Bert's Travels: The Kalahari calls

The Kalahari Calls

The phone rang.

I answered.

“Hi, Bert, it's Kel”

“Hello, Kel” I said. “When do we leave?”

Peals of his sonorous laughter.

“Same old Bert” he said, “always ready for a new adventure”

“I can't leave tomorrow”, I said. “Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and my family would be most unhappy if I went on Safari on that day.”

“No, no! We are planning a Safari in the Central Kalahari. In March of next year.”

“That's more like it' I said. “I'm in! I'll check with John”

And so it happened.

Our friend and guide, Ant, Kel, John and I were to meet in Harare on March 3 .

Mike was to come as well, but had to cancel at the last minute.

John and I flew to Harare, where Kel picked us up at the airport and took us to his home. It was, to say the least, a joyful re-union. We had not seen our Zim friends in over a year. Kel's lovely wife, Tina, had prepared the usual delicious meal.

Beds called early, since we were to leave first thing tomorrow morning.

With Ant at the wheel of his Toyota Cruiser, ( He allowed no other driver ), which we lovingly called TC, we completed the slightly over 1000 km to Maun after 14 hours of driving.

“What's on the agenda for tomorrow?” John asked.

“We'll head for the NXAI Pan, and pay a visit to the “Baines Baobab Trees”

“What's a Baines Baobab tree?” I asked.

Both Ant and Kel were quick with an answer.

“Thomas Baines was a British painter who created a painting of those trees, sometime in the eighteen fifties or sixties. “ said Kel.

Ant added: “Baines was a most meticulous painter. He showed every detail of these trees.

When a photograph was taken almost 150 years later, there was virtually no difference .

The trees had not changed a bit.”

“They are called 'Baines Baobabs' or 'The sleeping Sisters'! They are said to be 3,500 to 4,000 years old.”

Both, Ant and Kel, were full of information and I used the perfect day for my photography.

'Baines Baobab Trees', in the NXAI PAN

John let out a deep sigh of relief:

“We made it” he said, “we got to the 'Sunday Pan' camp site, all in one piece. We'll put up our mosy-tents, grab a bite to eat, fall in the sack and wait for tomorrow.”

“You're right” said Ant, “and in this precise order. Maybe I'll also have a quick shower.

I'm sweaty and I probably stink to high heaven.”

“Haven' smelled you yet” said Kel and laughed.

“A shower would be wonderful!” I said. “Do we have enough water? “

“If we all make it 'short n' sweet” said Ant.

Grabbing a bar of soap, he disappeared toward the shower enclosure.

Within seconds I heard him shout:

“Bert, come quickly, bring your camera! Hurry Up, Bert, bring your camera!”

I grabbed the D610 with the 24 to 300mm Zoom and rushed to the shower stall.

“Here! Look at this! There is a rarity: A Golden Cobra.”

Ant held a dried branch of the Acacia tree with which he attempted to coax the Cobra into her 'blown-up' neck position, without success.

This snake had made its home under the shower stall and refused to come out.

*******

I am therefore not apologizing for having slept in my tent without having had a shower.

*******

The following sounds as if I had made that up to get a good introduction to this day in the Kalahari.

It is, however, the unvarnished truth: I woke up because I could smell the coffee which Ant had made for our breakfast. Only after having smelled the coffee could I smell and hear the bacon sizzling on Ants porta-stove.

“No shower this morning” Ant announced. There's just enough water left for washing face and brushing teeth.”

“As long as I can rinse the sleep out of my eyes, I'll be okay.” I said.

John was already finished with his perfunctory ablution.

Kel just draped himself out of his sleeping bag.

“We'll take a lunch with us, as well as cool drinks.” Ant said.

The “cool drinks” and the “fresh meat” were produced via a Cooler-Box. The cooling system driven by a battery and the battery loaded by two Solar Cells, which were strategically placed and connected every chance we had.

“This is truly the elegant way to enjoy the Safari life.” Kel said. “Good, fresh food and every night a Gin and Tonic over cubes of ice.”

“For nothin' you want, if you Safari with Ant”... so Ant intoned.

It did not rhyme too well, but it caused complete agreement from John and Kel and me.

There was a time when all of us feared that we might lose our precious cooling system. An Elephant seemed to take great interest in our solar panel. He tested it with his trunk, carefully, without moving it, he seemed to smell it, taste it with a general air:
“What in hell is this?”

“It's a solar panel” Ant shouted at the Ele. “We need it... you don't... so go away, leave it alone”. The Ele refused to move and continued his investigation of this thing he'd never before laid eyes on. Finally, Ant had to use TC. He neared himself slowly, ever so respectfully, to the Ele, who finally understood that this thing had no food value nor any other use for him.

This Ele clearly did not know how good Gin and Tonic over Ice tasted.

Only through the use of TC could Ant convince this Ele

to leave our precious solar panel in peace.

****************

Breakfast had, Camera gear checked one more time, TC packed with food and drink for lunch, and we were off for what we hoped would be another exciting day.

The 'Central Kalahari', in all its 53,000 square kilometers,” is called a 'desert' but, other than in a true desert, a variety of grasses and bushes and, in some areas, tall acacias grow on the thin layer of humus spread over the prevalent sand.

“Let's go to 'Deception Valley' said Ant.

“Great suggestion” said John, “since I have no idea what and where Deception Valley might be.”

“It's called that for a reason. You'll see for yourself when we get there” Ant smiled his secret smile.

Immediately outside our camp, there was tall grass, almost as far as the eye could see, interspersed with bushes. There were trees in the distance.

********

“How soon will we'll see our first wildlife?” Ken challenged.

“Ten Minutes” I said.

“Fifteen Minutes” John offered.

“You both loose! Look over there.” said Ant, pointing slightly to the left.

There were two Duikers. The two almost disappeared in the grass.

“Isn't it a bit funny, the male has two little horns. What's he gonna use 'em for?”

“It tells everybody that he's the boss around here” Ant laughed.

There is the male! Despite his horns, he's not a frightening fellow.'

right next, also hiding in the tall grass, a female Duiker

This smart companion, the female of the species,

knows well that at their size and power,

it is clear that flight is the best answer for survival.

And then there is the noble, straight horned Oryx.

His horns point to the blue sky above and when he uses them in combat, they can be a formidable weapon.

“I wonder” Kel asked.

“Does this little Duiker really think he's an Oryx?“

“Seems so” said Ant. “He's been sticking around with the big guys for a while now.”

The also ever present Springbok

“Do those clouds threaten rain?” I asked, concerned that I had not brought rain covers for my cameras.

“No, they don't threaten. They don't even promise. They're just teasing us a little.

They'll be gone before noon.”

And so it was.

The day got to be very hot and humid.

A light, very light cloud cover and a very gentle breeze, however, made it all bearable.

“You'd think that this level land, level as far as you can see, would be a bit boring.”

John was contemplative. “But it isn't boring at all. It's fascinating and beautiful."

“Over there is an Acacia. A 'Camelthorn tree' to be precise. Said Ant.

“Oh yeah! Let's be precise” said Kel with a smile.

“Yeah, less than precise would be sloppy and that simply wouldn't be our Ant.”

Slightly jealous of his thorough knowledge, the rest of them gave him a banteringly hard time. The three also knew, however, that without Ants knowledge of the area, its Flora and Fauna, this Safari would not have been half the fun.

There was this little, almost imperceptible rise in the land.

Ant said: “You'd never notice it, until you got to the top.”

“There's a line of black, off in the distance” John looked through his binoculars.

“They are Ostriches” he said. “A whole bunch of them.”

Ant turned our vehicle and used this berm to stay out of sight of these flightless birds for as long as possible. Only after we had come out from behind our cover were we close enough for some photography.

Grandfather Ostrich had called a meeting of the Clan

They came in droves:

There were the brown colored daughters

and the black feathered Sons.

********************

The Kalahari is the only place to view and admire the unique

'Black Maned Lion'

We had reached a dense stand of Camelthorn Acacia trees and Hoodia Cactus plants.

You don't really think that I knew these names? Of course not!

But Ant did. Ant, so John and I decided, knows everything. At least 'everything' which has to do with 'Africa'.

“Let's stop here, for a good, strong cup of coffee and a sandwich”

“I'd rather have something cold, like that lemon juice we had yesterday” I said.

“Hot Coffee and Cold lemon juice coming up” Ant produced, like magic, two thermos bottles and four cups.

Ant, John and Kel opted for Coffee, while I stayed with the juice.

We munched on lavishly prepared sandwiches and enjoyed the little rest in the shade.

Ant and Kel scanned the surroundings with their binos, when Ant called out:

“Lions at one O'clock,” pointing in this direction at the same time.

“Beautiful black maned Kalahari Lions!” There was admiration in Kel's voice.

I scrambled to unpack my 800 mm lens, snapping it on the D700 and putting this combination on my sturdy Manfreto tripod.

“That oughta do it” said Kel. “You could almost use this as a weapon”

I took image after image, slightly changing the settings after each set of five images.

I was truly lucky. Even though it was a hot day, there was little, if any, haze in the air.

The Lions, there was one male and four females, came ever closer, until they slipped under the low hanging branches of a thorn bush near by.

I had long since changed to shorter lenses an hand-held camera.

We remained in this location, observing these beautiful animals for a long time.

“We won't make it to 'Deception Pan' “ Ant said. “But this is much better” Kel added.

“Now you can tell us what this 'Deception thing' is all about. Since we won't get there it can't be a surprise.” John spoke quietly, so as not to disturb the Lions.

“Well, when you get there,” Ant began his explanation, “ 'Deception' lies just below a little rise in the countryside. You look down and 'yippy' there's a lovely blue lake. More like a pond, of course, but, nevertheless a light to dark blue body of water. So you rush down, because it is the Dry Season and you are in the Kalahari.

There cannot be such a lovely blue pond.

Not now and not in the desert, which is the Kalahari.
This dried out reddish-blue soil, in the sunlight looks like the ripples of a blue lake.

“So there, that's the story” said Kel, who had heard it before, who in fact, had been there some years ago.

“Now we have something much better” I said and tripped the shutter one more time.