June 2012 ISSN 2070-4593 - NGC

ut with a significantly meaner disposition.
(Sadly, I don’t have a photo to show you).
I particularly loved the nyala – surely the
most beautiful antelope to be created. They
are small and graceful, perhaps the size of
a Great Dane, with tear markings on their
faces and striped bodies. They grazed quite
unafraid on Mpila’s trees, hardly bothering to
look up as I walked past.
The infamous vervet monkeys.
They are usually seen in large groups.
boasts comfortable safari tents on stilts,
as well as a self-catering kitchen that is a
veritable fortress. Vervet monkeys look
terribly gorgeous, with their silky fur and sad,
old men’s faces , but they’re also devilishly
persistent burglars. Our kitchen was fortified
with a screen door, a security gate, and locks
on all cupboards as well as the fridge.
Such pretty birds!
Glossy starlings are very common throughout South Africa.
Baboons are highly social animals which are usually found in
troops. They will often groom each other when they stop for
a rest. The males in particular can be aggressive and, if not
treated with respect, are dangerous.
Mpila is an unfenced camp, and so several
animal species have lost their fear of humans
sufficiently to make the campsite a regular
grazing ground. Warthog and zebra grazed
next to our tent, and one night we even had
bushpig rooting around in the bushes. While
warthogs are easily spotted in most reserves,
bushpig are shy animals which tend to be
nocturnal. They are as large as a farm pig,
Most predators think of impala as breakfast. They are probably
the most common antelope throughout South Africa and, sadly,
with a mortality rate to match. We saw a male on another
occasion with an open wound on his hindquarters. Someone
had obviously taken a bite out of him in the not-too-distant past.
This is a female with her gorgeous russet coat and dewy eyes.
June 2012 Earth Conscious 23