|
Back to
About Mondesa
The Oryx And The Sheep
by Robert Mellis
We met an oryx on a sheep farm outside of Keetmanshoop that thought he
was a sheep. It’s true. The oryx, standing five feet tall, plus
spiraling horns that stretch three more feet from his noble head, was
found by the farmer when he was an orphaned baby. The farmer brought
him back to the farm and put him with the sheep. Oryx, like sheep, are
herding animals so he bonded with the sheep. Now he thinks he is one.
When the sheep were corralled on the farm, the oryx was always in the
middle of the flock. He stood there, with a little bit of sheep’s wool
clinging to his beautiful horn, looking just a little out of place to
me. But he felt perfectly at home.
On the same farm were two full grown cheetahs – beautiful creatures.
Of all the wildlife in this continent the cheetah stands head and
shoulders above all the others for grace, beauty and being perfectly
adapted to the veldt. He looks at you with those enormous eyes, black
stripes from the inner corner of his eyes down his long nose. He looks
like he’s meant for the killing business.
The two were in a chain-fenced coral, gnawing on a pair of dear rock
dassies, guinea pig-type animals that live among the rocks. I entered
the coral but didn’t photograph them while eating since the light was
not that good – and I have superior pictures of cheetah from our 2001
trip.
When the sheep arrived, however, the pair of them left their dassies,
tasty as they might have been, and paced endlessly along the wire
fence that separated them from the black-faced sheep – and the crazy
oryx.
The sheep, stupid as they are, didn’t have the gumption to run from
this killer, even though they only had a thin wire fence that
separated them. They stood there baa-ing at the cheetah and mesmerized
by the eyes of the killer. The oryx behaved in much the same way –
except that he had about 20 sheep between him at the cheetah so he
probably figured he was doing fine, thank you enquiring.
We had come to the Quiver Tree Farm. These trees are between 200 and
300 years old. They survive on the rocky plain and hills and collect
water in their trunk. They are of the aloe family and their leaves can
be used to cool burns.
We walked among the jumbled red rocks of the Giant’s Playground, so
called because the huge blocks of stone are stacked atop one another.
After the sun had set, we drove along the dirt road and found the two
cheetahs wandering the fence at the roadside. I stopped the car and
walked softly over to photograph one of them. I squatted four feet
away and the cheetah flicked his tail with annoyance. Knowing he is
the fastest moving animal in the entire world, I worried just a little
as I pushed the lens of the camera through the fence so I could get
closer to him. He barely looked at me, eventually standing up and
walking away.
Before we leave Keetmanshoop, I need to tell you about the dawn chorus
of birds at the Bird’s Nest B&B. I awoke at 5:45 a.m. on Friday
morning. I heard the first cheep from the birds. It was as though the
conductor of a symphony had just taken the podium. The symphony was in
three movements: The prelude, the adagio and the finale. Bird’s came
in on cue, chattering and whistling as though to welcome the new day.
The noise level rose to a crescendo during the next 40 minutes, each
bird (they sounded as though there were thousands of them) answered
and trilled its signature tune. Up and up it mounted. I got up and
opened the room door so the full volume could enter. The singing
stopped for five seconds as they analyzed this move. But there was
nothing that could stop these birds. The finale was a gradual downturn
in the volume and intensity until the sun appeared and the birds
either left to find food or went back for a nap. What a phenomenal way
to begin your day.
I’ve managed to get a ad pulled from The Namibian. It had been placed
by a “Malawi Doctor” who offered to cure people of HIV/AIDS with his
special herbs. I wrote a note to Gwen Lister the editor and publisher
saying I find the collection of ads under the “Health and Beauty”
classification to be lots of fun. But I thought it irresponsible to
allow the doctor to make this claim. She pulled the ad.
The good news is there are still plenty of entertaining ads that say
things like:
“TRADITIONAL DOCTOR KAUMA treats various
diseases, removes bad luck, witchcraft & tokolosh, solves love
affairs, business & work problems with full protection. Provides power
for men, etc. Cell:081-214-3646”
Or
“WANT TO BE BIGGER It is natural male herbal enlargement pills.
Enlargement of short, small penis, with fast results of a longer
penis.
Get more information. Call William at 081-271-4506”
In addition, there are ads for African traditional Chinese medicine.
Finally, Dr. Chimelle is in Windhoek “to heal & solve your problems:
pregnancy, bad luck, love problems, diabetes, powerful men.”
Hope springs eternal.
Jo and I have returned to Windhoek from
our journey south. We rest for a day before driving North to visit
with The Namibian’s most northerly reporter, Oswald Shivute. I have
called Oswald and he is pretty excited. “Call my cell phone when you
arrive, brother, and I will come find you,” he told me.
New Namibian pictures are at:
http://photos.yahoo.com/robertsmellis
Sailing story at:
http://www.sailnet.com/collections/articles/index.cfm?articleid=ouread0018
|
|
