The call of the road!

Yesterday I went for my 6km run and from the satellite collars we have on a few cats (lions) I could see that there were no less than 20 lions in a 70 square kilometer area near our home. Now before you all rush off to say that the Hwange lion density is the highest in the world....this was just because at least three groups of lions were interested in a large herd of buffalo that have moved in recently.

I put on my running shoes and grabbed my ipod shuffle. I put the iphone into the armband so I could take a few pictures if I saw anything and went out. At about my halfway point I took a couple of shots of the road with my long shadow cast by the setting sun. There is something about a road...don't you think?

 

This morning I was with one of my Long Shields tracking a young lion that we intend to catch for our project and I took a photo of his spoor on a path that he had walked in the early hours. It dawned on me that we all have roads on which to travel, some lead us into trouble, some we cannot avoid....but there is an attraction that we cannot deny.

 

 

Look at me getting all poetic!

 

Brent

Dances with wolves? try running with them!

This morning I went out for a 25min jog as the schedule dictated and as I was nearing home and coming through "the dip" as we call it....I caught a whiff of something musky. I looked around but saw nothing so carried on and a few meters further I got the smell again. (I must say here that I have a very bad sense of smell after a wee accident with some hydrochloric acid in Dad's shed...so for me to smell something means it was fresh).
Anyway I run through the dip and as I am coming up the hill a couple of young impala run out of the bush to my right closely followed by two wildogs! The impala raced through the fence around our place and I ran along side the two dogs as they tracked their prey up onto the ridge.
The impala broke back out of the fence and I dropped back a little expecting to see the kill but the impala used a small group of people waiting for a lift at the roadside as cover and left the "hounds" standing there looking bemused.
They turned around and ran past me, back into the dip and were gone!!

Wow!

Brent Stapelkamp

Up to speed!

It has been a while since my last post and a lot has been happening so I thought that I would bring you all back up to speed with the preparations for the marathon in April.

It is a little over 3 months left to go so the training is full time now and I must say that I am enjoying the running. I ran a marathon with a very good friend of mine some 21 years ago now and I don't remember the running being as good. (yup...21 years ago Mark!!! can you believe it?)

My training, as another friend said, would be as interesting as the marathon itself and I think you will agree it has been unusual already. I live and work in a wildlife area and so my training routes are governed by factors such as "where are the lions today", "Bheki saw a buffalo bull near the gate"...you know....that sort of thing!

I have seen three of the big five on my runs already including Lion, Buffalo and Elephant as well as giraffe, kudu, impala, baboons and monkeys!

My latest lion encounter was a couple of weeks ago when I set off down the hill for some speed work. The schedule said 60sec max effort followed by 3 min walk etc etc. I warmed up and started my watch and took off like a man possessed. As I neared the bottom of the hill a herd of impala started snorting an alarm call and ran across my front. I imagined they were alarming at me as i now sounded like a locomotive so I carried on. When I stopped and began my walk I could still hear them snorting. I looked up and there not 80m from me was a lion standing and staring at me.
Now I am not shy, in fact some might say the opposite but I tell you you feel very self conscious standing in the open 80m from a lion and all you have to protect yourself if a skimpy pair of running shorts!!

I looked for signs of agression but found none so I started backing away. He followed!
I stopped and stared at him and he sat down. I slowly inched backwards until there was a little bush between us and he stayed sitting so I took my leave and raced home for the truck. I gathered my family and we came back to photograph him.

 

I have also been kitted out recently with some proper running shorts (I ran the Vic falls half marathon in a pair of khaki safari shorts last year!) and a beautiful pair of running shoes that feel like I am running on Air. Many thanks to my generous donors.......

 

I will be setting up a means by which you can donate to the cause if you chose so watch this space

 

 

Cheers for now

 

Brent