Matthew Makes Nachos!

My friend Matthew came all the way from England to..make Nachos in our kitchen!

To be fair he also spotted genets, adopted a few termites and chased around frogs and lizards but mainly he hung around the kitchen trying to squeeze secret recipes from Freddie. Matthew says he is going to try out the recipe...see if it works in England then email me so hopefully he will be posting the modified recipe here! Can't wait.

Ｎi hao wo de pengyou! Ni shenme shi hou hui lai? (This is for Matthew off course...and anyone else who speaks Chinese.

Matthew hanging out in the kitchen



Matthew and Freddie



This apparently has something to do with the whole nachos making process...I only know how to eat them

African Fish Eagle

After months of dissapointment, blurred shots out of focus, eagle flying away and the usual drama I FINALLY got my eagle shots. It was on the morning of one of our bush breakfasts and I almost did not take my camera with me, but gladly I did. After spotting a fantastic hammerkop's nest.

It was nestled right above where I parked the vehicle I decided to take a walk up to the dried lagoon. Nothing much was happening save for a few squirrels scurrying about.
Then I saw it

Wait, I heard it first, that distinct sqaw and I immediately started searching the trees for the black and white. I found him in no time perched up on a leafy tree looking the other way. I followed his gaze and to my surprise and delight his mate was perched not far off on a treeless skeleton of a tree. So I took pictures, lots of pictures...will only post a few here for it gets boring. I have a soft spot for African fish Eagles. They are large and impressive, excellent fishers with sharp eyes and best of all they mate for life. There is a catch however; every year the male has to woo the female and win her all over again by locking talons high up in the air and free falling until they reach just above the trees where they unlock and start all over again until they have mated. They will then help each other repair their nest, which they use every year and is usually found perched on tall trees with wide branches.







African Fish Eagle

Haliaeetus Vocifer

Lion Kill at Lion Camp

Last night at around 7pm the plains animals where restless and wheezing off warning whistles to each other; a sign that a predator on the hunt was nearby. This went on for about 10 minutes, I thought it was a false alarm, that they were just skittish because of the full moon so I walked off and left the guys playing with the spotlight wishing they would stop horsing around and get back to setting up the table for dinner. I hadn't gone 10 steps when I heard a blood curdling wail, like an inflated balloon slowly losing air through a tiny controlled opening or a kitten that has been stepped on by a large foot. This was followed by growls and grunts and a lot of activity involving antelope and Puku scurrying about dissapearing into the long grass and big yellow bodies scampering towards the dead Puku for a piece of the action. The guests missed all of this but were able to witness the quiet aftermath as the lions relaxed and casually feasted on their catch for the rest of the night. Full moon nights are a time for nervous tension for the plains animals, they are more exposed and in full illuminated view, so much pitted against their survival. Full moon nights are an optimum opportunity for the lions, one of the few nights they can pick and choose their meal, with the moon on their side, hunting becomes a flawless successful exercise and with no scavengers daring to sneak up on them, they can casually dine in peace.

Kiss of death

I bring you this amazing photo of a leopard on his meal courtesy of a very nice lady from sunny California. Thanks A! I think the photo speaks for itself and is quite powerful in portraying the story of a predator and its prey. As in photo their lives are intertwined but the relationship is a deadly one. Reminds me of some of my relationships, never ends well for one but leaves the other completely satisfied and ready to move on.

Back to Lion Camp

So after 2 weeks of absence (which will all be explained in due time) I am back at Lion Camp. Didn't miss much except an elephant was killed not 5 minutes from here...natural causes seem to be the culprit but the whole thing has made for some interesting times around here. Criston our brave ZAWA guy had a time of it inspecting the corpse (which is now missing half a trunk thanks to lazy opportunists who can't be bothered to hunt for fresh meat.) He will also remove the tasks and hand them over to authorities thereby staving off opportunist poachers. Other news; at about 8:30pm while we were polishing off our struddel desert (cranberries and apple with lots of cinnamon) Joseph the extremely capable bartender yelled out:
"Bwana the rions are there on the plains"
Off course we ran to investigate and sure enough the yellow cats were on the prowl, after buffalo. You could see their hungry fiery yellow eyes glaring and darting like enormous angry fireflies in the dark. Solid yellow machines gliding through the tall grass in slow motion stalking the slightly distressed herd of buffalo. It all made for a great movie when savage roars were heard as well as what seemed like a scuffle, alas it was a phantom kill. I think our interfering flashlights were the cause of this mission being aborted.

In another Wafua, as the water recedes to the hot thirsty sun the hippos are now podding in large groups of 20-30 strong. Am looking forward to seeing 100s of hippos squished in one little pond, this to come very soon as the sun has been relenting in sucking up all the water from the lagoons.

Dangerous Liaisons

4 guests left this morning for a walk, not 10 minutes into it they encountered a hippo right in front of them, not 2 meters away. Luckily our ZAWA guide carries a gun and is licenced to use it as and when its necessary, this he competently did scaring the bananas out of me. 10 tense minutes later the guide in landcruiser who had gone to check things out brought back our guests who were chatting away like sociable weavers at a luncheon. All is well. They are still looking for the startled hippo who is around camp somewhere...

Let me explain why all could have gone really bad. Hippos are responsible for taking the most human life in parks. They are large and dangerous with huge teeth that can chomp a person or a boat in half...you do not want to have any kind of liaisons with them anywhere.

Some of my friends are animals-3

This is another of my friends. I like to call him "Night" for obvious reasons. he is usually found flying within my mosquito net that covers my bed (its large enough for both of us) and for sleeping he prefers the toilet window which is always open so he can hang there and feel like he is in the bush, but he knows he isn't. He is a fruit bat so he is quite harmless and kind of cute I think. I like to call these animals my friends because they choose to come to me and I have no claim on them whatsoever. Bats are quite fury with rubbery wings, mostly blind the "see" and communicate through
echolocation, an ingenious way of using sound waves, could be a life changing answer for blind people, finding a way to harness and utilize this tool in humans.

4th of July

It came a bit early in the bush...We had 20 guests so I surprised them with a 4th of July themed Sundowner.

We chatted



Watched the sunset



Had lots of drinkies!

For drinks I served white wine Sangria made with
1 bottle Obikwa Sauvignon Blanc
1 bottle sprite (really good!)
3 slices apple
3 slices orange
2 slices lemon

Lots of ice

Liber-tea made with

3 parts tea
2 parts lemonade
1/2 cup honey
1 cup southern comfort
1 cup Jack Daniels whisky

Lots of ice

I also made cosmopolitans and side car shooters

Scops Owl

Otus scops

Scops Owl

Typical day in the bush

Life in the bush is quite unpredictable. Sometimes I wake up to see this in my front yard


Most probably done by these guys



because the crocodile was trying to steal this from them


but it's all good because it now means these guys can have breakfast


while I head to over to mine ...at an undisclosed but incredibly romantic location


Nothing like a bloody Mary to restart the engine...


After breakfast I like to watch birds fishing


doing their thing


but I may go on a game drive to watch these


and these


then have a quick snooze here


at 4pm or "1600hrs" as they say around here I will go on a game drive


We usually run into ellies


Zebras


and my favorite giraffes



When the sun is going down


We will stop for sundowners


then heading home we'll be lucky if we run into him


him


or him (a bit blurry but that's leopard alright)


We'll get back in time for candle lit dinner


with Oscar


which might feature this


or this


after dinner, I'll catch a bit of WC football with the guys before heading to bed

and that's how we roll in the bush!

Dinner with Stephen

Last week I got to dine with 2 famous Stephens. The first was Stephen Frink, a legend in underwater photography world said to be among the world's most widely published marine and underwater photographer. He came to take amazing above ground pictures of animals along with 15 or so other photography enthusiasts. Once in a blue moon Stephen comes back to land and leads a once in a lifetime tour to an exotic location. This year it was Africa, a trip that was 2 years in the making. It was interesting to watch this kaleidoscope of individuals brought together from all parts of American by one common passion, photography. It was easy to follow or include myself in their conversation as long as I had Photography somewhere in my sentence. They certainly stirred and stoked my little fire for photography, someday i will be able to afford the bazookas they were carrying and take better pictures, by that time they will probably be on to something else...space photographic travels perhaps.

Then Stephen Falcke came by,(he is only one of the world's top 3 interior designers!!) Soft spoken fabulous Stephen came to rearrange our public areas and rooms with lots of color and unique artefacts. The same man who is responsible for this, this and this got to use our public areas as his little amusement park for a few hours! For someone who gets calls from the likes of Sol Kerzener, Stephen is quite humble and down to earth with a sharp eye for detail. I extremely enjoyed his stories peppered with exotic lifestyles and glitterati and he taught me how to make a "rock shandy" his version of this mocktail includes:

1 part soda
1parts sprite (or lemonade)
A couple of shakes bitters

Me thinks Stephen has a bit of a sweet tooth going!

Egyptian Geese

Mama nurtures



Daddy protects





Alopochen aegyptiacus

Egyptian Geese

African Spoonbill

Feeding



Take Off



Midflight




Platalea Alba


African Spoonbill

Yellow Billed Stork

Preening

Feeding




Flight



Mycteria ibis

Yellow Billed Stork