December 1, 2013

Home…. 0220.

Sitting at my desk.  It’s surreal to be here.  At Kruger, it’s 1221.  If it’s hot, all of the animals have called a truce from the daily contest to huddle under some bush and pant in the heat.  Nothing will be moving.  Somewhere, right at this moment, twenty cars are stopped along the side of the road watching a group of lions sleep and pant miserably in the heat, idling their vehicles so they can run the A/C and not suffer any personal discomfort.

Our last full day in the Park was amazing.  We headed out early (but not with the first bunch when the gate opened) and encountered a group of three cheetah moving along the roadway.  Too dark to shoot but it was just so nice to see them as they began to run back and forth, revving up for a day of hunting.  We left the crowd with the cheetah and just headed south.  The main mission seemed to be to avoid crowds and to spend as much quiet time as possible enjoying the place on this last day.  We had yet to see a leopard and I think we both held out some slim hope that we’d find one on this last day.

As we headed south, we saw a vehicle pulled over on the side of the road and as we crawled by we saw that they were watching two lions dating.  I think that these were probably the same two we’d seen some days previously – he gnarly and with a face like 40 miles of bad road, and she cute, petite and unscarred.  It was still a little dark to shoot, but we pulled over next to the other vehicle and spent quite a bit of time with these two lovebirds.  And, we got bonus lion sex, complete with after-sex roaring by the male, making sure any other males in the area knew that he was here and didn’t care if you knew it.  After a while, the couple in the other vehicle left and stopped near our car to whisper how awesome that was and it truly was.  If you’ve never been near a roaring lion, it’s an inspiring thing and you imagine the fear that many people must face in small villages and farms when they hear that sound.

We also decided to leave the two alone and proceeded east along the paged road (H-6) where we soon encountered another small group of cars and three healthy female lions resting on the side of the road.  The road is built up a bit over the surrounding plain here, giving them a wide view of what was happening around them on this windy, blustery day.  They were very relaxed and we watched and photographed for a while, and then continued east.  We encountered then a very large bull white rhino, eating alongside the side of the road and then made our way to a hyena den I’d noticed the day before to find two teenaged hyenas sleeping outside. 

Later, continued north on the S41 and then west on S110 (both unpaved roads) back toward Satara, seeing lots of wildlife – mostly the usual suspects.  No leopards.

Breakfast, rest, then back out for the final afternoon’s drive and move to Orpen.  Decided to head south and then take S125 west and then S40 north to link back up with the road to Orpen – basically a very indirect, roundabout and not heavily traveled route.  It’s a beautiful drive, mostly through heavy bush, greened up by recent rains.  We were very careful around elephants (there were plenty around) because you couldn’t see them if they were only 10 meters off the road.  And then, as we rounded a bend, I saw here sitting in plain view up in a tree.  We found a leopard.  We stopped, got camera situated and watched for a few minutes.  She obviously didn’t like us hanging around and changed positions a couple of times before deciding to slink down the back side of the tree and quickly move off into the bush.  It was a short sighting but it was very satisfying, seeming like a gift to us at the end of this trip.  And it was our time alone with the leopard – we were in the middle of the bush and there were no other vehicles around. 

We continued the drive in high spirits.  Later, driving along S40, Gina hissed to stop and out of the corner of my eye I saw a male sable deep in the bush.  By the time we were able to turn around and get back it was gone.  Sables are very beautiful and there are not many left in the Park.  They’re apparently also very shy.  We cruised up and down that stretch of road for a bit and got one more glimpse of him but then he was gone like a shot.  A very nice sighting.

And in the last moments of light on this last day, we encountered a martial eagle with a warthog piglet up in a tree.  The martial is the largest eagle in Africa, I believe, and it’s a spectacular bird.  We were able to watch, and photograph, for a brief time and then it was off and the day was over.

The next morning we began the trip back.  We packed and hit the road, taking one last swing by the jackal den to see if we could find any hint of the pups – and we did not.  We drove back to Johannesburg on a route called the Highland Meander and it’s really a beautiful drive, climbing out of the lowveldt up to an elevation of about 6200 feet. We stopped and had lunch in Dullstroom – a pretty little resort/tourist community reminiscent of Sisters – and reached Jo’burg by about 1630.  Returned the 600/F4 to Penny of Wild Eye, and then began the process that is flying….  We arrived in bend about noon on Saturday.  By my reckoning, we’d been moving about 40 hours, confined in tight places with no opportunity to get horizontal.  Along the way, I know I experience a real sense of sadness.  Happy to see family of course, but the process of travel seems to separate you so completely from the bush and the contentment of sitting in a pretty glade somewhere, listening to the birds and waiting for the next thing to unfold in front of you.

We arrived in Redmond to see our daughter Aislin, see the in-laws, home to see the cats, nap, dinner for Az, sleep and up at 1230 unable to sleep more.

It’s kind of surreal and hard to describe the feeling of being here.  In a way, everything is familiar and like we never left.  It was a lot of effort and expense to have a short time in the bush and it goes by so quickly and now I’m remembering back, remembering which drawers contain silverware and which cabinets contain drinking glasses and where the light switches are in the dark.  The cats have been all over us.  I don’t know that they missed us, exactly, but they do crave routine and I think are looking for reassurance that the old routine will be restored.

And tomorrow (or today actually), we buy groceries, pay bills, etc. and prepare ourselves for work, for chauffeuring the 15 year old, for stressing about losing weight and all that other stuff.  We have a few curios to remind us we were there.  A few random bug bites to remind us we were there.  And the tan pattern on our feet from our sandals which, for a few months, will remind us.

And, I believe, start thinking about how to go back.

November 28, 2013

Orpen Rest Camp.  Thanksgiving Day, at 2045.

Just a quick note tonight.  Tired…

The word ‘awesome’ is so overused today that it’s largely lost its meaning.  But today was just awesome.  We took a short drive this morning, but encountered cheetahs (which I couldn’t photograph) and two sets of lions (which I could).  We then packed up to leave Satara, had breakfast and hit the road again.  We started with more elephant fun.  But the thing that had been missing, and which I’d begun to accept wasn’t going to happen, was a leopard encounter.  I’ve always been very lucky at Kruger and had never gone this long without a leopard encounter. We took S125, which is a narrow gravel road through thick brush and there she was, draped over a branch in plain view.  She was beautiful and allowed us to be in her presence and photograph her for a few moments before she slipped down the backside of the tree, and quickly disappeared into the bush.  We found her and had her all to ourselves for a few moments.  Those are truly the best moments here.

Later on the same drive, Gina spotted a sable.  The sable may be the prettiest antelope in Africa. The male is just stunning.  We got a quick glimpse of him but by the time I could turn around and go back we couldn’t find him.  On the third pass by, we saw him again but as soon as he realized we were looking for him, he was gone in a flash.  No photos (a pity) but a great find.  Sables are rare in the Park and I know that Oscar, the ranger who’d taken us on the bush walk at Letaba, had never seen one.  We’ve seen them twice on this trip.  Very lucky.

Then a tawny eagle being confronted by a group of helmeted guinea fowl (now what was that about?) and finally we closed the day with a sighting of a martial eagle with a warthog piglet.  Martial eagles are I believe Africa’s largest eagles and they’re a damned imposing sight. 

All in all, an awesome way to spend Thanksgiving Day.

Tomorrow we sleep in, pack and head out the gate toward Johannesburg.  We’ve decided not to try and get a last drive in.  We wanted to not feel rushed or stressed and so we said our goodbyes tonight.  I’m very sorry to leave but am anxious to see my daughter Aislin.  We’ve both really missed her.  So mixed feelings really.  Sad to leave the beauty here behind.  Happy at the prospect of seeing Aislin and the cats.  I just wish the bush wasn’t so far away….

I’m so grateful to my boss Rick for letting me take three weeks off and very grateful to my team for carrying the weight so we could get away and go.  I’m very lucky and for all of that, I have many reasons to be thankful on this day of thanksgiving.

November 27, 2013

Satara, 1330.

Sitting at the table in an open porch.  There’s a light overcast and it’s warm and humid with a gentle breeze.  It’s weather that reminds me of a Gulf breeze down in south Texas.  We’re close to the Indian Ocean here – Mozambique is to the east and it sits on the coast. I’m sure ocean breezes are blowing in from the east.  It’s probably too warm for my friends who’ve only experienced the frigid Northwest but it seems very pleasant to me. 

Sipping cool water and eating oatmeal cookies.  Does it really get much better?

Lately it’s been about lions, and all that entails at Kruger.  Day before yesterday, as we were driving the long uphill climb to Olifants just before gate closing time (1830) we saw a group of cars parked on the road.  That means only one thing so we stopped at the end of the line in time to see first one, then ultimately four, male lions walk out onto the road and walk down our direction.  We sat quietly in the car as the lions walked by, one at a time, so close that we could have almost touched them.  We could hear their footfalls as they padded by.  These were not Hollywood lions.  These were street fighting lions – gang lions, maybe – scarred and gnarly and looking for trouble.  It was already deep into twilight and I think people who spend time around lions will tell you that there’s something about a nighttime lion that’s very different than a daytime lion.  They’re much more purposeful and confident.  Their eyes dilate in the dark and they really do look right at you as they walk by.  I’ve been this close to lions many times now and it’s still a rush.  You involuntarily control your breathing so not to make a sound and signal to them a living presence in the car, though you know they know.  It’s awesome.

Yesterday we moved down to Satara, spending time at a hyena den on the way.  Then in the afternoon we took a drive down S100 east of Satara and saw a group of hot, sleeping lions panting under a tree.  Most of the time you see lions, this is what you get – hot, sleepy lions panting under a tree, surrounded by a gaggle of vehicles with diesel motors idling.  We didn’t stay long.  We drove on to Swemi Hide, a lovely spot overlooking a pretty waterway, and watched birds for a while.  Saw and photographed my first malachite kingfisher – probably the prettiest jewel in Africa.  Came back via the H6 and found a car parked on the side of the road, watching another hot, sleepy, panting lion.  We watched for a while and then realized that he was actually sitting right in front of a female and they were on a lion date.  They were in an area where the grass was just long enough that if they lay down, you can’t see them from the road.  Not ‘you could hardly see them’.  They actually became invisible.  Then you think about all of the animals having to walk around through this grass…. He was very old, with broken teeth – probably in the last year of his life.  She was young and hot and could have any lion in town.  What she sees in him, I’ll never understand.

Light was too harsh and way too much heat haze to do much photographically, so we just watched for a while and as we were preparing to head back a young couple stopped their car to tell us that a lone male lion had killed a buffalo (?!) just 5 meters off the road about 12K from here we were.  It was late – too dark to shoot really – but we headed down to do a reconnaissance.  We found the kill and indeed this very old male had killed a buffalo calf.  There were many cars around and it was quickly becoming dark so we headed back to camp with the plan of coming back in the morning.

So this morning we were up at 0345 and found ourselves on the inside of row 2 when the gate was opened for the standing start.  It really is just ridiculous but we held our own, blocking like it was F1.  Three hundred meters out the gate, we ran into three cheetah on the side of the road.  That slowed us down a bit.  There are only a few cheetah in the Park (maybe 200?) – I’ve never seen one here – so we watched for a bit before proceeding down the road toward the kill.  We were the second vehicle there, positioned ourselves and then waited for the sun to come up finally giving me an opportunity to do a bit of lion shooting with pretty backlighting.  It was cool and never did become oppressively crowded (must have been lions elsewhere…).  Once the sun was truly up and covered by the rolling overcast, we pulled stakes and went back to the hide.  Not much happening there but was able to shoot some hippo fun as a tiny baby hippo played with its sibling.  Then here, breakfast, got the car washed (hopefully Hertz won’t have a clue what this vehicle’s been up to), shop, a short nap and now write a few words before heading back out in the next hour or so.  That’s life here.

And we’re wrapping up.  Tomorrow we move to Orpen for our last day here.  Next morning we’ll be up early and on the road to Jo’burg and the forever flights and tight connections back to Bend.  Don’t want to think about that though.  We still have some road time available and still have squawking starlings to listen to.  So much life here.

November 25, 2013

Olifants Rest Camp. 

Midafternoon and I write this from the table of our small kitchen/eating area overlooking a broad bend in the Olifants River.  We moved from Letaba to Olifants yesterday and somehow I had the great luck to book a bungalow overlooking the river.  Olifants Camp is built high on a bluff over the river and the view is truly lovely.  It’s warm, but not hot, humid but not oppressive.  A soft, warm afternoon with the sound of the river below and patterns of cloud shadows moving across the green hills in all directions.  This bungalow is situated on a point in the bluff and as I sit here I cannot see another structure (except of course for the electric fence…).  It’s a place where you could sit for hours and feel compelled to do nothing but watch the changes in light. 

I was fortunate to book this place but unfortunately for only two nights so tomorrow we pack and move to Satara as we begin to wind down this trip.  In less than a week we’ll be home.  It seems impossible that we’ve been here for two weeks now.  We miss Aislin and the Pipers and the cats but neither of us is anxious to leave this behind.  Especially with this beautiful afternoon.

I think the time flies by because we’ve been so busy.  Basically we do three things.  We sleep, though not enough.  We eat.  Like kings.  We drive.  We drive hours every day.  It’s what we’re here for and every day rewards the misery of sitting in a car with at least some little gift.  I think if we had longer here, we’d take days off and just sit around camp.  But we have so few days here.

We’re mostly cut off from the outside world.  There used to be limited internet at Lower Sabie and Skukuza, but now there’s no internet at all in the Park. I’d been able to use text messaging here in the past so my plan was to be able to stay in touch with family and friends via text, but the plan isn’t working.  I was able to send/receive texts when I first arrived here but then I suddenly stopped receiving both texts and voice calls.  I spent part of a day calling Verizon global support but in the end got nowhere (“Do you have another phone you can use, Sir?  Is there perhaps a land line you could use in your hotel? Are you able to place outgoing calls?” – “Um, I called you, remember?”).  Since then, there have been a couple of occasions where I was able to send/receive texts for brief periods but then they’d stop.  I’d not planned to turn data on the phone because it’s apparently very expensive and no one could give me any sense of HOW expensive “very expensive” is.  But I did turn it on for a brief time, and my phone was flooded with information, mostly via Facebook and Twitter.  And from that I got two bits of news.

The first is that Dario Franchitti has decided to retire.  I was pleased to hear this news and I suspect that most of my friends in the IndyCar community feel the same way.  Dario had a massive accident in Houston.  As I recall, he fractured some vertebrae that didn’t require surgery, fractured an ankle which required two surgeries, and suffered a concussion which I suspect was bigger than anyone let on publicly.  Dario is, I think, 40 years old and in the twilight of what’s been a great career. He’s charismatic, articulate and is genuinely liked throughout the racing community.  He is an historian of the sport and a person of real substance.  He’s achieved great success in a sport that actually is kind to very few drivers - I believe that Dario’s won the Indy 500 three times and was national IndyCar champion four. He’s a driver who makes friends and has as a result suffered real loss in this sport.  I’m sure that’s weighed heavily on him, especially considering that his accident was a close thing.  The physics are such that just a small, random difference in the trajectory of the car or construction of the fence could mean the difference between a concussion and a fatal head injury.  I’m sure that it was a difficult decision for Dario and I don’t know what he’s got in mind yet for the future, but I’m happy that he chose to leave with his health and legacy intact.

The second bit of news was of the passing of my uncle Ed Skaren.  Eddie was my cool uncle.  He married my dad’s baby sister so he was younger than my other uncles.  I served as the ring bearer at their wedding, which happened to be on my birthday (I think I was about 7?).  I remember wearing a white jacket and how vital my role was, carrying those rings on a satin pillow.  I remember that Eddie raced modifieds on the dirt tracks of western Iowa for a brief time, and him telling a story of barrel-rolling the car one night (Lights. Dirt. Lights. Dirt.).  That was enough to enshrine him as a darned cool uncle in my book.  He was also a lifelong motorcyclist.  And, he had a tattoo.

I’ve grown apart from my extended family over the years.  No dramatic reason – just caught up in my own life stuff.  And our politics are different and it seems that can sometimes be difficult to overcome when you’re young.  As I get older though, those things don’t seem so important, and I mourn the passing of my cool Uncle Eddie.  My thoughts are with my Aunt Marilyn and all of their children and grandchildren.

And back to Kruger.  As I’ve been writing this I’ve been visited by red-winged starlings and now by an African tree Squirrel, making their cases for the almonds sitting here on the table.  It’s verboten to feed the animals and I won’t feed them, but, dang they’re cute.  The squirrel is spread-eagled on the cool stone of the little patio, just watching me, plotting his next move.

Two days ago, we went on an early morning bushwalk at Letaba.  Bushwalks are guided by armed rangers and give guests the opportunity to stretch their legs and to see and appreciate the little things that you can’t see from the car.  They’re typically not the place where you’re going to see the Big Five, but you have time to talk about tracks and scat and the birds and insects.  On this morning, Gina and I were the only guests so it was like our own private walk.  The rangers – Cecilia and Oscar – were personable and fun.  And, while you generally don’t run into large animals on walks, we bumped into a lone cape buffalo and had to go into a defensive mode, which was pretty exciting.  In the end, the buffalo, which can be unpredictable and dangerous, just moseyed off and we stopped to get our heart rates down and take a break.

Last evening, we photographed hippos from a close distance at a low water crossing and found a hyena den.  We went back this morning, hoping for great morning light.  We didn’t get the light, and he hippos were gone, but we spent a long time watching hyenas and hammerkop fishing in a small draw.  It’s hard to express how nice it is to just sit and enjoy the sounds and smells and not feel hurried to do anything.  Have to figure out how to bring that back.