Change In Plans

KALAHARI DESERT SUNSET

Greetings from Tswalu Nature Reserve, Northern Cape Province, South Africa. We have been at Tswalu Motse, an amazing safari lodge, for just over a day. This post is about five things I have seen here that I had never seen before. Photos to follow.

I am writing this on my BlackBerry from our windswept, open-air campsite on the top of a little hill, in the middle of the Kalahari Desert. All four of us are lined up on army cots under the stars. We are about 10 kilometers from the main lodge, having driven out after dinner.  We will never forget this night of sleeping out.

Here are the five new things, in no particular order:

1- Zola playing Risk and solving pre-algebra math problems. Suddenly his brain has switched on in a new way. We are halfway through his first-ever game of Risk, and the kid is crushing me. I would like to say it is all luck, but he is playing well. More important, his on-line math curriculum vaulted him into a new level of problem-solving complexity today. He grumbled, but stepped up. I am suddenly encouraged.  It is great that Tswalu Motse has Risk (and about 50 other board games) in its game room.  It also has great satellite broad-band access.

CHEETAH OBSERVED ON FOOT FROM 3 METERS

2- A cheetah with a freshly killed steenbok, observed on foot from three meters away. Our guide and tracker jumped off the vehicle on this morning’s game drive, tracking wild dogs on foot into the off-road bush. They did not take a rifle. Ten minutes later, they emerged from the undergrowth, slightly shaken. Our guide, Jason the Great, was clutching his Leatherman tool, with its 8 centimeter knife blade out.  He had improvised the tiny knife as a potential weapon against a cheetah they had surprised in the bush. This struck us all as very funny.  We all walked back in (Lu on my shoulders) and tracked the cheetah to a little temporary lair. Cheetahs are the weakest of the big-cat predators, and their kills are taken away by other animals (eg, hyenas, lions, even large birds of prey).  As we watched, the cheetah got comfortable with our presence a few feet away, then started to eat the tiny deer in its jaws. Amazing.

3- a pride of lions feasting on a baby mountain zebra. We watched from about three meters away in our Land Rover, as a male lion and four cubs ripped their kill to shreds. The rest of the pride, two lionesses and four other cubs lolled and licked blood from each others’ faces nearby. Very primeval, and very dramatic.  We all sat quite still and silent, but Tallulah (wearing a giraffe-print dress) shifted around some in my lap.  The big male lion started staring at her with considerable interest, which was very unnerving.  Jason started the engine and got us out of there quickly.

4- a spectacular 360-degree lightning show. At sunset, we started seeing huge and dramatic lightning strikes in the distance. We have not heard thunder, or felt rain (good thing, given our al fresco sleeping arrangements), but the sky is alight all around us.  Apparently, the high iron content of the Kalahari soil draws lightning like warm meat draws flies, or free beer draws frat boys, or a pre-Christmas sale draws Wal-Mart shoppers.  Choose your metaphor, it is pretty amazing to look at.

ZOLA IN THE TRACKER

5- a game lodge as cool as Tswalu Motse. We are basically the only people here. This is a 100,000 hectare nature preserve, handed over to the Baird Family for a few days. Want to go for a walk in the desert at mid-day? Sure.  Want to let Zola ride in the tracker’s seat on the Land Rover’s hood for a while? No problem. Want to camp in the desert instead of sleeping in your big rondavel? Absolutely. Want to ride horses instead of driving around in a Land Rover?  Let me call the stables.

This is a phenomenally great place. Our guide and tracker, Jason and Samuel, and the rest of the staff, are all unbelievably good.  The landscape is dramatically beautiful, and the reserve is loaded with healthy game.  It is even worth the 5 am wakeup call.

Who knows what we will see tomorrow. Today has been pretty spectacular.

Late-night PostScript: about an hour after I posted this, the heavens opened up, and we got thoroughly rained upon.  Maybe the tentless camping wasn’t such a great idea after all.  We packed up our camp quickly, and drove back to the lodge in the open Land Rover, getting wetter with each kilometer.  Tallulah slept through it all.  We will be up again in about 4 hours for the morning game drive.