Thread: Sundowner musing......

Good luck getting through the evening mate....got a bottle opener here if needed!

Hello again from Brisbane.

Well it's morning and while the S3cat and I stand alone on the deck surveying the damage the Mrs S3ute tribe has temporarily disappeared over the horizon for a morning of madness around the local coffee shops and malls.

There is a definite case for sunrisers as the right way to start the day when the relatives are in town.

The kind offer to go to the airport at 5:30pm to pick up S3 junior from his flight in from Windorah met a bit of a bend in the road. The incoming flight from Mt Isa managed to write off a flock of pelicans near Boulia and cracked a propeller. So, the first round of good news was a delayed take off to 9:30pm and 11:55pm ETA Brisbane. Must have been using the proverbial Chinese two bob watch because it finally arrived at 1:30am so home to rest at 2:15am. The S3cat set off its morning charm offensive at 4:30am - but under the circumstances one mustn't grumble.

The celebrations get serious tonight - sundowners first. Assuming there is something still in the fridge by then.

Cheers,

Neil

Oh the joy! the freeloaders have left, but the fridge beer has left with them carried out in some sort of built in organic container.

But not all the beer was drunk, yours truly is a cunning old soul and had the foresight / wisdom to plant a useful quantity in some very safe places.

Now looking -----------!-----------, must be over there then? Looking -----------!----------- !!!!, what am I doing? I am looking for something, what was it I came in here for??? ------ Better have a beer while I work out what I was looking for. Now where's the fridge?

======

Arthur,

Hello from Brisbane.

Yes, the beer bandits were fairly active over the festive period. The S3 BIL was up to the challenge as was S3 junior, his cousins and mates.

However, a little strategic over catering left a small safety margin to keep the evenings mellow.

Africa tomorrow - so, it's soon back to the real thing. Hopefully, the wildlife will be out and about to keep it interesting. There used to be a mob of about 40 blue wildebeest that would camp under the trees out front of my humpy but the last couple of trips had decamped - apparently a couple of leopards had been giving them a bit of a touch up elsewhere but have since been shot. So, they have gone back to the more open grassland a little farther afield. There have been a few rhino on the road into town largely due to the anti-poaching blitz, so that might continue to offer a contrast to the cane toads and possums hereabouts.

As a bit of a postscript on leopards - the Matopos Hills are chock full of them and they are not entirely afraid to mix it with humans. You regularly see leopard spoor on the driveway at the camp and my host John was telling me one night that the kids from a visiting party were playing on the lawn unsupervised so he called them inside. About 5 minutes later a large male leopard walked across the lawn, so he must have been sizing them up.

Cheers,

Neil

Hello again.

Bit of a trip report from the veld last month.

As noted had a few spare days to fit in a flying run to Kruger and managed to snig the last couple of free spots in the whole of the park for Thursday and Good Friday nights. Be that as it may, both were excellent.

The first site was the tent at Tamboti camp:



Got there on dark and while there were a good many animals near the tracks to the camp, I didn't see any animals in the riverbed or prowling the fence that night, but did have a visit from my truck's namesake during the night - ratels tested the garbage can but went home empty handed as it was mainly full of empties....

The following night was at Letaba camp in a more conventional yurt:



Both pleasant with an evening braai and keeping with the theme - ample sundowners.

The chariot of choice continues to be an Avis Polo which are an excellent way of getting around regardless of whether it is tar or a dirt track (plus you hand Avis back the keys):



Normally late summer can be difficult for playing animal-spotto because the grass is usually long and the ample availability of surface water tends to keep the animals dispersed. However, in this instance there were plenty of things to gawp at - including a lot of these fellows, the first two walking out on the road within 15 minutes of entering the park:





Quite a few giraffe including a couple of males having a practice joust:



And the odd oxpecker doing its job:





But the bonus was that most of the animals, large or small, have their babies in the wet whereas by the dry they are largely adult size:







Etc etc.

Plenty of predators about - although hard to photograph when they are in the bush or in early light:



There are about 12-15 lions in that photo.




This old girl was wandering down the road and seemingly bored with proceedings. Considering it was coming out of the season of plenty and edging into the hungry months she was in fairly poor condition - quite a contrast to the late lioness that half-chewed the half-chewed Andre as posted back in #20 of this thread. I suspect she was either quite old or wasn't well which doesn't hold a lot of hope for her future as an apex predator.

Turned out the gate at 6:00am and came across three of these fellows warming off on the tar - outside the car one's survival odds are close to zip, as those jaws can nearly crush rock....



Good to see quite a few of these fellows out and about:



Southern ground hornbills are listed as highly endangered and infrequently found outside nature reserves these days.

There are a few in the bush around my camp in the Matopos but not so often seen.



Posted this more for the cute element - the Vervet monkey had worked out a way to turn the fountain to his advantage.

Usually a few Land Rovers out and about:







The bonus was having a couple of nights either side at two of my favorite waterholes - Royal at Pilgrims Rest:



And the Dullstroom Inn:



Doesn't look much from the outside but has a great bar and on the night was packed for a Cheetahs vs Blou Bulle rugby match on the big screen - Bulles lost on full time so the bar cleared almost immediately.



Mainly a trout fishing location which markets itself as "a small drinking town with a big fishing problem"...

Otherwise, pretty much the same as ever...

Cheers,

Neil

Hi Neil

Those animals look to be in top condition, must be all that green grass.
.

Originally Posted by wrinklearthur

Hi Neil

Those animals look to be in top condition, must be all that green grass.
.

Arthur,

Yes, most of the animals other than the poor old lioness were in really good shape. Especially the buffalo most of which would easily hit Jap Ox weight if they were local beeves.

The season was a bit drier than last year, but still a lot of green feed on offer through most of the grasslands. Last year was a better season through most of Southern Africa. I remember driving a Ford Everest 4WD through the Whovi game reserve in Matabeleland last summer and it was like driving through a grass tunnel in places with the vegetation above the roof and nil forward visibility beyond the bonnet.

The rains have now pretty much gone for the year and it will dry off pretty rapidly and the animals will start to rely on their reserves. Best time for game viewing however.

Cheers,

Neil

Hello again from Brisbane.

Been a long time between drinks on this particular thread, but timely to announce a bit of luck found hereabouts.

Now they say that good things come to those who wait - although more often than not it is just the crumbs left over from those who don't wait.... But in this case there was a bit of luck to be had.

Resetting the scene a little, you might recall that from time to time I had mentioned cajoling my Man Friday from Zimbabwe Godfrey, and any of the rest of the impi caught standing around, to get out on the veld and try to run down a feral Zim AA badge for the wall collection. This picture as previously posted gave some flavor to the task:



Needless to say beating the bushes proved to be pretty fruitless and after many hours roaming the wrecking yards around Harare and Bulawayo the scent had gone pretty cold.

But not one to give in too easily I persevered and would occasionally test the waters to see if there were any new signs of the elusive beast. Now one of the captions in the cartoon gives a clue and eBay did indeed come up trumps............



Perversely enough, this specimen was actually hiding around Rockhampton of all places and the owner kindly gave it up for about one quarter of the usual going price overseas - so a nice outcome with no scandalously high international postage charges to add further insult to injury.

So, there you have it a small win for the little man - plus the beer was on special which was an added bonus.

Cheers,

Neil