Final day at Kanga Camp

OMG.  Travelling has its rewards, but, it has its dangers too.

For example, our doc talked to Dr Google, who advised that we take anti-malaria tablets.  Sounds good eh?

One capsule of Doxycycline was prescribed to be taken each morning.  

Today was my third morning of downing one of these.  So instead of making me feel healthy and safe, man, did I feel terrible.

And of course everyone you travel with is an expert – the consensus was that it was the malaria pills that made me feel sick.  Oh and when Linda heard the name of the pills, she tells me they are famous for making people ill.

So now I have ceased the anti-malaria medication - lets hope I get to feel better soon, but I don't get malaria either.

Maybe it was that I wasn’t feeling well, or maybe I’m just a grumpy and cynical old fart. I don’t know, but when our guide, Cliffy, who is a real fountain of knowledge, stopped for the first time on our game drive outside a hole in the ground pointing out that Aardvaaks live there, well, I found it hard to get interested.

What do you think?

Apparently they can dig 3 to 5 metres under the terrain.  Wow (not).

I found this story devoid of my interest.  Of more concern was Cliffy continually swiping away Tse Tse flies.  I wasn’t wanting to get bitten by one of these, especially when I’m feeling like crap.  I’m now not sure whether I’ll be recovering from Malaria after my return to Oz.

Onwards and upwards.

I’m now more worried, because up in the sky is a White Tailed Vulture.

Does the whole animal kingdom in Africa know I’m on my last legs or what?

This thing is circling me!

Could I possibly be more paranoid than Paul Fraser? 

The terrain is quite dry – here we go across a sandy ex-river bed:

A bit further on another tree squirrel is caught climbing up the trunk of a tree.  I really like this photo.

The trunk has been ripped at by elephants, and you can see how the tree is healing itself, hence the various strands and colours.  It’s a reminder that this country is under pressure.

The terrain is dry and many of the trees are limited in height because the elephants eat them down to that level.   Apparently a big factor is that the human population is taking up more and more land away from roaming elephants – in the past they could simply move to another area if the food source started to wane, but not so much now, and when there is a few years of reduced rainfall like we’ve had, the flora can’t recover.

So to help, would you believe some of the tour operators have resorted to dropping bundles of hay out on the plains to help the animals survive.

Here’s an interesting feature for Paul and I should we ever get marooned in the middle of the African plains – here’s a spider web that can be used as a bandage.

We find our way to the Zambezi river, and there we find lots of crocodiles.

I like how different types of animals work together out here.

Mind you, I think all Aussies know not to muck around with these boys.

Nearby, we find a nest of hippos.

A closer look

Life is busy for these guys – and boring obviously:

And again, hippos working with the bird life.

Hippos are huge.  Apparently, these animals take the most human lives here. Check out this monster.

A pair of eagles are watching over the herd in case some fishing opportunities arise.

A close up of an eagle

Here’s Ruth watching the eagles watching the hippos – very studious, don’t you think?

Back on the road – zebras

Now check this out.  You’ll see here the photo has both impalas and baboons.  The harsh conditions have got them working the terrain together.  The baboons climb the trees, drop the foliage for the baboons and impalas to share off the ground.  Very impressive indeed.

Now, here’s a pic of a famous elephant for these parts.  They call the big guy on the left Boswell.

Check out his tusks – they are huuuuge compared to other elephants.

You’ll also note one of the elephants is using a tree as a leaning post as he tries to catch 40 winks and ease the load on his body.

But Boswell is a leader.

He rears up on his hind legs, puts his front legs on a tree trunk reaching into the foliage with his trunk and brings down huge branches of foliage for his brethren.

Those long tusks obviously help him do the job well. 

I’m beginning to be impressed how these “wild” animals have a community spirit amongst themselves.

I didn’t quite catch it on this photo, but here’s Boswell doing exactly as I explained.

I also have a movie of this moment too, but unfortunately our vantage point prevented us capturing the detail because the foliage was quite thick as you can see.

Off to lunch on the banks of the Zambezi.  Yep, a picnic lunch, very pleasant, in a beautiful setting.

Here are some Water Bucks grazing with us.

On the other side you can see a lone hippo too.

We even saw T-Rex coming to terrorise the elephants while we enjoyed our lunch.  GRRRRR.

Apparently, Noah had a problem with space on his ark when the last animals were boarding, and the poor old Water Buck was last on board. So the two Water Bucks had to sit for 40 days and 40 nights on the toilet, and to this day, they display the toilet ring on their arse to prove it.

I told you Cliffy was a fountain of knowledge.

And you’ve heard about the early bird catching the worm?  Well here’s proof with Julian catching the Long Toed Plover catching the worm.

Back on the road, ho hum, another warthog.

But what about this big boy Water Buck.  Stunning eh?

And his girlfriend, showing off her ring too.

The bird life is quite spectacular.  Here’s a little blue number that was quite common.  It’s a glossy starling. Really.

A heard of buffalo

A red billed hornbill

Moving on, and this photo shows the terrain and the many trees where the elephants have stripped the bark to eat it.

Here’s another colourful bird – lilac breasted roller

And no game drive would be complete without seeing one lizard hump another – the circle of life is certainly a wonder to treasure.

Here’s a honey badger out on the town.

All this talk about the birds, the bees, the honey badger, and then seeing the lizards humping - well it has got me all excited.

Nah... Not happening – I’m struggling to walk.

Next morning, we’re out’a here.  Here’s a pic of some zebra’s enjoying the morning sunshine. Hope you liked my placement of the airport shuttle bus!

So, as I finish off today's blog, I am beginning to feel a sort of compassion for the wildlife out here.  I feel on one hand a bit sad for what is being endured, and on the other hand, I’m in awe about how resilient mother nature can be.

I suppose the key message for us humans is to be mindful about our environment, and to get past the immediate reactions to think deeply about unintended consequences.  Whilst poaching and game hunting is abhorrent to me, it would be a world-wide catastrophe if we humans permitted these activities to make irreversible changes to wildlife that resulted in keystone animals becoming extinct (like the Painted Dog).

Next stop Victoria Falls.