Matopos (Matopos National Park, Zimbabwe)
Woke early feeling refreshed and sat glued to the front door views as the sun rose hoping for a view of the giraffe that @Kerry said were frequent visitors to The Farmhouse. No luck on that early morning vigil but as the day unfolded there was no shortage of up close views.
Loving the up close encounters with the giraffe
I know it is an "African safari tour" and you are "sighting wild animals" - and that sounds as if it is just more and more of the same. But really, no two days or even two experiences are the same. No such thing as "if you've seen one, you've seen them all. The excitement of the first sighting is the same as the next ... and the next ... and the next. So much to see and learn, so many questions and conversations and a never ending parade of wildlife, places and people. Certainly beyond expectations. Add to that fun loving and easy going travelling companions who are just so "grand" in their diversity who have a lifetime of stories and experience to share and a guide who is passionate, knowledgeable, organised and has a handy network on the ground. And the mix is just right.
The big mystery of the morning was of course "How is @Louis and how did he spend the night?" We had consoled ourselves over dinner last night that he had shared light heartedly that he had NUMEROUS lady friends in EVERY town - fingers crossed in this one town there had been at least one.
He arrived at 9:25 with @Ian (the rhino whisperer), with confirmation that the gear box had been removed from #Magogo and @Louis, as usual, was all smiles although not as smartly "pressed" as he usually is - we had his luggage with us so he needed to call on @Ian to tide him over.
It was Sunday here and definitely unlikely that parts can be sourced for #Magogo in a timely fashion. Solution to our travel arrangements pending - but given the organisation so far - there will be a solution. Our only job is to relax and enjoy the day. And that we did.
TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS
A. Breakfast in the sunshine of the deck and then all aboard @Ian's safari vehicle (with the help of an overturned crate step - can't live with out it.) This 15 km drive to the Motopos Park was a little warmer than last night's long haul. Freshened us up and literally blew the cobwebs away.
The four-hour morning tour was punctuated with stops so that @Ian could share the history and significance of the park (geological formation and the oldest rocks in the world); the heart of the scouting movement and Baden Powell's property and vision: the Moth Memorial Site and the recognition of the role of locals in the second world war and the air force training base.)
With location services turned off on our phones so that our photos didn't give any hint of the rhinos location, and with @Steve suspended on the "dickie seat" out front as bait and our official master spotter - we were off. (Definitely had to censor @Tom's joke here.)
With a heads up from the armed guard, we were out of the truck and focussed on our "real" purpose. This was our turn to track the rhino on foot. Yep, in single file behind @Ian, @Louis and the armed guard, we trekked through the tall, yellowed and dry tussocks of grass (had a little trouble with prickles in the crutch after this) until we encountered a mother and baby white rhino languishing in the sun.
With hushed voices and gentle steps we climbed onto a mound of granite and a mere 20 metres from the pair, we watched in awe as @Ian clicked, called and talked soothingly to his extended family. Before long a young "teenage" male joined us intent on reaching the pair. He too, at the base of our low lying mound, a handful of metres away. Ears flexing from side to side, slow and calm, the three rhinos kept us in their senses as we kept them in our sight.
This trek and encounter was predicated by an impassioned and emotive introduction by @Ian around the plight of this animal. Numbers disappearing so fast that it has been predicted that in 10 years there will be none left in the wild. @Ian's voice certainly dripped with honey; absolute dulcet and hypnotic tones, he had you eating out of his hand as he condemned the insanity of the Asian driven market for the slaughter of the rhino. Here is the story of an animal in danger - 10 years ago 11 000 in Kruger - today just 2 000. The good guys are fighting a losing battle.
With the Asian market driven by an unfounded belief that taking herbals mixed with the horn is an aphrodisiac that enlarges the human penis and sustains male performance: an insatiable and irrational market drives the demand! A desire by a male for a 20 kg penis and copulation for 30-60 minutes probably doesn't quite match a female's aspiration spat @Ian shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders. The animals are being mutilated and slaughtered over this crazy stuff.
And the taking of the horn is such a brutal practice. Every ounce is hacked from inside the skull and the animal is left to die and rot. The US$100 000 a kilo value of the average 5 kg horn makes each kill worth about half a million dollars. Such a lucrative market that has now attracted the attention of the sophisticated Colombian cartels. They have moved in and the local conservation efforts are powerless to stop the wave of slaughter. There are 50 rangers in Motopos with shoot to kill permissions and they catch around 20 to 25 poachers a month.
Money, money, money is the motivator and although @Ian's plan of managing the market makes sense, that initiative has been stalled by the CITES international ruling that has banned the "legal" sale of horn, thanks to the negative vote on the world stage by "tree hugging, lovey-dovey, feel-good, do-gooders" in countries such as New Zealand and Australia. His words not mine.
He presented a reasoned and rational proposal - using the stocks currently held in parks collected over the years from animals that have died in the wild - how the market could be sustained for 50 years into the future and perhaps even force the price down and even influence demand.
In the meantime, passionate conservationist on the ground are doing their best with personal investment in providing protected spaces for the rhino (how can they possibly succeed - the poachers are so determined and brazen they are even stealing rhino horn from museums and private collections), lobby international officials and government, educate the local people and the wider community and keep up the fight. Zimbabwe is a little serious about protection - they can "shoot to kill" poachers!
There is a project in the wind to relocate 400 rhino to central Australia (keeping their location a secret - hmm, how is that ever going to work) as part of the conservation effort.
All of the front loading of not only the features and habits of the black and white rhinos (it's not white - the original word was actually wide ... was lost in translation) but also their plight for survival, made standing on a little raised mound of rock in the middle of Motopos Park, watching this relaxed little family of rhino a goose bump moment.
Needless to say, after the return trek, there was shopping. This was the only outlet in the park and featured the craft and handiwork of the community. No hard sell here - just a beautiful selection of hand painted fabrics, stone and wood carvings, hats, bags, sarongs and tableware. There was no shortage of enthusiasm for parting with US$ (excessive hyperinflation here in Zimbabwe, their local currency has collapsed) by the ladies while the men just pulled up under a tree and made their own yarning circle complete with a freezing cold beverage courtesy of @Ian.
B. All aboard and a return to The Farmhouse for lunch and then it was free time. Some opted for washing duty, others for a breather. @Marge, @Del, @Mac and I opted for a walk. Armed with a map (you can imagine how excited @Mac was) we took off on the yellow trail to see what we could see. Had progressed a mere 60 metres and our left-hand turn took us eyeball to kneecap with two giraffe right there on the path. We hadn't talked with @Louis about what to do when meeting a giraffe so we improvised- stopped, talked quietly and backed away. The giraffe obviously knew what they were doing and as soon as we were off the path they ambled across to their water station. Our 2 km walk looped us around back to the guest houses and we marvelled at the number of giraffe we spotted just wandering the grounds of The Farmhouse.
Back right on time to meet up with @Andre in his pickup truck and the rest of the crew to do the feeding rounds. Although the animals are grazing freely, he does do a 4 pm run every day with additional pellet food offerings. So it was all aboard.
He whistled and called using animal noises as he approached each of the feeding stations - pulled up and waited for some takers. And right on greedy queue they materialised from the bush. Giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, kudu, warthog and even Guinea fowl drop on buy in numbers for a top up.
As the tallest @Mac was assigned the job of topping up the feed trays for the giraffe. And there was some maths involved. So this one is for you @Anth:
@Andre instructed that the feed buckets needed to be shared equally across the 3 giraffe stations. At the first station @Andre advised "give them a third." Moved on a couple of kms to the next station and inquired, looking into the bucket "How much are going to give them now?"
@Anth, when @Dad responded with the correct answer (of course he did), @Andre was in total shock and disbelief. @Dad was the first guest EVER to give the right answer.
We spent a wonderful late afternoon sharing this experience with @Andre and the other tour groups which were visiting The Farmhouse for the feeding rounds. Always a wary watchfulness between @Andre and the herds that gathered - and definitely no "petting."
Rounded out the evening with our usual routine of dinner and drinks and were appreciative of the update for tomorrow. #Magogo is definitely a NO GO - and a new vehicle and trailer will join us later in the morning. So a little sleep in is on the cards.
Accommodation: second night (we love two nights in a row at a single venue!) at The Farmhouse and their grounds are exceptional - includes a variety of walking tracks and a hilltop camp site with breathtaking views. With clear night skies filled with countless stars - we'd give The Farmhouse, @Kerry and @Andre and the team a billion-star rating.
What's on the menu: Breakfast - cereal, fruit, yoghurt and sausages, eggs and tomato; lunch - Lasagne and salad; dinner: mushroom soup (because @Mac had mentioned it was his favourite), chicken schnitzel and vegetables and chocolate slice with ice-cream. So much food, all freshly prepared by the The Farmhouse chef. - delicious.
Steps 13 658
Transport: open safari vehicle; Shanks pony; pickup truck Distance - 50 km
WILDLIFE SPOTTING
Rhino: up close and personal - 20 metres - mother, 2 month old baby and teenage male, very docile - fastest disappearing animal. In the world; involved process of dehorning rhino - horn grows back - calf every 2 to 3 years - close relative of horse
Monkey
Impala
Baboon
Dieker
Giraffe: in our Farmhouse grounds - set out on 2 km trek to find them turned a corner and there they were
Zebra
Wildebeest
Warthog
Guinea fowl
Kudu
No comments:
Post a Comment