These White-fronted bee-eaters were hunting bees while perched on a branch over
the Zambezi River in Zambia. I was happy to see them. I’d seen
the White-fronted Bee-eaters before but I was never able to get a good picture
of one.
We were being briefed on our upcoming elephant trek into the
bush. It was midmorning and chairs
were set up in a rectangle on the lawn, under a canopy to protect us from the
hot African sun. I noticed bee-eaters landing in a nearby tree. As important as this briefing was, I decided I wasn’t going to miss out on getting a shot of these beauties.
I had already heard the part about staying back from the riverbank
ten meters because there were crocodiles in the Zambezi. On average about one crocodile every
fifteen meters, they said. I don’t
know who came up with that figure, or how, but I took them at their word.
I stepped forward slowly for two reasons. First, I didn’t want them to fly away
before I got at least one shot and secondly I wasn’t quite sure just how far
ten meters was. Is a meter longer
or shorter than a yard? My feet
were shuffling, my eyes were fixed on the bee-eaters and my brain was working
overtime! I didn’t want to miss my
chances with this beautiful bird while at the same time I didn’t want to become
a crocodile snack.
I started inching forward on tiptoes, as if that made any
difference. Do crocodiles
use the metric system or inches and feet?
The briefing in the rectangle stopped. I could sense the other in the
rectangle watching me. It bothered me a little to think, I could be the next
big video on YouTube, if someone was recording this, but I kept inching
forward. I rationalized, maybe
there were two crocs in the next fifteen-meter section and none in this one? The math still worked! It worked well enough for me to keep
shooting and I got my photographs. I’m happy with that.
Allan
August, 2011
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