An African Harrier-Hawk and a Stupid Driver - Photographs and Tales from the Kruger Part 2
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I try to never really lose my temper, especially with people driving badly. In South Africa, we have various modes of "public" transport, and these drivers drive incredibly reckless. Many people react by getting mad and this causes many problems. So, in my mode of driving, I always anticipate and react with a kind of indifference. Or I always try.
But when we drove slowly toward an African Harrier-Hawk, a random car saw an elephant down the road (see my photograph at the bottom of this post), and proceeded to try and get past us in a violent manner, almost hitting the Hawk, speeding off toward a lone elephant.
We almost did not have enough time to process just what happened. The bird jumping or flying up the tree stump is exactly the moment the car speeded by us. Luckily my finger was on the shutter button, and I caught the moment on photograph, but the moment just left us quiet. Can people be this petty, this selfish? Can people really care this little to animals we drove so far to see? This is why, I would say, we cannot have nice things. Because people are so reckless.
Either way, it was still a beautiful moment, one that we only contemplated for a short moment. Because of this reckless driver, in fact, stupid driver, our morning did not start as we planned.
I am glad that I was able to capture the bird in its majesty, in its full glory. It is rare that we see them in the wild this close. One morning at home, I saw one sitting on our roof, but as soon as it saw me, it took off. It did not like my presence.
But here, it sat so close to the road, giving us the show of a lifetime. As noted already in previous posts about the Kruger, people just come here to see lions, and perhaps some of the other bigger animals. But for hawks, eagles, birds, and lesser known animals, people could not care much. Which is sad, because these animals are in themselves just as magnificent, important, and beautiful.
This caring less for other animals, lead people to drive reckless and careless, thinking only about themselves. But I guess such is life...
Just before it finally flew away, it gave us a beautiful look. Its eyes almost locked into my through the camera lens. I almost felt like it would fly toward me, to eat me as its prey. But it obviously did not, and between us there was a window.
As the stupid driver drove past us, toward the elephant, I snapped a photograph of the car out of frustration. I am not sure why I did this. I would never report the driver to the authorities, as I am not such a person. What will it help? It could have been much worse, then I would definitely have said something, but what would my protest help in the bigger scheme of things? The person is probably using a rental vehicle, the authorities will not do anything because there is not real evidence.
Such is life, as we must continually remind ourselves.
For now, let us appreciate the beauty of this bird, and try and keep ourselves calm against such reckless behaviour by selfish people.
Happy photographing!
All of the musings and writings are my own, albeit inspired by this stupid driver. The photographs are my own, taken with my Nikon D300 and Tamron 300mm zoom lens.
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