Wilkinson's World

Africa is not called the ‘dark continent’ for nothing.  It is a continent of dark secrets and legends. The legends cover not only the people, but the animals, rivers and trees.  And the tree with more legends hanging on its branches than baubles on a Christmas tree has to be the enormous Baobab (Adansonia digitata), found in just about every country south of the equator.

I personally love Baobabs and feel so excited whenever we come across them on our travels.   They transport me back to my childhood in Zimbabwe where I had the utmost reverence for these giant gnarled, funny-looking ‘upside down’ trees.  To me they represent Africa and mystery, and I’m obviously not the only one from whom similar feelings are evoked.

Any number of legends abound about Baobabs, from their origins to their magical powers.  Every tribe has their own version of the good and bad things associated with Baobabs – which is why they are so venerated and feared.  Many believe that benevolent spirits and ancestors dwell in them, whilst others fear the more malevolent spirits of both the trees and their Gods.  Offerings of food and gifts are placed near the trees to pacify angry spirits or to show gratitude for bountiful harvests.  Rituals are held in hollowed out Baobab trunks, with drums being beaten and prayers offered up for protection, and communication is made with dead ancestors and spirits.  Animals seek shelter in them and up to forty people have been known to crowd into one hollow trunk.

In northern Namibia Baobabs are even responsible for keeping the environment clean, for legend has it that anyone who pollutes the area around a Baobab will be engulfed in its large trunk.  He or she can only be rescued by a hardworking woodpecker (and this is highly unlikely as woodpeckers apparently resent humans for tearing down trees without asking their permission first) or by a hornless mooing black cow, which is extremely hard to find.  The natives often say they hear victims crying in the trees.  This ties up with yet another urban legend that has the evil spirits lying in wait amongst the branches.  If one listens up close to the trunk one can hear the spirits laughing inside (a noise most likely caused by bees nesting in the hollow trunk).

In Botswana the Bushmen believe that the flowers, which only bloom for one day, are inhabited by spirits and if  anyone has the audacity to pluck one  they are sure to be eaten by a lion!  Yet other Bushmen believe that one’s fate for such a crime is to be eaten by a tick.  If Bushmen are hunting an animal and it passes under a Baobab tree, the hunt is immediately stopped and another animal killed to preserve the life of the one that received the protection of the tree.

There are many different versions of the origin of the tree,  like God being angry because when he planted the tree in the earth it kept on walking, so he uprooted it and threw it onto the ground upside down.  It didn’t die but continued to live with its roots in the air. Yet others believe that the God, Thora, flung the Baobab down from paradise (because it was always complaining) and it landed on earth upside down.  Its elephant-like appearance apparently came about because its maternal creator was startled by an elephant when she was making the tree and it assumed the grotesque shape and dimensions of this large animal.

Talking of dimensions, Baobabs can reach heights of twenty meters and have trunks with a diameter of twelve meters. Their trunks, which absorb vast amounts of water (up to 120 000 liters in an adult tree), vary considerably in size during the dry and rainy seasons.  Because of its watery properties, as well as the food that one can get from it (Cream of Tartar), the Baobab is also known as the ‘tree of life.’  Providing shelter, medicine, rope, cloth and protection it is no wonder that it is held in such high esteem by the people of Africa.  In addition, if one drinks the water that seeds have been soaked in, one is guaranteed not to be eaten by a crocodile!

When the South African army was present in Katimo Mulilo in the Caprivi region of Namibia during the Bush War, they held no reverence or fear of the mighty tree as they fitted a flush toilet into one, thereby defiantly showing the world what they thought the of the superstitions and legends.  The tree had the last laugh though, as its trunk grew over the door, making it difficult to open.

Picture this. Jane and I are reclining on a sofa-bed in the open air pub at Oddballs Camp in the Okavango Delta, beer in hand, looking out over the water in the late afternoon sunshine. In the distance we hear the classic cry of the African fish-eagle, one of the most easily recognizable sounds of the African bushveld. Then a second cry, somewhat louder. The huge brown and white eagle appears, flying low above the water; it swoops and in split second it has a fish firmly gripped in the vice of the talons of one foot. In a few more seconds it has disappeared from view, leaving Jane and me with a powerful and enduring memory. What a wonderful moment!

The African fish-eagle features on the coat-of-arms of Namibia and is also the national bird of both Zimbabwe and Zambia. These classic symbols of Africa are found, usually in pairs, on most of the larger rivers, lakes, pans and dams of Africa  south of the Sahara, and also in many coastal lagoons and estuaries.

They are big birds, the females slightly larger than the males, being up to 73 cm in length and with a wingspan of over 2.3 metres. They are most often seen during daylight hours perched on tall trees near water where they spend much of their time.

The well-known call is most commonly heard at dawn and at dusk, with the male and female sometimes performing a duet, but they call less frequently at any time of the day, often while in flight. As described above, they stoop to catch fish, usually those of less than 3 kg in weight, seizing the fish in their powerful talons while their legs are thrown well forward, usually taking those within 10 or 20 cm of the surface of the water without even slowing their flight.

Rather less dramatically, fish-eagles also eat carrion, eggs, nestlings and even occasionally adult water-birds, frogs, insects and rarely even dassies and monkeys. They are very agile and are quite capable of taking birds in flight. They are also not above stealing fish from other birds, including pelicans and storks. Kleptoparasitise, if you want the correct word for this chicanery.

The fish-eagles mate for life and their nest, which they re-use from year to year, is an untidy bowl of sticks up to 1.5 metres in diameter, lined with grass and leaves, located high above the ground, usually in the fork of a tree near the water. Most commonly two or three eggs are laid and they hatch after an incubation period of about 45 days, but often only one chick will survive. Life expectancy is estimated to be around 20 years.

The scientific name of the African fish-eagle is Haliaeetus vocifer; “haliaeetus” being from the Greek words “hals” meaning “salt” or “the sea” and “aetos” meaning “eagle”, and vocifer from the Latin “vocifero” meaning to “cry out aloud”. Hence “the Sea-eagle that cries out aloud” – Perfect!

The most impressive thing about the Kori bustard is its size. It is big. Really big. Not as big as a Common ostrich, admittedly, but the difference is that the Kori can fly; in fact it may well be the largest flying bird in the world. The males are up to 1.5 metres in length and can weigh as much as 19 kg. That’s about 1,200 times heavier than a canary.

Their weight, though, does make them a little reluctant to fly, and they are most commonly seen walking sedately through the long grass of the veld. Even when disturbed they will often walk away quickly. When the Kori does fly, it often uses a running take-off, although it can take off from a standstill.

They are solitary or in pairs when breeding; but may be in larger groups at other times. The males display with their necks inflated, their tails raised over their backs and fanned. These polygynous birds don’t make a nest, with the clutch of 1 or 2 eggs laid in a scrape on the bare ground. They are fairly wide spread in Southern Africa, although they are more common in the drier West and are fairly common in Namibia and Botswana. In the Savuti area of Botswana the Southern carmine bee-eater reportedly uses the Kori as a roost as it hawks insects that are disturbed as the Kori walks through the grassland.  This association appears to be less common in other parts of Southern Africa.

The Kori’s diet consists of insects, small vertebrates, seeds, and carrion. The fact that they also eat gum from Acacia trees provides the reason for their Afrikaans name – “Gompou”, which means “Gum bustard”.

The scientific name for the Kori bustard is Ardeotis kori; ardeotis being from the Latin “ardea”, meaning a heron or bustard and kori being a corruption of the Setswana word “kgôri”, being the Setswana name for the Kori bustard.

And of course you know this limerick, don’t you?

The bustard is  an exquisite fowl

With minimal reason to scowl

For he escaped what would be

Illegitimacy

By the grace of a fortunate vowel.