First day seeing an animal (any animal):
Me: What is that? It looks like a boar. Runs to find someone who can accurately identify said boar. Told it’s a warthog.
Second time seeing boar-like creature:
Me: Oh look! It’s a warthog. Confidently lists several features of the warthog; it’s preferred vegetation, which animals prey upon it, etc.
First day seeing a Bushback:
Me: oh look!!! It’s a bushback! This is SO exciting. Spends next 20 minutes filming bushback while exclaiming over ever single detail of their unusual markings.
Male Bushback
Second time seeing a Bushback:
Me: Looks around for other animals, sees there are none, begrudgingly films bushback for a few seconds before turning the camera to a large bird which has landed on a tree branch nearby.
Third time seeing a bushback:
Me: doesn’t bother turning around, Oh look! A whole family of warthogs. Aren’t they funny?
Fourth time seeing a bushback:
Me: No reaction.
When on safari each new sighting is met with feverish anticipation and curiosity. Then, after a few more sightings, inevitably one is on to the next thing. For me it began with pretty much anything that moved, followed by awe at the enormity and beauty, and a desire to see whatever it was up close. Then, over the course of a few days, I noticed that I wasn’t even bothering to film the bushbacks and their beautiful markings. In an effort to combat “the jaded tourist”, I tried hard to pay attention to and marvel at the markings of the impala, antelope and others.
Zebra
Still the thrill of seeing what are referred to as the big 5 couldn’t be shrugged off. The big five: Rhino, Elephant, African Buffalo, Lion and Leopard are the most sought after sightings, but in the beginning, anything was exciting, even the bushbacks (which I still love for their exquisite markings). But it’s easy to ignore yet another baboon or vervet monkey or Ibis or Spoon billed stork or the amazingly colorful Lilac Breasted Roller. In fairness, I never did tire of seeing those monkeys and birds, however I admit I did begin to view the impala and bushback, so plentiful and in such massive numbers, as the “deer” of Africa.
If you are interested in travel and specifically in traveling in Africa, I have been releasing a new video every day on my YouTube playlist: An African Adventure.
Today’s video covers a river safari we took in Zambia where we sighted countless hippos. I was not frightened by any of the animals we saw except for those hippos. They are enormous, fast and fierce and when you’re in a smallish boat, they can be terrifying!
Wonderful video. It looked like you were flying over the river. Excitingt
Thank you Brenda!
I loved all the photos and videos, but I was thinking about what you said about ‘first time I saw it, what’s that…second time, reel off facts…then, eventually, it becomes mundane’ (to paraphrase), and I kinda feel like we do that with life sometimes, when we really shouldn’t.
Right now, I’m looking out my window and thinking ‘man, Ariane would have a field day with those colours – all bruised purple from a storm front and pink and orange at the horizon’ but before I actually stopped and looked it was ‘huh, storm’s rolling in’.
So, I know it wasn’t – or it could have been – why you wrote this post, but thank you for reminding me to enjoy the things I think I’ve already seen, because just because they’re not new, doesn’t mean they’re not perfectly beautiful to stop and enjoy.
I hope things are ok with you guys too. I’m still thinking of you all.
I really am loving all the photos and videos you’re sharing too – great job with them!
Thanks so much Kai. It really did seem to encapsulate life anywhere. It’s one of the reasons I love traveling so much. Each day is crammed with so much, it’s a kind of microcosm of daily life only on steroids and fast forward.
I love your description of the colors before a storm. They’re so dramatic! And you’re right I would have loved to have seen what you saw out your window.
Truthfully, I don’t seem able to do much else other than go through all the footage and schedule a daily video for the next few weeks. I’m trying to take it a day at a time, but it feels like I’m walking around with a wet blanket over me. I know this will shift, for now I’m just putting one foot in front of the other and grabbing at whatever morsel of humor I can find in all or any of it. I’m thinking of you Kai and darn that Hoover! ❤️
You are interested in everything and willing to try anything. You treat the guides with kindness and respect. You must be their favorite tourist. Great video.
Thx so much Sandy. That would be amazing if it were true!! ❤️
What lovely videos Ariane, I am so amazed at how all those wild animals are so calm and accepting of human interaction, not at all what I would have thought, I never would have thought all those lovely animals were so calm and majestic, this gave me such a different outlook to what I imagined, It seemed the larger the animals the more social with people and the smaller animals are much more cautious and suspicious, the monkeys were just haywire, so cute, Thankyou so much, I loved all your videos and it gave me something to keep my mind off other things going on here.
Hi Sue, yes it was amazing to see how peaceful most of the animals are. Not at all perturbed by our human presence. And those monkeys!! They were so mischievous and funny. I thought of them as the comedy act.
I am so enjoying my trip (I mean your trip) to Africa. Love your excitement when you saw something new, the hippos, counting them, one, two, three, is that a fourth? The giraffe, there’s another walking! There’s a crocodile! I just love it. By the way, I live in Missouri and we have lots of vultures here. I trout fish and they hang around the streams at the end of the day to feast on the skin and entrails from people cleaning fish. We jokingly call them gultures. I’m learning so much about the wildlife but also the hardships these people are going through because of Covid restrictions. The colors in the sunsets are so inspirational too. Keep posting your wonderful videos. Thank you so much
Thank you so much Barbara! I’m so glad you’re enjoying your trip