Beauty at the Boteti
I was fast asleep, but woke to a tremendous racket. The sound of tins (or something) clattering about was interspersed with a series of loud grunts and snuffles.
Safe in the cabin of the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, I shone my powerful Petzl head torch out of the window.
I realized that the ruckus was coming from the dustbin I’d seen just on the fringe of our campsite. It was made of heavy gauge iron and covered with thick 1mm steel mesh, and I remember thinking to myself that no hyena or monkey would be able to get into that bin.
The next moment, with an almighty clatter, the heavy container rolled into view.
Inside was a black-and-white critter, and outside was another, trying to get in too!
They were two honey badgers: without a doubt my favourite critter in the wild.
I felt like the lighting director for a Sir David Attenborough movie as I watched the honey badger circus for about an hour.
It reminded me of Kenneth Graham, author, who wrote: ‘Badger hates society, and invitations, and dinner, and all that sort of thing.’ But these two sure as hell didn’t mind barreling over a 20kg odd steel cage after “society” had dined out the night before! They were in their black and white tuxes, after all...