Leopard (Ingwe)

Winter! What is that? This has been an unusual winter. Yes, the cold nights have been cold, but the days have been fantastic. Apart from a few days where there has been a chilly wind on a bright sunny day, most of the days have been warm to hot, the sun shining down on us cheerfully and usually with little or no wind. Now, I can remember when I was a wee mite those endless days of guti, an icy wind howling in from the south east. They came over the Drakensburg mountains in South Africa on which the winter snows had fallen thick and heavy. Dropping dramatically in temperature, the wind raced 'up country' as the old folk used to say, to the interior, where Bulawayo nestled on the highveld of the African continent. Brrrr. Even then, I donned my shorts come summer or winter and enjoyed the biting chill of the winter season. Absolute madness, but I have not changed, for I still shun any thought of wearing long trousers, unless a special occasion demands a little sense of decorum.

The past week was special, in as much as I was tasked to organize a field trip for my fellow tour guides. Jon, my mentor in motor mechanics and with whom I am spending many happy hours learning all about the insides and outsides of Land Rovers, has in fact an MSC in Agriculture. Now, don't ask the obvious question, of, where is the link between Land Rovers and agriculture? Oh, just to throw another spanner into the works, sorry for that choice of words, he also did a degree in civil engineering and has been involved in the construction of a number of dams. The list of "I've done it, got the 'T'-shirt and video", continues, but I will leave it at that for now, as I will be telling you of other exciting things in the months to come. Anyway, back to the field trip. Jon took a few of us rugged pixies on a walking tour of his neighbourhood to investigate the rocks, soils and vegetation cover at selected places near his house. Then we got into, "Ingulungundu" and did a tour to selected areas to look at other soils and associated vegetation, ending up in the Matopos to hear about the soils of the Mopane vlei. It was a really great day, and I learned a great deal. I hope my clients on future tours will appreciate all this new found knowledge that will be dished up for their edification.

News of this past weekend, really belongs in the pages of Pioneer Trail, and for that you will have to wait for the next edition of the magazine. Mean, am I not. Hee, Hee. The reason why I am not going to say anything now is that they concern programmed Troop events, which will be reported on by selected reporters. I would not like to steal their thunder. A great discovery was made at the Park this past weekend. Last weekend, Dale made a start on cleaning out the sludge in the water settlement tank at Headquarters. However, time was not on his side and so the task was not completed. This weekend I went to finish the job, Dale was otherwise occupied, and to my absolute delight I was rewarded with a special treat. Clearly formed in the five centimetre deep mud that had partially solidified, that Dale had baled out of the tank, usually we wash the mud out, but this time the water had evaporated and Dale had to scoop out the sludge, was the imprint of the font paw of a leopard (Ingwe)

The paw was the size of my fist, that means that he/she was a big cat. Now, Leon you will remember me telling you sometime last year, that I had seen this fellow up at the tanks one night. I had gone to the water storage tanks late one night to run the clean water out of the settlement tank to the storage tank. The light of my headlamp picked up the glowing eyes of a leopard. I had stopped to look at him. He was sitting on one of the boulders just above the reservoir and had watched me approach. He was a fantastic specimen and so inquisitive at my presence, that he did not move away. I wonder if the spoor I saw this weekend was made by him?

Once again a fantastic weekend spent in Baden-Powell's, Bush and Boulder Land. More experiences, more memories, better life in the outdoors.

Cheers Norman
Bulawayo, 29 July 2008