Of Dung Beetles and Hides

22^nd May uMkhuze MP.

It’s a bit of hit and miss on seeing animals in some of these parks. Like in Hluhluwe, 98,000 hectares of park and the visitor is restricted to the roads that traverse it. We saw the hyena with the impala but something else may have been happening just over the next hill that we weren’t aware of.

This park though has made it a little easier by building hides at some of the water holes where the animals come down to drink usually in the early morning and late afternoons. We went to the kwaMalibila hide first thing this morning and spent an hour or so there intrigued by the number of animals that came down. The interaction was interesting and also the pecking order. There are no lions in this park but there are leopards, cheetahs and wild dogs. The plains animals are very nervous as they are at their most vulnerable with their heads down and bums up. The ones that come in numbers like the zebras and wildebeest must feel a little safer than the impalas and niyelas that approach in smaller numbers. It is so interesting. The bird life as well is more concentrated at the water with the types ranging from Egyptian geese to the tiny blue waxbills.

From there we drove around to the Nsumo Pan which has a beautiful picnic area with the grass kept short by the hippo lawnmowers. It’s a big pan with many of them in the water though at a distance. The bird life here is also varied. We relaxed here for a few hours.

Tomorrow we head to two parks on the Mozambique border before crossing over.

As we could be out of mobile coverage range the next few days this may be the last post until we sort things out in Mozambique.

23^rd May. Mbumo NP.

In East Africa you will see at many of the national parks signs saying ’Animals Have the Right of Way’ which stands to reason especially if the are an elephant. Here you will see the signs ’Dung Beetles Have the Right of Way’ These critters do such a good job of cleaning up the environment and are unfortunately slow breeders, the authorities have taken it upon themselves to give them a helping hand. We came upon one hippo dung pile with about 30 of them getting stuck in to the heap. They were very impressive. I recall hearing not long before leaving Australia that the AU authorities have imported 15 different types of dung beetle to assuage the fly problem out west. Long may they find a plentiful food supply.

Our extended stay here in Sth Africa has been enjoyable but I think we have been a little spoilt in some of our other trips that have with them a slight tinge of uncertainty and what some would call adventure. We have met some great South Africans at the various camp sites and have experienced open hospitality. An example was the bloke today who refused payment for fixing a slow leak along the rim of one of the tyres, and I am sure there are parts we could go to that do test ones mettle a bit but we haven’t experienced it yet on this trip. Some of the scenery we have passed through has been breathtaking and in the parks we have seen a good array of animals, it just seems too easy for us. We look forward to see what Mozambique brings on.