Mongoose and Cheetah

Cheetah

Day Three at Ruckomechi Camp

When I awake, I find a small toad in the bathroom, so my game drive starts earlier than anticipated. I catch it gently and place it on John’s pillow as a morning surprise but even though he loves amphibians during waking hours, he grumbles crossly and pulls the covers over his head. I release the toad outside, but not before it has peed all over me.

Cheetah

We have a private morning game drive with Kevin and immediately sight two honey badgers leaping across the road, having been caught out late (or early) as they head for the safety of their borough. They have a wide white stripe along their backs and look somewhat like a cross between a skunk, a sloth and a badger. Our sighting is brief, but impressive and we learn that the honey badger is a member of the mustelidae family (weasel) and is a fierce predator with powerful jaws and claws. Moments later, two slender mongoose race across the road, making this the third species of mongoose that we have seen on our trip so far. We have seen the white tailed mongoose on our night drives and several days ago we watched a troupe of dwarf mongoose scurrying for the safety of their boroughs.  Prior to this trip, mongoose were not on my radar, but I am quite amused by them and am not surprised to find that they are related to the  meerkak. Did you know that a meerkat is a mongoose, but a mongoose is not a meerkat? We have our best zebra sighting to date and watch a small group of these elegantly striped equines graze at the edge of the scrub forest.  We see the backside of many skittish warthogs, their tails pointing straight up as they jog their retreat into the brush and John jokes that their tails are the antenna for a remote control and twiddles his fingers in a well rehearsed pantomime.  This morning is rich in game and we see eland and kudu and herds of the ever present impala.

Curious Impala

Zebra Herd

Monkey Business

Foraging in a Misty Forest 

John up in a Hollow Tree

During today’s siesta break, I write and John sits in a canvass deck chair reading Jurassic Park and drinking a beer.  18 is the legal age in Zimbabwe and Zambia, and I am doing my best not to be too much of a mother.  John has never been an avid reader but this is his second book of the trip. For graduation, his sister, Alisha, gave him Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and without the distractions of television and the internet he zipped through that book. When I glance across at John, I am struck with the perfection of the moment; my son, now a young man absorbed in his reading, the Zambezi River reflecting the afternoon sunlight and the inundating cacophony of bird song and hippo grunts.  

Lunch with Tom, Mary and Michael

Writing my Blog at Ruckomechi

Earlier today, cheetahs were sited on the concession and it is Kevin’s agenda to find the two cats. During break, he has communicated with other guides and he apparently has an idea of their whereabouts. After bumping along the dirt road for 30 minutes, we come to an abrupt halt and he points at two cheetahs, lounging 30 meters away, at the edge of the underbrush, overlooking the road and the clearing beyond. One rests on a slight rise, somewhat obscured by a rotting log and a clump of brush and the other is behind the mound, with only his ears visible. Initially it is exciting to watch them, but their only movements are the flip of a tail, or a turn of a head.  Kevin has a powerful zoom on his camera and I suspect would prefer to wait patiently for a spectacular shot but after watching for nearly an hour in the fading light, John and I are ready to move on.

We stop for our sundowners in a pretty Mopani forest, golden with slanted afternoon sunlight; continuing afterwards on a chilly and unmemorable night drive. It is our last night at Ruckomichi camp and the dinner of roast pork, potatoes and grilled vegetables is excellent but the evening winds down early. We are all a little subdued and although there are new guests at the camp, Claire the geologist has a cold and the elderly newlywed couple head for the privacy of their tent.

Sunset over the Zambezi