Are you looking forra skimmers? Yes, asseblief. Ja goed. Turn left, then at the T turn right then left again. Go straight over ve bumps; then some more bumps; blerrie bumps. Stay right, then turn right, on a dust, one more time at the Y; the road goes slowly left, then go little-bit straight & you see a boom. The sekuriet at the boom will show you where they is...
Dankie. Keep the change. The Sunday Times now safely stowed on the vehicle's dash we resumed our trip to the North West's Vaalkop Dam.
When word gets out of an extraordinary sighting in these parts everybody knows; even the village newspaperman. Three, possibly four, African Skimmers had been reported from Vaalkop one or two days earlier and given the recorded sparsity the sighting was sure to draw-in interested folk from far & wide.
Murphy called it true - the skimmers preferred the geography on the opposite end of an island, out of view from the dam's shore & some 300 meters away from where we had solemnly gathered. Out of view, that is, for most of us, merely mortal, who for all the pleading of one or two failed to see what was purported to be in 'plain sight'...
As the flasks ran dry and the hours ticked on the birds held firm, unrepentant & out of sight.
Faced with what was fast becoming a real conundrum, the more enterprising few; undeterred by regulation, crocodile or a watery death stepped away from scopes, hitherto focused on islands distant & mulled the matter through.
Nearby, one or two flat-boats wallowed in the shallows, at anchor. Like vultures these few left their posts & descended on the boats. Keys, alas, were noticeably in absentia, as were owners, which, in hindsight, should not have surprised them much...
Ever resourceful, these brave few, unfazed, undeterred and eminently preferring the consequences of the law over the slashing jaws of crocs unseen, discovered, to their delight, a raft of canoes some way up the shore and clearly free for all to use...
Selecting green for luck, these resourceful few launched the Gatvol, as the canoe was duly dubbed. Two, one fore one aft, thrashed the shallow water with little sign of forward motion. Swirling sands confirmed the unintended consequence. The boat was broadly grounded...
Faced with impending sunstroke one offered up his berth, to the cheers of all & for the advancement of the cause. Bless him.
Those of us who watched from shore later saw the skimmers fly. This after the second trip inadvertently flushed them up. Tick, tick & tick again. Just another twitcher's tale..
Postscript - no canoe was harmed during the making of this sighting. None of the 'intrepid few' herein above were 'up the legal creek without an oar' - permission had been sought & granted from the rightful owner before the boat was launched. Notwithstanding, many who stood on shore knew none of this and undeterred & somewhat morally -challenged willed the brave few on...
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| African Skimmer - a cherished memory & well captured in this extraordinary photo... |
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| Um, no, Madam. It's not over there.. |
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| No owners - no problem. No keys - damn... |
As the flasks ran dry and the hours ticked on the birds held firm, unrepentant & out of sight.
Faced with what was fast becoming a real conundrum, the more enterprising few; undeterred by regulation, crocodile or a watery death stepped away from scopes, hitherto focused on islands distant & mulled the matter through.
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| Woohoo - are these canoes for us? |
Ever resourceful, these brave few, unfazed, undeterred and eminently preferring the consequences of the law over the slashing jaws of crocs unseen, discovered, to their delight, a raft of canoes some way up the shore and clearly free for all to use...
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| Hi-ho, hi-ho - who will ever know...? |
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| Optimism - rub a dub dub; two men in a tub |
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| Them car-keys are heavy ... |
Faced with impending sunstroke one offered up his berth, to the cheers of all & for the advancement of the cause. Bless him.
Those of us who watched from shore later saw the skimmers fly. This after the second trip inadvertently flushed them up. Tick, tick & tick again. Just another twitcher's tale..
Postscript - no canoe was harmed during the making of this sighting. None of the 'intrepid few' herein above were 'up the legal creek without an oar' - permission had been sought & granted from the rightful owner before the boat was launched. Notwithstanding, many who stood on shore knew none of this and undeterred & somewhat morally -challenged willed the brave few on...
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