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Hi guys
Well it's just another SH**%T day in Africa August through to October has been hectic - so many fond memories, so many new friends and so many wonderful sightings of the Kruger's fauna and flora and the relationships between them - I have decided to call this story "Symbiosis" A journey juxtaposed! SYMBIOSIS - A JOURNEY JUXTAPOSED 
There are defined symbiotic relationships between all the elements in Kruger - relationships between predators and prey, mutually beneficial relationships between the oxpeckers and the mammals, parasitic relationships between animals and ticks - even the grasses and the grazers have evolved to share a common goal - and the goal is always survival!
My journey through the Kruger as a guide and amateur naturalist - being with people who for one or another reason want to experience nature's way - and then watching as they suddenly realise that there has always been symbiosis, but the journey is juxtaposed! During the past few months I have been privileged to meet many people - all who have for one or another reason, shown me that our journey is one track of a railway line, and the Kruger's is the other. Sad in some ways because we are faced with the knowledge that our two tracks will never meet again - but at the same time have come to rely entirely on one another for survival. A mono rail used to drive the train forwards - when we were still part of all these relationships, when we were bitten by ticks, preyed on by predators and subject to environment. There are still some of us - scattered communities of homo sapiens native to the world's diverse eco-systems, and still living in its complicated symbiosis. I have spent several weeks on safari with as many diverse people as there is eco-zones in the Kruger. From hunters to honeymoon couples - birding enthusiasts to botanists, from  children to grandparents - all who have ended up loving the Kruger, and all who will hold up the flag for Kruger's continued survival as the unrivalled cornerstone, and one of the finest examples of conservation in the world. For this privilege I am extremely grateful. Being a proud South Africa is made very easy knowing that we hold one of the great keys to life on earth.
I have decided to paragraph this newsletter into sections that explore the people I've met, and somehow interpret the fantastic lessons I've been taught by them - and to try and assimilate each lesson into bush examples of symbiosis. Just married Mike and Una were on honeymoon with the Kruger and Bearded Heron Safaris. The Kruger displayed its role as protector, showing off small elephants in the care of their mothers - nursery pods of hippos and giraffe as they taught lessons to their young. A fascinating encounter with two people who opened their hearts to the Kruger, and the Kruger reciprocated by showing off her colours - knob thorn trees in creamy-yellow display with the scattered reds of the weeping boer bean and creeping acacias - all playing sensational host to magnificent sunsets and sunrises - Ah! Mpumalanga - home to the rising sun host to new life. Thank you to Mike and Una for the pleasure of partnership - I enjoyed every minute of our safari and wish you both well - cheers! Hunting with the moon My time with the Morici family was undeniably an extraordinary lesson. Mark loves Africa, and is set to return many times but on this occasion mark brought his family - their first time. For me a nervous time because Mark had quite simply entrusted me to show and interpret his love for Africa to his family. Quite a job but made so easy by the willingness and enthusiasm of Cheryl, Lauren, Abby and Joshua. 
It is humbling to see people fall in love - Cheryl's elephant at Boulders - climbing up a granite torr in the darkness, and Joshua's birds. This safari will always be remembered for one experience - Hunting with the moon - It started one night, a solitary cough of a male leopard on territory - imagine the sound on a still night - the sawing wood in a riverbed, then a few minutes later a warning bark from a baboon roosting in a fig tree nearby. The bush was wrapping her magic around sounds, interactions between predator and prey that we couldn't see but we could hear.
The next morning we became a leopard, trying to interpret behaviour - unravel footprints in the sand, assess habitats and feel the presence of Africa's prince. We were limited, our vehicle could only go where the sand road led - meandering in and out of the Timbavati river - the leopard could have gone anywhere but we understood that the leopard would prefer the dense foliage..Then the monkeys spoke to us - vervet monkeys shouted chirp repeatedly - A far-carrying alarm, easily localised and in reaction to a major mammalian predator. Watch the monkeys! Where are they looking?! Suddenly some movement from nearby - on a fallen tree trunk dappled in sunlight - the leopard 10 metres from us - monkeys shouting chirp, chirp, rraup and racing up the tree to get a better look. I'll never forget the scene - a relaxed predator (perhaps lazily planning an ambush for that night) exposed suddenly by raucous alarm barks of monkeys, excited chatter of visitors and camera shutters whizzing and clicking - The leopard went into the grass a split second later - instantly committed to making a disappearing act - irritated at being found and confused by the sudden increase in activity - the leopard disappeared into the grass less than 6 metres from us. What an experience!  The teasing cisticola
This bird 'teasing cisticola' doesn't appear in the bird books but with Mike and Irene Snelling, birding enthusiasts armed with a two and half thousand bird sighting list from all over the world - the safari was going to be fantastic. 149 species of birds - and cisticola's only on the last morning. The weather showed her diversity - we were been taken up and down the barometer like a yoyo and with jackets donned one day, and t-shirts the next - the Kruger displayed her birds to us - raptors, water-birds and terrestrial birds galore - even a scare from a black mamba as she sounded her warning at us who unwittingly disturbed her poikilothermic ways one sunny morning. No wallaby's (well sort of) no all blacks (well sort of) and no springboks (well sort of) The Fankhauser family (Tilly family) safari was full of fantastic reflections - a pot pourrii of palaeontology where conversations evolved from the beginnings of our own history (forget homo Neanderthals) into what our role within the bigger picture has become. Perhaps the monorail became this two-track train ride juxtaposed to symbiosis and now running in partnership because of our weaknesses as a species, or because of our success and strength as a species? Rhetorical, unanswered but definitely worth discussing. I really loved the exploration, the laughs, the adventure and the memories of just how much of a fantastic teacher the bush is for children - I look forward to seeing Josh's presentation - and to walking with Mark and Tilly in the future. Stephanie will always be a leopard - silently watching and learning. A walk on the wildside 
Nigel and Paula's safari was about walking - four hours a day for four days and lot's to remember. A really fantastic itinerary - walking is a very different to game driving in that it allows time to explore the finer, smaller aspects of the Kruger's enormous diversity. Yet we were still able to come into contact with the larger mammals. Our nights were filled with great campfire conversation.
Herds of elephant were prolific around Roodewal, and the Timbavati river played host to many of our walks up and down the ryolite hills and seringa trees. Sunsets were magnificent and the night sounds enthralled us all. This is really an itinerary that many of my previous guests will enjoy. Well that's all for now. I am truly sorry that it has taken me so long to put together a newsletter but I've been in the bush (the 'but' was especially for Mark Fankhauser!) I thank all of you for participating in what is my dream come true - sharing this wonderful place, learning wonderful stories and meeting fantastic people. Please write to me and keep me updated as to how you are - The only thing that gets to me about this safari business is that I keep meeting wonderful people that slip away once the safari ends. Kind regards Neil Heron The Bearded Heron |
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Kind regards Neil Heron The Bearded Heron Send your comments to neil@beardedheron.com Subscription information: To refer a friend : click here (and add an e-mail address) |
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