Sleepless in Selati

Well its the middle of the night and i am wide awake. Whats going on?
Most unlike me - I am not a natural insomniac by any stretch. So I
gave up pretending to be asleep - assisted by a very persistent
mosquito who had found her way into my net.
And now I am in the kitchen. I have been pouring over a map of
mozambique - planning a lovely road trip to exotic sounding coastal
destinations, and then accross to the Lake. Anyone have info on the
road to Lichinga? Its marked as 'scenic' but I know those mountains
are HUGE and the main roads are not that great so a mountain track
could be extreme.

There is a security issue in our area at the moment. A gang of four,
who strike at farmsteads in the night (usually but not always) and
shoot people while stealing their cars. Its not a fun thought, and for
many people living on farms here - there is no backup you can call
that could come to your assistance in time...if at all.

People have been phoning - warning us to be on the look out. How many
warnings can you brush off? Yesterday K was walking and came accross
the tracks of people. We checked if anti-poaching were in our area -
the Warden said not. So these are people who shouldnt be here. The
tracks went into the mountain behind our house. We called in a bunch
of anti-poaching trackers. They are sleeping in the old house just
down the track. A ruined building that the ground hornbills have
knocked all the window panes out off.

The lions have been calling all night from the plains infront of the
old house. Those guys are going to be sleepy later today when they
are on the trail of the poachers.
And so will i be probably...but I am quite liking this solitary quiet
time in the night. The fridges are humming loudly. During the day I
dont even hear them.

I discovered i can make coffee by the standby lights on the phone
charger! It is amazing how bright they are.

There has been a cheetah nearby for the past couple of days. I first
came accross it when i was driving to the gate in the rain. It had
killed a young impala next to the track, and was reluctant to leave
it, but sprang up and ran back a little bit waiting for me to leave
the scene. I didnt stay too long. Cheetahs need to eat fast, before
the birds or other predators arrive on the scene.

Yesterday morning the cheetah was in front of the house. K was on the
stoep talking to a pal on the cell phone, when suddenly - there
infront of him - a cheetah racing into a herd of impala. Impala
scattering in all directions. A cheetah giving chase - but
unsucessfully. It then stopped in the shade of a small thorn tree to
catch its breath and cool down. The sun was well up, and it was
already too hot to be burning so much energy.

Its funny but quite often, if we are talking on the cell phone
outside, the guinea fowl come and stand near us calling loudly. I
think they think that is what we are doing and they should join in? Or
maybe they think we have seen an eagle in the sky and are alarm
calling? either way it makes it very difficult to hear the other
person speak.

Did I mention it was full moon yesterday and outside it is as bright
as day?

Oh well, enough idle chatter. Dawn is around the corner and surely I
will be sleepy soon. Thanks for sitting up with me.

oh and if you would like to know more about mozambique try this website
www.mozambiquehappenings.co.za

G'night