Game watching - Part 2. Gorongosa

4 years after our return from Angola we were back in Africa again, this time in Mozambique, living on a remote sugar estate on the banks of the Zambezi River. My sister and I both then started at boarding schools in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, and our trip to school was by plane, taxi and train, and took almost a day to complete!

Shortly after our arrival we made our first trip by road, to Rhodesia, to visit the schools and get our school uniforms in Salisbury, the capital now called Harare. We flew to Beira, the closest city to us and picked up our car - I am not sure if it was a rental, or belonged to someone my father knew - a VW Beetle! Not the biggest car for a road trip for a family of four, but certainly up to the job - except it regularly got punctures, which we became expert at changing! On the way back from Rhodesia we were stopping off at a game reserve in Mozambique called Gorongosa (we actually used to fly over part of the reserve on our way from Beira to our home on the sugar estate), which was only accessible during the "dry season" because of the dirt roads.
We were somehow delayed on the way so were pushing on a bit on the dirt access road to arrive at the gates before they closed them - around 30 minutes before sundown, to allow vehicles back to the safety of the main camp in daylight - when we got another puncture! After a moment's hesitation to swear we all leapt out of the car and were back on the way in around 5 minutes, arriving at the main gate with minutes to spare! We were able to get the flat fixed overnight in the camp, and at first light were queuing at the inner gate, eager to get out into the reserve.
We were not to be disappointed! Back then Gorongosa was little visited, certainly not as internationally famous as Kruger Park in South Africa, but was well known for a large lion population

Sleeping lion near the old main camp - now known as "casa dos leões", "(lions' house)

Close up of sleeping lion

as well as large numbers of elephant, though it was almost the end of the first day before we came across any of these elusive giants. We had heard them in the thick forest, and come across fresh "sign", droppings and recently broken branches, but getting a clear sight of them proved extremely hard at first.

Our first elephant

My Dad had upgraded his camera to a Minolta, which had interchangeable lenses, but still used 35mm slide film, and had a 135mm telefoto lens, and later bought a longer zoom lens, and had also bought a mount so he could fix the camera on the car door for stability when using the zoom. The problem was he was the only driver, and through the viewfinder using a long lens the animals appeared much further away so an elephant about to charge was much closer for the rest of us, and we often shouted at Dad to move the car!

This one first pulled up a small bush to threaten us with

Late that first day we came across a pride of over 30 lions, and realised they would have to hunt daily to feed such numbers, so stuck with them for a while - but eventually had to head back to camp before nightfall. In those days you had to stick to the marked (dirt) roads, and there were no mobile phones or radios keeping you in contact with other park visitors, or the rangers, so finding anything of interest like this pride was hit and miss, or by instinct. We decided to return to the same spot at first light and see what, if anything, had happened.

Lion on the kill

We were right - the lion had killed overnight, and were finishing off the feast.

Even the young lions were enjoying the bounty

It was an amazing experience being so close to these magnificent beasts.

The big boss was centre stage

We sat for several hours, absolutely mesmerised by the sight of the "King of the Jungle" and his family feasting.

With full belly, looking for somewhere to sleep it off - the waiting vultures could now have their turn

It was hard to tell what had been on the menu, but could have been one of the numerous Gnu, Wildebeest, found on the Gorongosa plains 

Gnu, or Wildebeest

We were fortunate to see more elephant that day also ..

Elephant family on  the move

.. and had a wonderful stay in Gorongosa, which we all wished could have lasted longer!

Some of Gorongosa's buffalo, taken from the air while flying home over the plains (this part of the reserve is inaccessible to vehicles) from school!

School Sports - Cricket

As we followed the UK public school model cricket was a major sport for us. We had a beautiful, very well-maintained, "oval" and pavilion, and a couple of other "flat" fields (notably part of the athletics field) that were also suitable for cricket matches.
The game was taken very seriously and our First Eleven competed against other Rhodesian schools (I make no apology for continually referring to "Rhodesia" as that is what the country was called, now Zimbabwe, back when I was at school), and was very successful, as were some of our junior teams. I was not that good, though I did enjoy playing, and we "duffers" used to play in what was referred to as "the leagues" - those of us who didn't make the main teams played a variety of sports, including cricket twice a week, like basketball, tennis, football, on a more casual basis. We played for our "house" (there were 5 residential boarding houses) against other houses with a schoolmaster sometimes in attendance as the "umpire", but it was very informal.
My final year I was appointed house "leagues" captain - I think I was the most senior, semi-sporty person available! In "leagues" I was one of the better batsmen, but more than likely because the bowling was of dubious quality (all the better players being snapped up by the main teams), but elected to play wicket-keeper as captain, as it was a central position where I could keep an eye on things.
The "kit" was supplied by the school and we used to have to go and collect it before the games, so between us we had probably 4 sets of pads, 4 bats, 4 batting gloves (of very poor quality!), 2 sets of stumps, 1 ball and 1 pair of wicket-keeping pads and gloves!
In that company I was pretty good at keeping wicket - the "fast" bowlers were slow-to-medium so I stood up just behind the stumps for all of them and not much got past me. The gloves were old and oft-repaired, though, and didn't have much padding in them,and one day I noticed the school cricket coach had paused on his way home and was watching us play. Sandy Singleton was also a Latin Teacher, but had played cricket for Worcestershire in the UK, and as we finished for the day he called me over and asked to look at the gloves. He said he had been impressed by my keeping, but the gloved left a lot to be desired, so he took them away to repair them (I told him these were the best pair we had in "leagues" so he agreed to look at the rest of the kit - as we got the main team cast-offs!). The following game day he was there with the repaired gloves, now sporting red dimpled covering over the palms, and much more effective! 
A couple of weeks later was the start of the inter-house cricket tournament, and our house cricket captain, one of the First XI opening batsmen, sought me out to ask if I would keep wicket for the house team!! Mr Singleton had sung my praise, and as we had no one else who kept wicket too, I was co-opted into the side. My first problem was that I had no cricket kit of my own! So I had to borrow school equipment from the "leagues" locker, including the repaired gloves.
The team training sessions went much better than I anticipated, my catching was well up to standard, though these guys hit and threw the ball ten times harder than my "league" team-mates! However it was when I got behind the stumps to face the first over that I realised the true gulf between the different forms of the game. Even their medium-quick bowlers ran in twice as fast as anything I had faced before, and the quick bowlers ... well, suffice it to say that I no longer "stood up" behind the stumps! I also soon found out I was missed a vital piece of cricketing "attire" - the box! For the non-cricketers out there the "box" is a cup, usually made of plastic, that protects your genitals from being crushed by a very hard ball being propelled towards you at a high rate of speed. After being hit twice in one game - and manfully continuing on after the first hit with barely a tweet of pain - one of my teammates took pity on me and loaned me his "spare". Now the thought of "sharing" an article that is used against the skin to protect a part of the lower anatomy may not appeal to some, but I assure you that it is preferable to the agony of a hard ball hitting the testes!
I kept wicket with a modicum of success throughout the tournament, and even managed to hit 13 runs (3 boundaries and a single) in one game before being caught attempting the 4th boundary ... in the same place! After that I was instructed to block and let the "real" batsmen score the runs - which peeved me a little as I was third highest scorer in the previous game (though we did lose!).

African Elephant Society

Kruger Park Elephant

When we lived in Africa we were always fascinated by the wildlife there – it was way before the advent of regular TV contributions from the likes of David Attenborough, and the internet was not even a twinkle in someone’s eye back then. About all we knew about Africa and the wildlife there was gleaned from books, and reports from travellers who had been there. The reality was much more amazing!

Whenever we had the opportunity we used to spend time in the Game Reserves there, and again this was before the commercialisation now seen, especially in Kenya and Tanzania, where minibuses ferry guests around, and keep in contact with each other so that any animal immediately is surrounded by vehicles, and there behaviour becomes anything but natural. Back then most reserves had dirt roads (though some had tarred access roads), and parts of the parks were only accessible at certain times of the year – you certainly were not allowed to drive “off-road” so had to be satisfied with what you could see from  these roads.

Quiçama, Angola

Our first Game Reserve was Quiçama National Park, in Angola, in 1960. We borrowed a Land Rover from a friend who used to use it for hunting, so it was open-topped, and had a raised “shooting seat” in the back (I must hastily add that my family were, and still are, very anti-hunting, we just borrowed the vehicle!) – these made it completely unsuitable for driving round a park where there were elephant, buffalo, rhino, and reputedly also some lion, but we were blissfully naive back then, and it made a great game viewing vehicle. My Dad actually got out and walked away to take this photo, which again is something you just do not do!

On Safari

This trip did, however, awaken our passion for wildlife, and many happy holidays were spent in parks and reserves in Southern Africa. Nowadays most parks “suggest” that you go game watching early morning and late afternoon, when animals are easily found at waterholes, and spend the rest of your day (and your money!) in the camp. We used to be sitting in the car at daybreak when they opened the camp gates, and then spend the whole day wandering about (in a car, of course!) until returning just before dusk, when they locked the gates again. We would take a picnic breakfast, usually bacon sandwiches Mum had cooked in our rondavel (cabana), and plenty of drinks in a refrigerated coolbox, plus the makings of our lunch – so we would find a quiet spot and make lunch somewhere in the reserve. Most parks had one or two places where you are permitted to get out of the car, but still be on the lookout for animals, some had toilets (primitive!) there too.

If we found a likely looking spot, like a waterhole, we might even spend the whole day there, watching the comings and goings of different animals throughout the day – at times it almost seemed as though they had allotted times to drink, to avoid traffic jams! During one such trips (in the late 60′s) we found an elephant watering hole and witnessed behaviour we struggled to comprehend. We are forever being told not to anthropomorphise animal behaviour (that means to attribute human emotions and behaviour to animals), but we could find no other way to understand what we witnessed. This particular camp, in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) had constructed brick-built drinking holes, fed by a wind-pump, adjacent to natural watering places, maybe a stream or a small dam – it meant that even in droughts there was fresh water, but also it meant that there was clean water for the animals to drink as well as a wallow. What we witnessed, though, was that all the adult males congregated round these holes, and the females and juveniles had to make do with the other water source. If an adolescent male approached these bulls, one of them would “growl” and he quickly returned back to the others. It looked like an exclusive male club, with a closely guarded membership!

The females and juveniles often struggled to get access to the other water supply, especially if it was a stream and had high banks, but they would line up and extend their trunks down onto the water – again what fascinated us is that they would close ranks so that the really small babies could not get close to the steepest places, and possibly fall in, but had to make their way along this row of big grey bodies until they found a space where the bank was not so high, and they could safely drink or play in  the water.

Evening at the waterhole

But what really amazed us one afternoon is that one of the big males, we guessed the patriarch, but there was no way of knowing, suddenly looked up rapidly – he had heard something in the distance (elephants communicate using sub-sonic rumbles inaudible to the human ear) – and he then set off away from the group across the bush. We could see nothing, but he had a determined stride and looked to have real purpose. About 500 yards away he stopped, and suddenly out of the trees in front of him another small herd of elephants appeared, and when they met they touched trunks and then started back to the others. It looked just like someone greeting friends at their front door! Suddenly he stopped again, and while the others carried on and joined the first group he again walked back and greeted a second group of visitors – and then stayed again while a third group appeared, this time returning all the way with them. As they got back to the watering holes the groups separated – the adult males to the “bar” and the females and juveniles to the stream, where the young ones all started playing together. One of the young adult males with the last group tried to join the males, but he too was “shooed” away – he obviously was almost an adult within his own herd, but not in this exalted group.

We sat in amazement in the car – had we really just witnessed this “human” interaction between elephants? We had no other explanation of what we had seen, but it was decades later that zoologists started to acknowledge that wild animals do actually socially interact, and have very strong hierarchical structures in the herds. Whatever it was we saw we were privileged to have seen such a touching display from the largest animal that walks on the earth with us!

Old Bull Elephant