When the new year begins, I always look forward to my next trip to the bush, and hopefully this means a visit to Tuli Wilderness. Somehow, I find that the business of life tries to eclipse my intended holidays, and so I came up with an idea a few years ago which has enabled some of my resolve to visit the wild places. This is my gift to you. At the start of the year, I create my own calendar with images that I have taken from Tuli. Each photograph represents a memory, and it is those pictures which remind me to save a bit each month, to carve out some holiday time, and make my aspirations of returning a reality. Therefore, I have included my 2022 calendar for you to use, and hopefully it will provide the same sustenance that I hope it will provide for me this year. My favourite photograph is on the August page. It is probably not the most impressive-looking picture, but it represents a moment that had a profound influence on me. We were sitting on the banks of a dry river bed, taking in the mid-afternoon winter sun, and imperceptibly, this herd of elephants began to appear. They meandered quietly over the soft sand, and began feeding off the lower branches of the towering Mopane Trees. Some stretched out with their trunks for a particularly appealing cluster of leaves, just like a child trying to steal a sweat jar from the top shelf of the pantry. There was a quietness about these giant animals; a gentleness which seemed in paradox with their strength. Some lay down on their side in the shade of the sand: behaviour I had never seen before. Others came closer to the bank where we were sitting, scenting us in the still air. One toothpick-tusked teenager came within a few feet of me. It lifted its trunk, smelling. If I had raised my hand, I could have touched the pink tip of its trunk. The elephant’s amber eyes stared at me with an innocence I have never seen before. It gave a soft rumble from its belly and then re-joined the rest of the group. He was with me for less than a minute. That moment has stayed with me forever. It was the first time I felt some sort of a thoughtful connection with a wild animal. I find it very difficult to encapsulate the moment into words as something moved within me, but I am still not quite sure what it was. In any case, that photograph is part of the tapestry of stories that have come from being in a truly wild place like Tuli. I will look to the pages of my calendar this year in the hopes of my next wilderness experience, and I hope this will enable you to do so as well.
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
ContentSome thoughts about things, sometimes philosophical, sometimes just musings. The world through my eyes... Archives
March 2023
Categories
All
|