VIXEN ON THE MOVE

Over a month ago, a dear friend asked me if we could go for a boat cruise together and I agreed.

At the beginning of the week we were supposed to go for the cruise, I felt unwell but at first I just assumed that it was an inevitable case of flu but I wasn’t getting any better. At some point I got worried because we were still right in the middle of a pandemic and the symptoms were familiar to those of flu. I went to get tested for Covid-19 and was so relieved when the results were negative. On the morning of the cruise,I woke up with swollen eyes and I realised that I had lost my voice. I panicked because I had thought that I was getting better. And I just couldn’t postpone the trip. I had my camera ready and as cold as it was going to be, the passion kept me warm and I had to honour my friend’s request.

We got on the boat and the wind on the water on a winter morning was unforgiving to say the least. The boat was speeding and I was excited to see the one bird that I had wished for so long to capture, the Pied Kingfisher. We kept seeing more of them and as they flapped their wings, I tried to capture a shot but the speed of the boat didn’t allow me to lock in a good shot. I was frustrated but I also had hope that at some point it would move slower but the guide seemed to be in a hurry because we had left a bit late. I started seeing some elephants, particularly the one that had a hole that looked like it was perfectly drilled into one of its ears. And a little later, we spotted a giraffe that looked like a loner. It was strange because we were already in Moremi Game Reserve but saw very few animals. The birds however, were in abundance. The African Jacanas, Great Herons, the African Darters, the Squacco Herons, a couple of Arican Fish Eagles and very few Malachite Kingfishers.

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And one morning, I took my children and my helper along, to the river not too far from our house. I was hoping to find some aquatic birds,particularly the Pied Kingfisher. At some far distance, I spotted a Great Egret and when we moved closer, it flew even further away. After some time, I realised that we might not get lucky and the kids had also started becoming irritable and because it was a deserted place, we had to return home. Sometimes I fail to stay longer (nature photography needs some level of patience) but most times I don’t feel safe enough to be out there alone and carrying my equipment. But on our way back, we saw some dragonflies. At first I was adamant to take pictures, until I realised that they were different colours. I got fascinated and followed them to a particular branch where they sat still on and I locked in the shots. At some point I let the kids try to take pictures with my camera but it was too heavy for them.

After different attempts, I was happy with the shots I took and the kids were slowly getting even more irritable, they had their eyes set on the jumping castle near by. They wanted to play but I just had to say no because it wasn’t ours. I followed them back and again, we saw another type of a dragonfly.

We got back home. I had some shots to add to my collection.

For so many years, I had a fascination with a picture I once saw which I called “The Last Drop”. I can’t even remember what happened to its printed image I had downloaded. I just remember that I had it in my space, pinned to a notice board in the tiny offices I have occupied at some point in the past. It also represented the “Ripple Effect” and to me, it was a powerful reminder of how our actions, thoughts or lack thereof, can eventually affect the next steps of our lives.

When I started photography, it was by sheer chance that I would get this far and my curiosity led me to a video on You Tube about taking pictures of waterdrops. I downloaded a couple more to be able to get different perspectives. When I finally got the gist of how I could give the experiment a shot, I arranged a setup, from sofa cushions, a beautiful painting that one of my artist brothers made for me, of candles burning in the background, to create backdrops for my shoot.

I kept trying different shots and I almost didn’t stop. I was having too much fun but everything comes to an end at some point and the experiment was so fulfilling.

This later rippled beautifully into the feedback that I got from close friends who got to see the pictures. My spiritual guide saw the Mindfulness resemblance in some of them, while my lover linked it to Science. One of my oldest friends saw Poetry in it and amazingly, I had to have some of them printed for sale and one will hang on the wall of the office I occupy now. Talk about positive ripples.

Photography has become such a great escape from most of my life’s hurdles. On one of the mornings when I was preparing for my exams, I kept losing focus and decided to take my camera and go for a drive to a bridge not too far from where I stay.

The morning light was still as golden as golden can be and after a few minutes of being there, I spotted a couple of birds which presented me with an opportunity to take pictures. I had taken along my telephoto lens and got into a shooting position.

In a few more minutes, I saw more birds. The variation was exciting and I tried to take as many shots as possible.

And just when I was about to pack up leave, the birds gave me an amazing synchronized dance, as if they were waving goodbye to me.

I kept more memories alive and the morning drive was worth it.

The more pictures I take, the more gratitude I feel. I am becoming more and more aware of the details in the environment and that fulfills my heart. I have seen this plant for over 2 years and ignored it, until yesterday as I was sitting and waiting to take pictures of the birds in front of my house and I looked closer and paid more attention to it. I have learnt that it’s one the plants that could actually help fight against Global Warming.

Nature is teaching me a lot. I am so thankful. It’s the simple things in life that we ignore yet they can be the most amazing discoveries.

SPEKBOOM

☘AIR PURIFYING OUTDOOR PLANT
☘ELEPHANT’S DELICACY
☘HYDRATER (EDIBLE)
☘STAYS FOREVER GREEN
☘WATER WISE
☘EASY TO GROW

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I had just decided to sit outside and watch the birds and their behaviour to continue with my birding journey. But I need to be honest, birds are a challenging because they don’t sit still for too long and they need someone to be alert. Once you see it on a perching on a branch, you snooze for a second, look back into the view finder and it’s gone.

I sat there long enough and became lucky. At some point they all moved to another house but I got atleast two shots.

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And a few days before, I had taken a drive to Chanoga, hoping to see some aquatic birds but the light was going, so I had to take atleast one shot I could document. It was of the famous African Jacana. After various attempts, I managed to lock one picture in with just the perfect light hitting on it.

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My birding journey continues and it has been a thrill so far as nature keeps letting me see its hidden details up close.

About 2 years ago, I asked a colleague if I could use her garden for my maternity photoshoot. We rushed there because the sun was about to go down and at the time I didn’t get what my photographer Isaac Marumo’s hurry was all about. The pictures came out beautifully.

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And a few weeks ago, a dear friend Aubrey Tseleng suggested to me that if I needed to be better at photography, I should try birding, because waiting for birds would challenge my ability to use the camera while I tried to match their speed. He said that it could also help me with PATIENCE. I have learnt over the years, to yield to advice and lessons from others and it has served me so well in life.

So, because I am such a doer and implementer of my ideas, I approached Mrs. Titi Zimona and she allowed me to use her beautiful garden – Potentials Gardens in Disaneng, Maun, again! 🙏 I managed to buy a bird bath and I wasn’t sure where I would find a bird feeder. My wonderful friend Anthony Molosi recommended the talented and crafty Emafa William, who after a few hours called to tell me that the bird feeder he had designed for me was ready for collection. I chose a spot for them right under a sculpture of a fish eagle (still on Eagle Mode🦅🙏).

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This past Saturday morning, I went to check the progress and I found the meal rice that I had left in the feeder all gone. I sat a few meters away from where the feeder was and suddenly the action started, different birds came out to eat the meal rice on the immaculately mowed lawn. Then the squirrels came out, from above the tree, took turns and started eating the meal rice. It was an amazing feeling to be in that serene garden, so peaceful. It was just me, my camera and I tried to take as many shots of the birds and squirrels’ interaction. 5 hours later, I realised that I was too hungry and had to return home. I told Motherk Masire all about my gratitude and excitement and I can’t wait for another free weekend to go back.

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On a spiritual note, I have learnt that one should never take for granted the places they find themselves at because life might make you return there (letlotla gale nyelwe) and that we should respect and be kind to everyone we meet,because they could just turn out to be the person who elevates us sometime later in life. One other thing, I realised that I needed more practice for my photography journey and had to make do with the little that I have.

I am eternally grateful to everyone who has helped me get to this point, even with your “little” effort, you have made a huge shift in my life.❤

Sometimes we face up to God and silently pray for atleast one single blessing, one chance, one opportunity for atleast one door to open. And when we least expect it, our prayers get answered in multiple folds. I took a chance in 2020 and entered the first-ever Botswana Photography Awards and my submission of the Martial Eagle became the first runner-up up under the Wildlife Photography category. It was the first tile to fall.

By virtue of being a first runner-up, the prize due to me was a year long subscription to the C4 Atelier website, with access to wildlife photography webinars, tutorials,blogs and an opportunity to book a professional photographer. I was more than excited about this.

In the months that followed after the awards, I engaged with Janet Kleyn and Aubrey Tseleng from Photo Mashatu. This led to me being invited to Mashatu Game Reserve and it turned out to be the best thing to ever happen to me as an aspiring photographer. The trip there was long but the more kilometers I covered, the happier I got. I was thrilled and honoured, by the idea of having been invited to a new place, by the idea of being able to be in the bushy wild after a long while.

On my first morning there, we went on a game drive and I couldn’t contain my excitement. There was a rich variety of birds and animals, the impalas, the zebras, the giraffes, some baboons, the elands that were my first time to see. The breeze was cool and the weather was beautiful. We got back to the house and as routine, we downloaded the pictures for editing and to create space, charged the camera batteries and freshened up while waiting for the afternoon drive.

In the afternoon, Aubrey, Janet and I took another drive, this time around, taking a different direction and I kept hoping to see the cats. I had heard that there were leopards, lions and cheetahs  and I kept my fingers crossed the entire time. It wasn’t too long after, while I was still taking in all the beautiful views of Mashatu, that Aubrey stopped the car and reversed a bit. He had spotted some leopards in the Majale River,a female and its male cub. I almost leapt out of my seat because of excitement but I also had to calm myself down and make good use of the moment. As I was taking out my camera, I kept saying a silent prayer of gratitude. I had always wished to see a leopard and finding two at once was more than I had hoped for. The light was perfectly golden and every press to the shutter button felt a lot more like a vibration that travelled from my finger all the way down to my toes. Watching them walk so gracefully crossing the river was almost enchanting.

We followed them out of the river and also making sure that we got some shots before we lost the light. The mother had her sight on some impalas not too far from where we were as the cub walked away to the opposite direction. When I asked why, Aubrey said that the cub was probably giving its mother some space to go and hunt. It was getting dark and we headed back to the house. I couldn’t wait to arrive and see the pictures on a larger screen and boy, what a thrill it was to browse through each and every one, unsure of which one to delete and which one to edit for keeps.

The following morning we were back it again, the three bush musketeers, as I kept getting the best out of my hosts. They cradled me, at some point I felt like I was a child to wonderful parents. They shared the tips of what settings to use in various situations with me. They took me to where there was a potential for some interesting sights and they did that with so much patience and gentleness. Of course, there were also moments of some old tough love but I took it all on stride.  As the drive went on, we saw some elephants taking a dust bath and we couldn’t miss an opportunity to capture them.

I had never known that there was a variety of eagles, I learnt that as we were on the drive. We also got to see the colorful European Roller and it was my first time seeing it.

When we got back to the house, we went back to the grind; downloaded pictures, took a shower, ate breakfast, charging the cameras batteries, took a nap and later went for an afternoon drive. The light was perfect but there was an overwhelming number of marabouk storks and right before we lost the golden light, we saw a blackbacked jackal. I almost jumped out the vehicle with excitement, but the jackal just gave us a wink and disappeared into the thick shrubs. I wished that I could have gotten enough chance to photograph it but Janet and Aubrey assured me that we would see more jackals before I left.

Just a promised, the next morning, my last day at Mashatu, Aubrey took me on a mini game drive and because it was still a bit dark, he had to use a flash light, incase there was some animals in the vicinity. Not too long after, with my fingers crossed for some interesting sights, of  a lion or a cheetah hopefully, we heard some sound not too far from where we were. It was a jackal call. We rushed there because that alarm was supposed to mean that there was a predator closeby. We found the jackal, all jittery and still calling, but there was nothing to see out there.

The sun was coming up and I also had a pending long drive back. A few minutes after, we saw another jackal, a calmer one who wasn’t even bothered by the roaring engine of the Toyoya Landcruiser.

On our drive back, we saw a Woodland Kingfisher perched on a dead tree branch and it was an amazing conclusion sight to my drive and to my trip.

I left Mashatu feeling more content and grateful for every bit of the experience I had and mostly, thankful to my wonderful hosts. The domino effect continues.

If I could, I would go to the bush every weekend, to ground myself, to heal the pains of the week and rejuvenate my mind. After the long year that brought us a pandemic that no one ever imagined could hold us hostage, I owed it to myself to take one last trip to Moremi Game Reserve.

By 9am, we were entering the Reserve and this trip wasn’t as fun as the previous one. The weather was perfect but as we got deeper into the wilderness, the rain clouds gathered and none of was prepared. Our safari vehicle was the typical design, with no covers on the sides nor did we have any rain coats in the vehicle. Our lack of foresight. The rain poured down and at some point there was just too much chaos amongst us, everyone trying to “run away” from getting wet and me desperate for a place to hide my camera before it got damaged by the water. The ladies in the front cleared off the cooler box that had the braai meat, to keep my camera safe, they tripped the bowl of chakalaka over and it spilled all over one of the seats. There was no cloth to wipe it off and the only roll of the toilet that we had could not be wasted, just incase it would be needed later, so, they started eating the chakalaka off the seat with their hands. It was the only option they had.

The driver stopped the vehicle but I asked him not to, I remembered that someone once mentioned that you shouldn’t stop while it’s raining, rather you carry on moving forward because it would probably be passing through to where you had just come from. Shortly after that, it was no longer raining and everyone got back to their wet seat. Thankfully the canvas had protected the seats, it would have been a mess.

The sun was finally out but we all had to endure the wet clothes and seats because we still had to explore the bush. I had hoped to see the animals but it was too green and too wet that even if a lion was somewhere near by, it would have camouflaged so well for us to not even see it. The trip was painful but that V8 engine gave me hope, otherwise we would have gotten stuck somewhere on those muddy roads. We kept moving forward and in different directions, our guide/driver hoping to take us to places where there was a potential of seeing some cats, but with no luck. As we were approaching some place, I saw what looked like a blanket of rocks, until he confirmed that it was a hippo pool. There were over twenty hippos and a countless number of crocodiles in that muddy pool, all squeezed together because there was no space.

While still there, two crocodiles were rolling and flipping over in the water and the head of a hippo’s carcass emerged out. It was a gruesome sight and we watched that action for a while and later carried on with our hopeful trip.

There wasn’t really much to see and we stopped at some spot to have our braai and had to drive out the park before it closed. Just when I was about to give up and put the camera away, we saw a bateleur eagle on the grass, occupied with something in the grass. I asked the driver to stop, hoping that it would fly away but it didn’t. It was only after a little that I realised that it was stomping on some dead meat and it eventually gave us a nasty eye for interrupting its meal-time.

I put my camera away after taking a few shots of it and we headed out, through all those challenging and painful muddy roads back to where the Corona virus rule the streets.

I am part of an amazing team at work and they have made my trips memorable. I have always wished to get out there and experience life but there was always a reason that prevented me from pursuing that, the lack of money, pregnancy, motherhood, studying and whatever else that placed itself on the top in my priority list. In December 2019, I surrendered to the passion I felt for photography and made the first step towards adventure. We have been to Moremi Game Reserve, went to Khwai and in our recent excursion, we flew to Kasane and spent a night in the beautiful Kwalape Safari Lodge in Kazungula. Of course the trip wouldn’t have been complete without the game drives and boat cruises. For me, it was a mental orgasmic experience because I got to take the pictures. On the morning drive, we saw a couple of birds and a baby crocodile but my lens couldn’t take me close enough. While there, we had to rush to a place where a pride of lions was spotted, unfortunately there were too many vehicles and they moved away before I could position myself for a good shot.

On our boat cruise on the Sedudu Island, the animal sightings were better than in the morning and we saw a few Greater Kudus which seemed too comfortable to pose for the pictures and I was right there, basking in the therapeutic moment. And those horns, my goodness! Trying to fit them into a frame perfectly while observing the composition rules felt like an uphill battle.

Crocodiles are very strange animals in my view but also interesting because if you had watched National Geographic before and saw the aggression and power at which they killed an animal, finding them outside the water makes them look so peaceful and harmless.

The cruise ended on an amazing note for me because I had good company, my camera and I couldn’t have asked for a better tribe. Merry Xmas.🌲🥂

In September 2020, I drove through the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park and saw an eagle on one of the trees. I had to make a u-turn and capture it. I got out of the car, camera held tight and heart beating fast. I remember how I said silent prayers for the eagle to not move until I was closer. Using manual mode and the limitations of the lens that I was using were a challenge. After walking through the taller-than-me grass, with my focus right on my target, it started flying away and I used the panning method to follow it until it was on a further away tree. It was only after this moment that I remembered that I was in the park where potential danger could be closer than I thought. I rushed back into the car and drove of, proud and excited about my catch.