The Fisherman's Net Malawi Journal

Visiting the Game Reserves

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The sign warns that elephants cross the road.

We took a long vacation trip through Moçambique and Zimbabwe. We camped on the Indian Ocean at Beira and we visited many game reserves around Harare. When we returned through Moçambique we ended up in a war zone just outside Tete. We had to join an army convoy and even with their protection a truck in our convoy hit a land mine which killed the driver.

We saw a lot of elephants when we went to the game reserves. One time we saw an elephant busy eating by stripping bark from a tree. We were quite surprised when he stopped eating to run right toward our car. I was not at all sure what were his intentions but I was glad that my motor was still running so I could depart quickly.

I just caught a group of monkeys "flying" through the trees. We didn't realize how many there actually were until after the pictures were developed. Can you count the number of monkeys that are just in this picture?

Are we visited him or is he visiting us? I started to take pictures when he was still a long way away and I ended up actually taking around thirty or so rush hour pictures of this ostrich. After each picture was taken he came a little closer and I kept having to take another, better picture of him. Don't you agree that this is a great close-up picture of him?

I am glad I stayed around taking pictures of this rhino or I may not have been here to see a gizelle in "flight."

Actually there were more gizelles than other animals and they congested the road so bad we often had to wait for the "rush hour" traffic to end.

Whoops! There goes another edible tree! This time I won't stay as long. The elephants are the most destructive creatures in the reserve and can strip the place of all the trees. I was very glad this elephant was not at all interested in us (unlike that other one).

This is a busy area, isn't it? There were parts of the game reserve we drove through where I didn't think we would ever get to see any anmals at all, but not around here. The recommendation is to visit during the dry season when the anmals gather near watering holes.

Wow! There is a leopard very close to us! This time I won't stay for long here, either. The big cats are at the top of the food chain in the game reserve and can be very hungry. I was very glad this leopard was not at all interested in us (unlike that one elephant).

The giraffes are tall enough to make good silouettes. With all the brush being eaten by various creatures it is a good thing gariffes can reach up high. I think they are the most stately creature in the game reserves. Don't you agree?

Here is another view of our favorite ostrich. Doesn't it look like he wants a lift? I kept trying to tell him that we don't pick up hitchhikers. I think he really would have tried to get in the car. I don't think he understands the word "no."

More traffic on the road. Next to the gizelles, we found the giraffes the next most numerous creature in the game reserves. None of these animals seem to be afraid of our automobile. I guess they know we are not hunting them.

It's beginning to look like rush hour in the bush. Except for the fact that these are animals, I could have thought I was back in California driving down the Santa Ana or the Hollywood Freeway. Then again, maybe not. This traffic seemed a little more courteous.

The cross traffic has the right-of-way here. If you don't believe it, just try driving down the road when a rhino is there. I was especially cautious this time when I saw the baby rhino cross before the mother did. Rules of the Road: Don't come between a mommy and her baby!

Where are all these animals coming from? I think I ended up taking more pictures of animals than at any other time I spent in the game reserves. They certainly stood out better today than at any other time. And they were very photogenic, don't you think?

Although the animals are suppose to have the right-of-way, I wasn't going to yield to a warthog on the road but he insisted that I did. I have never seen such a stubborn creature. He was bound and determined to cross the road in front of me!

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Thanks again for stopping by. In memory of the Cyber Scribe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . `0'( @ )/

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Last update: January 7, 2004.