Thylacine
- Oct 14, 2017
- 4 min read

At Play In The Cradle Of Creation

Some Christians believe the biblical Garden of Eden is located in Africa. Many anthropologists believe Africa is the cradle of human evolution. To a wildlife biologist, Africa is a dream come true.

I celebrated my birthday in the bush on the first day of a 10 day safari in Botswana, complete with cake and candles. Those 10 days were in my top 2 land-based wildlife experiences of my life 🙂 We would wake at 5:30 every day for a quick breakfast and a 4.5 hour game drive, then return for lunch and a mid-day sauna (oops, I mean siesta) in our tents We would wake again at 3:00 for some afternoon tea and a scrumptious snack before setting off on a 3 hour evening game drive. A game drive is just what it sounds like. You drive around in an open air vehicle looking for wildlife (for 7.5 hours a day). Like I said, a wildlife biologist’s dream come true.

Come along on a game drive with me, if you will …

… we arrive by small plane to a dirt air strip where we’re met by our guide and head toward camp. The call comes over the radio. African Wild Dogs headed our way. Our guide speeds up a bit to intersect them. He slows and looks over the side at the dirt in the road. He points. African Wild Dog tracks heading that way. He waves his hand down the road in the direction we’re headed and moves slowly forward. There! He indicates a location about 400 yards away. They’re so far away 😦 The guide speeds up. He pulls around a bend. We lose sight of them. Are we going to stop to see them? He careens ahead off road. He seems to know where they’re headed. Suddenly, everything stills and silence reigns as he brings the Toyota Land Cruiser (he calls it his limousine) to a shuddering stop. Not more than 8 feet from the vehicle is a pack of Wild Dogs, one of the most endangered carnivores in Africa. The sound of camera shudders erupts like gun fire.

… the next morning, an hour into our first morning game drive, the guide slows and looks over the side of the vehicle at tracks in the road. He stops and gets out. What is it? It’s confusing. He studies the tracks and consults his book. Rhino! Rhino’s were rounded up and moved to a more secure location in the early 1990’s. Twelve were reintroduced to another game park some distance away in the mid-2000’s. Two of those found their way back into Moremei National Park where we now are. Are we going to see Rhinos? Our guide tracks them about 50 yards where they doubled back just off the road and then crossed back across their own tracks. He follows them a bit further and then they’ve gone beyond where we can follow. We do not see them that morning, or at any time on the trip but just the hope, and the knowledge that they’re out there, keeps us excited and actively surveying the landscape.

… what about lions? How about an old male nearly charging through our vehicle to drive two females from a kill.

… what about hyenas? How about a pup lounging on the doorstep of its den.

… what about leopards? How about one stalking its prey. Or another plopping down beneath our vehicle to use it as a sun shade. Or returning to a site where a leopard had stashed an impala beneath a bush only to find that a lion had chased the leopard up a tree and stolen its kill.

… elephants? 10 feet away and coming at the vehicle. So big! Are we safe?

… crocodiles? hippos? monitor lizards? impala? reedbuck? red lechwe? cape buffalo? steenbok? roan antelope? sable antelope? striped mongoose? slender mongoose? dwarf mongoose? a plethora of different bird species? Sure!

If you’ve had enough of safaris, let’s head over to Zimbabwe to visit Victoria Falls. One of the waterfall wonders of the world. But make sure you’re not short of cash. “Driver is there somewhere we can stop where I can get some us dollars.” “No, the bank does not have U.S. dollars. Nowhere in Zimbabwe.” “What currency do you use here?” “U.S. dollar.” “So, the official currency is U.S. dollars, but the banks do not have any U.S. dollars?” “Yes.” Hmmmm…..