One thing people who go “On Safari” want is to see the “Big Five” – AKA:  Lions, Leopards, Rhinos, Elephants, Cape Buffaloes. Not knowing your interests and your experience with safaris usually begins with the guides stopping and asking you if you want to see the “Big Five”. Yes, of course they are important but so are the “Small Five” (Leopard Tortoise, Rhinoceros Beetle, Ant Lion, Buffalo Weaver and the Elephant Shrew), and the “Ugly Five” (Warthog, Wildebeest, Marabou Stork, Lappet Faced Vulture, and Spotted Hyena).  And the rest.

Once you have seen all these animals and got that out of the way its time to move on to the more beautiful and amazing creatures there are. And to their environment itself.

A big challenge is getting that “money shot” of a bird in full glorious flight, the light illuminating its beautiful wings, everything in focus, and the background not distracting.

Almost, but not quite….

1-6 on a bird setting for my Nikon P900, taken at over 50 metres. The camera tried its best, but I am now convinced to return in warmer seasons, ditch the warm clothes and take a reasonable SLR with a long lens and faster shutter speed. Maybe even a tripod with a gimbal head! (My wish list)

This is a major reason, apart from my enthusiasm for supporting conservation, I want to return to these countries.

We were provided with lists of animals and plants in every lodge in which we stayed. These gave us a great opportunity to mark off the ones we saw and to learn more about their natural history. Local knowledge is extremely important to guide the amateur through what’s likely to be there. But sometimes the lists didn’t name species we saw. We were thrilled to add the new species, having learned to identify them previously.

One huge constraint to getting beautiful pictures is that luggage allowances (Check-in 15kg limit, hand luggage 5Kg limit) for the more remote Safari Camps are restricted. Flights are very often in small aircraft, the biggest would be the Cessna Caravan (The Cessna Dash 8 equivalent in Australia), but the smallest will be a tiny unpressurised Cessna 210. 

Travelling in winter means you do have to pack warmer and thus heavier clothes. Therefore, cameras can’t be too heavy, and a decent compact camera is all you can take. Forget the tripod too! But its always a learning experience and each time you press the shutter you understand a bit more about bird behaviour and can learn to predict what they might do.

They say a good workman never blames his tools but sometimes I accidentally get a satisfactory photograph, mostly I don’t. Phones can always be used if the subject is close enough, the technology is getting more advanced by the day. Electronic “film” is cheaper.

                    A White Faced Bee Eater in its nest                                        A Pearl Spotted Owlet

A Cape Glossy Starling

We managed to identify over 148 species of birds and photographed a significant number of them. Some are quite shy and hide when we try to take their pictures, thus pictures are not always ideal. But learning to predict the behaviour of birds is challenging and a valuable learning experience.

                     A Yellow Billed Hornbill                                                        The rare Arnot’s Chat

                                       A Hammerkop                                                          A Bateleur Eagle

            A pair of White-Headed Vultures                                                                     A Koori Bustard

The diversity of birds is phenomenal, these pictures are the tip of the iceberg. The challenges of recording them are sometimes overwhelming, but having a picture “in the can” is utterly satisfying.

The impetus to return to see more and take better pictures is irresistible.

Author:   Michele Cotton. BVSc, BSc (Vet), MVPHMgt, Dip. Int. Animal Health
Director Veterinary Careers

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During our time at Sango Wildlife Park we learned about the ecology of the area. The way in which the rangers and their families live, and how exhaustively rangers are vetted and chosen from the local population. If they pass the careful scrutiny this provides a comparatively well-paid job and training opportunities for members of a country where there is 95% unemployment.

We were completely puzzled by the calm acceptance of this situation, blackouts for at least 13 hours a day, but the idea of a general uprising of the population would be met by massive genocide as the only people who are resourced militarily are the rulers of the country. Essentially, they are trapped.

Yet the people we meet in the streets are gentle, philosophical and friendly and try hard to find ways to gain US dollars as their own currency is inflating by the hour and exchange rates are unpredictable.

Their Zimbabwe $ was going at a rate of $4 Zim to $1US. But by the time we left a month later it had risen to $5 Zim to $1 US. As of four days ago the official rate is now $12 Zim to $1US. Yet locals will now be jailed if they transact in $US.  Chaos reigns.

People are intensely artistic and creative; the culture is one of family and community support.  There is a very prominent tradition of sculpture, evident in the markets and along main roads.

Sculptures on display and for sale in Harare and Victoria Falls.

Using Kudu horns and porcupine quills to make lamp shades. Locally made jewellery.

Next time I visit Zimbabwe I hope to acquire one of these amusing bird baths. And the use of little timber offcuts as components of a chandelier is remarkable.

A shortage of food creates innovativeness. Here the locals in rural areas trap and cook the tiny finches called Queleas which turn up in plague proportions to eat crops.

A dedicated group of locals who understand the importance of tourism to the country do all they can to educate the young about conserving their animals and the environment. In some areas entire neighbourhoods enjoy the employment and benefits of tourism.  The safari camps in various conservancies and national parks appreciate how important tourism is to local people.

In Victoria Falls, despite the huge queues of cars lining up for petrol and the blackouts that last for over 13 hours a day there are people employed and looking fresh and happy. The barter system works well but what does the future hold?

Author:   Michele Cotton. BVSc, BSc (Vet), MVPHMgt, Dip. Int. Animal Health
Director Veterinary Careers

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It’s a tough gig – but somebody’s got to do it.

Expensive, but as I like to maintain there are no pockets in a shroud and if the cost contributes to better appreciation of how other countries value their wild plants and animals then its value for my money.

In my efforts to support the conservation of the last wild rhinos in Africa I have joined the SAVE Rhino foundation.

Heres their website:
www.savefoundation.org.au

On May 12th I boarded a flight to Perth, thence to Johannesburg. To start a full months Safari experience in various camps in Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Botswana.

I went with another veterinarian colleague who is as dedicated to learning about overseas conservation projects as I am.  Perhaps we can apply what we found to Australia, in terms of ecotourism, and biodiversity. And tell someone about it.

First tour was to south eastern Zimbabwe, the Save Conservancy, and the hunting lodge called SANGO.
http://www.sango-wildlife.com/

This lodge is usually occupied by well-off big game hunters but because we provide so much support for the rangers and their efforts to protect their rhinos from poachers, we can stay in utter luxury for five days at a time.  So, in terms of conservation this place allows hunting, and conducts photographic safaris, and in this way, it can afford to continue. So, hunting supports conservation in these places. But not rhino hunting.

We were treated to special displays by the rangers of the equipment we have provided, uniforms, boots, tree climbing equipment, firearms, motion detector cameras, two-way radios, drones etc.

They have trained some wonderful tracker dogs in order to catch poachers.

Poachers are armed and dangerous, and equipped with sophisticated firearms, night vision equipment all military style. When the price of rhino horn exceeds the price of gold weight for weight there is no expense spared.

With limited resources and a country in turmoil such as Zimbabwe is right now the playing field is immensely unequal.

We drove around with the rangers and were able to see some rhinos, going for bush walks, and in general were also treated to the immense knowledge of the rangers about the environment, its plants and animals.

We were able to photograph some amazing scenes of animal behaviour and to learn more about the environment.

One of my favourite birds, the lilac breasted Roller (Coracias caudatus)

The rangers were on 24/7 red alert because there was poacher activity close by. After we returned in June there was a sad loss of a 7 months old baby rhino. Apparently, the poachers both died due to their crashing their escape car whilst being chased by the police. But the loss was tragic and such a waste of an endangered innocent animal. Its mother was injured, I have yet to find out where and how badly.

This will increase our efforts to support rhino conservation. We will not give up.

A quote by the director of the SAVE Foundation:

“The committee’s recent visit to another very big rhino conservancy, Bubye Valley, found out that their 680 km boundary is being breached every 3 days by a poaching gang and they’ve already killed 30 rhinos this year!  So we will be increasing our support to their new team of ex British marines in discussion with our team.”

Author:   Michele Cotton. BVSc, BSc (Vet), MVPHMgt, Dip. Int. Animal Health
Director Veterinary Careers

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