A Walking Safari

It was an elite Navy-seal like crew that embarked on our walking safari deep into the African bush-

  You had to travel very light and could only bring the barest necessities to the camp-

The camp was beautifully situated in the Sweni Wilderness area on the eastern edge of the park near Mozambique.  There were no real roads in the area and it was quite remote. It actually had fairly comfortable sleeping quarters and the view from the dining area overlooking a water hole and the open bush was great-

I found the place surprisingly comfortable, except for the mosquito netting.  I am not sure how many mosquitos it kept out, but I seemed to get tangled up in it every night (it was supposed to catch mosquitos not me)-

The rangers would get you up at 4:45 and then you would go out for a 5 hour walk into the bush to look for game.  We saw some beautiful African sunrises-

 The guides carried rifles.  Our guides were extremely knowledgeable about all elements of the African bush, from spiders, to termites, to vegetation, to birds (there were many eagles), to porkupines, to crockodiles, to elephants and other larger animals (warthog below)-

The problem was that the guides occasionally quizzed you.  Unfortunately, at one point, when we came upon a giraffe- which they had spoken about earlier-,the guides asked me-

'Ken, male or female giraffe?

Ken- nothing.  Blank stare.

"Ken, we told you what to look for,  Male or female?"

Ken- "Well, it looks dark so I think it is female."

"Ken, dark has nothing to do with it!  you can see by the horns and other indicia that it is male."

So I flunked my safari test.

All the other people in the safari were South Africans who had signed up as a group (the guide told me that most people who go on these walking safaris are from SA).  They could not have been nicer or more helpful to me, always trying to make sure I saw whatever animal was visible. I needed this help, as I never spotted anything.   The spotting ability of the guides was truly amazing.   At one point, the guide pointed out this aninal and then asked me-

"Ken, do you see it?:

Ken- "Yes, even I see it.  It would be pretty embarrassing to miss an elephant."

We did not see 3 of the big 5- no rhinos, leopards or water buffalo, tho we saw their tracks- but we did see lions.  Up close in fact...