Category Archives: Wildlife Conservation

Africa, Blessings, Extraordinary Voices, Grace, Gratitude, Human Wildlife Coexistence, Music, Nature, Reflection, Storytelling, Travel, Wildlife Conservation

Wanderings Day 28

28th April 2020 Cathryn

Botswana Part 3.

Last virtual wander through the Okavango Delta and surrounds.

Today I am thinking of magical wildlife moments. I got to experience so many during my years there. I still have to pinch myself this time really happened.

There’s the time I had to sleep on the pool lounger as a family of hippo were grazing all round my little housie that night.

Or the 5am deep breath and tiptoe past three sleeping bull elephant (all round the house) to make sure I got to the main area of camp to get ready for guest arrival.

Then there’s a moment with a young she leopard making her way across our island in the Delta. It was twilight and there she was sat on the path ahead of me. Too close before I realised she was there. But she paused before moving off, just long enough for us to acknowledge each other.

Then there’s the time our resident bull elephant stuck his whole head through the office door to get at a couple of marula fruit that had found their way onto the floor inside. Yes, I was in this little camp office at the time.

A lone spotted hyena would make the rounds with me most evenings on lock up after guests had retired for the night…. trotting along after me along the boardwalks…. not too close…. after the first few times of feeling insecure, I actually found him quite companionable.

The Pel’s Fishing Owl family nesting in the tree above my house.

The big python who lived under my house. I never had a rodent problem.

And many more…. that’s breathtaking Botswana! Best place to experience real, wild Africa (just my opinion).

But this kind of magic has a life span. Too much of a good thing and all that… still, I am left with incredible memories and oodles of gratitude for this chapter in my story.

In the wise words of Prime Circle from their song Breathing…

“Here’s to the good times
The bad times
The times that could have been
To the wrong times
The right times
I know we’ll breathe again…”

Africa, Birth Place, Blessings, Grace, Gratitude, Nature, Reflection, Storytelling, Travel, Values, Wildlife Conservation

Wanderings Day 26

26th April 2020 Cathryn

Botswana Part 1:

So I got to call beautiful Botswana home for a few years. In particular, Maun and the heart of the Okavango Delta.

This isn’t just a travel memory. These next 3 days of virtual wandering are about highlighting moments in a chapter of my journey. A chapter that has shaped me profoundly.

Most of these “shaping” moments involve magical wildlife encounters. But this is also about people. People I still miss every day.

These “shaping” moments are bitter sweet. They are about love and they are about loss. A chapter of my life truly lived.

To me Botswana has a deep beauty. A rawness to her purity. A pure wild heart. I have never felt more myself anywhere, ever so at home. Here my soul sings.

My time in Botswana taught me this (even though I didn’t have these words then):

Life’s beauty is inseparable from its fragility
Susan David PhD, author of Emotional Agility

Africa, Birth Place, Blessings, Dreaming, Gratitude, Health and Wellness, Holidays, Mindfulness, Nature, Reflection, Storytelling, Travel, Wildlife Conservation

Wanderings Day 7

7th April 2020 Cathryn

So we are back on the Panorama Route headed towards one of my most favourite places on earth.

Many happy childhood memories spent driving this route. Our end destination today, Hoedspruit, holds a particularly special place in my heart.

Wind your way along the R532 which hugs the edge of the escarpment. Definitely a stop at the Three Rondavels lookout for photos of these iconic mountains and into the Blyde River Canyon below. Mariepskop in the distance.

The Three Rondavels with Mariepskop in the distance

The R532 meets up with the R36 at the Abel Erasmus Pass. This pass takes you through the last of the mountains past interesting vegetation and rock formations. As you are nearing the J G Strydom tunnel there’s a pretty waterfall if you know where to look amongst the cliffs. Peregrine Falcon breeding spot apparently?

The other side of the tunnel you will start a sharp descent into the lowveld of the Limpopo Province, the Olifants River to your left. You gain a different perspective of those same mountains and cliffs of the escarpment from below.

Unique Kadishi Tufa Waterfall which you can see from a Blyde Dam boat cruise

Leaving Hoedspruit looking back at the mountains of the escarpment

Drive past the game farms and citrus orchards until you get to Hoedspruit. So much to see and do in this area. I highly recommend staying for a while.

One particular recommendation is a tour around the Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre…. And yes, that is a pic of the famous Stoffel, the honey badger Houdini.

Africa, Blessings, Family, Gratitude, Health and Wellness, Holidays, Mindfulness, Nature, Reflection, Storytelling, Traditions, Travel, Wildlife Conservation

Wanderings Day 6

6th April 2020 Cathryn

Today’s wandering takes us to the other side of South Africa. To Mpumalanga.

Near Ohrigstad there’s a pass that winds up towards the edge of the Drakensberg escarpment – Robbers Pass. At the top of this pass there is a forestry track off to the left, hard to spot unless you’ve been there before. Bump along this track through the pine plantation for a short way until you turn a bend and the whole valley stretches before you. You have arrived at Themeda Hills Mountain Camp.

Now I don’t know if it still operates anymore, but this spot has to be one of Mpumalanga’s best kept secrets. My family have been visiting for years. I can’t remember who found it first, but I definitely associate trips to Themeda with my Grandad Jim.

Eight little stone rondavels perch on the edge of the world here with simply spectacular views. At a fairly decent altitude there is a distinct alpine tinge to the air and vegetation and the sometimes moody cloud. Rondavel 8 is the best. I saw my first African Crowned Eagle here.

Words and photos do not do the magic of this pure space justice.

After losing yourself on top of the world for a little while, time to join reality again. Down the other side of Robbers Pass you will come to Pilgrims Rest. Two options from here.

First, the road less travelled. A dirt road the follows the Blyde River from its source near Pilgrims Rest as it ambles and meanders its way toward Bourke’s Luck Potholes.

The second option is the more popular R533 to Graskop. A stop at Harrie’s Pancakes before finding the R532 which will start you on the Panorama Route through the Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve with lots of scenic stops like God’s Window, Lisbon and Berlin Falls along the way.