Back and Blue.

To all of you who have been raptly and vicariously following our South African adventures through this blog, it should come as no surprise that it has been entirely Chris's handiwork. As in most matriarchal societies, both human and animal (see elephants and lions), it is the female that does most of the heavy lifting while the male sits back and idly scratches his nether regions. Over much of the course of the ten short days we were on the ground in South Africa, the camera was clutched in one hand or both and the viewfinder fused to her eyeball. She snapped somewhere in the vicinity of 1500 photos, which hopefully we will get around to posting on Flickr for you to view in their entirety, if you care to, at your leisure.

Now, it is my turn to wax rhapsodic.

We are back home in South Carolina now, and speaking for myself, feeling somewhat conflicted. Yes, it is good to be home, especially after the 34-hour, 9,200-mile trip from Shamwari Game Reserve to our garage door; but I'd be lying if I didn't say that my heart is still somewhere back at 34 degrees south latitude. South Africa is truly one of the most wild, beautiful and diverse locales I have ever visited. Granted, neither Chris nor I have ventured outside of the States in many, many moons, other than to the Caribbean, so our world view, I suppose, must seem rather myopic by those who have travelled much farther and wider than we.

Mere words fail to adequately describe this veritable sliver of the Dark Continent. Africa is far, far more than the place Where the Wild Things Are, though that is the main reason why people go there, and we will both admit that seeing The Big Five played heavily in our desire to go there, as well. Chris, after all, like many of our generation, was weaned on the movie "Born Free" and the seminal story of Elsa the lion cub. For me, it was probably more about Tarzan and King Kong. Whatever the motivation, Africa has long been on our "bucket list" (to use a hackneyed phrase) of places we wanted to visit before we die.

Just as my migration south to Charleston was in large part influenced by the lyrical prose of Pat Conroy and other Southern authors, my fixation with Africa, and particularly South Africa, was given birth by Wilbur Smith, author of dozens of historical adventure novels set in Africa. Not only adept at spinning a good yarn filled with exciting plot twists, selflessly noble heroes and deliciously nefarious bad guys, Wilbur's scribblings are notable also for the massive amount of research that backs them up and for the exquisite detail that gives them life. Through his narratives, I learned about tribal and colonial history, about tracking and hunting game, and how indigenous tribes, not unlike our Native Americans, utilized every part of the animal to ensure their well-being and their survival. The animals were preyed upon, but at the same time they were venerated by those very same predators. There is a certain nobleness in this. There is, however, no nobleness in the senseless slaughter of animals for trophies: elephants for their tusks and even today, rhinoceros for their horns, which are indiscriminately and savagely harvested by Asian syndicates for their supposed (and scientifically debunked) aphrodisiacal qualities. I could go into excruciating detail as to how these ruthless profiteers go about this butchery, but I will spare you that, dear readers.

I am not a hunter and it is simply not in me to kill another living thing, except for perhaps cockroaches. However, I like to think that were I in a position where I had to kill to survive and provide for my tribe, I would do so. Hunting for sustenance, and to ensure the survival of the larger animal species that his is being hunted (culling the herd, so to speak) is noble, though I suppose many animal rights groups would take me to task for this. To our modern sensibilities, the slaughter of game animals is, to many of us, abhorrent; but it underscores the symbiosis between the human and animal kingdoms and the delicate balance between order and chaos, nature and civilization. Few places on the globe exhibit as starkly this dividing line between nature's dominance and man's need to control.

Lest you accuse me of rambling on, all this leads up to how we felt when we visited Shamwari Game Reserve, where we spent the last part of our stay. It was the hunt without the kill, if you will. As such, it was a thrill for Chris and me to find ourselves involved in the "art" of tracking game, to witness the subtle clues and nuances as they presented themselves and then coalesced into a roadmap. Our guide Phillip was a man of Xhosa and "coloured" descent who bore an uncanny resemblance to Charles Barkley. (This is a compliment; "Sir Charles" has long been my favorite basketball player, both for his talents on the court and his observations off of it.) A learned naturalist and veritable encyclopedia on every animal and plant species to be found in the African bush, Phillip's tracking talents were uncanny. Not only could he spot and identify and animal five kilometers way that appeared as only a dot on the horizon to us (even with binoculars riveted to our skulls), he could divine the identity and course an animal had taken by the consistency of its spoor; the absence, presence and relative strength of the odor of musk or urine; track marks and hoof prints that to us neophytes were indecipherable from one another; bent blades of grass. It was nothing short of astounding how he could lead us to our "prey" with unerring accuracy. Round a corner and, boom, a pride of lions or the often very elusive leopard sitting right in front of you, pretty as you please.

Fascinating as it was for us to sit in a Land Rover and observe the might and majesty of the animal kingdom up close and personal. Phillip made us abundantly aware that we were not in a zoo and the the laws of nature are harsh, unremitting and inescapable. For each and every species, from the lowly dung beetle to the comical warthog to the stately giraffe, the wise old elephant, and even the mighty lion who has no natural predator except man, each day could well be their last. Age, disease and natural selection are cruel taskmasters.

Africa, and South Africa in particular, is no stranger to conflict, strife and upheaval, whether unleashed by man or by nature. You get the feeling that everything is as old as time here -- eternal and immutable -- and that man's presence in the long run will be felt as much a tick bird on a rhino's back. This is, after all, unless you happen to be a Creationist, the birthplace of mankind; prehistoric man has been all but proven to have originated here, and tools fashioned from bone were unearthed at Blombos Cave on the southern Cape coast that date to as much as 100,000 years ago.

This is a land of contrasts; there are no gray areas, no soft focus. Everything, except for the gorgeous African sunrise, is abrupt and meant to make us keenly aware that we are but bit players in this act. The way the mountains thrust from the sea and the plains takes your breath away. The color and the play of light on the landscape is indescribable. With in a distance of ten kilometers, the vistas and the geography change ten times. Lush forest gives way to arid scrub land, which turns to blood red rocky mesa and then to golden grassland and then to olive, dun and lavender-colored bushland and veld.

South Africa is a land of stark contrasts in its people, as well. Just as, as a Yankee transplant in South Carolina I am often startled at the juxtaposition of immense wealth to abject poverty, this distinction is multiplied tenfold in South Africa. The infamous "townships" envelop major population centers like Cape Town, Jo'burg and Port Elizabeth. They are not slums; they extend for hundreds of square miles and the vast preponderance of them can scarcely be categorized as hovels. Yet, tour buses visit these areas and the residents (we are told) are happy to show tourists where and how they live, and to sell them foodstuffs and crafts. When I first found out about such tours, my instinctive reaction was one of revulsion. To go there to "gawk" at such unbridled poverty seemed to me either the height of exploitation or a paltry attempt to buy trinkets in order to expiate white man's guilt. I broached this observation with many people I met: white Afrikaners, "coloureds" and black Xhosa. To a person they all averred that those who live in the townships take pride, or perhaps adverse pride, in where they live. While most have no choice but to live there, many see it as their duty (my word) to promote awareness of their condition and to tell the larger world that they have not and will not be beaten down. Not by generations of British colonialism and indifference or under the harshness and brutality of sate-sponsored apartheid.

I'm not sure I can accept this concept or so blithely explain it away, but it does make me think and reassess. It is disturbing to me, given my vantage point as a lily-white American and having grown up with the real (or imagined) ideal that one ultimately controls one's own destiny and can aspire to be anything one desires, to see the after-effects of a culture that deliberately conspired to keep an entire race of people down and "in their place" and stymied any attempts at self-determination and self-betterment. In ten days' time, I heard many candid, unvarnished assessments from whites and blacks as to where their country has been and where they think it it is headed. I am not about to tell you, on the basis of having spent little more than a week there, that the future is all rosy. It is not. This is a country, like many others, including our own, with serious economic, social and political problems. What I find fascinating, and uplifting, however, is that barely two decades after the fall of apartheid, people seem to be willing to discuss their problems and their concerns openly and without rancor. As an aside, it is amazing what a galvanizing force Nelson Mandela has been and still is in this country. Without engaging in hyperbole, he is venerated by whites and blacks alike, and without his appeals and ministrations to both ends of the color spectrum and all points in between, South Africa might very well have descended to the depths of chaos that Zimbabwe experiences. There, as here in the States, people talk about stupid and corrupt politicians, the government wasting money on roads and infrastructure and not enough on education, housing, HIV/AIDS. What I take away from this place, something that I think our own country would do well to emulate, is that they make an effort to communicate and compromise, and they do it with dignity and civility and without loud voices.

I hope that this trip is not the last one we will take to Africa. Indeed, it has whetted our appetite to go back there. Our daughter Sami has described South Africa as the the most most beautiful place she has ever seen, not just for its physical beauty but for the beauty of its people. I agree, visiting this country changes you. Neither Sami nor her parents have seen but a tiny fraction of the country, let alone the continent; but the visceral effect even such limited exposure can have on you is evidence of this land's immense power.

It was a great trip, and we learned a lot. There wasn't a day that went by that didn't open our eyes to something new or wondrous or thought-provoking. We hope you enjoyed the blog. It was great to have you along for the ride, and we hope that you will have the opportunity to visit this "lekker" (Afrikaans for "awesome") place.

Salani kakuhle. Stay well.

Chris and Nat

Our final game drives....at least until we return!

While the cheetahs continued to elude us (unusual, according to Phillip, since they are usually very visible, while the leopards are hard to spot), our final two regularly scheduled game drives were amazing, and we continued to delight in just sitting and observing the incredible variety of animals that inhabit Shamwari. We spent time with the giraffes, rhinos and elephants that are in evidence throughout the reserve; we enjoyed the amazing assortment of antelopes that graze all over the area; we laughed and cried at the antics and behavior of the lions (laughing at the young females trying to rough house with Mom, and feeling so bad for the young male whom she continued to try to drive away from the pride because it was time for him to be on his own); we feverishly pursued the large male leopard as he snuck through the brush and up a steep slope, all the while calling out for his female counterpart to join him for some fun; and we determinedly tracked a group of Cape Buffalo which we finally found hidden in a thicket.
Phillip also treated us to a night drive, which was awesome. Armed with a spotlight, we ventured into the bush where we were immersed in total darkness, except for the sparkling eyes which surrounded us. We spotted many of our usual friends-impalas, giraffes, red hartebeests, zebras and springboks--as well as a number of nocturnal species, including Cape Hares and a huge porcupine! The most incredible thing, though, was just stopping and listening-the singing of the cicadas and the crickets was mesmerizing in the peaceful night, as all of the animals rested quietly, making certain not to create any noise to alert their predators to their location. Meanwhile, we kept our eyes peeled to the areas around our vehicle so as not to startle any of the large cats who may have been out in search of dinner, or the hippos, who had navigated their narrow paths out of the river to the plains where they were contentedly chewing down on their grass before settling down to rest.

The search for the elusive cheetahs

Over the course of our first two game drives, we were able to spot elephants, giraffes, rhinos, lions, springboks, blaze boks, kudus, impalas, zebras, tortoises and leopards, as well as mongeese, hares, bat-eared foxes, and a large variety of birds. Today we even located a group of hippos in the Bushman River. But so far, the cheetahs have eluded us. For our initial drive, we simply drove around the central area of the reserve and saw whatever animals happened to be around. We now go out with a purpose-with a goal of finding those animals we have not yet seen. We use all of our senses (with the exception of taste, obviously), to try to pinpoint their location. Throughout the drive,we use our eyes to scan the plains, and study the brush for any sign of movement that might indicate a particular animal has been there. We also look for tracks and try to determine how recently an animal has traversed a track, and in which direction the animal was heading. We smell for urine and dung as well-it's amazing how you can track an animal through its urine and dung (although I'm sorry to say that, when our guide, Phillip, slammed on the brakes because he detected an incredibly strong odor of leopard urine, I couldn't say I'd noticed the scent.) We have learned to pick up the scent of lion, elephant and rhino dung-as you can imagine, given their size their dung leaves a pretty potent odor-and we are very skilled at recognizing rhino toilets! Believe it or not, unlike other animals, rhinos all go poo in the same place, away from where they are eating. One will walk away from the area in which they are feeding and go,and then each of the others will move over and go, one at a time, in the same spot. So they obviously leave fairly large piles around, and they are referred to as rhino toilets. Elephants, meanwhile, just go where they are standing, often continuing to eat at the same time.
Anyway, our last two drives, we have been focused on the elusive cheetahs-with no success. Fortunately, though, we have still seen some amazing sights. Last night, for example, we came upon a pride of lions-Mom, 3 young sisters (brother has been kicked out to now find his own way-otherwise, he would try to force Dad out and take over the pride), Grandma, and 4 new cubs. Dad was off somewhere-we guessed that, since he was living with his wife, 3 young girls, mother-in-law and 4 new babies, that he was blowing off steam at the local watering hole, but our guide informed us that he was protecting their territory to ensure that no other male lions tried to intrude. Look closely at the lion pix-while the young females and Grandma didn't even acknowledge our presence, Mom did move the cubs further away where they could hide in the tall grass. You can just see the tips of their heads peeking through the grass.
We also came across a black and white rhino apparently flirting with one another, despite the fact that they are unable to cross breed. Our guide was completely astounded at the sight. The rhinos are the most endangered of all of the animals in Africa, and the black rhino is especially rare. Despite all of the efforts of conservationists, poachers still seek out their horns, and, since the black rhino's 2 horns are larger than those of the white rhino, it is the one most frequently hunted. The two rhinos put on quite a show for us (the white rhino is the male and he was definitely showing off his stuff). After a few minutes, the white rhino's family arrived, and they didn't seem to approve of what was occurring-as you can see from the pictures, a confrontation ensued. At the sight of the female white rhino's large impressive horn, though, the black rhino opted to move on.
Finally, this morning, while observing a group of kudu, we spotted a young female lion who was hunting. We quickly shifted our position so we could watch the lion, figuring she was heading over to the kudu. Before she could reach them, though, the guinea hens started the alarm and it was quickly picked up by the monkeys. At that point, the sounds of alarms reverberated through the area. The lion opted to move off of the plain and into the bush where she was better hidden. We repositioned ourselves on the opposite side of the river where we could watch her, and noticed that there was a good-sized warthog just off the path that she was traveling. We were certain we were going to see a lion take on a warthog. Amazingly, though, (and apparently because it was a very experienced warthog and a very young and inexperienced lion,) the warthog remained very still, and she walked right past him! Boy did he bolt when she had gotten far enough past that he felt he was safe! It was an incredible thing to watch! I was able to get a picture of the lion on her hunt when she walked right past our vehicle-only about 10 feet away.
Animals in the wild are not only a thing of beauty, but they are awe-inspiring! To be able to enter their habitat and observe them from close up as they go about their daily business is such an amazing experience, and something you cannot even imagine until you have spent time with them in their territory.
We ended our drive today with a stop at the Born Free Center, which is a rehabilitation center for cats who have been rescued from deplorably unhealthy living situations (poorly run zoos, nightclubs, and other so-called entertainment venues). The animals are kept there in very large penned spaces where they are first nurtured back to health and then allowed to live out their lives in a more natural environment. While the conservationists would love to reintroduce them into their natural habitat, for a variety of reasons, they can't. So they provide the best setting possible for them. Seeing those animals, many of whom are suffering the lasting effects of malnutrition and mistreatment, only reinforces the fact that, despite what we think, humans are wild animals' most dangerous predator, and education and conservation are necessary to ensure their survival.
Enjoy the pix!