Diary entry 2 7 Dec 2011
Location: Coastline Kei Mouth – Qolora Mouth
The aim of today’s walk was to spend time with the Nguni’s and to take photos of different color patterns. It is misty, yet humid and excitement was crawling down my spine. Silhouettes sprang from the mist and I thought it was herd upon herd of Nguni’s, African icon and free roaming beast.
The majority of Nguni cattle have pigmented hides and dark, if not black, hooves and muzzles. The coat shows a variety of colors which may appear as whole colors, mixed colors or as specific color patterns. Six whole coat colors under which white (Umhlope), black (Mnyama), Brown (Emfusi), Red (Embomvu), Dun (Mdaka) and Yellow (Mpofu) exist in Nguni cattle, while eight color patterns occur.
Theoretical there can be only be 48 different color patterns, although the Zulu and Swazi named 72 patterns to ease the task of identification. Herdsmen are known to identify lost cattle by name out of a herd of 500 heads. The names are derived from color patterns the herdsman sees in nature. Nguni’s with uniform brown and blotched white coats are called, “Ilunga”, the Fiscal Shrike.
It is said that “Inkunzi ayahlaba ngokumisa” or, loosely translated, one should not judge a bull by his horns and some humorous names have been given to different horn configurations. Cows with forward facing horns and a slight upwards slope are called,” Mfazi wa lahlega icxala ”. Like a woman who lost a court case and through her arms in the air, because of despair.
Where the Nguni herdsman got the connection is obvious, luckily the cows lost their court cases but are spared the horrible western practice of dehorning. The old Nguni people saw the necessity of allowing natural horn growth for two reasons. Firstly the cattle could defend themselves against Africa’s many beasts and secondly they could be turned into stampeding battle oxen.
With the wild coast surf breaking at my feet I can imagine thunderous hoofs racing down the beach. It was in 1510 that a Portuguese war party, after stealing the children of local Khoikhoi people, was all but wiped out by angry, yet well controlled battle oxen. Survivor’s of this incident recalled how herdsman with a series of whistles direct the cattle like modern-day tanks, catching the well equipped Portuguese soldiers off guard and retrieved every last stolen child.
The mist is still thick and there is no sign of cattle on the beach. Many tracks suggest plenty activity last night or early morning and I had high hopes in taking photos of beast on the beach covered in thick mist. I decided to focus on the second aspect of what I plan to share with guest on my tours. Birding and conservation of the wild coast marine wilderness will be activity pursued by me while I am doing the trail. Guest and nature lovers can join in following natural signs to birds nest and other coastal creature’s broods and burrows. The different sites will be logged and shared with local authorities and conservationist to establish a record of the state of health the coastline is in at this present day.
Abundance is everywhere and if you know how and where to look nature will open up her splendor. The only problem is that we are not supposed to see these wonders, being super predators our fellow earthlings are petrified of humans. Who can blame the lesser creatures for their fear; we are killing them for thousands of years and constantly threaten other species survival.
Contemplating these things, while walking on the beach I looked down and discovered a broken egg-shell. My heart started to race, the egg was still red and wet inside and that meant hatchlings where close by.
About fifty meters ahead I saw two African Black Oystercatchers and my senses kicked into tracking gear. The Oystercatcher’s will plug the egg-shell from the new hatched chick and will carry it away from the nesting area. The birds do not need tell-tale signs of vulnerable chicks and try their best to conceal the already well camouflaged chicks. First I marked the spot where I saw one oystercatcher kneeling through my binoculars. The bino’s gives me an unfair advantage and the vigilant birds were fooled into my exact distance. I walked straight to the imaginary mark and on arrival the birds flew upwards with loud calls of protest. They were upset for two reasons, firstly I had to be close to their nest and secondly they knew they left something behind. Their claw prints will lead me to their nest and not much they can do about that. Everything on land will leave some kind of track, may it be seen or unseen, claw or slime, and there will always be a trail to follow. The oystercatchers were still pelting me with insults when I saw two fluff balls appear in front of me in the sand.
The parent’s tracks were clear directions to the newly hatched chicks.
Such a joyful site: chicks of the threatened African Black Oystercatcher.
It feels so good when you know you are watching something special, you are part of a natural event that are seen by the few and it is my and every other souls responsibility to care for our natural environment, especially the young and new generations. Although my tour is called Nguni trails and focus allot on the wild coast cattle, it is events like these that I want to share with my guest.
The first action I took was to urinate close to the nest, sounds weird and that is why I would do it. Super predators pee even smells dangerous and the idea is to mark the site with my own urine in the hope it will deter other predators like otters or genets. Things need to happen fast and I did not want to spend too much time at the nesting site. Photos were taken and the exact spot was marked on my GPS, information that will be shared with other nature lovers.
Then it was time to say goodbye to the chicks and leave their nesting area, the nest will be gone tomorrow and hopefully they survive their first day on the wild coast. The chicks will be able to run and hide from predators in the next 24 hours and the next time it will be close to impossible to get close to them again.
Abundance was what I experience every time I do a walk on this wild and wonderful beach and so many things can happen when you are having fun. Examples of glorious life are everywhere, but sadly death is also visible. I discovered this common dolphin skull and was sad to witness the end of a creature that is so majestic and free. Pictures came in to my mind of bays in the east where dolphin killing is the norm, horrible and disgusting methods of slaughter and blood coloring the water deep red. Still one need to have a clear understanding that all earthlings needs to die and if we could allow animals to die of natural causes the cycle of live and death can commend for many more ages.
Thank you for reading this entry and please join me again for another entry in this diary. Rangerriaan.
