Before I left, my blogging buddy, Baino, asked me to be sure to take some shots of zebras for her. “Sure,” I said airily, “no problem.” I mean zebras are pretty common, aren’t they? After all, each time I drive into the city, I pass zebras and wildebeest on the side of the mountain, grazing just a couple of hundred meters from the motorway. They’ve been there for as long as I can remember. Given that, I was quite sure that snapping pics of zebra in Kruger for Baino would be no problem. Ha!
I guess I must have had the Serengeti in mind when I made my promise – great plains covered with vast herds of migrating zebras and wildebeest – 1.5 million animals on the hoof… (Oh I am such a city slicker!).
On the first day we didn’t see a single zebra, didn’t even so much as catch a whiff of a zebra, never mind encountering vast herds of the beasts. On the second day, determined to find zebras, we trundled northwards to the savanna plains of the Kruger National Park. We drove up to a viewing point and gazed down.
“Where are these bloody zebra?” I muttered to D. “Great, billowing golden plains and not a damned zebra in sight, just two ostriches. Ostriches I can see anytime! I want zebra!” Yes, I confess, there was a degree of petulance in my voice.
I am quite sure the breeze must have carried my words and had every zebra everywhere snickering behind their hooves.
“I promised Baino zebra,” I grumbled, “Why are there no zebra?”
“Not much grazing to be had,” suggested D.
Hmm. Savanna plains but no juicy green grass. Great.
It wasn’t until our third day that I finally spotted the elusive zebras. Tucked away in the scrub, cunningly leaning over one another as zebras do so that you (and the predator) can’t tell where one zebra ends and the other begins. Sneaky camouflage, if I say so myself. Zebras and their magnificent stripes are the most muddling things to see en masse and when you think about it you realise just how well they’re adapted to their environment.
After seeing our first zebra I then felt obliged to stop every time we saw any zebra, just in case my luck ran out. Sadly, I never got the shots I had envisioned (I guess a trip to the Serengeti may be required – oh yes, please!). Nevertheless, dear Baino, these are all for you – enjoy!
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