Small beginnings
By Marius Swart, Kwihala Guide
It’s the end of the dry season and conditions demand every last bit of everyone’s evolutionary armour to survive. The elephants are focussing their efforts on stripping the cambium layer from trees which are desperate for the rains, impala are now switching to mostly browse as grasses are desiccated and nutrition-less, clouds are building everyday making promises they do not keep and the heat is oppressive…it is a fairly inhospitable environ right now. Despite the prevailing conditions and completely illogically there are however signs of hope! In so many ways the magic of Nature reveals itself when it seems at its most futile. The first newborn impala lambs are greeting the world at its harshest. This one was hiding in mom’s shadow as the sun was beating down particularly fiercely.
The Mdonya Juu pride also sport four new cubs, two are about 5 and the latest additions only 2 months old! We managed to catch up to them due to the fact that they brought down a giraffe cow and her young calf!
The rocky area in the Mdonya River provides a great hiding place for the cubs not to mention playground! Late afternoon when the heat had broken a bit we were treated to a few intimate moments. These glimpses of dearness resonates with our own psyches and one cannot resist but feel a sense of deep connectedness…
Of course elephants have their young throughout the year but it was specifically poignant to encounter this calf. I only managed to capture this image when he was already a week old. Festo got to see him on day one!
As is usual for this time of the season, the wells are being dug to access subterranean flows. The changing topography of the river courses with every flood, translates into a seasonal variability in the spots where water is available. This season is no exception and places frequented last year are now vacant and new ones discovered. At this well the water was more than 1m below the surface and the little calf emulating mom had to kneel down and eventually lay down flat to stick his trunk in as deep as possible…not quite knowing why. Instead he reluctantly gave up and started suckling. It is not only in the mammalian world where new life is flourishing in these times. Trees have the ability to store reserves in the rootstock and cambium, which grasses can’t. Pre-empting the start of the rains the woody plants burst into leaf and draw on their stored resources in order to get their blossoms and leaves out to capitalise on the increasing daylight hours and be “ahead of the pack” when pollinator insects abound. The baby Tamarind foliage starts off bright red and gradually transform to a light green and eventually a darker hue as they mature. Often magic surrounds us in so many guises but it requires an open eye and mind to recognise and appreciate it.
Yours in awareness
Marius
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