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Between true friends even water drunk together is sweet enough.
African Proverb
Africa taught me many things. I was 45+ years old when I first went to Africa for work. At that age, not much left to learn, I used to think but Africa proved me wrong.
Like the proverb above, which I am reminded of when I see this picture of Zebras drinking together, I learnt the value of friendship there!
Drinking together
My own image
Life was mostly a drudgery those days. Tied to the clock, with same-o-same-o business meetings, same colleagues and same office chit-chat. A breath of fresh air was this group of people who invited me to accompany them to a wildlife preserve on a weekend.
Then - a magical world opened for me. A world where nature showed me so many amazing things ...
For the first few weekends, I just went along for the ride. Absorbing everything around me. I saw animals and birds in their own world. A world that was far different than humans but with moments that has close parallels to human world. It had moments that made me laugh and moments that overwhelmed me with sadness...
Then I decided to record those moments and my passion for photography was born!
Today, I will share with you those early moments that I managed to capture which, even today, bring a smile or a tear in my eyes. They are immortal in my memory and I thought they are worth preserving on the blockchain for generations to come..
These are my early captures- with some very basic equipment like a point and shoot camera or sometimes even a cell phone. So - apologies for the image quality. I choose to post them because I think each image has it's own story..
Gorgeous sunsets - Something to have on our bucket lists. I have seen many many sunsets but I still want to see one more before I die...
Colors of an African sunset
My own image
Sunsets at most other places in the world make me melancholy but the African sunsets always fill me with awe and optimism for a new tomorrow for some reason. Perhaps because they are so colorful and flamboyant...
Funny animal moments However sad or down I was, just looking at the antiques of some of the animals and birds always brought a smile on my face. Like this heron that was riding the hippo. Almost looked like he was in the classic 'Leonardo' pose on board the titanic...
Heron riding a hippo in a 'Titanic' moment
My own image superimposed with image grab from a trailer of Titanic movie
Also funny is this yawning hippo with the two birds on his back.. Can you imagine what the birds would be saying?
Yawwwwwwnnnnn
My own image
Cuteness personified - There are other animals I saw that were just so cute that I could not take off my eyes off them..
There was this pair of lion cubs that were hesitantly drinking at a pond - looking like nice little fur balls and so cuddly !
Awww - cute furballs
My own image
Even the meercats looked cute together..
Chilling together..
My own image
Not everything was always cute or funny though. I also saw moments where there was extreme fright involved...
Fright and flight - On this occasion, I saw an impala suddenly burst into a run and it bounded away at top speed. I later located a leopard nearby that was probably stalking the impala.
Run run run...
My own image
In one instance, I was the one that got frightened. My wife and I were parked near Mankwe dam in Pilanesberg, looking for a lioness that was supposed to have been spotted in the area. Suddenly, the grass near our car parted and I saw this lioness walking straight toward our car. I started sweating but my wife, the braveheart that she is, started recording a video on her cell phone! I, therefore, titled this gif I created as 'Two lionesses' 😀
Two lionesses 😀
Gif created by me from my video
There are many many more unique memories that I wish to share but I think I will do that as a series. Posts will become too long and boring otherwise.
I am sure that I am not the only one that cherishes such fond memories of Africa. Therefore, I would love to hear from all friends in the #silverbloggers community about African memories. Please comment freely and let me know your own cherished moments in Africa.
Cheers everyone, Have a great day.
