Wednesday 25 April 2012

Animals Missing in Africa… 2. Aardvark


The one and only time I saw an Aardvark, in the flesh, was on an inky-dark and lonely winter night in the heart of the Great Karoo. Picked out in the cars’ headlights, as it crossed the road; the impression was of a flesh-colored elephant/pig…sporting a short, deformed trunk with big bunny ears! This still ranks (years later) as one of the most bizarre and disorientating experiences of my life! Driving through the moonless, icy night in my warm car surrounded by sleeping children, my mind was miles away. 

Welcome to this post. Please go to Wildmoz to see all our new articles on wildlife as they appear. We are also publishing all our African Folktales in their full version in e-books for readers, PDFs, etc. as well as in ... Welcome to this post. Please go to Wildmoz to see all our new articles on wildlife as they appear. We are also publishing all our African Folktales in their full version in e-books for readers, PDFs, etc. as well as in hard copies. 

Keep a look out for these wonderful little stories for children and adults alike at Wildmoz.com. Collect for yourself a set of twelve, in the format of your choice, as and when they are available... 

African-Aardvark-Anteater-Night-Shot
My Alien - Only Smaller




Sunday 22 April 2012

Doomed Earth Without the Dollar...


The first Earth Day, April 22, 1970, marked the beginning of the modern environmental movement. Earth Day 1970, was ultimately, the result of the massive 1969 oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. 

Over 20 million people joined-in that year, and Earth Day is now observed on April 22 each year by more than 500 million people and several national governments in 175 countries.  

California-Oil-Spill-Harbor-Seawall-1969
Oil Blackened Seawall and Wave at Right - California 1969

Life has changed radically since the ‘70’s and not for the better! For change to be lasting it has to fit with the lives we lead today; most of us are too hassled and stressed to deal with anything other than small steps. 

Sure, our planet and “all who sail on her” are in trouble, but what can we do? Hopefully, find some small changes that will help you; because how can we help the earth if we can’t help ourselves? So find some small thing you can accomplish.  

Make sure it’s do-able.  And just do it! Every day! And after three weeks, it will be a habit…then pick one other little thing. 

Rinse…Repeat! Maybe you can only do one thing but do a new (little) something every year…After a few years of this, think how green you’ll be? 
(You may even be mistaken for a Martian) And healthy, and better off? And our Planet? Now, multiply your small steps by 500 million people! Wow!

Junk-Castle-Victor-Moore-Strange-Sites
The Junk Castle

Some small suggestions; easy green hacks to add quality of life and help the planet! Don’t think if you are a dedicated fasionista, an antique tool enthusiast, a born city dweller or…   (fill in the blank) that there’s nothing you can do to improve your life.  

These are all simple, do-able steps that don’t require any major life changes. No, you won’t have to live in palaces that look like the Junk Castle and you can keep the Ferrari too!

1.   Walk or cycle when possible. Otherwise save gas/petrol by making sure your tires/tyres are at the correct pressure, take off your roof rack to cut drag and increase mileage by keeping your car serviced.

2.   Cook at home; buy fresh, locally produced ingredients, avoid excess packaging, stop food waste, lose some weight and boost your health.

3.   Don’t throw away, give away; if you don’t need it, maybe someone else can use it. Or donate to charity and feel good!


Riding-Shotgun-Mama-Moonshine-Girl
Guard Your Electricity!
4.   Don’t drive until you can do several errands at once. Saves fuel, wear and tear on that Ferrari and some of your precious time.

5.   Break the bondage of alkaline batteries; get a couple of sets of rechargeables and a charger, save the environment and money too.

6.   Watch the power; switch lights off when leaving a room, change bulbs to low wattage energy savers, stop using the clothes dryer – a huge energy suck, this one. Turn the setting on your hot water tank/geyser down and only switch it on when you’re actually going to use it. Ours runs for about an hour in the afternoon; oh, it helps if the tank is well insulated – keeps the water hot, longer. This is a big saving; we cut our bill in half when we got serious about the hot water!

            7.   Eat less meat; skip one meat-based meal a week and help your diet, your pocket and the planet.

8.   Recycle glass; cuts related air pollution by 20 % and related water pollution by 50 % and if it isn't recycled, glass takes a really, really long time to break down. Like about a million years?

9.   Use matches instead of lighters; disposable lighters are mostly plastic and contain butane… Petroleum products folks…very bad, especially when discarded.

10.  Old fashioned housekeeping solutions - using everyday staples such as vinegar, baking soda and lemon juice - won’t pollute your family or the earth and saves money too. 

    11.  Stop using plastic bags for your shopping; make or buy some reusable cloth totes and take them with you when you go shopping. Here in South Africa, giving bags to customers is illegal; either bring your own bag or buy one there at the shop.

African-Rift-Valley
Africa's Rift Valley

Unfortunately, many conservationists, for whom every day is Earth Day, deride its observance. The feeling is that this, generally symbolic day, encourages change for a short time but old habits come running back when life-gets-in-the-way!


Ambiguous environmentalists will find Earth Day a morale booster, for sure. Maybe the biggest carrot for us is that most green choices help save dollars, an immediate pay-off. 

That they can also lead to better health for us and our families and continuing life for our planet, is too far removed from the instant results this 21st century demands. 

You'll smile one day when a small child says "thank you," for trying to save the planet.


"We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children." 
                           ~Old American Indian Saying


Wednesday 18 April 2012

Animals Missing in Africa…1. Black-Footed Cat

The big topics usually are the larger, more visible animals – we’re blown away by the majesty of the Elephant, the vulnerability of the Rhino, the plight of the Gorilla and the many persecutions these animals suffer as a result of greed, human conflict and habitat destruction. 


... Welcome to this post. Please go to Wildmoz to see all our new articles on wildlife as they appear. We are also publishing all our African Folktales in their full version in e-books for readers, PDFs, etc. as well as in hard copies. 

Keep a look out for these wonderful little stories for children and adults alike at Wildmoz.com. Collect for yourself a set of twelve, in the format of your choice, as and when they are availible…

African-Black-Footed-Wild-Cat-Head-Shot
The Black-Footed Cat




Monday 16 April 2012

The Elephant Whisperer...

From modern day explorers to adventurers of a different sort; today I want to tell you about another of our local (South African) heroes.

In March 2012, African conservation lost one of its giants with the death of Lawrence Anthony. Anthony, known as the Elephant Whisperer, was born in 1950 in Johannesburg, and spent his childhood in the small towns of rural Rhodesia, Zambia, Malawi and lastly South Africa’s Zululand.

African-Elephant-Being-Fed-Lawrence-Anthony
The Elephant Whisperer


Despite a career in business and property development, his heart was always in the African bush and in the mid ‘90’s, he bought 5,000-acres of wilderness in KwaZulu-Natal and founded the Thula Thula game reserve. Here he worked with African tribes, involving them in conservation projects on their ancestral lands. He also founded the environmental group, Earth Organization, an independent, non-profit group which “seeks to reverse the dwindling spiral of the plant and animal kingdoms and our environment through education and action.” Follow this link to read more about their continuing work.

African-Elephant-With-Child-Thula-Thula
Mother and Child

In 1999, a herd of nine dangerous rogue elephants, in need of a home, were given refuge by Anthony at Thula Thula.  The transformative power of his love and commitment to these animals led to his label ‘the Elephant Whisperer’ and the story of their rehabilitation became the subject of his second book by the same name, “The Elephant Whisperer” co-written with brother-in-law Graham Spence. (2009)

He spent much time protecting wildlife from the devastation's of human conflict and 2003 found Anthony in Iraq, where he organized the rescue of the remaining wildlife at the bombed Baghdad Zoo. While there, he helped save countless animals, including the Hussein’s exotic pets that had been forgotten by both the invaders and local Iraqis.

The harrowing account is the subject of his first book, “Babylon’s Ark: The Incredible Wartime Rescue of the Baghdad Zoo.” Also written with his brother-in-law, Graham Spence. (2008)

Northern-White-Rhino-Now-Extinct-In-The-Wild
Northern White Rhino

His last book 'The Last of the Rhinos (The Powerful Story of One Man's Battle to Save a Species)' was released at the end of March. It is the account of his 2007 expedition into the heart of the Democratic Republic of Congo to raise awareness of the last of the Northern White Rhinoceros. This involved talks with the infamous Lords Resistance Army (LRA), the Ugandan rebel group led by accused war criminal Joseph Kony. Anthony said in an interview last year; “Essentially, I went and found them in the jungle to try and persuade them not kill the game guards or the last few rhinos”.

Lawrence Anthony has left an example to all of us; one person who stuck to his ideals and never said “I can’t” but rather, something must be done so “I’ll try”.


He made a difference…







Saturday 14 April 2012

Running Chicken Casserole…Traditional African Food


This is a fantastic chicken dish, simple honest food; tasty and nourishing. Because there are only a few ingredients, make sure they are top quality. The translation of 'umleqwa', (running chicken), suggests that the bird is free range and organic; to eat it, you have to catch it. 

... Welcome to this African recipe. Please go to Wildmoz to see all our new articles as they appear. We are publishing all our recipe's in their full version at Wildmoz from now on. Keep a look out for our updates at Wildmoz.com. 




Wednesday 11 April 2012

The Leopard, the Ram, and the Jackal...An African Folktale

We all know Leopard and Jackal, they need no introduction, but the identity of the Ram is a bit more tricky. Gemsbok, Nyala, Hartebeest and Bontebok are four types of antelope whose males are referred to as rams.

... Welcome to this folktale. Please go to Wildmoz to see all our new articles on African Folktales as they appear. We are publishing all our African Folktales in their full version in e-books for readers, PDFs, etc. as well as in hard copies. Keep a look out for these wonderful little stories for children and adults alike at Wildmoz.com. Collect for yourself a set of twelve, in the format of your choice...

Gemsbok-Oryx
Gemsbok






Monday 9 April 2012

Explore Africa...

Imagine what life was like for early explorers facing very real dangers and unknown challenges. Plenty of written material is available and there are loads of books from every decade since the Scramble for Africa began; both fiction and non-fiction, entertaining or academic. Then along comes technology, adding more to the virtual experience with live webcams and continual updates, keeping on top of the topics…ermmm, so to speak.  

Africa-Map-1813
Africa -1813

And there are the modern day adventurers and explorers; hardy, dedicated individuals who trace the steps of the famous men (and women) who went before. 

Lake-Tangynika-Explorer
Explorer on Lake Tangynika

The two who immediately spring to mind are Kingsley Holgate and Julian Monroe Fisher; Well-known explorers and adventurers who are currently involved in African expeditions. KH is South African and JMF is based in the UK and both are Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society.

Africa-Map-1827
Africa - 1827

If you go to the links here, you’ll be able to read about the latest expeditions as well as those that have been completed – there’s some fascinating stuff there.  Find out more about Kingsley Holgate, colourful modern day explorer, humanitarian adventurer, author, TV Personality and fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, at these links; Kingsley Holgate and Outside Edge.

And for more about anthropologist and modern day African explorer, Julian Monroe Fisher, go to his website to read about his five year - seven expeditions - Ethnographical research project, deep in the heart of Africa. Known as ‘The Great African Expedition’, Fisher will conduct a 21st century Ethnographical documentation of specific regions of Africa related to the 19th century Victorian age of exploration.
Did you happen to notice how many more spaces were filled in the fourteen years between the first map and the second?

Enjoy the links; I’ll be back with another African Folktale next time…

Friday 6 April 2012

Eleven Lessons from Noah - The First Animal Rescue


Whenever, Wherever...

This simple message from the story of Noah was doing the rounds of e-mails at the beginning of the year.  Given the nature of Sunshine and Shadow, visitors here may enjoy it.  The origins of this are ‘lost-in-the-mists-of-time’; if you know where it originated, please let me know, I’d like to complement the author and give credits.

Welcome to this post. Please go to Wildmoz to see all our new articles on wildlife as they appear. We are also publishing all our African Folktales in their full version in e-books for readers, PDFs, etc. as well as in ... Welcome to this post. Please go to Wildmoz to see all our new articles on wildlife as they appear. We are also publishing all our African Folktales in their full version in e-books for readers, PDFs, etc. as well as in hard copies. 

Keep a look out for these wonderful little stories for children and adults alike at Wildmoz.com. Collect for yourself a set of twelve, in the format of your choice, as and when they are available... 





 

Tuesday 3 April 2012

Poaching for Dummies…

In South African news reports this morning; the Rhino mascot of an Eastern Cape game reserve was attacked by a poacher over the weekend. 

Aloe-Ferox-Eastern-Cape-Grasslands
Eastern Cape Grasslands
The rhino, named Barendina, was left mutilated on the lawn in front of the lodge, after having both horns sawed off. The remains were found Monday morning by one of the owners.

“The damage is significant, there is no hope of rehabilitation” and will have to be replaced, said co-owner Johan Lottering.

The thief had broken into the lodge’s pub and enjoyed a high-volume drinking session…perhaps this explains why he went to the trouble of removing the horn from a fiberglass rhino!

Rhino-Poached-Dummies
Rhino Close-up




Is this a new trend in poaching activity? With the *real-deal* becoming more and more scarce, will poachers now turn to fiberglass substitutes?








"We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; 
                                  we borrow it from our children."  
                                                   ~ Native American Proverb




Sunday 1 April 2012

Harrods Supplied Ventures into the Interior…

Incurable armchair travelers like me, are becoming an endangered species these days… Over at Librivox, you can download any one of Rider Haggard’s classic stories like She or King Solomon’s Mines in audio version (for free!).

Harrods-Catalog-Victorian
Harrods Catalog

You’ll have to ignore the obvious clichés – the concept of Africa as a country for one, and other small inaccuracies; but they are fabulous yarns, some of the classic adventure stories and the first of the Lost World Tales.

Or let your imagination have a bit of free time and plot an excursion into the interior? Almost any interior will do… Pretend you’re one of that breed of hardy, fearless individuals, male or female; the Victorian African explorer…
 
Your first port of call would probably have been Stanfords, London; purveyors of maps and travel gadgets to generations of adventurers since 1853. Hey, we need to know where we’re going! 

Southern-African-Explorers-Map-Guide
Southern Africa Below the Great Rivers

Harrods-Victorian-Gentlemans-Tailoring
Extreme Gear for Extreme Living









Over the decades, famous names like David Livingstone, Scott of the Antarctic, Ernest Shackleton, Ranulph Fiennes, Michael Palin, and the Fat Bulldog himself, Bill Bryson, have begun their journeys outside the Edwardian façade of the Covent Garden store.


Well-armed with maps and charts, we’ll need to make our way over to Harrods and equip ourselves for every possible contingency a dark continent could throw at us. 

Harrods-Victorian-Campain-Supplies
Camp Necessities
These images are from the Late Victorian catalog put out by Harrods for all those star-crossed souls, trying to maintain a semblance of civilization out in the furthest reaches of the Empire...Just click on a picture to see a larger view.

African-Explorer-1800's
Standards Must be Maintained!




Paging through this tiny slice of recent history, seeing what held importance then; brings our modern world, looking strangely barren, sharply into focus. Without criticism, what has happened to the romance of travel, the spirit of adventure, the call of the wild, the lure of the unknown… (Sorry… two-for-one offer on cut-price clichés today).



There will be more of this catalog as I explore bits of life back when *The Scamble for Africa* was the big news...





LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...