A Walk On The Wild Side...

We had an early call the next morning for our walking safari. We were up, dressed in our bush clothes (i.e., khaki and beige), and at the meal tent right after sunrise for a quick breakfast. We then met up with our walking guide (Alex, shown holding an elephant jaw, with his very large rifle leaning against his hip) and our guard (Joseph, shown holding his very large rifle).

While things were getting organized I remembered that we had left the small binos in the tent, and decided to go get them.

I was about 30 yards from our tent when a small herd of waterbuck (such as those shown here ) hiding in the brush were flushed by a vehicle on the other side of the hill. They charged across the trail just a scant few feet away, scaring the bejeezus out of me. It seems my walking safari had already started. After restarting my heart, I quickly grabbed the binos out of the tent (fortunately I didn't have to change my shorts) and went back to meet the group. Today it would just be Catherine, David, and me with Alex, Joseph, and their large rifles, which they loaded as we stepped out of camp.

There are some real advantages to taking a walk in the bush. For example, you feel very exposed, and gain a greater appreciation of your true place in the web of life. Also, getting out of the truck lets you see a lot of things that might be otherwise missed: small birds, insects, tracks, and bones, for example. Our walking guide, Alex, was a walking encyclopedia of natural history knowledge about the bush, and brought a lot of humor and fun to the experience.

The tracks we saw were both interesting and a little intimidating. The first, an elephant, was enormous, and filled with fine veins captured by the dust. These veins are apparently so unique that they can be used to identify individual animals. Surprisingly, elephants are quite light on their feet, and wander the bush almost silently at night, When they step in soft mud, however, their enormous mass becomes quickly apparent.

During this walk, we would only see elephants at a distance.

The second track, of a lion, was almost as big as my hand. The pocketknife in the picture is almost five inches long. We saw this about halfway through our walk and spent the remaining time out feeling like we were being watched.

We saw a quite a few waterbuck and impala as we wandered about, but the real prize was a lesser kudu. This is a relatively rare species of antelope, with distinctive white stripes and spiral horns. Given that the lesser kudu has a large flight distance, we were pretty lucky to see this one embedded in a group of waterbuck.

At one point, Alex stopped and indicated a bright white marshmallow looking substance on the ground and invited us to guess what it was. After thoroughly exhibiting our ignorance, he revealed that it was hyena scat. Hyenas eat a lot of bones and their scat is filled with calcium. Although green when first deposited, the scat soon weathers to a very distinctive bright white.

After a few minutes he picked up another marshmallow-looking object stuck to a twig. This turned out to be a mantis egg case, and had a texture not unlike styrofoam.

Not long after seeing the egg case, we found a mantis hitching a ride on our camera strap! The coloration and physiognomy of the mantis makes its camoflage perfect for the environment

Termite mounds are everywhere in the bush. In fact, it is thought that in terms of biomass weight termites are probably the most common creature in Africa. The mounds can be huge, with chimneys like this 20 footer reaching high into the air. They are also complex structures with chambers and tunnels for varying purposes and extensive thermal regulation systems.

One of the most interesting aspects of the walk was to get to see pelicans fishing as a group. The small river were were walking along contained a lot of catfish. The pelicans, as a group, drove them into a small area, then proceeded to feast. When the pelicans became disturbed by our presence and moved off, the pool practically boiled with the agitated fish.

It was about this time that we noticed a large group of zebra on the other side of the river. After a few minutes, they seemed to be departing, so we did, as well.

One of us (David, I think) turned around to look back only to see a small herd of buffalo coming down to water. This was our first chance to see these large and dangerous animals, though we would see many, many more before we left Africa.

There were quite a few other small wonders to be seen this day, and a lot to learn. I hope this gives you some idea of the beauty and complexity that is the african bush.