The story of the eagle

I was living in birder’s paradise the past three days. For MCC Mozambique’s annual retreat, we went to a game park in Manica province, near Gorongoza National Park. The game park supports herds of Impala, Kudu, other antelope, a few buffalo, warthogs, monkeys, baboons, some lions, and the occasional herd of elephants. The game park normally entertains hunters, but they were happy to accommodate us for our 3 day retreat. Getting there was a bit of excitement. We left town around 9:30 for what as supposed to be a 6 hour drive. It took 12. The sun was setting at 6 as we turned into the long private road leading from town to the camp, and we were pushing it maybe a bit too fast. Then suddenly a large animal burst from the bush and hit our van!  Thankfully we weren’t hurt, and the animal ran away, but in the battle between kudu and vehicle, our van lost. It refused to move forward. After a couple hours the driver managed to get it going again, but after we’d only traveled a couple minutes, it stopped again. The kids curled up in the back and we prepared to wait for rescue, but with no cell phone reception, we knew that could be a while in coming. And knowing we were in a game park, we weren’t about to WALK out into the night in search of help. Thankfully, Aziza had packed ample food and water for the trip. As Joao put it: “we have food, water, and good spirit. What more do we need?”

Help did come. Some other MCCers who had arrived earlier in the day with their own truck decided to drive up the road towards town until they reached cell phone reception, and found us along the way. They did get the van moving again and we all reached camp safely.

Every morning at 6 AM we would go on game drives along the endless kilometers of paths that wound their way through the bush. Sadly we didn’t see any elephants, though a couple of people did say they saw a lion. The region was hilly and dry, with low widely spaced trees, and denser vegetation around the water sources. Summer was just arriving and the leaves were beginning to emerge. As a birder, this was perfect as the birds weren’t lost among the foliage and I was able to see some migrants coming through. I tried to keep it down to 15 lifers a day! For those of you who haven’t been hanging around birders long enough to know what a lifer is, it is a species that you see for the first time in your life, and definitely a noteworthy occasion. To see 45 in a three-day span was AMAZING. One afternoon we went for a walk on a dry riverbed, and saw where elephants were digging for water hidden below the sand. We heard a Greater Honeyguide calling at us from the banks of the river. If we were to have followed their call through the woods they would have lead us straight to a bee-hive full of honey. There has been a long understanding between these birds and people that when you harvest the honey, you will reciprocate by leaving some of the comb for the bird.

Stephanie (MCC SALTer in Machanga) and me standing in the midst of muddy elephant tracks at the water's edge.

 One time, I stopped the car to point out a large eagle sitting in a tree not far from the path. Eric (another MCCer from Canada), our Afrikaans guide, and myself were peering through our binoculars for a good 5 minutes, trying to figure out what species of eagle it was. Joao (MCC Mozambique national staff member) turned to me and said, with a hint of a smile in the corner of his mouth: why don’t you just ask the bird what he’s called? I laughed heartily at his joke and I turned back to Sinclair’s Guide to the Bird’s of Southern Africa.  But was it just a joke? Mozambicans have a most cunning sense of humour that can make a crowd of people burst into laughter and at the same time reveal the deepest of truths. Of course the bird knows who he is. He doesn’t need Sinclair’s Guide to the Birds of Southern Africa to tell him that. If it doesn’t matter to him if he had a grey instead of yellow bill, why does it matter to us? Why are we the only ones who aren’t satisfied with the answer to the Ultimate Question and why do we insist on trying to answer it for every other living thing as well?

After much debating and consulting of various bird guides, we decided it was a Wahlberg’s Eagle.

Driving along the dry river bed, close to where we saw the Wahlberg's Eagle.

The highlight of the retreat was probably the night we drove up to the top of a mountain and watched the sun set over the trees. It was breathtaking beyond description. After, we sang songs around a campfire and ate a delicious supper of wild game. We watched the moon rise, so bright and full that it almost (but not quite fully) obscured the stars.

 And so, I have fallen in love with Africa. With the unmatchable beauty of the wild; with the wit, wisdom, and song of the people. It will be a long journey as I seek to understand the past of this country, feel the rhythm, discover just what it is I am here to do, and become aware of the hopes people have for the future. But if ever I get lost along the way and find myself wondering who am I and what is my purpose here? I’ll remember to keep in good spirit and take a lesson from the eagle.