Red, red, Mopani red…
a symphony of reds…
The end of our lowveld winter is sparked by the jeweled red and rust Mopani leaves that prick our vision, tantalizing bursts of color against the cobalt winter skies at Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge on the edge of the Gonarezhou National Park and at our bush house, “Tsavene”, in the Save Valley Conservancy…
leaves and cobalt sky
one of my small paintings, a celebration of colour!….
My painted wild dog finds a restful bed in these leaves…
Dozy dog in mopani
beneath fissured grey trunks reaching skywards…
mopani bark reaching skywards…
We have often watched wild dogs hunting through these mopanis,
seeking the impala that feed their half grown pups… here a male dog runs back to the eager pups with a fresh impala leg!…..
and after a heavy meal, there is nothing better than a rest during the heat of the day in the shade….
dogs resting in mopani …
Silver white seed pods of late winter mopani shine ethereal….
mopani seed pods sparkle…
Mopani woodlands hide drifts of windblown red mopani leaves, like fallen butterflies…
mopani-leaf-diptych
Mopani leaf butterflies seem to land lightly on a soft grey trunk, ready to flit with the merest whisper of a breeze…..
mopani leaf butterflies on mopani tree trunk…
elephants love chewing on mopani bark and leaves…
elephants love chewing on mopani bark and leaves…
Here’s an orange butterfly, landed lightly on a trunk noisily felled by elephants the night before below our house in the Save Valley Conservancy, “Tsavene”…
orange butterfly
The roads of Gonarezhou lead through endless elephant-felled mopani, fascinating ecosystems…
and even more fascinating stories of ancient battles around the hill of Kundani, rising like a small volcano above the sea of mopani..
Here be many elephants, many stories and many haunting encounters with the legendary great tuskers of Gonarezhou. On a game drive from Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge early one morning, one minute we are watching our long shadow cast from the safari vehicle onto the carpets of red leaves…
and the next moment we are graced by the awesome, looming presence of a gigantic elephant bull, who lowers his eyelashes at us and quietly, gently, continues on his way…
The magnificent Chilojo Cliffs are framed by glowing mopani leaves..
Multi -coloured carpets are there for those who look and dream….carpets of African wild dogs, almost invisible against the red drafts of leaves……
Here is my vision of that kaleidoscopic carpet….
up close …
up close to the carpet…
wine and wild dogs 