Mike and I joined our other amateur researchers in the Matopos for a couple of nights, camping at Maleme Dam. We do this every year in winter, and I don't know why, but we seem to really enjoy it and keep going back to freeze ourselves in the early winter mornings when we need to get out of our sleeping bags (and added blankets !) as early as 4 a.m.
We had the campsite nearest to the facilities - the loos were flushing AND had seats to sit on - only the gents had hot water showers, so we all used those, but wonderfully piping hot they were. There was some concern about the electrics in the showers, but fortunately I was only made aware of that AFTER my shower - I would recommend keeping your slops on !
The first night that we slept there was very very cold ! Despite all my clothing and bedding, I still felt somewhat chilly in the dark early hours and it was almost a relief to finally get up. I did not sleep well at all, being still city-wound-up and tense, but mostly because the Egyptian Goose that resided in the dam nearby lost its partner / offspring / nest and honked and quacked ALL night ! Come 0430, I was heading out on a duck hunt !!!
The daytime temperatures were just perfect, and back in camp we sat in the sun soaking up the warmth and watching the picnickers. Be warned that there are 4 horses which reside at Maleme. They are relics left over from the days of Horse Trails in the Park and appear to be living out their days in peaceful bliss alongside the dam. They are very laid back and friendly, accepting attention and titbits from the visitors, not seeming to mind at all when children were placed on their backs, sometimes three-up. However, these horses are also born scavengers !! They are as bad as the baboons when it comes to digging in the dustbins and snooping for snacks in the campsites - we even had one come in after dinner and lick the plates ! When the gentlemen standing around one truck took offence to the digging around in the back by two of these horses, they shoo-ed them away .... no response !! They shoo-ed more energetically ... no response. One got old of a large piece of cardboard and waved it around ... no response. The cardboard was smacked against one rather rotund shiny belly .. this got a LITTLE response. Encouraged by this small success, the man (whom we named The Horse Whisperer) waved the cardboard more widely and issued a few more belly smacks. This got Shotgun (as we named him) moving a little more. The Horse Whisperer was now very confident and there were a few more rump smacks issued ... Shotgun took great offence to this, and in the matter of seconds double-barrelled The Horse Whisperer with his back legs. FORTUNATELY, Shotgun was off target by about 3 cms, and so there was no physical damage, and The Horse Whisperer was left standing cleaning bits of grit which came off the flying hooves out of his eyes whilst his mate shooed Shotgun away. As there was no harm done, we were able to laugh ourselves silly at this little scenario that had played out ... especially when Shotgun and his buddies head back to put their heads in the back of the same truck about a minute later. We noticed that thereafter The Horse Whisperer gave all and any of the said 4 horses a very wide berth !!
However, WE were also tormented by Shotgun and his mates much later that night when they decided to exercise themselves in the middle of the night by galloping the length of the campsite several times. The speed of those hoofbeats made sure we knew they were traveling at top speed, and we just had to hope they could see our tents and cars (especially that of our trusty helper who was set away from us in a pimple of a tent made of dark fabric - he must have been saying his prayers each time the sound of the galloping herd got louder and closer !). We don't know why they were galloping around, but once they were tired out, they spent a good time nosing around our campsite, knocking things over and nibbling noisily nearby. However, with the temperature being what must have been quite a few numbers higher, they did not disturb ME much and I slept very well on the second night, by now being nicely relaxed. So, the purpose of this particular story is to warn you to be on the lookout, not only for baboons and monkeys, but also for friendly horses !!
At some stage in the night, I was surprised to hear a hippo grunt - in fact, in the morning, although I was sure I hadn't, I wondered if I had dreamt it !! I have never seen or heard a hippo at Maleme before. I was relieved to have another member of our group, who apparently does not sleep much, confirm that he also had heard the hippo in the night. I'm petrified of hippo - I'm glad I now know I need to be on the look out there ...
The remainder of our days were spent covering parts of the Park in pursuit of our particular project - it really is the MOST majestic and magical place - one needs to go there and just breathe it all in and find peace amongst the rocks.
On the way home, we went out the Arboretum Gate, and I decided on the spur of the moment to give Mike a quick history lesson and we pulled in to the old Railway Terminus. I have driven past this on countless occasions and think the last, and only other, time I was there was probably when I was Mike's age (that's a LONG time ago !!). He found it really quite interesting and asked a bunch of questions, most of which I was thankfully able to answer. Of course the old terminus is over-grown, faded and unkempt, but it has not been interfered with and I'm sure that in time the History Society will pay it some attention.
And so ended another perfect weekend in the beautiful Matobo Hills.
