In the Wild
IN THE WILD
Early morning, we go for a drive,
An awesome feeling as we arrive,
At our camp gate which, opens
At 6 o’clock,
Now we are in the African bush
Which, will unlock,
Moments that we have missed and
Remember from our last trip, and
Treasures recorded by camera, some
Happy, some bring a tear,
With some we recall our fear,
One should not get too near,
For this territory is wild animal land,
It would be a mistake to let a situation
Get out of hand!
The maximum speed allowed in
The Kruger Park,
Is 50 kilometers , but we slow
Down to 30 and embark,
On a weekend adventure we so love,
Yesterday, I put our binoculars into the glove
Compartment, we are ready to experience
Africa’s wildlife
Of which we never tire,
My husband puts his hand
On my knee, so proud I’m his wife!
Suddenly we see a pride of lions, sprawled
Across the road,
We jostle with other cars, for a good view,
And place ourselves advantageously.
My heart is racing, they are my favorite
To spot,
The lions aren’t in a hurry to leave
And nor are we,
We make a mark on the map with a dot,
As when we get back,
Reception would like a report
What animals and where they have been seen,
We do not want to fall short!
Abruptly a lioness, his majesty, king
Of the park‘s queen,
Stretches and disappears into the bush,
Followed by 2 lionesses and one cub,
I feel privileged to share this time
With them, and quickly bring my camera up,
For just across the road is a leopard
With his kill, among some branches,
My husband puts a finger to his mouth shhhhhhh,
But I am so excited I can’t keep the
The camera steady,
Fortunately he has his set and ready!
The leopard gets the jitters, senses my thrill
And jumps down,
Vanishes into Africa’s bush leaving his kill
In the tree,
Ingraining in us an unforgettable memory!
He’ll be back, to finish off
A small impala buck,
Which the Leopard hauled up
With exceptional ease,
If you please!
We have seen two of the big five,
Are hungry, forgot our lunch, so drive
Back to Berg-en-Daal, our camp
Eat what I’d packed and take a short nap.
The sun is scorching, the temperature is 41 degrees,
Not even a breeze,
Gratefully, our bungalow is cool thanks to air
Conditioning and a thatched roof,
We sleep like babies, knowing the fence
Around the camp is absolutely full proof!
We set our alarm for 14.00 hours, and leave
Once again,
Our morning trip was short, we were very lucky in
Spotting of game.
Our afternoon trip we plan to be longer, and
Drive alongside a river,
We stop,
When we spot,
Hippos and crocodiles
We zoom in, get a great shot, but the crocodile's
Razor-like teeth and the hippo’s enormous jaws,
Make me quiver,
And shiver!
We turn around, hear an elephant’s trumpet,
Keep a good space between mom and calf,
Certainly if we get between them it will
Be no laugh!
Amazed, we watch a dung beetle collecting and rolling,
Elephant dung,
He is laboriously pushing
His prize, whilst his mate lays her eggs,
In transit – she’s got it right the male is the worker,
In fact they are co-workers, she is no shirker!
A green mamba slithers across,
On a mission, glad we are in the car,
Seeking to ambush a squirrel, wonder if
The mamba will kill it, I think it’s cute, run
Squirrel, far!
Next, we see a buffalo, too close for
Comfort, a loner, maybe dangerous,
Prefer to keep our distance, not get too near
Its wary eye,
He’s a bad tempered guy!
We cut short our afternoon trip and
Decide to call it a day.
Go to reception and extend our stay.
We collect coals and wood at the
Shop in the camp, go start our braai,
Under a clear night sky,
And see constellations of stars
Imagining what it could be like
To one day live on Mars!
During the rest of our short stay,
We see rhinos,
And a pack of wild dogs who we
Catch unawares.
We park on the opposite side
Of the track,
And watch them as they
Tear apart their
Afternoon snack!
If any meager remains are left,
The vultures and hyenas will scavenge,
And ravage,
With savage
Delight,
Until, no morsel is left in sight.
On our last day, we see two baboons
Fighting,
Quite horrific, it was quite a sighting
A tad frightening!
Our windows are open half way,
A precaution
As we travel with caution,
A foul smell reaches our nostrils, a
Kilometer away, we see upwards of
30 vehicles vying for a spot,
An elephant carcass has been around for
A while, 10 lions are having a feast,
Oblivious of humans, his majesty graces
This orgy of eating,
The odor takes some beating,
It was stinking,
No animals will dare come near,
The Lions want it all,
There’s no competing!
We were engrossed,
Forget to look at the time,
Two giraffes pass,
We brake fast,
They look alluring with their tall legs and
Long sexy eyelashes,
They stare at us, eyes trying to seduce,
Us, but in fact all they’ve done, is reduce
Our time to arrive at our gate,
We make it through, will enjoy our
Braai a little late.
We light our fire, settle down
Whilst meat grills, foiled potatoes crackle
And the cob turns a golden brown,
My husband says hush, don’t move, a
Snake was creeping over my foot, I freeze,
Did not move a muscle,
Imagine if we had got into a tussle,
I would certainly be the loser
And the snake the abuser!
This was our last night,
We left early morning
Had glorious weather and, one after the
Other wonderful sighting,
Just around the corner is another
Unexpected exciting
Surprise at the top of a tree,
The best sighting my husband could wish
To ever see,
A Fish Eagle perched right at the top,
Ready to swoop down and catch an
Unsuspecting Dung Beetle with his long and
Sharp talons,
Poor little chap,
He was enjoying a casual stroll,
Fate, catches up with him, he dies
All because he is slow!
We see herds of wildebeest, zebras
And a few warthogs,
And say Au-Revoir to the Park
Which I compare,
To an eternal Noah’s Ark.
We travel back, get home late
My husband whispers in my ear,
The Kruger Park brings out the wild
In me, says,
He found me even hotter,
And an excellent spotter,
As excitement also brings out
The child in me!
Copyright © Jennifer Proxenos | Year Posted 2018
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