Africa's Small 'Game'

On the four safaris we enjoyed in Namibia and then Tanzania between 2010 and 2013, the emphasis was always on seeing the big game. Most of the tourists we went out with in search of excitement wanted to be able to go home and describe their encounters with such animals as lion, buffalo, elephant and leopard, so that is what the tour company provided.

I spent a fair bit of time trying to get away from the presumption that 'big game' was the main interest. I loved the smaller 'game', like this blue-banded swallowtail sipping the flowers of a poinciana, and I have written before about....

....Tanzania's kingfishers: while I become very excited indeed if I see the one British species, Tanzania has no less than eleven to offer.

I wish now that I had been firmer about not going out for the scheduled morning and evening game drives, bouncing around in a big 4x4 for a couple of hours or so when just sitting by the lodge's waterhole and watching the small things that came to drink might have been far more interesting.

And while it is quite right to say that there are a few African countries, which include both Tanzania and Namibia, where it is possible to see animals such as elephant and buffalo in large numbers, there are many more which can boast large numbers of smaller things, such as this mixture of waders and other birds on a beach in Tanzania.

So, if I ever did go on another safari which, at my age, is highly unlikely, I would do some serious homework on these smaller creatures so that I could appreciate them fully while my fellow-travellers enjoyed sore bottoms from bouncing around for hours in their 4x4.