Father Christmas, Mother Nature. Make a difference to this great land.
Few things beat Christmas in the African bush.
You really can do without expensive gifts and a traditional plush tree. Push a broken branch into damp ground. Decorating this lifeless twig is liberating! And then look and listen to all that surrounds you.
In the Hwange bush, frogs, leopard-tortoises and colourful chameleons resurface at this time every year. So do stunning wildflowers. Beautiful beetles and butterflies reappear too. Clumps of mistletoe droop from tree boughs, making me instantly recall holly and fir trees and all those who’ll be celebrating “˜a white Christmas’ a million miles from here. The monotonous shrill call of cicadas – the Christmas beetle – reverberates in the thick sultry air, while miniature mushrooms once again sprout from balls of elephant dung. There’s life – and hope – everywhere you look. The “˜Kalahari Ferrari’ is back again too. If you think this might be your sporty game-drive transport, think again. It’s a speedy – really rather scary – six-legged solifuge; a spider-like creature as big as your spread hand. Okay, it’s true; it’s never, ever, all peaches and cream”¦
Spectacular birdlife accompanies the longed-for rain, and animal babies abound. There’s baby impalas, baby wildebeest, baby warthogs, baby zebras. And of course there are those adorable baby elephants! The veld is born anew and I marvel, as always, at the remarkable contrasts between the wet- and the dry-seasons.
Africa is, I reflect, a land of contrasts in more ways than one. There are those who care passionately about the preservation of this continent’s wild things and wild places, and others who very clearly couldn’t care less. There are those who still manage to find hope, and others who consider it all hopeless. There are those who close their eyes, expecting that the splendour will always, magically, be there. And there are others with eyes wide open, determined to make a difference.
As 2010 draws to a close I ask that you think about what you might do in the coming year to contribute to the preservation of Africa’s wildlife; Africa’s elephants; Africa ‘s fragile beauty. Whether you are resident or a visitor, if you enjoy the wildness of this great continent – or perhaps you enjoy simply reading about it – then you surely have an obligation to give back.
It’s that time of year when we remember old friendships (both human and animal), and toast new beginnings. Auld Lang Syne and all that! There’s no better time than right now to commit to make just a small difference to this great land in 2011.
It’s another new beginning. And, as always, it’s baby steps, baby steps”¦ Pay no heed to those who attempt to thwart your efforts. They’re not worth your precious time.
Promise yourself now. What will you do?
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