The last day of Jackie's bush holiday at the Hwange Safari Lodge dawned. The day began with frustration and ended in tears because only four of the big five were spotted.
In 2010 I was fortunate to see a white rhino bull come to water at one the pans in the Hwange area. There was a party of tourists in the tree hide alongside us. A rhino in the wild is certainly not something that is seen every day of the week. It was an awesome and humbling experience to watch this magnificent animal drink and briefly contemplate taking a mud-bath. There was no mud bath because of the loud complaints from one of the visitors that they had seen a rhino already and they wanted to see an elephant. The rhino was disturbed and quickly made his way into a less noisy area.
The complaints went on for some time. By the time we left we all knew the visitor came from Chicago in the USA; we knew how much the holiday had cost and we knew the name of his lawyer he was going to look up when he got back so he could demand a refund.
Dave Rushworth, pioneer of the South African Guide Training schools and contributing writer to the Kruger Park magazine once took a group of us on a walk that enthralled and captivated us for two hours. In all that time we did not lose sight of the kitchen tent five hundred meters away.
By fixating on the big five visitors can ruin their own experience. There is so much more to the wilderness than the big five. A safari in Africa is not an afternoon picnic at the zoo and the full experience should be so much more than a species sighting checklist.
A visit to the wilderness means stepping into an entire eco-system that contains a fascinating range of animals and plants. Delightful birds fly or walk into camp; cute bush babies and mischievous genets often pay a fleeting visit to the camp fire party. Snakes, insects and small antelope are interesting and numerous.
Impala are common but their graceful and gentle ways bring beauty to the day. On a game drive in Bobodi near the north east corner of South Africa I heard a tourist describe impala as an "again antelope" because they were seen so often. He went on to describe them as “the world’s ultimate bore.” A rare sighting of a nocturnal anteater drew a comment that they are like rats in parts of Asia and the visitor would rather eat it than waste time looking at it.
I have been fortunate to have lived and worked in the African Parks and wilderness areas. Despite this I have never managed to see all of the big five inside of one week. This makes the experience of seeing even one of them something to treasure.
If you are on safari and disappointment is tugging at the edges of your enjoyment of your African holiday remember to look and listen carefully. Some of the finest moments are found in the scent of rain on thirsty soil, in the chatter of the insect chorus at dusk or the haunting calls of owls hunting through the dark hours.
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