As winter slowly makes its way over Imire, the birds are beginning to migrate, the animals are beginning to hibernate, and frost is starting to bite away at the grass. Kutanga, the baby elephant, seems to be getting bigger and bigger by the day. He is starting to teeth now and copies Mandevu’s every move. He sucks on plants for the taste but hasn’t grasped the concept of chewing. His favourite game is to chase the get him to stand still to put a blanket on him, but he is having none of it. He charges, tumbles, leaps, runs and rolls to avoid any means of having the blanket on him. His Mum doesn’t seem to agree with it either, and if we do succeed in putting it on, she immediately pulls it off.
We decided to go camping with the two male elephant, Macavusi and Toto for Wilma’s last night. We rode them over to Chawawi, the far end of the farm, and began to set up camp. We found a secluded woodland near the dam and started building the epic tent. Just as dusk was settling over us, we had the tent up. We collected some firewood, got the ele’s settled in, and started cooking some sudza and relish. It had been a chaotic day, trying to organise rhino boma’s, fencing, building and dealing with all the animals. So we were all too happy to relax by a fire, with a glass of wine each and tell stories. Mac and Toto were beside us, rumbling to us during the night, feeding on the trees around them. Although the cold rushed in to greet us, we were warmed by the roaring fire. Stories were passed into the evening until bed beckoned us all into the tent. We wrapped up in about a hundred blankets and slept until the birds called.
The next morning we took a walk through Chawawi, scanning for bush babies, but instead were greeted by a troop of baboons basking in the sun on top a Kopjie. Finally after a breakfast cooked over the hot fire, we returned home to a relaxed Saturday, and Wilma’s last day. It ended in perfection.
We have a week with no Volunteers and the next one arrives on the 28th of June, and from July on, it will be hectic. Non-stop! But a lot of fun. We were hoping to have the white rhino by the 15th, but unfortunately we are waiting for the fencing and boma’s to be completed on Chawawi before they arrive, so we are looking at the 18th of July. We can hardly contain our excitement on the farm. We are going to be the only black and white rhino-breeding project in Zimbabwe, closely monitored. It will be interesting. We will continue to wait in anticipation.
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