Saturday 26th July 2014

Brian led a walk to Houtini Gorge which proved interesting given his anthropological background. Our route took us to places that I’d not visited before, many of them old human dwellings. At one site, known as little Thullamella we found what looked to be an old mill stone. Brian explained that when people left an area they would break the mill stone to release the spirits that live in them.

On top of one of the gorge heads there was a pile of stones that would have originally formed a wall to a settlement. The only occupants these days were a pack of mongoose. The dove for cover when we arrived but by just sitting quietly for five minutes or so Brian said that they would show themselves. One of them did but I wasn’t in the best position to see, I’ll definitely try this again though.

There is something definitely affecting the zebra in the concession, we found a fourth carcass this morning. It was fresh but already starting to smell and judging by the spoor beside it a leopard had already paid a scavenging visit. The gases were building inside it, so much so that I was worried that at any moment would explode and cover us in the contents of its stomach.

The afternoon was a very laid back affair. We took lunch down to the Limpopo and sat down in the shallows to cool down from the hot winter sun. I can’t think of a better way to spend an afternoon doing nothing other than hanging out with friends.