Written yesterday, forever relevant
‘You know you are insufferably spoilt when you come home from a day on the river disappointed with a three-and-a-half-pound wild trout.’ These words are taken from the pen of Dr Tom Sutcliffe, talented author, artist and the doyen of trout fishing in South Africa. He refers to an afternoon spent fishing on one of the many mountain streams in the Eastern Cape, where peering into a pool below a low-water bridge, he spotted an enormous trout, estimated to weigh at least five pounds. I know the spot well and had the privilege of fishing this very pool, with the master himself, a couple of years before. Mustering all the skill acquired in a lifetime’s pursuit of trout, Tom succeeded after some time in landing a magnificent specimen, a wild trout weighing three-and-a-half pounds, a leviathan by South African river standards. The five-pound fish spotted earlier evaded capture.
What has all this about fishing, particularly fly fishing for trout, got to do with a Big Five game reserve? Well, no, this is not going to be followed by an article on the merits of fly fishing for buffalo with grass-fly imitations or how to tie an Eragrostis streamer, but there are many and relevant parallels.
Tom’s message has as much relevance to a Big Five game reserve as it does to a trout stream. Essentially, his message poses two questions. ‘Are you allowing complacency and unrealistic expectations to rob you of real value? Are you rushing through the reserve missing out on the less noticeable, but equally interesting creatures this area has to offer?’
Whether we’re talking about tortoises or trout, animals everywhere interact with their environment in much the same way. They are governed by the same basic ecological principles. As trout respond to favourable environmental conditions by increasing production, which in turn results in good fishing, so will our game respond to their own set of paradigms, providing the variety and diversity that creates the conditions for good game viewing. Ecosystems are cyclic and dynamic in function; no two days are going to be the same.
Therefore, over time, you will experience times of plenty and times of not-so-plenty. You will even learn to love the days of near-as-dammit-nothing.
It is well known that the general game on Olifants, particularly on and in our open clearings, can provide good viewing on many occasions. An example of this is the sighting recently of nearly 100 zebra, about 30 wildebeest, 17 giraffe, over 150 impala, eight warthogs, a troop of baboons, seven kudu and two black-backed jackal, all seen at one time on Wart Hog Pan clearing! This is spectacular value by any standards, although I am not sure it’s a record.
Despite good general game viewing, if some of the Big Five aren’t seen on a game drive, you will hear the odd tongue-in-cheek comment like ‘It’s a desert out there, we had no luck today, plenty of general game around, but we haven’t seen any lion, elephant or leopard.’
As a counterpoint, to introduce comparative reality and practicality into the equation, when I worked as a young ranger at Mala Mala game reserve in the late seventies, to see three of the Big Five in a day comprising two game drives was considered good. The ultimate goal was to deliver to your guests the chance to see the Big Five in a two-night visit, for which they were awarded a certificate to prove they had achieved the epitome of an African big game safari experience. How expectations and values have changed since then!
Commercial pressure and competition means that everyone is now chasing the Big Five as a de rigueur minimum – with the addition of wild dog and cheetah as the cherry on the top of a Big Seven Cocktail. There’s every likelihood that soon black rhino will replace their white cousins on the big five podium. While I agree this does make for memorable viewing, it should not be the standard by which you rate your experience, because the operative word here is ‘enjoying’, not ‘chasing’.
I wasn’t nicknamed Mario Andretti in my impatient youth for nothing, so I speak from experience when I say, I really do believe you miss a lot by racing around to get the big ones. I know I did – been there, done that, spent too much time rushing hither and thither to see what was under my nose.
Here is a small piece of advice I would like to pass on. Slow down, take time to enjoy the myriad creatures that the reserve has to offer. Taking birds as an example, there are over 342 species of birds recorded on Olifants. That’s not to mention the enjoyment to be had from simply taking in the richness of the flora, never mind the fauna. This area is also rich in geology, a relatively unknown dimension of the reserve waiting patiently to be explored.
If you have the luxury of being able to spend more than a couple of days in the bush, and you don’t have unrealistic expectations, your satisfaction and enjoyment are guaranteed.
Even if you have a relatively quiet drive or two, pause a moment and reflect on what you have seen; there is every chance you will return home after a day’s game viewing, content and satisfied with a three-and-a-half-pounder rather than being disappointed because you didn’t get the five-pounder.
Oh, and never forget that the five-pounder is still there, waiting to be ‘caught’ another day.