Monday 2nd April 2012
The absolute craziness of jumping on a plane to a far off destination for just a day and then doing something relatively small before jumping back on the plane, is exhilarating. Very exhilarating if the small thing is really small. About the size of a small dove. Longer legs though. Has the word "little" in its name. Isn't from here. Lots of people want to see it. Is a female happy in her singleness. She has a whole pond to herself. She has lots of admirers. She is unique. Her world has been turned upside down. She is bliss. She is a Little Crake.
After reading one email after another about the Little Crake in Kalk Bay, I just couldn't take it anymore and sent a message to Betsie Lategan. I had barely tweaked her rubber arm when I was online checking out flight prices and accommodation in the area. Problem was work. My boss was in meetings, it was quarter end and I still had a revenue target to meet. I waited an hour, rechecked the flight prices and they had gone up by a hundred rand. Oops. I checked with Betsie and she said we needed to make sure we got the flight as there wasn't another day we could do this. I was worried that she was having second thoughts. Thalia asked if we were going earlier that morning. It was like she was reading my mind. "Absolutely", I said. Her rubber arm wouldn't be tweaked. Damn. Lisl wasn't chasing tweets. Double damn. Tana had stuff on so couldn't get away. Anneke was still away and wouldn't be back in time. Andre was still on his way back from Vietnam. More damnation took place. So it was just the two of us.
By lunchtime, the boss wasn't back and the tickets were two hundred smackeroos more than when I started. "Be bold"is my personal motto so I went ahead and made the bookings. Betsie was at the grocery store so I bought her ticket too. I called a lovely lady named Madeleine and booked accommodation just up the road from the sighting. I went into the HR system and put leave in for the day. I waited with one eye on the corner office.
Turns out that as a nature photographer, my boss fully understood my urges and happily gave me the day off on the proviso that I leave my phone switched on (not during flights of course). We were set. It was time to talk about packing, what to take, what to leave behind. A few frantic BBMs exchanged. A few quarter end meetings moved. I started my mental packing list. Out of office notification was set.
We flew down from Lanseria (officially my favourite airport in the world) on Tuesday evening of 27 March. I had an "Aeropane Jane" flight down with a rather interesting lady sitting next to me on the way. Thankfully we landed much earlier than expected and were soon whizzing off in our cute Chevy Spark aka Sparky. TomTom on the iPad was great and in no time we were shoving our baby up the steep inclines that are part of Kalk Bay's charm to find our home for the night. Our accommodation was excellent and once the luggage had been dumped we went looking for dinner. Not an easy feat at 9pm on a Tuesday night out of season. We ended up in Simonstown at Bertha's Restaurant which is right on the edge of the charming little harbour. I remembered from a few years ago how great it was - we had eaten there after completing a rather harrowing BLNG pelagic trip with Trevor Hardaker. The snoek and hake fish cakes were delicious. We were barely back at Castle Hill when we both jumped into our beds to recharge those batteries for the next day.
"Is jy wakker?" we're the first words I heard of the day. "Mmmm" was the response. Realising it was already 7 o'clock we were up in no time. We took enough time to enjoy the incredible sunrise from the inn's balcony overlooking the sea before the final pack, checkout and heading down to see Sparky. We had mapped out the fastest route to Clovelly so were there within minutes. Several cars parked on the side of a quiet road were enough to tell us where Lady Luck was hiding. Cameras and binocs were hastily grasped from the boot. Along the short path to the pond, we encountered a couple who were just walkingback to their vehicle shaking their heads. They looked up, smiled at us and mumbled something which sounded like, "Its just a tame chicken". Betsie and I glanced at each other, eyebrows raised, both not sure it was going to be that easy.
The pond is in a beautiful setting. It is part of the Silvermine Wetland Conservancy, bordering on Main Road just across from the sea at Kalk Bay. I'd like to say we looked at the surroundings but we didn't. We plonked ourselves down next to three gentlemen who were staring at the pond as if it contained some sort of magic. Turns out they were right. Two minutes after propping ourselves up on the wooden fence, this tiny gem of a creeping bird comes casually walking out from the reeds a couple of metres from where we were sitting. Was it? Maybe? Yes!
A tame chicken really was the only way to describe her. She was small. The size of a dove. Brown. A couple of black feathered streaks down her back. Darkish eye. She looked comfortable in her feathers. Fearless. Hungry. Right in front of me!
The excitement that shoots through your body is almost physical. The thrill runs from your toes all the way to the hairs on the back of your neck. Instant reaction is to plaster a grin on your face and immediately look to your friend. The grin gets wider from both of you when you realize you both have the same grin and eyes lit up like altar candles. Contact established, mutual enjoyment is taking place. The sound of cameras clicking furiously reminds you that just 90 degrees away is something so special that you have to snap your eyes back to the front.
We were so blessed with the most incredible views of the tame chicken walking right past us on the vegetation she is so perfectly adapted to. Long toes and a skulking-shaped body come in handy when you need to move silently through the reed beds searching for insects. A girl needs her protein after all. She moved quietly, just a few steps away from us, barely glancing around while she stayed focused on her targets. Breakfast never saw her coming.
We must have watched her for half an hour before chatting to the three guys who were as enthralled as we were. One had also just flown in from Gauteng. We moved off down the path to start making those important calls to spread the word and share the excitement. By then my camera needed a fresh battery and we needed to take a moment to let it all settle in and come down from the high. Locals trundled past with their best friends holding tennis balls in their mouths, occasionally stopping to ask what the fuss was all about. Am sure they walked off thinking strange thoughts about crazy birders.
We went back for a second look. Sun beams had hit the pond by now and she posed beautifully for some photos in the morning light. Perfect. Serene. Content.
After a delicious breakfast at Boulders overlooking the penguins, we just had to go back for another look. A different set of faces and lenses this time around. Another Sparky parked in the road. The pond was in full morning sun and our tiny pioneer was still strutting her stuff. More vision captured on virtual film. We tear ourselves away. There’s more to do today.
The thrill doesn't go away. We spend the rest of the day in a bit of a daze. We find ourselves randomly smiling for no reason. The birding must continue. We take the scenic route to Tokai to get Betsie a much better view of the Chaffinch population. They were scattered everywhere and like our newest acquaintance, just a few metres away. A beautiful drive to Kirstenbosch with a magical walk around the gardens was the perfect way to spend the rest of the afternoon.
Before long we were off to the airport again. We gave Sparky's keys back to the man in green. Checked in at the green counter. Sat in the green lounge waiting for the green aeroplane. We, on the other hand, were no longer green thinking of everyone who had seen the pioneer. We had experienced a tiny piece of heaven. Someone else’s turn to be green.
* Aeroplane Jane - check out the lyrics from Karen Zoid's very entertaining song
* Pioneer – “one who is among those who first enter or settle a region, thus opening it for occupation and development by others” Dictionary.com
Submitted to Laniarius
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