The little ones count
We’re inclined to focus on the big things in life – it’s human nature. After all, they say, “Don’ t sweat the small stuff.’ But that’s not always the case and it’s never truer than in photography. A visit to a game park inevitably focuses on the big five – or the big whatever they have in the venue you’re visiting.
During a recent visit to Swakopmund in Namibia, Sherryl and I booked ourselves on “The little five” tour offered by a company called Living Desert Adventures. If you’re ever in the area, do it – you won’t be disappointed. Several guides run around the desert barefoot (with the guests trying to keep up) looking for a shovel-snouted lizard, the Namaqua chameleon, the venomous Peringuey’s adder, a dancing white lady spider and a Namib web-footed gecko. The spider is also known as the cartwheel spider – evidenced when you find one and it escapes.
Unfortunately, we picked a windy day and some the little five evaded detection as the changing sands obscured their tracks. But that didn’t detract from the fun we had -and there were a number of other little critters we did see, notwithstanding the shifting sand. In the end, we saw three of the five featured little ones – and what an enriching experience it turned out to be.
Walking down the stairs to my study this morning, I stood, three steps from the bottom, watching bees and others things cavorting through the flowers on a salvia bush growing in my garden. Suddenly I noticed a pair of carpenter bees (Xylocopa – or "woodcutter" if you’re Greek) enjoying the spread. They get their name from the perfectly round holes they bore into wood in order to nest. I grabbed my camera, seated myself on a chair in the garden and you can see the result above.
I can show you images I’ve taken of the big five, but this picture rates every bit as good as any of them – in my book. It makes you realise that while we think we have to get in our cars and drive somewhere to take pictures, there’s a whole lot happening in our own back yard.
And it’s every bit as exciting as the scene at the end of a long trip.
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