South Africa - Day Six to Nine
Wednesday 22nd November 2017 - DAY SIX
We had a 3:30am start with a field trip again to a location at the river-a place called Umzumbi. I lay in the middle of the dry sandy riverbed and watched the sunrise. It was one of the most stunning peaceful times of the trip. I returned to Harry’s Weir to collect my overnight recording set-up next to the elephant scat. There are 2 interesting sounds that I am unsure of. There were Hippo prints/tracks around 100 metres nearby so perhaps that is them? Hippos apparently (as surmised by Francisco) make only a couple of calls. I will need to research this further.
Thursday 23rd November 2017 - DAY SEVEN
Today was our scheduled day-long hike along the Limpopo River. We started at Harry’s Weir and followed branches of the river up to the Bridge. We left at 8:30am and arrived at the Bridge at approximately 5:00pm. We had Neil waiting half-way with a very welcome picnic and appropriate colonial music and pith hat. We stopped at a number of locations to record. The first location I chose was one our guide Willian led Nicki and I to. It was a site that he fishes from. Luckily I did not see a crocodile! Earlier William had shown us a site where a crocodile had recently laid her eggs.
The second location, in the afternoon, involved crossing a very rocky part of the river. Reminiscent of The Planet of the Apes! We set up our recorders on the Botswana side. I have gone now to Botswana also! On our return journey across the rocky river, we came across a well-preserved Baboon carcass.
On our arrival at the Bridge, we had refreshments (beer and water). Neil arrived with more beer and wine so that we could watch the dusk chorus concert refreshed and in style.
Friday 24th November 2017 - DAY EIGHT
We returned again to the Bridge for a sunrise recording and listening session. Surprisingly, I slept for 2 hours on the concrete bridge but awoke cold. We returned to our house to recover. In the afternoon we returned to Waterhole No 2 for some hydrophoning and other types of recording. I recorded with hydrophones for about 30 minutes. I wandered around and found an interesting tree and decided to put the hydrophones into the base of the tree and some contact microphones onto, what seemed the start of a termite mound. On our return, we freshened up for our dinner with the Mmabolela owners Mark and Leslie. The conversation was flowing nicely this evening. Mark mentioned a lady who I will meet at the next dinner (at their house). She has a farm in Botswana as well as a house in Brighton, Melbourne. Her property has elephants, so perhaps a future connection?
Saturday 25th November 2017 - DAY NINE
This morning we started with a game drive around the Reserve. We didn’t see as much wildlife as expected - too much human noise perhaps? We drove around the farm and for the first time, gained some perspective on the size of Mark and Leslie’s property. The remainder of the day was spent preparing our work and studio time. We returned to look around Tuli and I photographed the storyboard about Mabalil and Lakwan. I’m performing a concert at Mabolel Rock so this has heightened my perception of the significant site. We had our first rains today. Massive downpours and spectacular thunder and lightning displays. My ideas for the Mabolel Rock concert are solidifying and I am feeling excited for tomorrow.
