A Thrilling Experience tracking Black Rhino on Foot!
Looking back to the June 5th 2019, (1 year ago already!) we woke up early to a chilly winter morning where we were based at Humani Wildlife Ranch, in the Save Valley Conservancy of Zimbabwe. Since we were gearing up to leave Zimbabwe in November, we were happy to spend every second month helping out at the wildlife ranch where we could. We would carry out an odd assortment of work that our varied skillets equipped us with, and in addition, it came with a hearty dose of eagerness to get out into the bush as often as possible. Philip, having worked there before (and its actually where we first met) always slotted back into the rhythm quickly. It is never dull or what you would call boring place! Steeped in nearly a century long history, and with a family that you will never forget, you find yourself drawn to this wild place.
Like everything at Humani, you can wake up never knowing what the day will bring. On this day we were asked to trial out, as well as film/photograph a walking safari to track the elusive and dangerous black rhino… not with any modern methods like telemetry or GPS devices, but traditional tracking, looking for spore and signs of the animal on foot! We were told it could take 1 hour or the whole day, or perhaps not at all...
In my mind, nothing compares to game viewing and tracking on foot. You are no longer a lump on the back of a noisy vehicle clicking away at animals before driving away in search of another one. Nope, now you are part of its environment, as much prey and as vulnerable as other animals, Except, by law our professional guide is licensed to carry a rifle in case of an emergency. Thankfully he states proudly he has never had to use it, although the possibilities for mishaps are quit high! So running through my head that morning was “endurance”, “stealth”, “alertness”, “wits” and “senses” so that I could hold my own and we could try to get close enough to see these animals and not be charged or gorged or cause them too much stress. Most importantly though was “respect the wildlife and the bush” and not ignore the subtle signs.. So with all this running through my head, I felt amp’d and ready for the next 1hr or more ahead, depending on how quickly we found the rhino. It was actually many hours later that we came upon them…
This particular morning, the four of us bundled into the VX Landcruiser game viewer that was completely open except for the canvas roof! The biting wind at first light feels extremely cold, but we all feel exhilarated to be doing a walking safari and to hopefully find these amazing creatures on foot.
Within a few minutes of departing, we are treated with loads of plains game sighting so close to our lodgings. Stately giraffes, zebras, impala, and a relaxed bull elephant grazing. As we cross the drift, its beautiful with the low lying mist over the water, and at least the river is lower and easier to cross.
We head into a well known Rhino area, and we cant believe our eyes! For staring down at us was a gnarly but beautiful leopard. It peaked its head over a rise to look at us, but doesn't flee and we take a few snaps of it before it heads in the direction we are going. We can’t believe our good fortunate as it appears closer to us this time and sits gracefully in the long grass. What an amazing morning already and we haven't even seen rhino yet!
We continue on and before long we come across the expected tracks of rhino spoor on the road heading into the bush. We park the car and I slowly remove my warm kit as we know its will only get hotter and we don’t want to be weighed down unnecessarily. Before we start tracking, we advise the anti poaching team of our whereabouts and our plan, then head off.
As we follow the two tracks of rhino, with their clear three elongated eye-shaped toes, I notice the bush looks different as we move. The first is quite open and dry with lots of acacias, but there is a spattering of baobabs and other big trees. We then cross into a band of big mopane trees and after a couple of hrs of walking we are now in dense shrub area with lots of meandering game trails and we know we are in black rhino territory. The bushes around us were snipped and pruned, a sure sign of black rhino and then we also come across very fresh rhino dung, where the guide excitedly picks it up to say "feel how warm it is, and look at the snipped angles of twigs in it, definitely black rhino!" Yes I touched it. Yes it was warm - thankfully it did not smell!
Not long after we come across massive rhino middens (basically an area they all defecate in). There are rhino tracks everywhere and lots of spoor. We are now creeping along and the guide always makes sure we stay upwind of them. The ground is compacted clayey earth that with a small kick, sends up a plume of fine dust that shows the direction of the wind. As the animal game trails are so narrow, we keep a wide circuit to ensure we don't accidentally spook them or startle them - or worse get charged by them. Now we are close, Philip hears them move off quickly, they have been just ahead of us for some time now, always moving and with giraffe and ox-peckers constantly giving our position away, it's only now that we have been able to finally get close enough to hear them.
All of a sudden the guide grabs me and tells me to crouch down very low and move to the side. In front of us were two rhino, a mother and a calf (a somewhat large calf!) and they stare at us behind a dense bush for a few minutes before snorting and charging off to the right. We were about to rise when I see movement to the left, its definitely a large black rhino and I draw its attention to the main guide who also sees it and after assessing the situation, tells us to stand at the end of a trail that would reveal it to us as it crosses to join the first two. As it crosses, it quickly turns at us in a swirl of dust and snorts and does a very short mock charge. I manage to get a quick couple of shots before I hear and sense movement behind me and a yank as I find myself yanked sideways. The other guide has actually turned and run, while Philip has grabbed my bag to move me out of harm's way but the main guide isn't happy as he knows its just mock charging and we shouldn't move, but our reaction was enough and it sped off after the others. Phew... what an adrenaline rush!
After an animated conversation on what just happened, we trace the spoor carefully and find that the last rhino was most likely a bull due to his size, had actually arrived from a different direction to the mother and calf. So we head back and now are talking more openly compared to the silent and cautious march we had been on till now. Still observing, but relaxed, we head back in a straight line and we realise so many other more recent tracks of rhino have been crossing as we head back. What an amazing place, to still have these protected species, so well guarded and monitored, but unlike so many other places we have seen rhino, these are very wild!
Additional Note: Humani Ranch has had a long history, nearly a century, and throughout that time has expereinced everything that nature, corrupt governments, and every type of visitor imaginable. They have helped young boys find a place to become men, or lost souls find a purpose. Here they want all their guests to feel as immersed in nature and as close to it as they can and to one day be a viable photographic operation as well. Doing this tracking we hoped would one day help as well as assist with the monitoring and keeping friendly eyes on this critically endangered species, who are still being poached for their horns. Humani ranch, which is part of the Savé Valley Conservancy is a very heavily populated wildlife area in Zimbabwe.
