D51….Iridescent

Even the clever chemists have not been able to challenge the colours of nature. Today we have seen the Violet Backed Starling, the Crimson Breasted Shrike and the Red Headed Weaver. The colours are extraordinary and such iridescence is not seen in our manmade world…not even on those of you that enjoy the gaudiest Nike shirt!!

Hwange’s main feature is its dependence on waterholes, rather than river systems. It is also on the edge of the Kalahari Desert and is arid. The waterholes therefore, make for excellent, concentrated, game-viewing, as all the animals must make the trek to water at least once per day, and particularly so at the end of the dry season when the heat builds and the plains bake.

The mornings are obviously quieter as the thirst builds during the day. So the focus on the early morning gamedrive is to locate predators and hope for activity. This morning we did find lions on two occasions but regrettably they were either in student mode and resented early wakeups, or had full stomachs. One can not be lucky all the time.

The afternoon again was a mixture mainly of elephant and lions. We sat for quite awhile between a coalition of four male lions and a few hundred metres away, a more conventional lioness dominated pride of eight. There was a visible tension and alertness between the two groups but they remained apart. For awhile we travelled with the girls, the dominant lioness ahead and the seven others trotting along beside the landrover. We gained honorary membership of the pride for a kilometre or so before they tired of us and went their own way.

A fine day in the bush and our second thunderstorm, announcing the beginning of the rainy season. J