Category: Africa

Large game animals get all the ink, but it’s fun to watch African birds, too. Like ostriches.

Ostriches travel in flocks, heads bobbing, knees bending backwards. Because they are so tall – they can grow to 8 feet – and so heavy – over 300 pounds – they can’t fly. Lack of flight doesn’t make them easy prey, though. They can run at speeds of 40 mph when startled, and they can generally outrun most predators. When they have to fight, though, they have a powerful kick. Their 4-inch talons can cause serious damage.

Another way ostriches avoid predators is to lie very still on the ground, with their legs under their dark body and their light-colored neck and head stretched out flat on the sandy ground. From a distance, the animal looks like a dark rock. This behavior has been inaccurately described as burying its head in the sand.

Ostriches have keen hearing and eyesight, which helps them avoid predators. They often travel with zebras, impalas, and other animals, sharing their diet of plants and bugs and serving as lookouts. When ostriches sense danger and run, the other animals notice and respond.

It’s not easy to be an ostrich. Taller than everyone else, heavy, awkward in motion, with actions that are often misunderstood, ostriches are kind of dorky. But they’re good to those around them, alerting others to danger and otherwise minding their own business. Sounds like some people I know.

So be good to your dorky friends. They have their own unique beauty, and they deserve a little respect.

We like to think of lions as big cats. That’s not wrong, but it makes them seem friendly and cuddly and safe. They deserve a fiercer characterization. They’re more like tigers without stripes. They are more like bears without fur. And with teeth. Sharp teeth.

While we were visiting in Botswana and Namibia, we took our cameras and went out mornings and evenings. Our drivers knew the most likely spots to find the animals, and we jockeyed for position inside our oversized safari vehicles.

This lion sauntered from a sunny spot to the only available shade. The animals were aware that the vehicles were there, but they also knew we were not a source of food, so they completely ignored us.

In the next video, two groups of lions make sure an incoming third group respects their space. I didn’t notice the middle group until the male made his presence known partway through.

It ended peacefully. It was too hot that day to anything other than lie down, and the three groups of lions stayed away from each other. Eventually even the photographers grew disinterested, and we drove off to another site.

Apartheid is no longer the law of the land in any country in Africa. However, its aftermath is easy to see. If you’re wealthy in Africa, you’re probably white. If you’re poor and out of work in Africa, you’re probably black. But in the working/middle class, there are many signs of change.

In Swakopmund, Namibia, we had an opportunity to tour a part of the city called “the township.” Our vehicle left the tourist part of town with paved streets and well established trees. We were headed for the area where the workers lived and beyond that, to the poorest of the poor. No pavement. No trees. En route, our guide prepared us for what we would see by talking about challenges that the community faces and the infrastructure being established to deal with them.

Once we were in the township, our first stop was at an open-air market. Our guide explained that both men and women were developing business skills and working to support their families.

Away from the market we met people whose businesses were closer to home. Every house had a certain amount of yard space. Many of the yards had small structures that served as temporary housing for another family and provided another source of income.

During lunch the group African Voices sang to us. They plan to travel in Europe over the next several months.

I was discouraged to see all the temporary homes built of corrugated scrap metal and any other material available, but our guide encouraged us to see hope for the future. Namibia has a national lottery that helps low income people qualify for home loans. He showed us the neighborhoods that were already platted with infrastructure for electricity and water. Permanent homes would be built there in the next few years.

In the United States we still see the impact of slavery more than 100 years after ending it. I hope that Namibia and other African nations will be more successful in bringing equality to all people in not only its legal system but also its educational and economic systems.