I;t tried to stay still in order not to be seen as I reached out to touch the stick insect clasped to the tall grass of the mountain slope. Like a stem from the buffalo grass it mimicked its environment effortlessly through years of evolution, making it almost invisible to its predators. I gently poked at it with a reed hoping to get a better view of its camouflaged skeleton. It was sheer coincidence that I had seen it and now it felt threatened and in its own hypnotic way started moving up the reed-stem it so accurately resembled. Even while moving, this ‘twig’ disappeared like the breeze rustling through the savannah.
Flashing before my eyes in a burst of beating wings before landing on a nearby branch, with its white belly, black head and striped brow, the butcherbird stared at me triumphantly, clasping the stick insect in its carnivorous beak. Unaware that he had watched my movements, I had blown the insect’s cover and felt a loss at not being able to admire it any longer, immediately replaced by the joy of experiencing the delicate balance of the food chain and refocused my attention to the bird. I had often seen a fiscal shrike position a dead insect on the barbs of fences and thorny bushes in order to indicate its territory and impress potential females with its ability to provide, but never had I been this close. It looked at me and I could still see the insect moving its legs as the shrike burst away seemingly startled.
I had not seen the falcon swoop over my hiding place as it hit the shrike in full flight, skimming the low brush. A puff of feathers drew my attention to where the shadow had struck and like the insect, the shrike did not even know what hit it. Gracefully it swooped into the queen of all flowering trees, the ‘King Protea’, only found in this part of the world - sharing the land with over six thousand other plant species. It clasped the ball of feathers in one talon viewing the landscape majestically.
Below the tree a monitor lizard licked the air, glancing up at the falcon that had started plucking the head off its prey. I was not aware that it had been scavenging nests for an easy meal as I had known monitors to do and did not expect to see one so far away from the river. With its prehistoric head and strong forelegs ending in razor-sharp claws it slowly scouted the brush for potential victims, lifting itself onto the scarred trunk of the tree, its head swaying from side to side as it flicked its forked tongue scenting for food. This was truly the land of the wild. The rhythm of the earth beat as steady as a drum and looking beyond the herbal vegetation covering the foothills of the Baviaanskloof wilderness area, my nostrils flared at the smell of Fynbos and the distinctive taste of rain falling on arid soil - borne on the breeze ahead of an African thunderstorm.
Lifting the water bottle from its canvas holder my parched lips ached, my throat longed for relief and my mind understood its connection to the land as I quenched my thirst. Soon the land would be drenched and running my hand through the sand I leaned against the trunk of a thick ‘Waboom’ tree, smiling inwardly with satisfaction. A dust devil twirled ahead of the grey downpour, picking up dust and shaking the leaves off trees as it wandered across the plain. Beyond the rolling hills of the Eastern Cape the deep blue-green of the Indian Ocean sparkled in the setting sun, the silver lining around the anvil shaped Cumulonimbus blinded the naked eye and the earth rejoiced at the rebirth of life as the distant thunder marched through the heavens.
I stood up from my hiding place expecting the wildlife to scatter but they were aware of my presence. Who was I to think that I could remain unseen in their habitat. Like the shrike who had watched me, waiting patiently for me to point out its meal, the falcon had done the same. I was no longer standing on the outside looking in, but viewed our world from my perch in the mountains. My gaze drifted towards the pathway that lead to ‘my world’ and my heart leapt with the realisation that I did not belong out there. It would spur the search I have been on ever since. The search for the wild places of our earth would lead me to many wonderful encounters. Encounters shared more intimately with all living beings.
by Harry