6/6/98: 75 days since we left home, and now we find ourselves treated to a safari by new friends and learning about big game in their native habitat from Ndebele and Shona tribesmen…
NOTE: In the main photo above I am standing with Arthur and Sylvia and the custodian of the Ngweshla Pan and Picnic site.
6/6/23: Ian & Flo W. and Pete & Jilly Q. went off into the reserve together in one direction, while we went along with Arthur & Sylvia H. on a long drive out to Ngweshla Pan and Picnic site. At each of these picnic sites, an Ndebele or Shona tribesman is hired as a host and custodian of the picnic shelter. The host of this picnic shelter had gone the extra mile and had prepared for visitors a display of animal horns, bones and effluent (i.e., poop!) He walked us around the area and taught us how to identify what animals had been passing through by examining their tracks as well as their scat, which, of course, are all quite different from one another. Lion droppings are similar to a house cat’s, with lots of hair balls but much bigger. A hyena’s waste was pure white because they eat even the bones of their prey. The elephant biscuits looked like bails of rolled hay, little for a bail but huge for a poop! In fact, they were almost big enough for a foot rest in someone’s living room. You know, like a stool. (Sorry, sometimes I can’t stop myself from making stupid joke.)
Arthur and Sylvia turned out to be avid birders, and we enjoyed them pointing out a dozen or more species. Tried to snap a few pics of birds in flight, and while I love the resulting blurry streaks of color, the birds in the pics are unidentifiable. We added to our list of game sighted as well, but it was nice to have someone point out the kinds of things not usually paid attention too, though equally as interesting. We saw a lone ostrich standing beside two Kudu antelope. Saw plenty of Sable antelope as well, and got right up close to some baboons as we watched at one of the two Kennedy pans. Later back at the cottage we all compared notes, and for dinner, the Ian W. had prepared what turned out to be one of the best steaks I’ve ever had, while Flo had made “Shoo Fly Pie” for dessert.
