Northern Cape of RSA - long.
Joyce in RSA.
Cathy had to cover as much of the northern cape area as possible, to qualify
for her national certificate in tourguiding, so we did many miles of road
between places. Luckily, she did all the driving, as she hates to be a
passenger, and I drive only from necessity, not enjoyment.
The first views, quite soon after leaving home, were vast fields of
sunflowers in full bloom - a wonderful sight. After that we had a long way
to go to reach NC, so we didn't see anything interesting until we reached
Kuruman, where we spent the night. Kuruman is one of the few places which
has no water shortages because of the perennial spring, which supplies
millions of litres per day. We found the water hard, which surprised us.
From there we travelled a very long "dirt" road to the Kgaligadi (original
name corrupted to Kalahari, and revived for the park) nature reserve. These
roads are not tarred, and have corrugations which hammer the car as it bumps
over them, so it was very hard on Cathy's car, which is an old Opel Monza,
and we had to stop for her to fix the petrol pipe, check tyres, etc. When we
reached the reserve, we were too late to go the 162kms to the camp we'd
booked into, because of camp gates closing and speed limits, so we stayed at
the camp by the gate. Luckily they just changed the booking, and we
arranged to stay an extra night at the other camp, so that we could do some
game-viewing before leaving.
The accommodation is in chalets, mostly with kitchen facilities, shower, and
always a barbecue fireplace outside. We had brought meat and salad,
charcoal and firelighters, etc., so we had a good meal. We had driven
around a short distance before the camp gates closed, and saw the gemsbok
for which the park is known, as well as spring+--bok and wildebeest. Next
morning we went to the other camp, slowly, and saw the best sight, lions
with their kill. A young male and female were resting nearby, and an older
female was eating at the wildebeest only a few metres from the road.
They're used to cars on the road, but this one became tired of being watched
and dragged the remains of the carcase further away from the road. On the
road was a stomach, bursting with finely chewed grass! We saw lions twice
more during our short stay, as well as a jackal drinking from a puddle in
the road, bat-eared foxes, mongooses, lizards with blue heads or red bodies,
and many mice. One kind had several black and white stripes down its back,
but mostly they were just sand-coloured. Mice are the basis of the ecology,
as they feed the many raptors as well as jackals and foxes.
The road we'd travelled before the park is known as "The Raptor trail", but
we saw far more in the park, including pale chanting goshawks, lanner and
peregrine falcons, and many we couldn't identify, soaring around in the very
blue sky. We tried hard, but they wouldn't stay still unless silhouetted in
a tree. I have at least one photo of what seems to be a clear sky, obtained
while trying to get pictures to use for identification.
On the morning we left, we saw what looked like a shaggy black dog ahead,
and decided it must be a brown hyena. It went off the road, then came back
towards it, so we could confirm the identification, which was apparently a
very rare sight, as they are very shy. It was moving too fast to
photograph, unfortunately. Most of our hyenas are the spotted ones, which
we have seen in Kruger park.
The northern cape has very little rain, but we seemed to have brought them
some! We went through Hotazell, and it rained there, and after leaving the
reserve, we had more dirt road back to the highway, and got stuck in the
mud! We had seen a pickup go round a large puddle on the side of the road,
and thought we'd do the same, but we didn't make it. Cathy phoned the AA,
but before they arrived, another pickup came past with a cargo of local
people, who cheerfully pushed the car back, and told us to go through the
middle of the water. We did, and came through without trouble! It was
actually sand, not real mud, so didn't cause other problems.
If you've made it this far, you might like another instalment, which I'll
write later.
Joyce in RSA.
bunzo
forward to the next installation.
Marilyn in MN
Trish Brown
I'd been sittin' on your shoulder the whole time, like a large, pink,
bespectacled monkey! ;->
Please, *please* keep writing!!! More about the birds, if possible.
Would you - erm - ahem - like to do a fuller description of the birds of
prey? I've only ever seen a Lanner Falcon in books, but it strikes me
(like our Australian Little Falcon) as a miniature Peregrin. Is that
about right? And a Chanting Goshawk? I'll have to look him up in
'Eagles, Hawks and Falcons of the World' - is he a biggie or a smaller,
foresty sort of BOP? Our Goshawks are sizable and fly on rounded wings
and - oh! Must tell this boring story about one!
The first time I *ever* saw an Australian Brown Goshawk was about twenty
two years ago. Dad and I had altered the garage so Matt and I could live
in it. I was standing in the kitchen section making a cake. Matt was
playing with his 'He Man' toys on the floor. Suddenly, I heard all the
crows in the area begin to squawk their alarm call, so I rushed outside
to see what was annoying them.
It was a huge Brown Goshawk *and it had a Peach-faced Lovebird in its
talons*!!! Now, I've never seen a BG before or since anywhere near Mum's
place. But this one decided to toddle by on this particular day and
bring his Peach Face with him! What could I do? I bellowed 'Pud 'im
down, you big bugger!' but that had signally little effect on Mr BG. All
I had was my wooden spoon (heavy with lovely chocalate cake mixture) -
so I lobbed it at Mr BG and he turned *toward* me with a great flurry of
crows! For a minute, I thought he was going to come down and swap me for
the lovebird, but as I watched in fascination, he dropped the little
bird, who was squawking to save his life.
The Peach Face landed in next door's yard and the goshawk landed on our
roof. It walked to the very edge of the guttering and peered for a long
while left and right, looking for the little bird (which was still
making a fair hullabaloo in the long grass). As I set up a great
bellowing of my own to call the neighbour lady, the Goshawk decided to
wave bye-bye to his dinner and took off with a wreath of objecting crows
around his head.
The neighbour (who was a *most* unpleasant and objectionable lady) came
out and wanted to *keep* the Peach Face, since it was on her property. I
lied shamelessly and told her it was mine, having escaped its cage. She
hesitated a moment and I could see her thoughts written quite clearly on
her broad, vapid face 'I don't believe her. I'm going to keep the bird
anyway!'. But I suggested we should call Dad to come and identify the
bird (good ol' Dad knew that every live creature within a twenty yard
radius had some connection with me at some point in its existence).
Anyway, long story short and she gave me the bird (yeah, she did! LOL!)
That Peach Face (name of Hawk) became a much-loved friend and we had him
for quite a few years. I don't know *how* the Goshawk came to catch him.
The Peachies are so colourful, they'd stand out quite clearly in
suburbia. But what on earth was a BG doing in Wallsend on that fateful
day??? Mind you, it *could* have been a Collared Sparrowhawk, but I felt
it was too large for that and too dark in colouration...
I still marvel at this amazing story - I'm sure Mum doesn't believe me,
especially the bit about the wooden spoon (which I'd had to retrieve
from the back paddock, where it fell)! My only witness was Matthew, but
he was non-verbal at that stage of his life and probably could only have
said 'Nah nah nah nah nah'.
--
Trish {|:-}
Newcastle, Australia
Joan
> It was a huge Brown Goshawk *and it had a Peach-faced Lovebird in its
> talons*!!! ...... For a minute, I thought he was going to come down
> and swap me for the lovebird, but as I watched in fascination, he
> dropped the little bird, who was squawking to save his life.
<snip>
> That Peach Face (name of Hawk) became a much-loved friend and we had
> him for quite a few years. I don't know *how* the Goshawk came to
> catch him. But what on earth was a BG doing in Wallsend on that
> fateful day???
Trish, isn't it *obvious*?!?!? He was bringing you a present!!! No
wonder he was looking at you so angrily! Here he was, nice enough to
bring you A Present and you yelled at him and threw a spoon at him!!!
Just think, if you'd spoken to him nicely, he was going to come down
and hand you the little lovebird very gently; but since you were *so*
rude, he just dropped it and made it even more inconvenient for you by
dropping it in a nasty neighbor's yard and making you work for the
gift! That's probably why you haven't seen any since, either!
Just remember this the *next* time a hawk comes calling! If they ever
do after their original treatment.
Joan of the Overactive Imagination ;)
Trish Brown
> Trish, isn't it *obvious*?!?!? He was bringing you a present!!! No
> wonder he was looking at you so angrily! Here he was, nice enough to
> bring you A Present and you yelled at him and threw a spoon at him!!!
> Just think, if you'd spoken to him nicely, he was going to come down
> and hand you the little lovebird very gently; but since you were *so*
> rude, he just dropped it and made it even more inconvenient for you by
> dropping it in a nasty neighbor's yard and making you work for the
> gift! That's probably why you haven't seen any since, either!
>
> Just remember this the *next* time a hawk comes calling! If they ever
> do after their original treatment.
>
> Joan of the Overactive Imagination ;)
>
ROTFLMAO!!! You are as mad as a cut snake, Joan!
Joan
Trish Brown wrote:
>
> ROTFLMAO!!! You are as mad as a cut snake, Joan!
Why, thank you! (I think! Not sure what a cut snake is--a species or
one that's been sliced with a Sharp Knife?)
Joan
Trish Brown
LOL! A cut snake is indeed one that's been sliced - and it wiggles a
*lot*! (Hence the madness reference).
You'll be pleased to know I've just had my Coco Pops (hardly a decent
breakfast for a woman who is larger than life, but hey! *I* like 'em!)
Each morning, I stumble blindly out to the computer room with my bowl of
CPs. As they hear me coming, all my mice wake up and rush to poke their
soft little noses through the bars of their cages: they know they're
about to get their morning lolly! I give each little nose just one (1)
Coco Pop and s/he retreats to the bowels of the cage to scrunch it up
with great joy. Ruaridh, I'm sure, has an eating disorder because she
tries to steal everyone else's lolly. So, I feed her first and while
she's eating I give everyone else their treat. When Ruaridh comes back
for seconds, I lead her a merry dance up the rope (we have a tightrope
strung across our cage) and down The Slinch (Slinky toy, which they just
love bouncing on). By then, everyone's eaten the lollies and they all
park themselves on the roof of the little plastic house and nod off.
The boys are a little different from the girls in that they'll squeak
for more. Of course, I can't help myself! I usually give the boys *two*
Coco Pops each, especially Little Finbar, who is so small.
Yesterday, we caught Client #40. Red letter day. Hoo-bl**dy-rah! We're
hoping that once the new laundry is built, there'll be less access for
the little dears and they'll go and visit Kylie next door. I hope so.
She could do with some wildlife!
Meanwhile, DD is still off school and coughing her lungs out. I'll ring
the doctor today to see if she wants me to give DD the cortisone tablets
I have 'just in case'. Hope not! And DD can spend a sunny morning
wrestling with the vagaries of three-digit subtraction, probability and
column graphs. She'll be *so* happy about that! Heeheeheeheehee! Poor
old DD. She's quite competent at everything she has to do, but she
*hates* being made to do repetitive exercises. Well, she's in for a
rugged old time this morning, say I as I sharpen my Red Pencil (hasn't
been used for years and years... sigh...!)
Speakin' of pencils, I let my cageful of girls out on The Brown Table
(square table I use for jigsaws, sewing etc etc etc) the other day. They
had a great romp among the toilet paper tubes and bit of shopping that
was waiting to be put away. (Mice love to play in the shopping:
everything has a smell and it gives them a snif-fest to go rambling
among it - er - but not foodstuffs, of course). *Any* way, dear little
Anastasia found the pencil DH had been doing a crossword with (with
which DH had been doing a crossword). The darling little petal thought
she'd sharpen it for DH and in five minutes flat, she'd sharpened it
right down to the lead for its full length! What a great gnawer she is!
And this morning, Terry is back and banging away at our new laundry
roof. He reckons he'll have it all finished by the end of tomorrow, but
I have ma doots. There's two windows and the door and the flashing to
keep the rain out and putting the lock in the door and - well, we'll
see... Then, we have to find an el cheapo plumber to renew the pipes
that burst and fix the $*(%^$^ toilet, which runs. Oh, its such *fun*!!!
Today, I'm tuing up my little classical guitar and I'm *going* to do
finger exercises. It's about time I got back into it, having devoted
everything to Perce-the-12-string for ages and ages and ages. I was
listening to Slava Grigorian on daggy old ABC radio yesterday and I got
all inspired...