Sunrise - Sunset Series

As I was doing permanent night Ops in a Rhino Anti Poaching Unit I saw a LOT of sunrise and sunsets. Some were spectacular and I took too many photographs for just one post. So, I thought I would share them "one a day" with you.

The place: Mabula Game Lodge. Bela Bela, South Africa.

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I am also a writer, but have yet to write The Chronicles of this chapter of my life. You can however find my very first written Chronicles here, they took place, in another lifetime, many years ago.

The Chronicles of the Mexican Horse Thief I – Angola.

Short Story -Rhino Wars.. Shots fired, shots fired!

Early Saturday morning, Jan and I are on the spoor of our Rhino, we are making sure they are alive and well plus checking for foreign spoor, poachers spoor. Suddenly both Jan and I pull up short. We both heard a sound  that no anti-poaching guy wishes to hear. The only worse sound would be a zip/buzz thump and then the bang. The shot sounded like it came from about a kilometre in the opposite direction from the path we were walking. Shit, shit. What to do?

We are reasonably sure the Rhino are in front of us, but not 100% sure, do we back track and find the source of the gunshot or hasten to where we think our Rhino are? I decide to go find out about the shot. The terrain is thick bush, gullies and rocks so it takes time to get to the point where we believe the sound originated. We have cell phone comms and I call Neil to see if he fired a weapon as the shot came from the direction of the farmhouse, or so we believed. Neil is on his way to town, he calls his foreman, Lucas, and gets all the workers mobilised to find the Rhino.

Brave lot these little Pedis, they dash off into the bush unarmed, not even a panga or knopkerrie. Meanwhile Jan and I reach the area we think the sound came from. Nothing. Then two more bangs! This time it sounds like from behind the farmhouse. I scan the hill, nothing. Jan and I decided to go back to the place we last saw the Rhino tracks. Again about a kilometre or so, on the way we pick up two of the farm workers, we set routes and split up. Half a kilometre later we find Lucas and the signs of where our Rhino slept last night. Finally the two workers find our Rhino, all safe, just stressed out about all the noise the workers have been making. Neil and I have had some cell phone comms and he is already back at the farm.

Because of the hills and the wind, Jan and I heard the sound echo and were in the wrong place, Lucas, closer to the sounds pin pointed it correctly but could not tell Jan and I in time as we were in a dead zone, no cell reception for some time. The farm behind us is not a game farm, perhaps they shot some pigs….
Point of this story? Any one that has worked with me in the bush before will verify that I am quite capable of doing this job, BUT, I am severely handicapped in my efficiency by lack of equipment and manpower. This was made glaringly apparent today.

Dragonfly – Photos

A dragonfly is an insect belonging to the order Odonata, suborder Anisoptera (from Greek ἄνισος anisos “uneven” and πτερόν pteron, “wing”, because the hindwing is broader than the forewing). Adult dragonflies are characterized by large multifaceted eyes, two pairs of strong transparent wings, sometimes with coloured patches and an elongated body. Dragonflies can be mistaken for the related group, damselflies (Zygoptera), which are similar in structure, though usually lighter in build; however, the wings of most dragonflies are held flat and away from the body, while damselflies hold the wings folded at rest, along or above the abdomen. Dragonflies are agile fliers, while damselflies have a weaker, fluttery flight. Many dragonflies have brilliant iridescent or metallic colours produced by structural coloration, making them conspicuous in flight. An adult dragonfly eye has nearly 24,000 ommatidia.
From Wikipedia

Reading that, I do believe one or two here are  Damselfly!

I have not got a Short Story with a Dragonfly in it!

THE MEXICAN HORSE THIEF

Here is a collection of my Rhino photos, good and bad shots. Sorry, all are not competition quality, but just for the record.

"The white rhinoceros is the second largest land mammal in the world, after the elephant. White rhinos can weigh over 2,000 kilograms (2 tons) and stand as tall as 1.8 meters (6 feet). There were once over 30 species of rhino, but today there are only five and all are endangered. White rhinoceros are calmer and more sociable than other species of rhino, and they often live in small, territorial groups. Females and juveniles are rarely alone. Rhinos communicate using a wide variety of sounds, including grunts, growls, snorts, squeaks and bellows. Because of their hump, white rhinos cannot swim."
From Switch Zoo