Views from the Kruger National Park

Looking for lions

2010-11-26T10:15:00.001+02:00

Lions are panthers, so are leopards, jaguars and tigers. None of them can purr but they can roar! They are sometimes called the roaring cats for this reason.

Panthera leo - lion
Panthera pardus - leopard
Panthera onca - jaguar
Panthera tigris - tiger

You could, if you were a “lion watcher” look for the these lions in Africa.

Panthera leo hollisteri - Congo lion
Panthera leo massaica - Masai lion
Panthera leo verneyi - Kalahari lion
Panthera leo krugeri - South African lion or Southeast African lion
Panthera leo azandica - North East Congo lion
Panthera leo bleyenberghi - Katanga lion or Southwest African lion
Panthera leo senegalensis - West African lion, or Senegal lion

You can’t look for these lions anymore – they’re extinct!

Panthera leo spelaea - Eurasian cave lion
Panthera leo atrox - American lion or North American cave lion
Panthera leo europaea - European lion
Panthera leo fossilis - Early Middle Pleistocene European cave lion
Panthera leo leo - Barbary lion, extinct in the wild
Panthera leo melanochaita - Cape lion
Panthera leo sinhaleyus - Sri Lanka lion or Ceylon lion.
Panthera leo vereshchagini - East Siberian and Beringian cave lion

Neil Heron
www.beardedheron.com

Management fires: putting them into perspective

2010-10-29T12:01:00.001+02:00

MANAGEMENT: THE OTHER SIDE OF THE KRUGER COIN

Thanks for the 70 plus years of management: from zero - 8 000 white rhino's in the Kruger National Park - South Africa can be and should be proud of the Kruger National Park, it's management and the rangers responsible for providing us with what is still the most diverse and largest protected space in Africa (Some say in the world)

Now is the time for South African’s and the South African media to put their Saturday morning beers down, put out the braai fires and dowse their willingness to react, half cocked, to an incredibly unfortunate and horrific set of circumstances which led to 2 rhinos being burnt in the recent management fires in the Kruger National Park.

Now is the time for South Africans and the South African media to grab the opportunity to learn, appreciate and understand just how difficult it is to manage our heritage – the Kruger National Park – a savanna ecosystem unparalleled in the world today. We have to understand, learn about and appreciate the management required to keep safe, the tiny space we have allocated for the survival of higher organisms in this system despite the impact we have already had on it by subjecting it to our wanton (and often indiscriminate) need to see a lion, or a rhino or buffalo, elephant and leopard living in a natural space.

We have all created a ‘cage’ (albeit a big cage) and just like we enjoy keeping our hamster in a cage or birds in an aviary. In the same way the Kruger’s ‘cage’ too has to be cleaned and managed in order protect its biodiversity. Too many rabbits, hamsters and dogs in your back garden has you racing around to sell them, swap them or destroy them – or they get sick – the quality of their lives are reduced, the whole thing becomes a mess….So the Kruger cage (the one we created by building cities and roads that could not support other life forms, the one we created because of indiscriminate hunting, the one we created because you didn’t want a lion eating your children…) has to be managed.

South Africa’s savanna ecosystem equals about 45% of our country, and in terms of animal biodiversity, is richer than any other system in our country. – In South Africa the savanna biome is largely used for meat production, game farming and hunting. Then there is the Kruger – a part of this system dedicated to eco-tourism activities, research and conservation. South Africa’s savanna is rapidly declining because of our need for firewood, building materials, our insatiable demand for citrus and sugar and the water that this agricultural activity demands…

So we have to manage what we got – what little space we have left ourselves and what we are still taking away from this environment to sort ourselves out. Let’s not even talk about the mineral wealth under the Kruger’s ground.

Fire is not the only necessary management tool to protect this savanna system – we have to start reducing the unnatural water in the Kruger – we have to manage animal populations in the Kruger, we have to manage diseases and alien plants brought into the Kruger. – All of these things are emotional and controversial but here’s something that none of you want to talk about. We have to start managing the amount of people in the Kruger, the amount of cars and vehicles in the Kruger, the amount of rubbish and plastic we leave in the Kruger. We have to manage the impact we are having on the Kruger. Try and highlight these things to your children before it becomes too late for the Kruger.

So now we end up in a situation where, because of the impact we have on everything else, it has become inevitable that most of the natural world has to be managed by us. The Kruger National Park and many other national parks and reserves around the world were created to maintain ecosystems as close to their natural state as possible and to keep natural ecosystem processes intact. To learn about them, and to promote their natural richness and hopefully allow our children to benefit from them.

Now within a controlled or managed ecosystem such as the Kruger National Park – all the life of plants and animals, and the way they work together and the natural process have created some of the earths most biologically diverse elements – this is referred to as biodiversity.

Biodiversity attracts tourists to an area. The often exhilarating and inspiring diversity of wildlife and plant life in the Kruger National Park is as much a part of its attraction as is any particular species. There is nowhere quite like the Kruger, where one can see and experience elephants, rhino, zebras, giraffe and other large mammals in their natural environments. If that biodiversity is adversely affected, the allurement and wholeness of the area is damaged.

The above is an eco-tourism an extremely important part of the management of this issue, and so too is the conservation of the vegetation – it is the vegetation that supports higher organisms. In a way ecotourism is responsible for the development and maintenance of reserves like the Kruger. The Kruger is found in a precarious situation - It has immense biological value with high diversity and will remain a crucial part of South Africa's future. Employment, local people, local communities, local industry can and should all benefit from the protection and maintenance of a sound eco-tourism plan that sustains the Kruger's biodiversity.

We all benefit from biodiversity. About a quarter of all prescribed medical drugs (including codeine, morphine, quinine and strychnine) are extracted directly from flowering plants. Traditional medicines, foods and ceremonies all add value to the way the Kruger is managed - not to mention the way the Kruger is 'sold' as a tourist attraction.

I have just returned from a 14-day south to north Kruger trip and the realisation that there is currently nowhere else on this planet that I can see 35 large mammalian animals living in their natural state (and I could have seen more), 234 birds (and I could have seen more) 37 tree species, the flowers and grasses and the variety of landscapes is like a wake-up call. Please wake up South Africa, and learn that collateral damage in the management process of the Kruger National Park is what you have already created because of your one-minded, insatiable and often unwarranted need to see a lion and little else when you visit the Kruger…

Sadly during the World Cup I collected dead puffadders that had been driven over, vervet monkeys that had to be destroyed because of the processed food they are fed by tourists – we have to stop erosion and the increase of sodic areas because of tourists driving off-road – one hundred animals injured or dead by speeding – bats and monkeys and birds dead by rat poison, litter and carnage – hornbills passing cigarette buts too each other – birds eating half consumed human breakfasts…It’s just too much….think about your reaction to this unfortunate incident before you point fingers.

Think about FROM ZERO WHITE RHINOS IN THE KRUGER NATIONAL PARK at the turn of the centaury to 8 000 WHITE RHINOS IN THE KRUGER NATIONAL PARK TODAY! That’s good management – the hardworking Kruger rangers should be commended, don’t you think?

Neil Heron
www.beardedheron.com

Bearded Heron Coffee Shop

2010-08-10T09:15:00.000+02:00

The Bearded Heron Safaris “Coffee shop”

Other vehicles role passed us – everyone inside them intent on finding out why we’re stopped! The questions are extraordinary, “Are you looking at anything interesting?” What are you watching?” Have you seen anything?”

I hold up my coffee mug, “Good morning,” I respond, “We’re having coffee!”“Oh well - enjoy then.” They look disappointed as they move on, once again searching the African savanna for anything ‘interesting’!

My coffee shop returns to normal – my guests and I watching the morning,
we’re listening to the sounds of Eden as the white-fronted bee-eaters start
waking next to us, light changes the mood, a red sun peeps up from the
eastern horizon, and in the distance a lioness roars in social greeting. A
hippo signals its return to water, a sharp snort from somewhere out there
and a few alert calls from not so nearby kudus all play a tune to the new day.

My coffee shop has opened for business!

“That lioness is getting closer and probably closer to some of the other
members of her pride,” I suggest, let’s wait and see if she becomes visible to
us!” I have chosen my ‘coffee spot’ well; we are positioned over a wide sandy
river bed with little surface water – only the odd pool where elephants have
dug out the underground stream.

The mood in the vehicle changes, everyone looking into the bush, everyone
listening for the sounds that will bring us some news. An hour has passed,
and then an exclamation. “There! Look it’s a rhino, he’s coming to the water!”

Good! I can guide through the approaching rhino. A square-lipped rhino bull
on territorial management duty. Before I even open my mouth someone
in the back of my coffee shop shouts: “There they are!” as two lionesses
come bounding out of the bush in playful greeting. We watch the moment
for a while, the lionesses and the rhino disappear back into the bush,
and the Kudus nervously make their way towards the river. The sun is
beginning to warm up the bush now, and a whole new day has begun.

We’re about to continue our game drive now, a vehicle roles up next to us, the
driver asks, “Have you seen anything interesting?”
“Just stopped for coffee, there are some kudus at the water and a few bee-
eaters catching breakfast,” I respond.

I turn to my guests and suggest. “There’s a nice little cocktail bar I know of for
this afternoon’s drive! We’ll watch the sun set in the west a little later – over
some water, and enjoy the moment the bush closes the day and gets ready
for the night!”

Neil Heron
www.beardedheron.com

On the Fly Safari Adventures

2010-08-10T09:11:00.001+02:00

Bearded Heron Safaris (10 June to 4 August 2010)
Kruger National Park back-to-back safari itineraries

A mammoth 48-day back to back safari in the Kruger National Park, hosting
a combined 18 itineraries and a total of 74 international guests, has just
been completed successfully – without any travel, safety, accommodation or
guiding issues to speak of. All guest itineraries, accommodation and travel
arrangements by Tina Heron, all field guiding, hosting and hospitality by me
and all meals, stores and equipment operations by Gordon Hunter of Bearded
Heron Safaris.

LOGISTICS
Guest pre-safari communication included more than 500 emails, 12 telephone
hours and 60 hours of logistical planning.
Transfer, shuttle, guest houses in Cape Town and Johannesburg – KNP
accommodation and 24-hour private guiding activities logistic and preparation
equalled more than 100 hours of telephone, email and other communication.
International guests from 15 different countries in the world including Mexico,
Honduras, Brazil, USA, Colombia, UK, Australia, Germany, France, Canada,
Turkey and Vietnam.

STATISTICS
* Youngest guest 6-years-old.
* Oldest guest 82-years-old.
* Common European language after English was Spanish.
* 329 interpretive drive/walking interpretation hours plus 143 ‘fireside
hosting hours’ conducted by Neil Heron. That’s 472 hours of ‘talking’!
* 339 Breakfasts cooked by Gordon Hunter.
* 339 Lunches prepared by Gordon Hunter.
* 339 Dinners cooked by Gordon Hunter.
* The dishes and washing up: kitchen cleaning were handled by Gordon and
an assistant who together washed more than 4 000 dishes during our time on
safari.
* 3000kms of game drive roads and tracks.
* 35kms of walking activities.
* 282 sleep hours (at about 6 hours a night) for Neil and Gordon.

Neil’s reflection
I’m still trying to digest all the amazing people, characters and discussions
we had on safari during the 48 days. The biggest positive to take to heart is
that there is a common and real concern and awareness of just how important
the world’s natural spaces are. This ethic seems to exist all over the world
– from the farmers in Honduras, Canadians sharing their awareness of the
importance of their great lakes, to Americans offering disdain at the influences
of too many people in national parks like Yellowstone National Park. From the
Brazilians and their love for the Amazon to the Australians and their woes with
Cane toads and rabbits.

My undeniable passion for the Kruger National Park, its diversity and
opportunity constantly remind me of the great privilege I have to enjoy

access to this remarkable place, however, It’s becoming difficult for me to
show my guests the wilderness - those wonderful spaces where nature
lives. The endangered spaces in Africa where ‘life’ shows little concern for
contemplation or any remorse to those that stumble or fall! Success or failure
is not measured by others in Africa – nor by the times we rise or fall. Success
is reserved for the moment we wake up and failure by the times we’ve stayed
down.

These spaces show all that is! Not all that we want from it!
Sometimes I need these spaces to unravel the ‘other jungle’ we see while
I live in a system so organised and diverse, so mature and willing, and so
representative of how our own world, sadly juxtaposed to this one now, could
have been...If we could only live without the questions we ask that Nature no
longer has the answers to.

Perhaps we’ve run away with our expectations, perhaps we stay too close
to our securities and perhaps we’ve lost the ability to stay focused on now –
because now is what life is all about!

Tomorrow will take care of itself we shout, and then look in the mirror in
horror to see a reflection of how we have arrived here today. Life is like
information – it’s only important when you need it – not before or after.

So I contemplate...When does eco-tourism become bio-terrorism? What
happened to us in this world when we left, we were still part of the system,
now we watch it from the outside. When will we remember the times that we
were the children of life, like all her other children, not her masters, not her
protectors or caretakers. We are simply life’s children! Life misses us in the
great outdoors.

It has become my greatest wish to re-introduce the Kruger National Park to
South Africans who are not simply there to ‘look for lions’ that do not consume
alcohol and drive around the Kruger roads in the early hours of the morning.
It is my greatest wish to introduce an ethic of awareness, an awareness
of just how fortunate we are to have this heritage that includes our shared
wisdom, our combined culture, our diverse history and ecological splendour.

It is my greatest wish to remain dedicated to the protection and sustainability
of the Kruger National Park, to do no harm first, share in wonder the amazing
stories and moments that continue to unfold before my very eyes.

Neil Heron
www.beardedheron.com

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Kruger senses

2010-05-21T09:36:00.001+02:00

Tracking the spirit of safari

Dawn arrives – first news comes from the quieting of nocturnal insects, then an orange wash wipes the blackness from the eastern skies. I can see the tree-line silhouetted in front of me. Dawn is magical on the savannah, greeted by a first song, then a chorus of songs as the birds and daytime insects begin telling stories of the imminent arrival of a new day.

The first smells arrive, the dew, damp, warm muddy water scattered sent of early blossoms, and even news of fresh dung, rotting flesh or damp hair can be picked from my first long intake of air.

I can feel dawn. The cold creeps around my skin and in an instant moved away by the morning breeze and the first rays of red sun rising in the east.

My eyes are adjusting, I can pick out the shapes and movement in front of me, and I can see this world lightening with every passing second. I listen to the first early footsteps scurrying through the scrub. The baboons are shouting in social hierarchy, and in the distance a lioness roars confirmation that her pride is nearby.

A lone hyena whoops a scouting call, a jackal answers but cuts the call short, and a hippo grunts his return to the water in territorial voice.

My safari has begun! A journey that will allow me to process this early information and then include the footsteps, fasces and feeding signs left behind from last night’s visitors.

What will I uncover? Where will I go? This is my adventure today!

Neil Heron
www.beardedheron.com

It's in our Nature!

2010-04-12T11:23:00.000+02:00

Bearded Heron Safaris has been – and continues to be - successful because we offer insightful glimpses into South African culture and lifestyles that few organised package tours provide.

Combine the raw energy and unrivaled passion for hospitality South Africans share, with the embedded knowledge and love of the wild – and you end up with a cultural experience with people that invite you into their lives to share a magnificent diversity and potpourri of beauty and wonder such as the Kruger National Park.

Yes the Kruger is world-famous – but so is South African hospitality! So is the passion South Africans have for the soil, their history and their wildlife. The stories you get from real South Africans from all walks of life are limitless – our attitude in the bush, the amount of time we spend outdoors, our traditions around the campfire and our reaction to rain are glorious examples of ‘salt of the earth’ people.

Besides being great hosts, people love to experience our ingenuity. South Africans can always make a plan! Going the ‘extra mile’ is simply part of the journey for us – we know that our wine is good because of all the twists and turns in the grape vine!

Bearded Heron Safaris is made of that ilk. We don’t simply design itineraries that provide tours of destinations that are world-famous. We invite you into our homes and lives to share with us what we love so dearly! Our passion for hospitality and our unrequited need to learn about the world – your lives and your cultures have created a situation now where we can honestly say: “In more than 1 000 safaris that we have conducted in the Kruger National Park we haven’t experienced one that hasn’t gained us new friends or that wasn’t successful.”

Our own culture lies deeply embedded in our attitude, our ‘way of life’ and we can’t wait to meet and host more people from all over the world and share the beauty and wonder of African wildlife with you!

Neil Heron
www.beardedheron.com

Talking Trees

2010-02-26T10:01:00.000+02:00

The plant world had their Internet millions of years before we did! In their world the communication infrastructure is called proto-cooperation. Ours is called the world-wide-web.

In the natural world there is no language barrier as with us humans, every living organism ‘talks’ to each other. We hear the insects and the birds all the time – so why haven’t we noticed “talking trees” before?

Some of us have tried to “talk to trees” some even professing success! Absurd but gallant none the less. Normally we don’t talk to trees! And normally, trees and plants don’t talk to us but consider these reference points, and then contemplate “talking trees!”

Plants form communities of the same or different compatible species; they get to together, identify their strengths and weaknesses and kind of collude with each other for mutual benefit. Trees form root unions by grafting on to one another and then start to communicate by swapping nutrients with each other (soils as the conduit) and millions of bacteria as the traders of information – a bit like our own information highway.

Different trees and plants have different root systems in terms of depth – the deeper roots of one particular tree are able to reach down and collect minerals from the earth that others can’t. This root grafting allows trees with different root structures to ‘hold hands’ with each other and swap nutrients among each other.

Sometimes – depending on the extent and quantity of different minerals, etc. Trees will ‘barter’ excesses with each other. This could be construed as a mutual benefit society but also one that creates difficult times for newcomers finding the necessary food sources. Trees do not hold hands with newcomers!

Some trees are thieves and simply latch onto a bigger tree, grab the root and take what it needs without offering anything back – like junk mail in the inbox – or unsolicited email.

The biggest scientific wonder comes when we start understanding the way trees will ‘hear’ the emergency calls of a nearby tree under stress because it is being browsed on by animals, and the community quickly increases its content of toxic and unpalatable chemicals called allelochemicals.

These act against the browsing animal. Tannin is one such chemical and reduces the animal’s tendency to eat a particular food source – especially in times of drought.

So trees tell each other when an animal is browsing on the community – all trees defend themselves by listening to the chemical reaction of the tree that is being eaten or abused. Not through the connected root system but because a third player – the exchange server – represented in this diatribe by Mycorrhizea, Fungi and bacteria – the unsung hero’s of our living (albeit struggling) earth.

Fungi produce microscopically fine filaments formed from single celled chains. These form a wonderfully mutualistic union between the plants and the soil environment.

Mycorrhizal filaments penetrate plant systems and help plants collect essential minerals as well as helping with nitrogen fixation. In exchange plants provide essential sugars required by the mycorrizae.

Any chemical news is broadcast by these ‘chat rooms’ as well. Ouch, watch out! Help, etc.

This is how the communication highway among trees and plants is formed – this is how trees ‘talk to each other’

So next time you start breaking off the branches of a tree for firewood, replacing soil with landfill sites or simply removing the trees and soil for transportation remember that you’ve basically destroyed a “treeway” conversation – and had much more impact on the environment than you think you’ve had.

Besides the actual destruction of life – think about the impact you’ll have on the landscape, think about the consequences of no trees to assist in the control of erosion, think about the role they play in producing oxygen and reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, as well as moderating ground temperatures, and of course, providing shade and homes for many other animals besides ourselves.

Some of the more well known talking trees:
(reference from Google internet search)

Talking trees are a form of sapient vegetable life common to many mythologies and stories, most famously the Ents in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth stories.

The Greek Talking Elm: Philostratus spoke about two philosophers arguing beneath an elm tree in Ethiopia which spoke up to add to the conversation.

The Indian Tree of the Sun and the Moon: Told the future. Two parts of the tree trunk spoke depending the time of day the question was asked; in the daytime the tree spoke as a male and at night it spoke as a female. Alexander the Great and Marco Polo are said to have visited this tree.

Oracular Trees are sometimes attributed with the ability to speak to certain individuals, especially those gifted in divination. In particular, Druids were said to be able to consult Oak trees for divinatory purposes, as were the Streghe with Rowan trees. To what extent these trees could "talk" varies from story to story.

In Ireland a tree may help you look for a leprechaun's gold, although it normally doesn't actually know where the gold is.

In Dante's Inferno, the protagonists (Dante and Virgil) speak with committers of suicide who have been turned into trees in Hell.

The Forest of Fighting Trees in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz attack the Scarecrow. In the 1939 film version trees grab Dorothy and the Scarecrow when she picks an apple from one of them.

In the book A Spell for Chameleon written by Piers_Anthony on pages 8 and 9, a talking tree named Justin Tree is introduced. The character returns in Zombie_Lover and Swell Foop.

In The Three Amigos, the gang encountered The Singing Bush.

Neil Heron
www.beardedheron.com

Rhino Love & Rhino War - A Valentine's Day Message

2010-02-16T20:17:00.002+02:00

WHITE RHINOCEROS (square-lipped rhinoceros)
Ceratotherium simum

What a coincidence! My text message to my wife wishing her ‘Happy Valentines Day’ was going to be my only representation of love and war on this particular Valentine’s day, then suddenly I was thrown anthropomorphically into rhino relationships, courtship and combat.

Being able to guide through dramatic behavioral situations doesn’t happen everyday – even when you spend as much time as I do in the bush. This time I can write my account of a series of white rhino moments, and safely say, “I was there!” I doubt my guests will forget the sights and sounds of rhino love, and rhino war for a very long time.

Most reference books, research and reflection on mammal behaviour include paragraphs on the social organisation and social behaviour of the animal. Parent/offspring behaviour, sexual behaviour and anti-predator behaviour are always well documented.

Accounts of communication will describe the animals’ defensive or submissive displays, and list the vocal, olfactory and posturing that goes on in agnostic behavior. Fighting, aggression, dominance and threat or warnings are all key to understanding the animal’s situation, rank or mood within a social and individual context – Just like us! Yes, just like us, and the more I sit and watch and listen to mammals – the more I start to evoke my sometimes mischievous side. You see, I don’t believe we are any different – and in this particular video clip, I just couldn’t help but to align it to a pub fight between testosterone-filled boys fighting over a girl who ultimately wasn’t even interested yet.

The amount of action – two ton bulldozers clubbing each other, horn fencing and snarling – going on was enough to get the whole system watching. Impala’s and giraffe watched from a distance. In one scene a whole tree gets taken out in the middle of the rumpus. There are several scenes where the shrieking and feinted attacks are swapping from submission to aggression, and the bulls (of which there were three) were almost undecided about where the next intra-action was going to come from.

Eventually, the territorial bull is bullied away by a more handsome fella’ but the new guy still has another competitor to handle, and all the while, the female with her calf are trying to move on, as quietly as possible, through the fracas and into quieter places. She was in estrous but with small calf and probably not ready to leave her calf unguarded to attend to the sexual advances of a bull rhino. I presume this was happening at a territorial boundary because once the initial bull was ousted, the new fella’ had a lot on his plate and started juggling between territorial urine-spraying, running after the cow and love-calling in his best hic-throbbing voice, and standing for copulation only to have to revert to a ‘head up, ears cocked’ stance – and then charging after one of the other bulls. In one scene he grabs a bunch of ground greens and charges up to the cow almost as if presenting her with a bouquet of flowers. All this kept us enthralled for almost two hours.

The horn to horn encounter in front of my vehicle was incredible because it was the moment the new fella’ exacted submission from the other bull – that bull automatically became a satellite bull, started grazing and never entered the fight again – the other two – the territorial bull and the new fella’ were still at after we left the scene.

Neil Heron
www.beardedheron.com

At a kill in the Kruger (Two accounts of interpretation)

2010-01-04T10:58:00.006+02:00

Interpretation is a culmination of key chapters of life in the African bush. Everything fits together, everything is there for a reason, and everything has a function or role within the ‘big picture’.

My many years guiding international visitors to the Kruger have provided me with fantastic opportunities to explore some of the aspects of this bigger picture. Some of you will remember these accounts of animal behaviour at a Kill in the Kruger.

A female leopard and her cubs with their porcupine kill and two lionesses at their impala kill.

The leopard’s patience!

There were two reasons why we waited two and a half hours for a leopardess with to come and fetch her porcupine kill metres away from our vehicle.

The first reason is that we wanted to see a leopard close up, and the second reason was I knew she would return. This story is about the reasons I knew she would come back and fetch her porcupine kill. Alternatively you may watch the video of it on our YouTube Channel!

She had cubs with her (about a year old) and her success rate for large mammals, (I consider the porcupine as relatively large) is not very good.

Female leopards on territory need priority access to that area’s resources in order to raise their cubs. She is the only one that can ensure the proper development and education her cubs will need in order to survive. The ‘resources’ in her area do not make it easy – in fact they make it extremely difficult for mom leopard to teach hunting techniques, and how to kill effectively – even if it’s a porcupine.

Food defends itself in the bush, and this particular rodent – the porcupine – can make a lasting point about defence. (see; “Leopard Vs porcupine!” video on my YouTube channel) The leopard would have grabbed the head of the porcupine and tried to flip it over - the porcupine would have spent most of its time trying not to let that happen. In this case the porcupine was killed – in the video – the porcupine was successful in defense.

The kill must have happened in the early hours of the morning, we arrived while the mother and her two cubs were beginning to feed – only a bite to the back of the neck of the porcupine was visible. The leopard wasn’t visible but I knew she was still there. I switched off the vehicle and began to wait, this leopard would not leave her kill, I knew that, and a test of who’s resolve and patience would snap first became the waiting game. The odds were in my favour that she would come back while we were still waiting, the sun was coming up and the carcass would soon begin to send out messages to vultures and hyenas. She had cubs to look after and our presence at the kill site would concern her but as time moved on, she would have to overcome her fear of us.

It took 2 hours for the leopard to return the 60 metres she needed to fetch the porcupine. We were still there and my guests got some really good observation – particularly about the patience and ability of a leopard to disappear into the grass 10 metres from you!

Have you got the stomach to watch dung beetles?

Hungry lionesses hunting and a young impala ewe ruminating, the herd watchful but in this instance, not attentive enough – and then suddenly there’s a warning, the ox-peckers fly up into the air shouting, impalas scrabble to their feet and scatter, jumping high up over the brush, kicking their hind legs vertically and barking out warnings – all except one impala – the one that wasn’t fast enough. The first lioness grabbed her from out of the grass and the second lioness hanging on her hindquarters. There was only time for one last bleat before finality, a sporadic jerking of the legs, a better grip by one of the lionesses and then she was ripped apart like the rope tearing in a tug-of-war dual.

Each lioness took their share and panting, crouched over the spoils to eat. That’s when we arrived, along with a lone male hyena that was in the right place in the right time. The lionesses were 10 feet from us when they began feeding.

The impala was barley recognisable after just ten minutes; she was young enough for her skull, vertebrae and other skeletal features to be crushed and swallowed, her skin was peeled away and her hooves bitten off. The lioness with the intestinal stomachs pulled out the rumen, still full of freshly cropped grass and leaves, and with her incisors, split the wall and emptied the contents next to her.

The smell was immediate, sending messages out into the bush. First to arrive were the dung beetles flying in one after the other, landing on the lionesses, next to the lioness and all about the lioness like fighter pilots grounding their planes. They were on a mission, and what a mission – as the lioness was finishing off the last bloody remains – the dung beetles were rolling away their balls of freshly dumped impala stomach contents, across the track and away – the grass was still producing opportunities for life even although it had been neatly cropped by an impala nearly sixty minutes earlier.

My own fascination with what was going on was immediate – as the vultures circled above us I began to understand just how important it was for me to witness this complete cycle of life.

I needed to put some perspective on what was happening around me, I mean – here I was, sitting my vehicle watching an undigested ball of grass and leaves from an impalas stomach, being rolled away by a dung beetle in order to provide a home for the life of a new dung beetle. I’m sure the impala would argue the finer parts of the importance of her role in all of this but I could not help wondering in awe at how all of this was so perfectly pieced together.

I had a lot of players (the dung beetle was obviously the roll model) all acting out phenomenal sequence of events that I had to interpret for my guests who were all waiting for me to say something.

I quickly assessed some of the things I could talk about;

The importance of grass – as a producer – the importance of the impala – as a grazer (in this instance because it grazes and browses) and the relationship between them – the importance of grass not only as a source of food but also as material for shelters and nesting material, and as this ball of impala stomach contents rolled passed me – as material that would provide a nuptial chamber for the larva of a dung beetle who will eat, pupate and moult into another healthy, fully grown dung beetle.

“The Scarabaeoidea are ecologically important creatures. They are nature’s very own ‘poop scoops’. Without these little insects, there is a good chance that humans and the rest of Earth’s terrestrial organisms would be up to their neck in poo.” I thought.

I could have said that, or that dung beetles belong to the family Scarabaeidae and are also known as scarabs. “They are scavengers, which feed on dung and other decaying organic matter, and play an invaluable role in keeping the veld clean. The ancient Egyptians revered them as a symbol of renewed life!” I said that out loud, and as I did, I thought about the grass again. I kept coming back to the grass! I remembered reading about the digestibility of grass by its fibre content – this time by how quickly the impala was killed by the lion – my guests laughed at the irony, and then one said, “you must talk to us more about grass and its ecology,” and I was impressed – the excitement and action of a lion kill was slowly being worked into the bigger picture…

Neil Heron
www.beardedheron.com

All in Ten’s…

2009-12-21T16:07:00.003+02:00

A Field Guide’s Reflection

10 years ago…I thought I knew everything about people and the environment and conducting a guided nature experience for guests would be easy!

Then someone asked me:

10 things about the area I guide in and 10 interesting bits of information
10 things about trees and 10 trees that grow in my area
10 things about flowers and 10 flowers that grow in my area
10 things about grasses and 10 grasses that grow in my area
10 things about soils and 10 minerals that occur in my area
10 things about birds and 10 birds that live in my area
10 things about mammals and 10 mammals that live in my area
10 things about insects and 10 insects that live in my area
10 things about reptiles and 10 reptiles that live in my area
10 things about mollusks and 10 mollusks that occur in my area
10 things about frogs and 10 frogs that live in my area
10 things about scorpions and 10 scorpions that live in my area
10 things about our universe and 10 constellations in the sky above me
10 things about geology in my area and 10 rocks and minerals
10 things about interaction between animals and 10 examples of symbioses
10 things about danger and 10 potentially dangerous situations I’ve been in
10 things about evolution and 10 examples of adaptation I’ve seen
10 things about conservation and 10 examples of what I believe in
10 things about what I like about being a guide and 10 about myself
10 things about my beliefs and 10 of my principals
10 things about footprints, and 10 examples of them
10 things about signs in the wild and 10 examples of them
10 things about climate and 10 examples of weather in my area
10 things about my rifle, and 10 reasons why it’s safe for me to have it
10 things about 1st aid and what I’ll do in 10 different medical emergency situations
10 life lessons and 10 examples of what I do in the wilderness
10 philosophies and 10 practical experiences

10 years on…I try and ask myself at least 10 things a day I don’t have any answers for yet!

10 seconds
It takes just 10 seconds for a nature guide to:

1. Transfer inaccurate information to guests through lack of knowledge and experience.
2. Seriously endanger or injure someone because of a lack of interpretation, knowledge or training.
3. Damage or harm sensitive soils, plants or animals through irresponsible or ignorant behaviour.
4. Respond or act in manner that is unthinking, uncaring and unethical.

10 minutes a day
It takes 10 minutes a day for a nature guide to:
1. Reference accurate information for guests.
2. Review areas of learning and record today’s lessons.
3. Learn something new about a plant, process or animal in the field.
4. Listen rather than talk.

10 days a month
It takes 10 days a month for a nature guide to:
1. Spend time in the field with reference books.
2. Spend time in the field with mentors and specialists.
3. Think about personal skills and interpretations.
4. Write down areas that require more learning or practical experience
5. Learn from practical experience

10 months a year
It takes about ten months a year for a nature guide to:
1. Gain invaluable experience with guests, animal encounters and insights into field lessons.

10 years (I’m a slow learner)
It taken me about ten years to:
1. Reflect on my current contribution to conservation, guest education and experience, and to toast a new day of learning and living in this wonderful world of nature.

2010 and onwards
Better than now, better than then – tomorrow holds another wonderful ten!

Happy Holidays and a prosperous New Year to you all!

Neil Heron
www.beardedheron.com

Family Safari Diary

2009-12-20T10:27:00.001+02:00

Family safari: 16 – 20 December 2009

Gordon and I arrived on the 15th December to a green paradise that the Kruger has become. The bush is thick and vibrant with life, the rains have been good but the threat of a drought looms as global temperatures are increasingly under the spotlight.

My vehicle was used by me mentor and friend, Vanessa last week – she was introducing some film-makers to the concept, and new beginnings of peace parks – in this case –the new spaces created for Kruger with the inclusion of additional space from neighboring countries – The great Limpopo national park – in Mozambique – has added several hundred thousand extra acres to our battle for natural spaces.

Vanessa, God bless her soul, decided to include an engine wash after her escapades in the Mozambique dirt – and that was fatal! The high pressure water and soap got into the fuse box and caused havoc with a vehicle used to working in dirt – like a dirty child in the bath – it screamed and complained as the mud, sand and oil peeled off her – and then refused to start – but would sound the horn intermittently in vocal exclamation.

When I arrived, the battery was dead! But the vehicle was clean – that’s great “we won’t go anywhere, but at least we’ll be in a clean vehicle!”

Once Gordon and I introduced her to my catering vehicles battery – she started, the fuses now dry – stopped their nonsense, and the vehicle coughed once, and then became the truck I always knew – thankfully – my safari could start OK the next morning.

All of my safaris will mould themselves into a personal account of the world’s greatest space – it will include the sightings, moments and memories of the animals, scenery and our sightings – but what makes each safari unique is that our interactions and interpretations with the Kruger will stimulate conversation, question values and principals, and provide though-provoking memories of an often once-in-a-lifetime experience of being on a journey in a very special place. Every safari I guide becomes very special to me because of this. I get to be in this magnificent place with the views and interpretations of new and exciting people every time.

Jo (mom) set the scene for this safari from the outset. “Hi, Neil – good to meet you, in your opinion what will happen to the Kruger in twenty years from now if there are too many elephants destroying the biodiversity!”

Dale (Dad) was already settling himself in to enjoy the wide open spaces – being in China – has all but eroded his memories of space – and that was eye-opening, “How lucky I am,” I thought.
Dale, however, is the outdoor person – he loves the sounds, silence and the myriad of life everywhere, he is taking it in – eyes already following a flitting bird or insect.

Thomas (14 years old) and Jarred (11 years old) were watching – comparing what they’ve seen on Discovery channel to the real thing – and the questions are already tumbling out in an unrequited mass – like lava flowing out of the earth - getting ready to provide the soils of tomorrow for new life to depend on.

Our journey (safari) in the Kruger had already begun from within our own sense of exploration. Ours was a combination of philosophy, physics, the sciences within life, and all the promises of tomorrow.

We stopped and picked up a piece of quartz crystal lying on the surface of a dirt track in the Kruger National Park and held it in our hands knowing that our journey had begun.

Our guides were Plato (knowledge is a subset of that which is both true and believed) Sir Isaac Newton and his three laws of motion, Albert Einstein’s teachings on relativity, the writings of Socrates, and the discoveries of Charles Darwin. Our guides are also the sands and the crystals and the organisms of our history that lie within these grains and have been transported by the winds and the waters of our past.

I held my piece of quartz crystal and begin to think about time, and about space, and about the nature of things. My journey through the sands of time had begun again.

So we traveled through this amazing place trying to unravel our past and unwrap our future by experiencing this moment in time – a biological half-life of exponential decay, or as I like to view it – Incremental understanding.

We began this incredible journey into a world we all know but seldom have the privilege of experiencing first hand while it is happening. I am always honored to be asked to guide, but ask to please remember that like my own guides and mentors – I do not have all the answers, and certainly do not expect to ever have them. The first rule of medicine’s Hippocratic Oath is:

“To consider dear to me, as my parents, him who taught me this art; to live in common with him and, if necessary, to share my goods with him; To look upon his children as my own brothers, to teach them this art I will prescribe regimens for the good of my guests according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone.”

For me as a nature guide, this is my ethic, and although stolen from another discipline, my principal remains the same.

On this safari we explored not only the significances, processes and philosophies of nature – the animals, plants and other organisms around us – the ecology, ethic and culture of our world - and more recent, the footprints and other field signs on these sands of time. We understood that the clock was ticking – a biorhythm so incredible in its vibration, so enthralling in its lesson, and so inspirational in its simplicity we knew that now was the time to be on safari.

It took three days for us to explore Jo’s question on elephants – to understand Dale’s expression of space, and to allow the wisdom and excitement from Jarred and Thomas to open up our perception of tomorrow.

Although we saw lions, leopards, rhinos, buffalos and elephants it was the moments we shared with them that counted. A warning charge from a young elephant wasn’t nearly as thought provoking as the warning we got from a fully grown elephant bull. A dung beetle attempting to roll his nuptial ball of dung over an impossible obstacle – while the female hung on to the ball waiting for her job to activate – to lay her single egg in it to ensure the next generations survival.

We paged through bird books and tree books together, to understand the processes of identification – not for a guide to tell you what it is that you’re looking at – but for a guide to show you how to look up identification – to provide the tools.

The boys were great. They scanned the pages of a five-hundred species strong bird book and learned to check the bills, crowns, feathers and legs of the bird to identify it. They looked at the structure of leaves to key in a tree, and identify it. They listened to the sounds of the animals to help with identifying them, they learnt that simply looking at the bush won’t find you an animal – you need to look at the noises, listen to the silence, see the footprints, and learn about the food they eat before you’ll find an animal!

We rose before light every morning (at 3.30 am) up in time to be greeted by dawn, the early morning wake up call of the birds and then the sun as it rose to heat up the African savanna and start another day.

Conversations around the fire were fun-filled occasions, and Gordon’s steaks, lamb chops, chicken stir-fry and salads were, as always, mouth-watering! On the last night I named the family as the animals I thought most represented their social behaviour and interaction with other animals -It’s become a Bearded Heron ritual, and plenty of fun is had by all.

This is what Jo, Dale, Thomas and Jarred had to say about their safari:

Jo (The matriarchal elephant)

“What can I say? How to sum up in a few words all that we have experienced! The stories, endless knowledge, passion, humour…the amazing animals we saw up close and personal! Don’t forget the ‘sour prune’…HECTIC!
Thanks to Gordon for the excellent food and his amazing ability to keep my wine glass full! Incredible evenings of though-provoking conversation and hilarious story telling. Thanks to Tina for being so organized + ensuring everything was easy for us. We will never forget you all..How can I, I’m an elephant after all x Jo.

Dale (Lone buffalo bull)

“Neil, what a great time hanging out in the bush. Really enjoyed the peace, open spaces and all the lessons. Seeing some awesome animals was a bonus. We loved your style! Big thanks to Gordon for keeping us fed and watered. Our best holiday yet! Buffalo bull Dale.

Jarred (leopard)

“Neil, thank you so much for the stories and the awesome experience – Also that shooting star was AWESOME and you’re so smart. Jarred

Thomas (Hyena)

“Thanks for the hectic time – really awesome and I’ll never forget ‘hyena’ I’ll use it against you some day. Thomas

Neil Heron
www.beardedheron.com

The Bearded Heron Safaris Braai

2009-12-14T09:25:00.003+02:00

It’s something to do with the open air, the smoky aroma of outdoor cooking and the anticipation of a veritable feast combined with the sounds of an African night, and the relaxed and happy state of Gordon and myself as we ‘breath’ the glorious white and red South African wine, or open a cold bottle of South African beer for our guests to enjoy.

On the dinner menu this safari:

Stir-fry safari chicken strips (fresh fillets) with a Thai sauce on the Skottlel (paella pan)served with rice, a fresh salad and a beautiful Chardonnay.

Rump steak and sauces with potato salad, fresh veggies and salad - side dishes include a three bean salad and served with a Shiraz from Stellenbosch South Africa.

Lamb loin chops in a special marinade of fruit chutney and tomato sauce, garlic and red wine. Served with roasted butternut and sweet potatoes, fresh salad and baked potatoes.

All meals served under the southern skies in the Kruger.

Neil Heron
www.beardedheron.com

*The word braai (plural braais) is Afrikaans for "barbecue" or "roast" and is a social custom in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Zambia. It originated with the Afrikaner people,^[1] but has since been adopted by South Africans of many ethnic backgrounds. The word vleis is Afrikaans for "meat".
-reference Wikipedia.

Twinkle, twinkle little star…I wonder how the rhino’s are?

2009-12-12T08:12:00.001+02:00

There are probably somewhere around one hundred thousand million stars in our own milky way galaxy. On the darkest and clearest night in the Kruger we could probably see 2 500 of them with the naked eye.

The closest one to us, besides our sun is Alpha Centauri (or proxima centauri depending on how technical you want to get) and Alpha Centauri is about 4.3 light years away from us, that’s very far away! At 1 079 252.42 kilometers per hour, light from Alpha Centauri takes four and a quarter years before we can see it – as a star in our sky on a dark, clear night. That’s 1 079 252.42 X 8 760 hours in a year X 4.3 years away. Even the closest star to me when I look up at the African sky begins to make me wonder…and a lion roars, or the distant whoop of a hyena scout, or even the small, methodical clink of a fruit bat brings me back down from the sky to nearer, more definable messages from life around me.

And then back into a conversation around the campfire that is being explored – what do we do about all the starving children in the world? How can we keep the Kruger safe? And once again we are engulfed in a never ending search for knowledge – for thousands of years astrologers and astronomers studied the stars – debating whether these stars had forecasting powers, or whether they were simply physical heavenly bodies that could be defined. The astronomer-priests of ancient times believed there was a bond between man and the universe – I believe that the stars above us have connected us, and directed our thoughts and spiritual motivations – they have allowed us to be scientists, and they have allowed us to be mystical forecasters. But we still don’t know for sure, we are still overwhelmed by the stars.

So the starving children of the world, and global warming, and other highly emotive topics almost always come up as conversation while we look up into the stars and it seems that we are also not getting nearer to any answers – how many stars? How many more starving children? How much more time? How much more space?

The conversation is always fascinating, if only Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Christian Doppler could sit with us for clarity sake, or if Sigmond Freud, Charles Darwin or Kahlil Gibran could interject – no, what makes us tick is exploration, interpretation and experience, so when the lion roars closer to the fire, we throw another log on to it – perhaps shine a flashlight (we’ll need speed) and become a little more alert. Our very own interpretations of how we interact with our surroundings, and in the Kruger – how our surroundings interact with us. These are lessons in the bush, lessons that we no longer learn unless we are there.

So where am I going with this? I’m not sure – I just thought I’d drop you a line and say “Twinkle, twinkle little star…”

On this safari two bull rhino’s – square-lipped or white rhino’s – were doing battle. One in defense of his territory, and one who needed a bit more space to ensure reproductive success. The battle was severe, and as my guests and I watched the rhino’s engage in ritual sparring, threat and displacement moves – our own interpretations and values and motivations became evident – there were those did not want to watch, there were those who were OK until one of the animals began to suffer, and there were those who were glued to the awesome power of the rhino’s, and the inevitability of the situation. At the end of the sighting – the dominant bull rhino had a severely damaged hind leg, blood flowing from wounds to his flank and face – but he had successfully defended a boundary. The younger bull ran away – perhaps having done enough to come back later, or simply unaware that he had won a physical contest?

You should have heard us after the drama! We wanted closure, we wanted knowledge, we wanted to help the injured rhino, we wanted to know if it would die, what would happen next, etc, etc..

So my newsletter this month is about the White Rhino in southern Africa.

In the order Perissodactyla – odd toed/hoofed animals (ungulates), we have the families of Rhinocerotidae – rhinoceroses – black and white, and we have the family of Equidae – zebras and relatives. I’m writing about rhino’s, and the white rhino, Ceratotherium simum specifically, the largest pure grazer of grass that lives on the African continent. For me witnessing rhino bulls fighting leads directly to understanding their social organisation because it is undoubtedly that which has lead to the conflict. So lets call white rhino social systems sedentary, semisocial, territorial and satellite bulls. They kind of work together, hang about together in the same area but with conflict when territories are defended by territorial bulls.

So if you can imagine a territorial bull that spends a large part of his day demarcating a piece of real estate that he wants dominant habitation rights on. This bull doesn’t mind females or even other males on his territory, as long as the other males behave submissively, and do not make any advances towards females. Females in turn have what we call home ranges – they overlap and are not defended – the territorial bull will associated with ‘rhino crashes’ from time to time but more specifically when there are females in oestrus present.

Aggression between white rhinos is normally mild except on the part of a territorial male – this male will investigate the credentials of every other rhino on his territory, except perhaps for very young guys, etc. The territorial bull will aggressively approach another rhino – stand horn to horn with him, and then slowly begin moving the other rhino off the territory – the other rhino, satellite or not will normally face the trouble and scream for mercy – slowly backing away until there’s a gap where he can run off, etc.

This gets a little different when:

A) the satellite or other bull rhino does not want to back off submissively,

B) when two territorial bulls meet at the boundary of their respective territories because of an approaching cow rhino in oestrus.

I suspect we witnessed one of these two events, and that’s why the physical contact was severe. It is not usual to see fights between rhinos resulting in serious injuries. That’s why I was so enthralled by the sequence of events, and that’s why my interpretation of the interaction allowed for the following analysis.

A territorial bull removing a satellite bull who didn’t act submissively

Two territorial bulls at the boundary

(perhaps a woman involved – oblivious to her part in the sudden increase in testosterone levels)

No matter how we see what happened we can agree that it induced several different reactions from us as a group, and our view of rhinos will now always include that moment, those sounds and the knowledge that sometimes these natural processes can be quite violent.

Neil Heron
www.beardedheron.com

The Cup Runneth Over

2009-12-09T12:22:00.000+02:00

‘The cup runneth over’ syndrome is starting to emerge in South Africa. Tourism operators (SAA included) are seeing dollar signs and doubling and even trebling their rates.

The degree of greed is sickening.
This is certainly not what we should be doing in 2010. We have to bear in mind the long term effect on tourism in South Africa.

Small group independent tour operators, overnight establishments and transport providers must be careful with our country's heritage, hospitality and tourism showcase. We must all put long term tourism sustainability first - and maximum profits second.

There should be enough room for everybody to share in South Africa's opportunity. Not merely a chosen few.

There are two important issues to consider when I hear exclamations of: "I can charge double, triple and even more for my products during the World Cup," from product owners who merely see dollar signs before their eyes.

The first important issue is the perception of our country when the international visitor to South Africa starts to plan their trip. The second is the perception that that visitor takes back home with him after the World Cup.

The other side of the coin
Sadly, these perceptions of our country will end up in the hands of a select few. FIFA know all too well that their cup produces huge opportunities and so they tie up the majority of tourism opportunities well before dedicated smaller tourism operators are blinded by dollar signs...

Yet it's the smaller, dedicated and accredited tourism product owners that truly showcase South Africa's rich, diverse and rewarding people, places, history and culture.

In packaging South Africa we need to showcase the wonderful personal, professional and experiences that small, independent tourism product owners can. - They provide a logistical framework in which the majority of soccer supporters can get to the game on time.

I have recorded several questionable motivations by the trustees and custodians of South Africa's future as a long-haul tourism destination.

Custodians of protected spaces (often endangered spaces of great environmental importance) are discarding 100-year-old regulations to accommodate, at the expense of the environment, an expected short-term influx of people. Also they have made very little opportunities available for dedicated service providers that have (and will continue to) support our country's national parks, beautiful locations, historical significances, ecological diversity and cultural splendour.

For example, simply ask how many dedicated and accredited small tourism and transport providers have been presented with opportunities? Sadly - very few so far.

Instead opportunities are being seen as:

"I heard that they are charging US$350 for one night’s accommodation in newly erected tents (without meals) in the bush. – Eish. Jisslike. Shooo - I think I must buy a tent. $$$$$$$$$$."

"Overnight establishments are preparing to charge double, even triple rates during the World Cup. Eish. Jisslike. Shoo, maybe I must buy a zozo hut. $$$$$$$$$$."

"Some transfer and transport providers are also doubling their rates – Eish. Jisslike. Shoo, maybe I must buy a bakkie. $$$$$$$$$$."

It is my professional decision to enjoy 'filling up' my safaris during the World Cup rather than charging rates that are unacceptable. I hope this, as well as a concept called ‘sharing resources’ (basic economic sustainability practices), are going to replace the ‘The cup runneth over’ syndrome. Perhaps the smaller lodges, hostels, guest houses, tour providers and transport providers should get together to ensure their own sustainability?

Here is the problem: not once, as a highly regarded tourism provider of limited, small group safaris in one of our great national heritages, has any one of the contracted ‘bigger players’ approached me to offer a share of the travel opportunities afoot. I will continue to provide a highly regarded product - dedicated in environmental sustainability - during the World Cup. Instead deals are being done that render my product unimportant in lieu of the $ signs.

Sadly this is what is happening to the dedicated tourism community in our country - again excluded by the $ signs in the big player’s eyes.

Please be careful with our cup – it’s precious.

Neil Heron
www.beardedheron.com

Bearded Heron will NOT be increasing rates for 2010

2009-12-07T09:40:00.003+02:00

A message from Neil Heron

Bearded Heron Safaris is astounded by the increase in rates for transport providers - road shuttle services, road transfer services and road transport during the world cup!

As you are all aware - Bearded Heron Safaris will be running a small group, private Kruger National park safari itinerary during the World Cup in June/July 2010 without a rate increase - but we don't provide transport to the Kruger.

In an attempt to assist our guests with transport options we have established that there are still credible and legal transport operators who will NOT be increasing rates during this period.

The return road transport options that will be required by people wanting to go to the Kruger on a Bearded Heron Safari are as follows.

JHB - NELSPRUIT - JHB
NELSPRUIT - KRUGER - NELSPRUIT

We are happy to assist anyone with the above road transport details who chooses to book the Kruger with Bearded Heron Safaris during the world cup month 11 June - 11 July 2010.

The quicker people travelling to South Africa during this period secure their transport options, the better.

Bearded Heron Safaris still has limited availability in the Kruger during the world cup month. Availability will change daily. Our safaris are full service, including all meals, accommodation, entrance fees and guiding activities at ZAR2500 per person per day.

Kind regards

Neil Heron
www.beardedheron.com

Guiding with feeling

2009-12-06T08:28:00.003+02:00

Just before first light – the time of unanswered hyena whoops – just before the francolins wake and as the first lion greets dawn with shattering voice my day begins. A waking realisation that my actions today will increase my opportunity tomorrow, and a simple understanding that I, like all the other inhabitants of the African bush, will go about my business with an innate evolutionary cause – survival!

My actions in daily routine are written in the air and in the sand – my smells, footprints and noises tell stories of my behaviour, my development and my function within this place of greatness, of great sadness and joy, of fear and compassion. This place is called home, and within it – my life.

Observation is unequivocally the first rule of interpretation, and then like the first light of dawn, a clear picture begins to brighten around us, and with it, an opportunity to interact and communicate, to re-establish the instinctive mechanics of our behaviour – our physical and emotional security, our physical and emotional status, our position within our environment, our wants, our needs and more importantly our past lessons – just like all the other animals in the bush.

The first things we do when we get up are self-assessments. We yawn, fart, rub our eyes, etc. Some of us shout “Good Morning” like the francolin, and some of us remain silent like the Leopard. After that, individually, we have routines – and after those, some sort of social bonding or territorial display occurs – just like all the other animals in the bush.

On safari – coffee and tea in the morning can be a fascinating observation. The amount of re-establishment that goes on by way of question like;

“Good Morning, how are you?”
“Did you sleep well?”
“Did you hear that noise during the night?”

The subsequent answers to those questions, and then the induced conversation – the discussions we have about the new day, our itinerary, etc. All make up a behaviour amongst us that will provide a basis for how we communicate and interact with each other during the day. How we will see and hear and interpret our encounters with the other animals around us, and will tell a lot about our individual boundaries and personal needs within this interaction - Just like all the other animals in the bush.

External or peripheral danger, a sense or feeling of instinctive trust or mistrust and our ability to register stimuli that we do not necessarily perceive are all sensations and intuitions that have evolved with us for millions of years – just like all the other animals in the bush.

These feelings are all processed irrationally until they are coupled with our ability to recognise signs, to process information from these signs and then when we are truly watching, listening and feeling where we are in any particular situation, we are able to interpret, anticipate and predict a startling amount more than we thought was possible – just like all the other animals in the bush.

All this is only possible with continual practice, re-affirmation and acquired knowledge through supported reading and physical observation. Relying on one’s intuition without this knowledge and practice can land you, as a guide, in an uncomfortable situation – “I sense the presence of a lion!” or “Will you marry me?” Without a reasonable and fundamental understanding of why you uttered the remarks may not have the desired effect.

I continue to sit quietly under the stars with my guests in order to ‘see’ what communication we can recognise, and what stimuli we can process while life ‘talks’ to us.

Neil Heron
www.beardedheron.com

Kruger World Cup Lineup!

2009-12-05T12:14:00.002+02:00

Goalkeeper - Baboon - selected for his agility, strength and wisdom.

Defenders - Eland and Kudu - picked for their quick movement, and acute sense of danger.

Central defenders - Rhino and Buffalo - picked for the shear size and presence (elephant is sub)

Midfielders - Lion and Honey Badger - Both are formidable opponents, nothing gets through and both are single-minded combining the agility of a cat with the tenacity and hard-working badger.

Wings - Impala and Cheetah - lighting fast combined with the slight footed and quick movements of the impala.

Strickers - Leopard and giraffe - Leopard is a clever goalmouth player - pops up and strikes quickly with a great predatory presence - giraffe selected for his hight and kicking ability - very difficult to defend against.

A BIT ABOUT THE TEAM

Midfield

Intimidating - both lion and honey-badger can defend as well as attack but honey-badger must watch his temper - lion can let his reputation get in the way sometimes.

Defense

Rhino is much quicker than people think but can 'miss' the play because of poor eyesight - buffalo must watch his tackles.

Strikers & Wings
Impala is prone to injury. Giraffe can be a bit slow and can loose concentration. Leopard - on the day nobody can touch him but is not a good team player.

Make your bets now!

Neil
www.beardedheron.com

Where did that snake go?

2009-11-25T09:24:00.001+02:00

Sand River camp, Kruger National Park, South Africa

I’m in a small rectangular thatch hut with a chicken mesh wire wrap nailed into place on the thatch eves and down to the two-foot high concrete base which makes up half the perimeter of the hut. The basic framed chicken mesh door opens inward, and is held shut with a ram bolt. There is no electricity. The thatch roof slides steeply down from the central point to the concrete two foot wall on the one side, and on the other side, a chicken mesh wall, window and air-conditioner all in one. The hut is high enough to stand up in. The interior space barely fits in the two single base and bed sets and a wooden chair and a metal two shelf stand in the far corner. There is little room left to move around in.

I am sitting on my bed bent over tying my bootlaces. My feet are firmly on the ground. I hear a sharp click sound, movement to my right, and as I straighten – the Mozambican Spitting Cobra slithers right over my boots (feet inside already - thank goodness) in an obvious attempt to get past me. The snake heads for the far corner – follows the wall for a bit, and then under the other bed and out of sight. Shit! At any other time during the day this wouldn’t be such a problem but I was tying my bootlaces because its just before 4 in the afternoon and my 1^st rifle, his guests and the entire camp are waiting for me to go on a sundowner drive. I don’t revel in the idea of coming back from the drive and looking for the snake in the dark – in a room I can hardly move around in – I don’t want to delay paying guests their first sundowner drive, and I certainly don’t want to put my hands under the bed (only an inch between the floor and the base) and lift up the bed with a hiding cobra under it!

I also don’t feel like leaving the hut open, it has been hot the entire day and I do not feel like coming back to my hut the ‘reptile park’ after the sundowner drive.

I shut the door and go for help – a broomstick, some apprehension and a 1^st rifle and guests armed with the knowledge that I will be a few minutes longer than I expected are the only help I’m going to get.

After five minutes of moving beds around, checking corners and dark spaces (nearly the whole room) the snake could still not be found. So back to plan B. No more delays – get on with the sundowner drive – and look for the snake tonight. I rolled up my sleeping bag (I would already have to share my room with the cobra – I wasn’t prepared to share my sleeping bag with it!) and closed the chicken mesh door.

Now normally I don’t worry about snakes too much – I’ve lived with snakes all my life, I know that snakes have lived with me – kind of like an ‘unseen law’ we don’t see each other, we don’t worry each other. This law had just been broken. I saw the snake, it slithered over my boots and under my bed – then disappeared. Going to sleep this night would be difficult!

I spent many minutes (perhaps an hour or so) convincing myself that it will be OK. What’s the worst that can happen I asked myself – I don’t like my answer very much, but it is getting late – I have a 5-hour walk in the morning, and I have to go to sleep – cobra or no cobra!

I start to think about the cobra. Naja mossambica, known to me as M’fezi. It is an olive-brown reasonably small (about 800mm) snake with black blotches on the throat. Now I’m thinking about its venom – predominately cytotoxic that can cause serious tissue damage at the bite site. The cobra preys on toads, lizards, insects and innocent field guides lying in camp beds!

I remember reading somewhere that not many people die from the bite which made me feel a little better but as I start to put the ‘what if’ scenarios together, I start to tuck my sleeping bag around myself – shrink wrapped in a sleeping bag in 30 degree heat in the dark. Soon I start sweating from the heat, I am clutching my headlight in my hand - any noise, and I can immediately turn on the torch and identify the source.

I start to think about some of the first aid tips I know about.

The first rule is always to immobilise and reassure the patient who must lie down and be kept as quiet as possible.

OK, that’s cool – I’m already immobolised, lying down and being as quiet as possible! I’m trying to reassure myself but lying on a bed in a small, dark room knowing that M’fezi has taken up residence underneath my bed is quite hectic.

Apply a pressure bandage immediately. Loosen, but do not remove the bandage if there is severe swelling!

My sleeping bag has already become my pressure bandage – it’s wrapped so tightly around my body I feel as though I’m in a sauna!

Now I can literally hear the rain spiders move above me, I can hear the cockroaches scuttle to and fro on the floor, and every now and again, I think I can hear a bigger movement. Something tickles my thigh inside my sleeping bag – the light in my hand come on like a searchlight, the sleeping bag unravels, and I sit bolt upright, frantically searching, but no sign of the snake – it’s the sleeping bag zip tassle that tickled my thigh. I turn off the light in my hand and then finally the lights inside my head switch off as well, and I go to sleep.

I never saw the snake again – it probably found its own way out – or its still in hiding somewhere inside my hut but I managed to sleep better the next few nights – as the ‘unseen law’ firmed itself up again, and the snake and I returned to our normal ways.

Neil Heron

www.beardedheron.com

Tourists vs. Baboons

2009-11-20T14:01:00.002+02:00

Primate problems in the Kruger National Park

I carefully note with concern that two of the divisions within this ancient order of animals seem to be presenting huge wildlife management problems for Kruger’s managers.

Within the super families Cercopithecoidea and Hominoidea grows an ever increasing and destructive interaction between the two species – m.homo sapiens and Papio cynocephalus. The sub species of both – P.c, ursinus and H.s, touristimo and their destructive interaction in the Kruger National Park are the subject of this post.

Tourists and baboons are on a collusion course that has already, and will continue to upset a basic conservation and wildlife management ethic in the Kruger Nat. Park. Screams of “Shoot the bastards” or “Get rid of them” reverberates around just about every camp after baboons have ransacked living quarters, rubbish bins, caravans and tents and thatch roofing within tourist occupied spaces.

The mess, breakage costs and potential danger of disease left in their urination and dome shaped faeces, not to mention the constant threat of physical interaction are a real cause of concern.

In objective analyses this willful destruction by baboons is simply learned behavior taught by the absolutely pathetic zoo mentality, and the disgusting lifestyles of some tourists demanding their right to dominion over all other beasts…

The cardinal sin is to feed the animals and birds – yet the tourists still do it! And those that don’t physically partake in this absurd behaviour - practice it in so many other ways;

Many tourists believe that they shouldn’t clean up their breakfast or dinner tables – they leave their glutinous remains on the table and simply vacate the table allowing the birds, monkeys and baboons free access to the food. The evidence of this is clearly seen at picnic spots and camp restaurants.

These tourists overfill their rubbish bins – bits of half chewed braaivleis and sous and any remaining wine are unceremoniously discarded – thrown out after a satisfied burp and fart, and their offspring are allowed to tease, threaten and even catch the animals brought forward to sample the bits and pieces of over consumption scattered around the recent feeding frenzy called breakfast, lunch or dinner in tourist lingo.

Raucous, often uncensored, half drunken chatter by tourists often punctuates Kruger’s night sounds just like a troop of baboons shout when threatened by a predator or in alpha status debate. Baboons have already learnt that after these noisy nights, tourists are more likely to bed down without a second thought to clearing away the mess, and that there will very likely be a free food pile of rubbish and dirty dishes to scavenge in the morning.

During the night damp patches of earth around the campsite mark urination spots by tourists too overfilled to make it to the ablution blocks, and out in the Park – where the lions are – the damp patches are joined by bits of tissue paper or disposable nappies and the same half chewed or drunk food and beverage bottles and wrappers.

I have watched the behaviour of baboons – Kruger troops or groups that include a camp in their daily routine, and I have also watched the behaviour of tourists – Kruger tourists that include a game drive, picnic spot and camp within their daily routine. There is little difference between them, and the more these two species interact with each other, the more baboons will start to behave like tourists. If baboons start behaving like tourists, Kruger environmentalists and managers will have real problems dealing with the negative and destructive impact both their lifestyles have on a protected wildlife area.

Neil Heron

www.beardedheron.com

Lions opening car doors - don't tell the tourists.

2009-11-18T16:55:00.007+02:00

The article in the Star newspaper (SA National newspaper) dated November 16 2009 and headed “Lion can open doors” could probably be answered more effectively by Charles Darwin – but he stopped writing about this stuff awhile ago, so I’ll have a bash.

Charles Darwin –

picture from wikipedia

The incident took place in the JHB Lion Park, which I have to tell you has been in the newspapers more than once in the past couple of years.

The scene is a lion biting at the door handle of a vehicle, and opening the car door.

The science is ‘ethology’ a sub-science of zoology which basically concerns itself with the behaviour of animals.

Instinct Vs Learned behaviour through a psychological process called ‘habituation’ – This happens to all animals including ourselves (humans) the only difference is that most of us with more than a few brain cells don’t tolerate psychological habituation – often considered abusive or intrusive – like being caged, fed at exactly the same time every day, and have our natural (or instinctive behaviour) manipulated to include the complete changing of our natural social structures. Or do we?

That’s for you to work out but I can almost guarantee that any animal that is subjected to constant non natural habit forming influences will not behave naturally.

LION CAN OPEN DOORS

And a few months ago (writers licence)

CANNED LION HUNTING OPENS DOORS

You choose how you want to interpret our lives with animals, should we have continued and complete dominium over them, or should we learn to live with them as equals?

Neil Heron
www.beardedheron.com

Beyond the big5

2009-11-08T09:40:00.001+02:00

The big5 (lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo) are well marketed as raw adventure and excitement on an African safari. All too often that's all the safari becomes. A chase - paparazzi style - a desperate, all encompassing search for the next sighting of any of Africa's big 5.

The big5 are not the most dangerous animals in Africa, nor are they the most colourful or the most interesting. I doubt that the big5 are anything other than most marketed! I try to go beyond the big5, and to allow Nature to include them if she wants to. They are simply a part of the bigger picture, and there is so much more to interpret, see and enjoy while exploring Kruger’s diversity and the interactions and processes that come with it.

It is not unusual for me to deliver an impromptu astronomy lesson at midday - perhaps because the only visible star at midday provides absolute life for all of us - including the big5, and as a result of the energy from our sun we are able to explore the spectrum of life that its light delivers.

…and then how that energy is used, how the insects see light, how light is re- radiated in the form of heat - by plants and animals, how the soils and waters of land interact and how carbons and nitrogen are either fixed or released to provide food - food that ultimately we all share and exchange among each other to live.

This symbiosis lies exposed and ready for interpretation on the journey that is an African safari. The Kruger National Park is a world-famous natural area that allows, as much as possible, these processes to function normally.

Beyond the big5 - not dismissing them but moving our senses past them -- and simply including them in the journey is what my guiding is all about.

It goes without saying that a lion sighting, an African elephant or illusive leopard instils awe, fear or excitement. For me, so does a scorpion, snake or crocodile and a mushroom, dung beetle or even a parasitic plant growing from the branches of its host. For me life on the savannas of the Kruger is one magnificent moment after another. Every noise, sight, smell and every interaction between animals and plants represent an opportunity to learn and interpret our own lives, and our journey through it.

It is not hard to understand basic ecology - the sun, then the transfer of light to heat, the processes of photosynthesis and risperation (and respiration) and then how that energy works, what the organism does with it - how it protects it and how finally it loses it. All the structure, the behaviour, the survival and the symbiosis between organisms (including us, and the big5) become a major journey of recognition. A safari in the Kruger is after all - a journey into life itself!

Why not try and go beyond the big5 next time you are privileged enough to be in the Kruger? A natural space so endangered in the world that I fear life itself is being overlooked.

I recently had an incredible interaction with one of the big 5 paparazzi. A guide (unfortunately one of too many paparazzi style guides) was emotionally distraught and angry because a lion wasn't where someone had seen it earlier.

With a vehicle full of guests she stopped me (my vehicle full of my guests) and asked: "Have you seen a lion here? I was told it would be here!" When I replied that we hadn't seen a lion she retorted: "It makes me so mad when people make me drive to a sighting for nothing - please tell me what the quickest way back to the H5 is, I heard there was a rhino there!"

Then she sped off in frustration - her guests beginning to uncock and make safe their cameras until the next close call…An even bigger moment for me was that her vehicle was fifth in line in a seven-strong game viewing vehicle convoy who all presumably were on the same mission - and for me, that's 9X7 people (64 visitors to the Kruger) who missed an opportunity to learn from an impala sighting my guests and I were interpreting before the onslaught of the big 5 paparazzi. The impala was hanging from a marula tree about 50 metres away, and I was explaining to my guests how it got up there!

On reflection, I am probably overreacting to the emerging 50kms an hour, one 'sighting' to the next day drive paparazzi in the Kruger. I am extremely fortunate that I can spend time (five to fourteen days) with my guests, sharing the wonderful moments the Kruger always delivers - even when the big5 are not included the day's activities.

In the Kruger Nat. Park that’s very seldom.

Neil
www.beardedheron.com

Cryptic

2009-11-05T12:06:00.002+02:00

In ecology, crypsis is the ability of an organism to avoid observation.

In our lives, cryptic messages and behaviour are used, sometimes to distort our reality, sometimes to attract a mate or to warn off a threat, in other words – distort somebody else’s reality.

A cryptic animal will camouflage itself, or mimic something more dangerous, or less tasteful. Predators like the leopard seem to be able to disappear – and reappear at will. It’s not only down to their colour and coat pattern – It’s also to do with the way the move. Crypsis is a valuable lesson learned from the evolutionary pressure to live.

Many animals distort their shape or reflection by blending into their surroundings or by assuming the posture of another animal. Many animals resemble twigs and branches, or leaves and flowers and many animals resemble more dangerous and more threatening animals through their cryptic messages – some animals let off a stink that resembles distasteful or poisonous pheromones…

There are hundreds, if not thousands of examples of this in the bush. THE FLAP-NECKED CHAMELEON – the ground lion, will even manipulate its movements to simulate the movements of its surroundings – called procryptic behaviour – like the chameleon waltz – its body blowing in the wind like a discarded leaf…or the stick insects, some mantis’s, and even fish that display illusions of bait suspended in front of them to attract prey.

We are all cryptic!

We are three people. The person we want to be, the person we want others to see us as, and the person that others see us as! The trick is to try and get all three of ourselves as close together as possible.

The real us is simply an organism trying - as all life does - to survive in a world designed to promote cryptic behaviour through it’s most challenging law – “eat or be eaten!”

Neil
www.beardedheron.com

The Silent Noises

2009-11-05T11:32:00.001+02:00

I am often reminded about all the different aspects of communication in the bush, and how important it is to understand those voices and to see the ‘body language’ of animals, to really appreciate the whole picture in observation.

On my last safari I started to use the ‘noise of silence’ or the ‘language of silence’ to help me understand an all encompassing bush dialogue.

It was a strange journey – listening to what wasn’t making a noise. Changing the parameters (or paradigms) and concentrating on a different set of stimulus. I have done this before – looking between the stars and not at them, and out of the blackness of the night sky comes the shapes and profiles of some of Australia’s most legendary gods – Aboriginal folktales and mythology include a dark constellation – the emu.

The head of the "emu" is the Coal Sack, which is next to the Southern Cross.

The emu's body and tail is in Scorpio. I’ve often played with other shapes – not in the sky but out in the bush. Looking at marks, tracks and other signs, and then trying to ‘see’ the cause. In other words visualise the foot, or the lips and or teeth – or watch, in your mind, the scraping of a tree branch in the wind. You soon establish that if you want to stand any chance of reasonably accurate interpretation – you need to see what you’re looking at as part of a bigger picture.

The same applies to sounds. The sound of silence can be an extremely loud indicator of communication.

I have several references to interpreting silence in behaviour; the first is the obvious and immediate silence of insects when disturbed. I have often spotted a small predator in the grass by following the line of silence as the Katydids and crickets pack up their vocalisation and then restart once the disturbance has passed. Also, elephants become extremely silent when listening – I often ask my guests to chew and listen at the same time!

There are many “all is clear” sounds in the bush. Francolins and other ground birds embark on constant messaging that stops at the arrival of an intruder – like an eagle or a person, perhaps a cat or snake. Most birds and animals shout out warnings, and these are easy identifiers, but just before they do they need what I call a confirmation sense (one that is included as a second opinion) many animals that hear a noise will immediately focus with the ears and ‘sniff’ or use the veromonasal organ to pick up confirmation. It is at this point that silence becomes a great indicator.

I’ve seen animals react to silence, on my last safari two cheetah brothers were lying at rest a couple of metres from my vehicle, they were purring. One of the cheetahs stopped purring and almost instantly, the other cheetah lifted its head to the alert. Then they used their eyes to see a herd of impalas moving through the bush 100 metres away.

An elephant bull grazing alongside some wildebeest stopped to listen, head slightly angled and then twisted his trunk to confirm a noise, and almost instantly the closest wildebeest stopped grazing and looked up. I’m sure they hadn’t heard the noise – they were looking at the elephant.

Silence is as loud as an alarm bark in the bush if you know how to listen for it.

Neil
www.beardedheron.com

Keratin - Why are the rhinos dying?

2009-11-03T19:01:00.004+02:00

“Chewing your fingernails alleviates stress!” It calms you, cools you down and should therefore be promoted as a cure for fever.

An absurd statement! No, not when you’re talking to most Asian alternative medicine specialists. Except they keep banging on about rhino horn, and not your fingernails – I am not sure why because both rhino horn and your fingernails are made up of the same substance – Keratin!

If I could sell my fingernails – rip them off and sell ‘em. They’ll grow back, and at about US$50 a gram I’ll earn between US$100 -US$200 a year.

Thing is that’s not enough money.

Perhaps I should rip off the fingernails of say 50 000 Asian alternative medicine specialists – now we’re talking real money, and I wouldn’t have to kill one of them – just rip off their fingernails and with my favorite pestle and mortar– grind their nails into a powder that will effectively reduce stress (particularly for rhinos) calm down battle weary conservationists, and earn me a fortune – which I hastily add has nothing to do with it – I’m only in it for the above healing properties.

Neil
www.beardedheron.com

CONSERVATION: An ethic in conflict

2009-11-03T05:43:00.002+02:00

Conserving 'natural spaces' to be natural – protecting nature and the resources she provides to us is not a new concern; it is in fact, a part of our entire human philosophical and religious history. Protecting our environment has deep cultural significance and has always been highlighted in our development as huge a pillar of our ethos.

There are no traditional religious philosophies on our planet that do not highlight the protection of nature, particularly forests and trees, spiritual sites, animals, plants and birds and their lives as sacred. From the very earliest of time humans have built an ethic out of the value of environmental protection that has separated the good in our lives from the evil in our lives.

Whether we depend on the protection of nature because of the romantic or spiritual belief that it is a temple where man can share and communicate with God, or whether the beauty of nature stimulates the religious feelings and supports spiritual experiments, or whether we simply see nature as a provider and supplier of resources we depend on for life, we should all have a deep rooted sense of security, of longevity and of respect that we have a home – a space that has always provided us with our lives.

The Kruger National Park is one of these spaces. It is great natural space that should be part of our culture, our spiritual and religious philosophy, our socio-economic and political futures, and of course, a solid ethic of protection that we all subscribe to.

When nature plants a seed all of her processes and resources are used. She is dynamic and continually Rethinks the process, continually Reduces waste, Reuses her resources and Recycles her work. These four “R’s” are not new concepts in consumer conservation, they are talked about often – still referred to as priorities in our relationship with our environment, and still held up as the cornerstones of our own involvement.

Local purchasing and community development, the sustained, and efficient use of renewable resources, the moderation of destructive use of finite resources, and the prevention of harm to common resources such as air and water quality, the natural functions of a living earth, and cultural values in a built environment.

It’s a tough question to answer if you’re asked about your ethic in conservation. Sadly the general response to this question is; “I don’t care,” or “No!” Or, “I’m trying!” The most honest of which seems to be “I Don't care!”

I believe we need to plant a seed again. As a nation we need to adopt these four “R’s” of social conservation, and nurture a sustained ethic of environmental consciousness before it’s too late.

We need to start at the beginning, with our children, and allow our children the chance, and afford them the tools, to protect what will become their natural spaces and their quality of life.

A national effort to Re-introduce the Kruger NP as an icon of conservation and not as a pleasure resort, to Rethink our motivations for wanting to see a lion - to Reduce our waste - To Reuse the information on conservation and protection when we are back at home, and to Recycle our rubbish properly, and then to RETURN a message of protection to our children and REINSTILL the values associated with conservation. REFLECT on the damage we have caused already - The Kruger is fast becoming like a CIRCUS because of our actions.

And...reflect on how effective our custodianship of our natural space has been to date. Try and reduce an increasing hunger for more and more wild escapes and self centered entertainment at the cost of the landscape, and the quality of the air and water we send out to millions of people gasping for a quality provider.

Neil
www.beardedheron.com

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