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Dear All
I want to reply to your comments on my last posting, but its just not
happening today. anyhow just wanted to say a big thanks for your kind
and caring messages.
All is ok, we are taking care, and will soon be on the road again.
There is a lot of scaremongering around and i am trying not to buy
into it - whilst being aware and whatever i can to stay out of trouble.
Lori - yes the ground hornbills 'attack' their reflections in the
glass and dont stop til every pane is gone gone gone. They are crazy
mad - a friend said Ground Hornbill sounds like a cooking spice!
Enjoy and blog on! life is beautiful and great
xxxV

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

stranger in the night

This guy spent yesterday snoozing on the back of my chair.  He woke up at night and came to join us at the table. It felt like he was listening to our conversation. Was he. We stared deeply at each other for a while then he took off landing on my head. Say a prayer for us all buddy, OK?

Sunday Times

It’s Sunday morning. Sunny and bright, with delicious cool air wafting around full of ozone to awaken the senses.  There was a huge herd of impala on the ‘lawn’ this morning. Youngsters skipping and scaring each other; adults munching happily on the assorted herbs that now grow in patches where the lawn used to be.  The golden sunlight shimmering off their glossy hides – honed by a summer feast of grazing and browsing in the reserve. The bare bones and staring eyes of winter long forgotten.

I love Sundays. There is a wonderful feeling of time being my own on a Sunday. It’s a fantasy I know but sometimes it actually works. Who knows maybe my internet connection will actually work today and I can post this note onto the Roof with the Monkeys.

Yesterday the wind was blowing all day. We are not used to wind here – it makes us edgy and want to travel (any excuse). We had visitors. They told us that there is a cyclone somewhere off the coast of Madagascar and that’s why it’s windy here.  

The lions have left us alone for too long now. I am missing them. I should leave some new cushions lying artfully around and hope to tempt them back for another pool party. So there are no new dramas of the leonine kind to report of late.  But we do have spiders. They are early this year, but suddenly there are golden orb spiders everywhere in the bush. There are also tiny web spinners all over the house.  We have grasshoppers too. The ground is exploding with them, ricocheting off the walls, and off your back as you walk.  They keep jumping in the pool and have to be rescued – repeatedly. Every year someone gets a chance to shine. So this is their turn.

For a while there we had stink bugs. Ugh. Tiny black beetles that come in to the light in the evenings. If you move them, or brush them by accident , they release a horrible acrid smell that lingers and clings for far too long. The skunks of the beetle world.  It’s a powerful trick for ones so small, and you DON’T want them to fall in your food.  I wonder if this scent could be bottled and sold as an appetite suppressant? It could work.

With the first sip of winter in the air though, the stink bugs are dwindling and losing enthusiasm for jinxing our mealtimes.

There is Man Flu in the house. I should draw a cross on the door.

and so on with sunday; sunlight and bird calls, and soft clean air. The mountains are purple blue in the distance, under downy pillows of plump white clouds; butterflies are flitting about in the waving grasses. It is peaceful, calm... for now.

ps sorry apparently adding images was too much to ask...maybe later

cool boots

So what happened to January? I havent managed to blog too much, but as always enjoying all the lovely writings out there. So much has been happening, and i have wanted to write but time sped past. I hope this is not an indication for the year!! whoa Time, slooow downnnnn. ok?

Just quickly i thought i would share with you some candid pics of black herons fishing in the northern botswana waterways - and their secret footwear.

heads down everyone - budge up

Normally fishing alone, this fishing party is an unusual sight in itself. These birds stalk the shallows, then when they find a fishy spot they spread their wings forming a shade umbrella to which the fish innocently retreat.

there is some jockeying for position

and there is always one..

and then they all fly off to a new spot showing us their deliciously cool yellow orange feet - feet that were perhaps the inspiration for Billy Connoly's famous banana boots?

cubs and cushions - a pool party

the proud parents

Here we are ankle deep in the new year already. This one is showing all the signs of being the V8 version of the 2009 model – with overdrive. Hopefully the suspension has been improved as well. So far, the aesthetics are very pleasing although it has yet to be tested in heavy rain, and our rainy season is almost through.



This past week has been dominated by lion visits. Heralded by baboon alarm calls from the granite koppies, the pride seems to have taken to whiling away its free time in the area between our water tank and the guest cottage. The cubs are big now, and at that enquiring age. They have been venturing into the thatched lapa next to our pool, finding treasures, and returning triumphantly to the long grass to impress their siblings.

It began with a large cushion – dragged into a nest of teeth and claws where the victor tried and failed to possess his kill. The cushion, an old friend, provided an hour or two of distraction and entertainment for the young lions. They pulled, and dragged, and shook and squabbled over it until finally it burst sending sprays of disintegrated foam into the air. There was a bout of sneezing whereupon another cub could seize the quarry and race off with its remaining rags.

the cushion finally explodes

They went back for more, finding an empty bottle of hth pool acid. This was carried back like a grand prize, and munched on happily. Prizes had greater value if they were of interest to another. And so it went on, they have now destroyed several of the large cushions, fished another pool thingy out of the water; ravaged the exercise machine and started on the wooden bowls on the table. I took some paparazzi style photos in the early morning light, through long grass, and around corners, to give you some idea of the fun and games.

what??

As they started moving off we went back to the house. The four big cubs followed and watched us through the window for five minutes, before heeding the calls of their elders.

whatever............

It was probably time for new cushions anyhow, and the cubs will grow out of this phase soon enough.

evening elephants

Evening. The sun is sending honey pink streamers across the sky. The impala herd flows in procession from left to right and back again. They are like a school of fish swimming through a jungle of green leaves and grass – filing past windows in the view. The ground birds are calling – proclaiming their territories. The light is soft – diffused.




From the forest the crack of a branch breaking, then another signals elephants. We sit waiting for them to emerge from the forest, watching the curtain of green for glimpses of elephant shapes. The moon is high, waxing gibbious on its way to full moon. A blue moon to mark the start of 2010. Once in a blue moon – perhaps this time the new years resolutions will hold?



The birds settle and the bush goes quiet as the day shift knock off, and the night shift are starting to wake. The elephants wait as light fades, until it is the same colour as their dusty grey hides. Pieces of grey appear amongst the green. A glint of a tusk gleams whitely. It all happens fast now. Elephants are morphing out of the forest right left and centre. Suddenly our view is full of mighty Jurassic creatures.



Matriarchs walk purposefully to the waterhole, tiny calves in tow. The bulls rush to join them in the delicious reed beds, but soon the cows and calves are pushed on as the waterhole fills up with bulls young and old. They fan out. Browsing on new mopane leaves, pulling up tufts of lush green grass, checking everything for palatability – they haven’t been here in a while and the summer growth is enticing.



The small waterhole nearest the house, is a favourite drinking spot of the warthogs who mud bath on the edges. A young elephant discovers this emerald jewel, and is followed by his bigger siblings. They crowd in, and the air is full of munching slurping noises. A push and shove of silent beasts in grey light, their presence told by their noisy eating habits only.



Light fades to monochrome moonlight. Grey shapes and shadows move all around amid the bushes and trees. One elephant lifts its trunk high. The wind is swirling and she has caught out scent. The group pauses for a second or two, and then turn as one, moving steadily away. Withdrawing from the cool water and luscious salad feast. They melt into the twilight – moving fast but not running. Here and there a flash of ivory, giant legs like tree trunks make negative shapes, ears flap dark shadows. The stragglers follow the herd on into the mopane. A bat swoops low overhead and the elephants are gone like a memory of a dream.