Kruger Park and the sun rises on another day in the African bush. A story waiting to unfold. A story of hardship, strength, resilience and adaptation.
Kruger has been hard hit. Not only by the rhino poaching war but also by a severe drought which has left dams and water holes dry. Rivers are so low in places that you can see the sand at the bottom.
Driving along the road the smell of death catches my nose. I pray it is not a poached rhino but instead a predators dinner. It is neither. A hippo has succumbed to the drought. One of a number that are found over a few days.
As sad as these sightings are, they are nevertheless testament to how amazing nature is when left to its own devices. There were too many hippo in Kruger. The drought came and nature carries out its own cull. Those that survive will be the strongest. And so a new era will begin.
Many areas have no grazing left.
Finding some grazers now browsing was fascinating. Again the animals know best. Those that adapt will survive. Those that are unable to adapt will suffer.
The scales of nature come down in favour of the predators at this time. Food is plentiful. This is a time for them to also become stronger and for youngsters to thrive.
Nature has an innate intelligence. This intelligence, the way of the wilderness if you will, was acknowledged and worked with in days gone by. As the human species became technologically advanced, that knowledge and understanding has largely been lost and in our arrogant way we interfere because we think we know better. In our advance we have become poorer in many ways.
A trip to the bush, if you are open to it, allows time for introspection. It gives you the opportunity to connect with that wilderness that is inside all of us. It touches your soul in ways nothing else can. .