearded woodpecker, fork tailed drongo, rock martin, black eyed bulbul, magpie shrike, red billed oxpecker, orange breasted sunbird, white billed sparrow weaver, yellow fronted canary, long tailed shrike, red backed shrike, long tailed shrike, crimson breasted shrike, Cape turtle dove, bateleur, Swainson's spurfowl, commn ducks and geese and chickens, speckled mouse bird, white breasted cormorant, blacked headed heron, common moorhen, red knobbed coot, avocet, black winged stilt, sand grouse, martial eagle, go-away bird,

and pigeon.

 

Livingstone I presume?

Words I remember - but never really knew more about Stanley finding Livingstone in the wilds of Africa except those understated words.

Livingstone is one of those rare men from Europe: remembered fondly by African natives.  He started off as one of those ubiquitous missionaries, landing in the middle of Africa and seeking converts to Christianity.  He wasn'tpartcularly good at that as it happens - he is recorded as having converted only one African. But he was also opposed to slavery and that was what he was well regarded for.  Another popular skill was medical, as he had studied medicine in his home country of Scotland and later in London.  Being able to heal made him popular with local chiefs and clans, not surrisingly.

He is really known for being an energetic explorer, and his most famous discovery was Victoria Falls (*surely someone happened along them or fell in them or something before, but he was the first to make this fantastic place known to the "civilized world").  His motto became "Christianity, Commerce and Civilization,"  believing these would free the world from the tyrany of the slave trade.  This made him all the keener  to jump into the bush again.  The local African countries knew new trade routes would afford them some dignity and even up their role with the rest of the world. Britain was all behind him and he was appointed Her Majesty's Consul for the East Coast of Africa.

One of his most publicised enterprises was to find the source of the Nile.  His theory was that it was Lake Tanganyika, but he got that wrong. And he wasn't really the first person to even 'discover' Lake Victoria, but his fame was such that most people thought so. (sorry about that John Speke).  This particular exploration activity featured failing health, desertions and reports of insanity (those Victorians loved their melodramas), and his seeming disappearance gave birth to a publicity stunt by a newspaper to send out a journalist to find Livingstone. Cue Stanley. 

Well Stanley eventually did find him, although finding the only white man in the area probably helped.  Livingtone was urged to return home, but Stanley was rebuffed, and Livingstone ended up going deeper into the continent than any European had ever gone.  Not a lot of good it did, as he died of malaria and dysentry at the age of 60.  Someone got the body back to London - that can't have been a pleasant job, I wonder who pulled the short straw - and it sits (lies?) in Westminster Abbey with the other tragic/heroic figures.  There are many stautes to this intrepid and romantic figure, but this one must be one of the best, where he gazes out to Victoria Falls.

Vic Falls

Animal Count: elephant, giraffe, baboon, warthog, gemsbok, sable, water buffalo, kudu, impala, crocodile, antelope, banded mongoose, monitor lizard, ground squirrel, monkey

Victoria Falls have become known as the adventure capital of Africa.  You can do any number of crazy things, as well as milder fare like walking among lions and elehants (!)  But we weren't interested in any of these.  To us, the town of Victoria Falls was interesting enough on its own and we opted for a slower pace. 

There are not many cities or towns in the world that sit at the crossroads of four countries (Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe).  We were in the Zimbabwe side, but there is a bridge that acts as the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia, and its possible to get a pass to walk out halfway and return again without officially exiting and entering again.  This bridge is known by the locals as ZimZam, and we put a toe over the line to get as close to another country as is legal. 



Martin at ZimZam

looking back to the bridge

The bridge straddles the gorge formed by the Zambezi river, with the famous Victoria Falls on one side. It was built in 1904 by the Brits (who did like their bridges) one year before the opulent Victoria Falls Hotel, which is still a picture into yesteryear's glamourous travel.  The old railstop is there right in front of the hotel, and it would have been wonderful to travel the famed Cairo to Cape rail journey, stopping off here for a Pimm's in the garden, or a 7 course dinner in the grand dining room, or jsut a cup of tea out on the terrace with a view straight along the gorge to the falls framed by the bridge.


Looking down to the Victoria Hotel
and over lines for swinging over the gorge 

the old railway station

lobby at the Victoria Fall Hotel
gin and tonic anyone?



the bridge with a bungee jumper in situ

In the middle of the bridge it is possible to see someone hurling themselves off and down into the river, just before their bungee cord bounces them back up.  In the afternoon you can also discern another crazy swinging across the gorge on a rope, swinging back and forth until they hang and look down at the rocks and rapids. 

The falls are best seen by way of a national park, which is an excellent idea, because you leave behind all the cafes and touts, and walk from view point to view point each one more dramatic than the last.  We are here in winter so the water level is very low, a third of what it is in the rainy season.  I can't imagine that, it seems pretty impressive now!

There is a permanent rainbow at one spot, and if you are here at night under a full moon, there is a lunar rainbow. 


We didn't wander anywhere here at night, not because it was dangerous with the human element, but because elephants and lions and warthogs roam the streets at night.  During the day we see the warthogs as well as baboons and monkeys, but they are less worrying, especially in daylight.  Our lodge manager warns us on pain of death close the big gate if we are going or coming, to ensure her garden does not become an elephant snack.



Martin as close to the falls as he liked

What I like best about the national park is its casual attitude to safety.  It was possible to walk to the edge of the cliffface opposite.  Not that we did.  But it's nice to think we could have.

Although this town is made for tourism and pretty well Zimbabwe's only hope of a peaceful income producing location, I had two dodgy meals experiences.  The lodge had a brai our first night (as well as a rather cheesy native dance exhibition) and the sausage tasted a bit too gamey.  The second night we were in a cheerful cafe Mama Africa, who also presented a rather cheesy native dance exhibition (by then I'd seen 4) and the worst salad I've ever had.  Billed as a greek salad, it bore no resemblance to any greek salad I've had before, consisting largely of a rather meagre amount of raw onion, with one slice of red pepper, for which I had to pay $6 US.  Hmm.  won'tgo there again, although my fish as good - plain and unadorned, but good.

A Most Romantic Evening



An indelible memory of Botswana was a mokoro ride in the dusk, slowly poling through the lily pads and high grass, the only sounds the dip of the polers pole moving through the water, and the grunts of hippos as we passed their usual watery pathway.

It would be called "punting" in England, but as that is a football term for me I prefer poling.  Polers make their own poles, using a hard wood and smoothing it so it is comfortable in their hands.  A small fork at the end prevents the pole from getting stuck in the sand.  He or she (we saw old ladies punting with speed but without even a sound stands in the stern, placing his pole on the sandy bottom of the delta, then pushing the boatalong, before lifting the pole out of the water and starting again.  There was some splashing, but not too much, and the cool water was welcome on our warm skin.


see the pole's wee forked end?

grasses on one side



papyrus on the other side

Hippos are such heavy creatures that they spend most of their time immersed in water.  They look like they are swimming but are really walking along the sand mounds and bars that swell in teh water's currents. They are able to stay underwater for several minutes, and can also raise only their eyes and ears and nostrils above the water's surface to inspect.  If someone gets too close they growl in a throaty huffy kind of way.  Sometimes they open their great wide mouths to really let you know who is boss.  Being herbavores, it would be easy to think that they are harmless, but they coexist with crocodiles, so nature has given them a wicked defense mechanism, a bite that can cut a lion in two.  They also have a bit of a temper so have a reputation as being one of if not the most dangerous animal around, big cats included.

Once past their trail to land where they feed and sleep all night, looking like a pile of grey stones all piled together, they are quiet and we paddle further into the delta's lagoons and byways.  There are lily flowers in bloom, large white beauties and a smaller variety our poler called "eyedrops".  Birds fly past, on their way to nests and night feeding. Martin caught a fish with his bare hands (aided only by a net below the water's surface, which would serve as dinner for a poler or two.

water lilies that start purple and end white

eyedrop lilies

beautiful winter colours

We found a bit of open water to see the sun slowly set, a now familiar red ball descending into pearly mists.

 

Time on the Delta

past cormorants, fish eagles and storks in the trees

Animal count: springbok, black-faced impala, elephants, wildebeest, black faced impala, red haartbeest, zebra, giraffe, donkey, cows, oxen, hippo, crocodile, goat, reedbuck antelope, warthog, ostrich

My idea of a delta always included an ocean or a lake into which a river eventually emptied.  So how to explain Botswana's Okavango delta?  The country is landlocked, so no ocean.  No lake either. 18.5 billion cubic metres of water every year spread outwards from the Okavango River like an open palm. And then, it just evaporates. Literally.  The dry, arid air and the Kalahari desert just swallow up all the rivers and lagoons and streams. This makes it an incredibly important landscape for animal and bird life. 

ready to board

Krusty with all our bags and the food

this itty-bitty thing won't hurt you

whoa, but this big old thing will!

Our delta journey began on Sophie the truck, as all our journeys do.  We pulled up at the river front, met by a speedy little number which moved us (people in one boat, goods and guide in another) twisting and wheeling along a channel for an hour. 




Botswana burros on the bank "ooh eh eh!"

The banks of the river are tall with grasses,  papyrus among them.  I was glad I was not at the helm as each channel looked like the rest.  We spied crocodiles sunning themselves, some of which were enormous.  It is possible to swim in the Delta, but you need to hvae at least one guide or poler there to ensure safety.

4x4 with a flat tire - what can cause a puncture in sand???

a Botswana shop and sewing business

Eventually we pulled up and emptied into a 4x4 which slithered along sand for another hour, making stops to pick up bread and beer. 

Transport #4 is the mokoro, a sort of canoe that is operated by a poler standing at the stern. 


poling white people

romantic, as long as the boat stays upright

Two per mokoro, we gently moved through the shallow water another hour or so until we reached our island destintion.  These mokoros were fibreglass, but the traditional boats were made of hard ebony or sausage tree (so named because its fruits look like a long cured sausage hanging in any Italian deli.  Not really edible, they do serve a medicinal purpose, as one of our number discovered.  Her unexplained and pervasive hand rash was treated with a rub of this fruit, Kigelia Africana, and within a week the rash was gone! Needless to say she bought a cream made of this plant to take home). 

skipping right past doctor and pharmacy to cure

All our polers were competent, which is important.  It is very easy to tip these long narrow boats, and the waters are not all that safe, with crocodiles and hippos ready to impose their wills upon you. 

Suspicious eyes

Hippos are herbavores, but they don't like intruders, and can crack a 20 foot crocodile in half in seconds with their super strong jaws and teeth. Every once in a while a pair of eyes and ears pop up and regard us as we pass.  The water is so shallow at this point that hippos are a permanent feature, moving their enormous bulk in a slow march from feeding ground to sleeping ground.  We cross their waterway path and they regard us suspiciously until we move along.



We must sleep in tents as it is too dangerous to sleep outside with all the animal life.  We must goo to the toilet in twos when is dark, or else just pee outside the tent.  This is now not such an outrageous idea and our roadside stops have had us squatting beside a scraggy bush or a thorny hedge, or even by nothing at all when the desert lies flat on all sides and vehicle traffic is rare.  But what toilet affords such a magnificent view of elephants or baboons walking past? 

a scenic spot, at least in daylight!

if these are in place, the loo is vacant

The advice was sound, as one night we could hear scratching and grunting sounds, sometimes twigs and leaves crackling, sometimes a sort of "gruh, uh, uh" sound.  It went on for hours as we lay in our tent listening.  I wanted to open the flap to peek, but knew that if the eyes out there ever noticed the eyes in here we would end up being on the night menu. Animals pass tents as if they are rocks, but nice fleshy humans are a gift with purchase.  In the morning we were told that our highttime visitors included one elephant, a herd of hippos and three lions!  Hippos make such odd gutteral sounds that I thought my "gruh, uh, uh" was them but no, we had real live lions walk among our tents! 

That and a lazy mokoro ride at sunset were true highlights of our days there. 

We played card games and went on game walks. 

serious business in three languages

"this is a tree"

goin' on a lion hunt

I moved my sleeping mat into the bush aways and did yoga, feeling serene in a sun dappled spot, dry winter leaves falling on me occasionally.  Bush showers are refreshing and short, but I made myself slow down and take in the experience. 

fill the canvas bucket with water,
hoist it into the tree,
turn the dial at the bottom of the bucket
and voila!  a bracing bush shower

no peeking around the wall!

Seeing the delta from the air allows a completely new perspective.  Animals have cut paths through the landscape, and can be seen moving along to drink precious water in this dry, winter time.  Entire herds of elephants and wildebeest move in a no doubt familiar pattern, their bulk large dots with legs and trucks and horns. 



the Delta as seen by a cartographer

the Delta as seen by me



human trails



wildlife trails

 

the wide winter march of the wildebeest

a few elephants out for a stroll



not a "Bolt" but a "Butler"

Botswana has little of the colonial past to get past, unlike Namibia, Zimbabwe and especially South Africa.  It has been independent since 1966, and was guided by sound leaders who laid out plans for a democractic and peaceful land.  Its borders now encompass rich diamond fields as well as incredible numbers of wildlife.  In fact, I think this country holds more promise than wealthy South Africa.  Healtcare and education are high on the country's agenda. But it is largly roadless, and difficult to get around in, which makes tourism also a big ticket item.  Locals are hired as guides and drivers and polers and cooks, and high end camps for flying in and out for those with little time provide income for many all year.

a couple of African Skimmers in mid-skim

the lily pads of the Delta