The "Queen of the Night"

Don’t you love those days when you get a message from a friend on social media, and it changes your morning completely.

Well, that’s just what happened this morning while I was scrolling through my messages with a cup of steaming coffee, still half asleep. 

I noticed a message from Jane, a friend and co-worker in the US. She just arrived home after a late night and due to the time delay between the US and Africa we were both u, but sharing different parts of the day. Upon her arrival at midnight she noticed a surprise waiting on her porch, and what an unusual and delightful one it was indeed.  In full bloom stood a rare midnight bloomer so to speak.

Jane's Queen in full bloom

This flower was unknown to Jane, although she had it for years. It was gifted to her 25 years ago by a neighbor, who originally smuggled it out of Venezuela, actually she only brought a leaf with her ….hidden in her bra. Miryiam Cash (The adventurous neighbor) sadly has moved on, but would have been smiling from ear to ear at Jane’s surprise.

When I noticed the images that Jane uploaded, I was not only intrigued but drawn to it, as there are only a handful of plants that almost never flower and when they do it’s a fleeting moment in time and people might wait a lifetime to witness it.

This beautifully fragrant flower that blooms only one night each year was not only striking but rare, and a sight to behold.  The aptly named “queen of the night” has for ages inspired people with it’s almost dinner plate sized strikingly white flowers that appear at midnight.

Witnessing the miraculous event of its bloom is like watching Cinderella become the bell of the ball. But alas, dawn is "midnight" for this Cinderella, as the flower wilts and the queen of the night becomes just a plain, inconspicuous cactus for yet another year.

In its native habitat, stretching from the sub tropics of Mexico to the rain-forests of South America, it never touches the ground, instead it clings to the branch of a tree forty to sixty feet up where it can grow 20-feet tall, wrapping its’ roots around the tree’s trunk and feeding on sunlight, rain, and air.

Perched in the rainforest canopy, the flower blooms bathed in moonlight amidst the whirl and buzz of nigh time creature life. 

The sent is captivating, not just to us humans, but also to its primary target, bats and moths.  It’s a burst of fragrance intended to lure them to its blooms to ensure pollination. It’s thus no surprise that with only a few hours each year, the performance is overpowering and the sight striking.

I will have to wait like the rest of us to witness this wonder of nature. I’m sure Jane will never look at this particular unassuming plant in the same way, as by know she knows that hidden below those cactus like leafs waits a burst of colour and fragrance as we all wait for the queen to perform again next year.

From Jane - The Dancing Queen - also called the queen of the night. 

Images by Jane Behrend of Emerging Destinations 

When your garden comes alive

I recently moved into a new house in bugolobi Kampala specifically selected for its garden and the potential to create my own little Eden. Over the last couple of months myself and my very hardworking gardener “Jeffrey “have been painstakingly clearing a very overgrown garden to reconstruct my vision of the perfect patch to have a relaxing weekend after a hard working week.

Well into our fourth week of replanting the now cleared area with a variety of Ugandan plant species guaranteed to provide our little haven down the line, I regularly found myself on the deck at night with the dogs inspecting the progress in the rays of the floodlights, that were now also in place to provide just the right kind of lighting to feature the oasis we were creating.   

On this particular evening the dogs started to run around and bark at me, scout my trusty German Sheppard and protected tugged at me, and in an instance I noticed what seemed like all the birds in Kampala emerging from our large well established fig trees.

 

Peering through the garden, while birds flew past the flood lights creating shadows and eerie sounds it looked as if the plants and trees started to vibrate or move. I had this sinking feeling that a heavy construction vehicle was moving through my garden and destroying everything in its path. I just couldn’t see it.  

No, this wasn’t the result of some well grown weed or hallucinate drug but it definitely caught me off guard. As I ran into the house I noticed everything was shaking, fridges, standing fans and crockery started to vibrate. We moved outside and were joined by the staff that were definitely not as concerned as I was.

I later realised they knew this all too well; when they casually informed me not to worry as it’s just another earthquake. Having never actually experienced an earthquake before, I can remember thinking that they definitely didn’t include this one in the guide books. One more reason to visit Uganda I thought to myself – “Come visit Uganda and survive your first moderate earthquake”

After some web searching we now know where it started and educated ourselves on Uganda’s tremors

The facts:  The earthquake was a  M 5.7 Earthquake, that occurred 51km W of Kigorobya, Uganda. We were informed to expect aftershocks (Even though I must add that we only heard about this after we experienced the actual aftershocks). These secondary shockwaves are usually less violent than the main quake but can be strong enough to do additional damage to weakened structures and can occur in the first hours, days, weeks, or even months after the quake.

Three moderate earthquakes shook Uganda's Albertine region this week, causing little damage but raising concern about the quake-prone country's preparedness in the event of major seismic activity.

According to Uganda’s Department of Geological Survey and Mines, in the Ministry of Energy and Minerals, the first of the three quakes - with a magnitude of 5.2 - occurred on the afternoon of 2 July, while a second, measuring 5.4, occurred late in the evening on 3 July. A third, measuring 5.7 and described by seismologists as "dangerous", took place at 01:22 am on 4 July.

The tremors were felt mainly in Kampala, Hoima and Kagadi in Midwestern Uganda and in Bunia in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre and earthquake-report.com

"This is an area of seismic activity. The occurrence was due to weakness of the earth faults, which resulted to faulting," Fred Tugume, the principal geophysicist in the Department of Geological Survey and Mines, told IRIN. Faulting is a sudden lateral or vertical movement of rock along the earth's surface.

Environmentalists have expressed concern about the possible environmental impact of on-going oil drilling around Lake Albert, the epicentre of the earthquake. However, Ugandan authorities insist the earthquakes and the oil activities are unrelated. Oil companies exploring in the area say oil can be safely extracted with minimal harm to the environment.

"Earthquakes have been there. We live with them. However, this repeated occurrence is worrying. We are going to analyse the phenomena and see why," Tugume added.

We experienced a couple of tremors since, and we now too are used to a little giggle and jive as part of Kampala nightlife. I have since decided that it’s a part of Uganda and actually find it interesting that I survived my first, be it a moderate earthquake. My bucket list didn’t actually include an earthquake but has since been updated and now reflect 11 must do things before I die, its cheating but I couldn’t resist.

 

For those of you wondering, I lost a tree in my little piece of Eden in the process but that garden has actually been enhanced by this. I now have a nice sunny spot to grow vegetables that’s not visible from my porch leaving my vision intact.

Story by C.T Schalkwyk , Premier Safaris Uganda

On Top of the world

One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things

Since a young boy I have always been interested and fascinated by nature, but didn’t always fully understand it.  This became even clearer once I travelled and learned from Guides in the industry.
Traveling to Africa is both intriguing and humbling, created by the beautiful balance between the wildlife, the landscapes and cultures. Not only will you marvel at the density and variety of wildlife and landscapes, but you will meet fascinating people who will capture your heart.

Emerging yourself in what can only be described as true wilderness can be a scary yet a very rewarding experience. Sleeping in small pop-up tents in unfenced big game areas has some drawbacks, but the rewards more than make up for some discomfort as I found out when I visited the Mashatu camp in Botswana.

The Camp is located in the “land of Giants” in the Tuli reserve of Botswana, bordering South Africa. Very aptly named as we found ourselves surrounded by breeding herds of Elephant making their way through the camp at night to reach one of the remaining waterholes in the area a short distance from the camp.

Tuli forms a key part of the proposed Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area. It is an area of outstanding natural beauty with majestic rocks, diverse vegetation, abundant wildlife, a profusion of birds and a rich archaeological heritage and spans over 25 000 hectares.

The Northern Tuli Game Reserve, on the confluence of the Limpopo and the Shashe rivers, in the eastern-most corner of Botswana, is the collective name for several privately owned game reserves including the Mashatu, Ntani and Tuli Game Reserves, covering all the land north of the Limpopo River.

It is in this diverse rugged area that we experienced a glimpse into the training that Field Guides receive to guide guests once qualified. It is a sampling of activities that provide you with more insight into your natural surroundings. The ethos of the small, but dedicated team becomes all too clear once you start to be amazed by the intricacies and beauty of the area.  Your hosts are part of a likeminded hard working team that want to instill an appreciation of nature  and make a difference towards conserving this planet by educating people and exposing them to wonderful and sometimes life altering experiences in the wild.

During the 7 to 14 day quest learning experience, they incorporate certain aspects of the Safari Guide course. It is primarily aimed at those who are looking for a more in-depth bush experience, but who do not necessarily have enough time to break away from work obligations or, for people who just want to know more about their natural surroundings. A live to learn experience.

It starts with the basics of how to use binoculars properly and how to position a vehicle for photography. You will also learn about the behaviour and identification of many of the insects, spiders, scorpions, birds and other small creatures in our ecosystems as well as learning about the underlying elements that support this amazing variety of life such as the geology, soils, plants and climate. While you study how the smaller organisms interact with one another and their environment, we have the opportunity to show you the identification and behaviour of the larger wild animals that roam our wilderness areas.

Learn about basic bush survival skills and how to navigate and orientate yourself in the bush. You will even be shown how to drive a 4x4 vehicle. You also get to experience how to approach dangerous game on foot and how you should handle these situations.

For the more adventurous among you that have always wanted to know more while on Safari contact me on ctschalkwyk@gmail.com or corne@marasa.net for more information.

Let the bush take you… It’s worth it!