Happy New Year

I cannot believe that 2010 is over and with it the first decade of the new millenium. Where did it all go? It seems like just the other day that the world was worried about the Y2K damp squib and now we are going into the second decade.

As 2011 draws nigh I would like to wish you all a really wonderful New Year.

Don't worry about the New Year's resolutions because they generally go out the window in the first week. Rather try and avoid the rat race and take more time out to relax and chew the cud, you'll be a lot happier for it.

A one horned Cape Buffalo relaxing at the Addo Elephant National Park

Cape Weaver

Male Cape Weaver hoping for a handout at the Addo Elephant National Park.

Seasons Greetings

Wishing you all a happy Christmas and a wonderful New Year.
Wherever you may be and whatever you are doing take time out to relax and smell the roses.

Warthogs chilling out at the Addo Elephant National Park

Skywatch Friday - Pachyderm Skies

The sky was dull and grey but when you travel around the Addo Elephant National Park, it is possible to add a few more shades of grey and voila the sky becomes interesting.

In case you were wondering why only one elephant has tusks, it is because the female elephants at Addo do not have tusks.

For more pictures from around the world visit the Skywatch site

Cape Weaver

This bird provides a good, but safe object lesson in why there is a rule at the game parks that say you must not feed the animalls. They become very demanding...........in fact they can become pests.  There is an advantage in that they come in quite close. Thankfully the Cape Weaver cannot take your arm off or overturn your car.

Bon appetit - Jackal cuisine

The black-backed jackals were out in full force at the Addo Elephant National Park today. Not going after carrion, but turning over elephant droppings and eating whatever was living there.

I know that jackals will eat almost anything. I have seen them catching flying ants; they caused havoc on our farm, by eating watermelons, but I have never seen this behaviour before. Just goes to show how resilient and resourceful these animals are.

This guy was looking decidedly manky and should perhaps consider a diet change.

Getting side tracked - The writer's bug

My absence from blog land over the past few weeks is not because of a lack of interest, but because I have been side tracked, to fulfill one of my lifelong ambitions to have a book published. I have written a lot over the years, but some how events have always conspired against me, so nothing was ever finished. Maybe it was just that I did not have enough motivation - I am over that hurdle now.

What I have come to appreciate is that writing is hard work. It takes a combination of dedication, inspiration and motivation. What I have also found is that what seems good today sounds trite tomorrow, so it is a case of edit, edit and re-edit.

If I was only working on one book it would probably be much simpler, but I have been working on five. A novel, a short story and three children's books. When the inspiration strikes, I just go with the flow.

I have completed one of the children's books, which is intended to be the first in a series and I am now preparing for the next hurdle. It is one thing completing the work and another getting it published. 

So, if you do not see me around for a while, you now know what is keeping me busy.

Hopefully my track will not be like this one. This is the aftermath of a storm and particularly high spring tide in September 2008.