road trip in ZA, day 4

Day four of our road trip began in the Addo elephant park, at first light- it's a rare day that i'm awake before Pop, but when he joined me, he brought tea in last night's wine glasses. In the meantime, I drew an aloe plant and enjoyed the bird symphony. I am no ornithologist, so I identify them my way: kazoo-bird, jewish mother-in-law bird, dove, finch, clown-trumpet bird, whoot-whoot bird, etc. Just before we were to check out, a group of elephants came down to the watering hole around which the huts had been built, and the kids started playing....

Soon enough we were driving through the park again. And again, we had a close encounter with a family of elephants. Down at one of the watering holes where lions had been spotted the day before, was a group of elephants. Except this time, Pop took the pictures because I wanted to have as unmediated of an experience as possible. (I don't love taking photos, it's just not my medium). The day before, we had been nervous to be so closely approached. This time, I was all calm as Mama and young ones slowly walked towards us.

I had not noticed before that they're walking on their tip-toes, really, and the pad of their foot is soft at the very bottom- it goes convex when they lift the foot. Elephants dance- we saw them that morning- a jelly-leather funk, heads nodding, rump-a-shakin'... ... but the family that walked so close to us again was simply walking and in the walk was a slowing of time.

We drove on washboard roads for a while through the rust and sage-colored lands towards the Shamwari Game Reserve. This is a private reserve that contains within it five of the seven natural ecosystems of south africa. The reserve is explored by safari tours from the five lodges where visitors stay. I don't know what the other ones were like but ours was SHI-SHI! wow.. when pop was researching this whole trip, he looked at the numbers and converted the currencies, making a math error in the price by a factor of ten. A few emails back and forth with me and the reservation people and he ended up with a price a mere fraction of normal, and then we got upgraded somehow, so we ended up at this place called eagle's crag (which is semi-ironic because the eagles moved around the corner because the lodge's noise bothers them). It was over the top, really, a royal treatment- a spa, conference area, bar/lounge and full dining area all for six rooms- the kind of place where they greet you at the door with a champagne flute of lemonade and have a folded bathrobe on your bed with a very yummy nougat on the table. It all kind of made me uncomfortable, and i took to going around barefoot. I mean, talk about inequality- I think we were there on the friday the Obama addressed the delegates at Copenhagen and said hey, I know what's going on, and I'm going to let it happen. Amy's in the Bella of the Beast and I'm the white girl on the exclusive safari. I don't know how to juggle these things but there's only one reason why we were there- because we're here in Cape Town for a month living cheaply on a boat in the harbor and this was our one chance to hope to see the strange and beautiful beasts happily trotting through their home. I gave my ants a rest and ate their nougat.

This place never promises, but all the guides are coordinating with each other, and I think there's some kind of nerve center, so the chances are high. Between two four-hour safaris, sleeping and eating (like royalty), I actually didn't have time to shower until we were almost gone. Our guide Antoinette showed us the solitary black rhino with his pointy lips picking at the succulent branches,

a family of white rhino

, giraffes and lounging cheetahs

and the big male lion (Pop's comment was that his territorial call, which he is making in the photo, started off sounding like indigestion)

and impalas

and blesbok and springbok and zebras

and a sqirrely little duiker. Our jeep companions the first evening had witnessesed a "tennis match" the day before, when the mother cheetah and her young ones (about 1 1/2 year old ) had been hunting. But the young ones were far too eager and had started running after their dinner at a time that dinner was far enough away that it could outrun the cheetah's sprint. So back and forth across the broad plains they had gone, the boys chasing the herd, mom doing her best with the situation, everyone resting as the jeep bumped along trying to track everything, and repeat. Eventually they stopped the jeep and had a g&t instead of chasing everyone around, and watched from the middle. No dinner was caught that evening. In the morning, they caught something small- their bellies not full but not as thin when we saw them lounging in the evening.

Our companions did not join us at dawn the next morning. We set off into the wilds, found the male cheetah having just caught a baby something. He was breathing hard, recovering and as yet unable to eat.

With the smell of blood on the air, he is at his most vulnerable (hyenas, lions), and was keeping a very watchful eye. He had just begun to eat when we needed to leave (there is a guideline that not more than two jeeps be present at a location), but of course we were all amazed to even be able to be there in the first place anyway, so it's not like we were disappointed. We went off in search of the female and her cubs, returning to the place we had found them snoozy the evening before. (and on the way, we saw a big white rhino following the scent of a lady,

and a secretary bird, which Mom particularly likes- in the eagle family, but hunts by foot).

The cats weren't there, and there was a moment of sadness. But I borrowed Antoinette's binoculars and scanned around from where they had been to who knows were- and lo! off at the far edge of the field, looking much like a dead tree, were three cats sitting close together! Soon they moved on, and there begun our bumpy chase scene. there are roads that we mostly stick to- every now and then the guide will drive a jeep over a clump of low bushes, to get the best view of something but for the most part, we stick to roads. so we criss-crossed their path, sometimes ahead, sometimes behind them, and working together- Pop and I kept track of their motion as Antoinette managed her part- the gorgeous gatos strode, hopped and trotted among the bushes- so unbelievably graceful.

We lost them for a bit, but I found them again, peering out over the field. Then they moved forward again to a place that wasn't particularly protected but the few jumpy creatures in the field didn't see them, and there we all watched and waited. This is the part where I was most struck by how odd it was to be so close to them- that we could be literally fifteen feet from these amazing creatures and they just completely ignore us- I don't get it- we're this big rattly long-bed jeep and three cats hunting just don't care.... crazy. anyway, the two boys, one bigger and more dominant, stared off in one direction. Mom was focussed in a different direction. From our vantage point, I couldn't see quite what any of them were looking at, since no four-legged lunch target seemed to be anywhere close. off on the opposite hill were some zebras (too big for cheetahs), and there was a distant springbok. In with the zebras were impalas, so maybe that's what the boys were paying attention to. Antoinette noted to us that it seemed like a mostly impossible situation so far, and that's right about the time that the bigger boy took off. Mom loped after him, the humans, and she too, presumably, let out a sigh, and the smaller boy just stayed where he was, not moving at all. Not even vaguely paying attention.

As you might imagine, the rest happened pretty fast- Antoinette moved the jeep a bit so that we could see the rest of the field where they'd run to and then directed me with the binoculars to the movements out there- I found one cheetah moving, and a group of zebras and some fleisbok. It was Mom, I was pretty sure, since she has a radio collar that I could barely see. And she was moving all right, but then she was flying- everything behind her in the binoculars was a complete blur, even the zebras were kind of a blurry (I mean, I know that's the point, but..) and she was incredible- and then, POF, dust, and a little cream and white thing kicking. Antoinette said "brilliant!", and took off to where she was. Mom caught a baby fleisbok- apparently what had happened was that the boy had chased the mess of them into the corner of the field and they had made kind of a u-turn right about the time that Mom was coming along, not expecting success. Mom wasn't able to get any of the bigger animals, but in the mayhem that her son had created, a baby had gotten left behind, and she picked him off. We bipeds in the metal cage had just been lucky enough to watch. unbelievable. I still shake my head in amazement.

So we arrive at the scene, and Mom is doing as she does, suffocating the little one, and when she's done, calls to her sons, a high-pitched but very quiet tone. The bigger boy comes, and- HA, claims the kill as his own, taking it by the throat and walking off with it. The smaller son comes along, and I guess Mom just decided to get over her exhaustion quickly at the risk of going hungry because the boys sure didn't wait for her, and they all tucked in to the small meal pretty quickly. Hind quarters first. We were so close that we could hear the snapping of tendons and the whining of the competition amongst them for a fair share.

Antoinette called the other rangers with our whereabouts and as the second approached, we drove off slowly, passing through leopard territory (figured we might as well see just how strong this lucky streak was!) on our way to our own breakfast. She told us about the acacia trees- I had asked her earlier about symbiotic relationships and she told me about wasps that lay eggs in the acacia thorns, and the way that if one acacia is being eaten (since they are very high in nutrients, so a prize food), it will broadcast a pheromone that other trees pick up, all of them turning bitter as self-defense. fascinating...

warthogs and oliphants

Thick fog has erased Cape Town this morning, and my mind drifts back to our recent adventures- may I begin with the soundtrack: O! Fortuna!- with the full chorus and kettle drums- some of what Pop and I just experienced was so amazing that a person thinks- is this some kind of setup?

We wanted to explore the shore and see what we could of the fabled wildlife. Addo Elephant Park is top on the list, with a herd of some 500 wild elephants that roam around a preserved parcel of land along with lions and jackals and all the little jumpy critters you see on TV. The park is huge, and they're trying to make a corridor to the sea (good luck, there's an interstate in the way). Most visitors drive themselves in an area about 400 square kilometers, the vast majority is 4x4 territory.

We start driving around and immediately come upon a young bull, female, and calf, relatively close, crossing the road. Cool! We watch them for a while, and Pop is content already as we move on. We see other creatures- turtles, warthogs with their mohawk hackles, a distant ostrich, some jackals- just cruising along, and then we come upon a few cars stopped on the road, two side by side, even, and a group of elephants somewhat close. Pop goes around the cars and stops 15' beyond. From there we watch. Grazing, snuffling, scooching around each other is a group of perhaps 20, including a huge bull and lots of babies, maybe 80' from us. Delighted, I use Pop's good camera also for its telephoto to see what I cannot approach. After ten minutes or so have passed, the elephants move towards us, slowly at first, grazing still, their noodle-noses picking among the acacia branches.

But then the bull starts moving a little more quickly, walking down the hill towards us in our tiny car. "oh boy" says pop in a nervous tone. Ambling along, the bull comes about three feet from me as the telephoto lense suddenly becomes absurd, his eye appraises my tiny face and I squeak a tiny greeting.

Mama and babies follow, passing us now, more than we had seen- quickly I count about 30 adult elephants as they shamble off into the scrub, with about eight little ones. Pop and I just sat there in shock. and then started texting excitedly with Mam and Jason.

That was day three. Four was even more awesome, and then five was off the bleeping hook. Meanwhile there are candlelight vigils all over the globe to send messages to the men in charge to create a fair, ambitious and binding treaty to combat climate change, and what happens? the US, once again! throws a wrench in the negotiations. oh, we'll just buy our way into the planet's good graces, hm? that's the answer! The collateral damage to the planet and her people cannot be paid for in worthless greenback, you greedy cretins. I am sick about the whole situation, disgusted by our administration's proposal, horrified to know that my country is leading the way to HELL. when, and how, can we overthrow this plutocracy? my fingers curl and my jaw clenches as I sit aboard this lovely schoolship, house of independant thinking and education about the sea, forum of personal growth and expanded vision through travel- and I sit in the harbor of a country that has experienced such horrible inequity, attempted to bring it to rights and somewhat succeeded. I'm reading Country of My Skull right now, written by a journalist who covered the whole Truth and Reconciliation process- intense doesn't begin to describe it. Twisted. highly recommended to anyone with an abiding interest in cultural psychology.

this little dude, by the way, is the rare african dung beetle. he rolls up a little roll of dung and pushes it with his hind legs as a gift for his mate. they copulate while feeding on the roll, and then lay the eggs in it. sexy, hm? (CAUTION: to next part is not suitable for minors) I remember when I was researching Japan last year, I ran into an odd fetish- word has it that there is a high-end club in Tokyo in which (hopefully just a part of) the evening's entertainment and meal is provided by a young lady who has been eating nothing but bananas for a week. She relieves herself on glass plate and it is passed around to the eager patrons. even if this isn't true, I remain fascinated by how the human species simultaneously could create this 20 oz computer I am typing on and fetishize the consumption of our own excrement. The dung beetle metabolizes the partially digested plant material, retuning the nutrients to the soil while creating more of its kind. What is the Japanese businessman doing?

I'm in South Africa

first light of day 3 finds me on the porch of our round thatched hut looking up at the southern cross and Orion turning cartwheels in the sky. the light approaches as slowly as it faded last night- our proximity to the pole turns the ecliptic into an oval from our ant-sized perspective. Within two hours of arrival, I had gone from blue-ish to pink, and my head almost hurts as I breathe in the dry white light.

with staff aboard Argo, Pop and I are free to explore the coast for a few days, so we take off early one morning and head east from Cape Town. even on the interstate, junction points become bus stops. Over a pass and deep into quiet fields, a man is pushing his shopping cart up a hill in the slow lane. we don't ask why, we wonder how he steers on the downhill. By lunchtime we are at "the Heads" of Kynsna, eating seafood. the Heads is a natural passage between the sea and a large brackish lake- we watch a small sailboat come in, quickly between her full sail and the green water surging inland. after lunch we wander out to the point. The land is craggy and orange, clusters of black mussels cling to the rocks just at that tide line where the sea so constantly throbs. the rocks rip the sea into a white foam that settles into a filigree of lace laid over her aqua fingers. I hear my ex-lover's rumbling and snapping guitar.

That night we find a guesthouse by the beach at Jeffrey's Bay. Under the influence of three days of airplane naps and now with the ocean 100 meters away, I sleep as if in a womb. I sleep in the sea, I wake in the sea, and in the morning, I am romping among the rocks finding treasures. A black rock juts up in patches, creating the points of the bay that shape world-famous surf-breaks. The uppermost surfaces are eaten by the blowing sand and biting salt. closer to the tide live the limpets and barnacles. Then there are the smooth polished places that my feet love, below the low tides, the soft corals, seaweeds and fishies, and encircling it all, the sands and that are flipped and crushed to make them- iridescent oyster shells, pink and purple and sunyellow shells, and I, a little girl with my Pop.

EPA ruling

So the EPA ruled that CO2 and methane are toxic, allowing the administration to regulate emissions without Congressional input. AWESOME. It sounds like the judicial branch lit a fire under them to get it done. the Mayor of Denver and the director of Greenpeace respond here. Within the discussion is an excellent reference to Lincoln's comments about public sentiment, as well as a much more mature picture of Obama's situation than I seem to be able to piece together... we're learning. thank you Amy! Democracy Now is the only daily global radio and tv broadcast covering the summit in Copenhagen.

war president

Hi- my computer is having major issues, but I just have to sound off from someone else's box - more war, hm? more of the same when what we so desperately need is a major overhaul- I am wearing black today. I thought he was a student of history! I thought he was going to cut through bullshit! so much for the O rising in a new dawn- it's a sunset, this is the end of an empire, plant your garden, dear ones, because this war is coming home for the holidays.

In personal news, I'm great, other than the obvious. this year has been intense and wonderful- four great firings in two kilns, friends new and known, major garden work, more construction projects, body starting to have issues, and ongoing internal work. I had wanted to get a new website up and running by the end of the year but things fall apart. I'm looking forward to next year.

on the 11th, I fly to Florida for a day and then on to Cape Town harbor for a month. I'll be relaxing aboard the Argo with Pop as we "babysit" her inbetween her time serving as a schoolship for SeaMester. As yet, we're not sure what sort of maintenance or repairs she might need in that time- it is possible that we'll spend a fair amount of time in the industrial districts. Or she might be in fine shape, and we spend a fair amount of time exploring wine country. Either one sounds great to me! Pop is great to travel with- adventurous, not rigid, food hedonist, and well-heeled but downtempo about it. I've made a new journal, and I will post here of our adventures if I have easy access to the web. Hopefully with photos..

Here in Portland, the sun is shining and we have a few days of not very cold yet to go. I will likely be refinishing a friend's fir floor. Hope everyone is well-

C