Willem is a wildlife artist based in South Africa. He says "My aim is simply to express the beauty and wonder that is in Nature, and to heighten people's appreciation of plants, animals and the wilderness. Not everything I paint is African! Though I've never been there, I'm also fascinated by Asia and I've done paintings of Asian rhinos and birds as well. I may in future do some of European, Australian and American species too. I'm fascinated by wild things from all over the world! I mainly paint in watercolours. . . but actually many media including 'digital' paintings with the computer!"

For a change, instead of speaking about animals or plants, I would like to speak about a natural feature upon which many kinds of animals and plants depend. This is the Limpopo River! It is one of South Africa's two major rivers. The other one, the Orange, flows towards the west, and forms the northern border of our country in the west. The Limpopo River flows towards the east, and forms the eastern part of South Africa's northern border. It separates our country from Botswana and Zimbabwe. Outside of South Africa, it continues flowing through southern Mozambique and enters the Indian Ocean near the town of Xai-Xai. It originates in South Africa as two distinct rivers, the Crocodile and the Marico, which become the Limpopo where they join up. The Limpopo is 1 750 km/1 087 miles in total length. The first European to see it was Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama, who anchored at its mouth in 1498. He named it the Espirito Santo River; the name didn't stick. Its current name comes from the Rivombo, a group of Tsonga people who settled in the region and named it after their leader.

The photos you see here were taken on our most recent bird watching outing to the Club Ranch, where the Mokgalakwena River joins up with the Limpopo. You'll notice apart from the magnificent trees, the activity of our birders. We go there each spring to see if we can find the secretive Pel's Fishing Owls! This year, we did – we found three! The owls breed in the huge trees of the riverine forest. The place where we're going has an 'island' of sorts formed by the two rivers that is no-man's-land, not part of either Botswana or South Africa. This 'island' can often be reached on foot, especially at this time of year, since the water level is low and there may be sand banks stretching right across the riverbed. Indeed, this year there was enough sand that I was able to cross all the way over into Botswana! No customs or border hassles or anything. There are few people actually living in this region and consequently very little control over the border, apart from a huge 'Jurassic Park'-like gate and fence to keep elephants out, which we went through to get to the river itself. I just stood in Botswana for a few minutes, since the rest of the group was off elsewhere and I didn't want to be left behind.

It was Rudyard Kipling who in his 'Just So Stories' mentioned the "great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River, all set about with fever-trees". Here you can see what it looks like: the waters are indeed grey-greenish � but greasy? It is a rather muddy river and sluggishly-flowing in many parts, if it even flows at all. In this season and place it can be reduced to a number of stagnant pools separated from each other by sand banks. But in its lower reaches, after receiving water from several tributaries flowing from South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe, it becomes a perennial, strong-flowing river. Below where the Olifants River enters it in Mozambique, it is navigable by large ships, who only need to wait for high tide to get beyond the sand banks at its mouth.

What about the fever-trees Kipling mentions? Well these do indeed grow there! They're more characteristic of the eastern parts of the river; to the west, more typical trees are the Sycamore Fig Trees, Ana Trees, Nyala Trees, Apple Leaf Trees, Weeping Boer Bean Trees and Sausage Trees. Away from the river itself but throughout its valley grow many enormous Baobab Trees.

The river is the lifeblood of this dry region, feeding the roots of the trees of the riverine forests to form lush corridors frequented by many kinds of birds, mammals and other critters. The fig trees, especially, attract birds and monkeys with their year-round supply of tasty fruits. Many other trees also bear fruits. The fruits are meant to be eaten, by everything from small birds to elephants. By eating the fruits, these critters deposit their seeds, after a short trip through their digestive systems that weaken the tough seed-coats, along with a dollop of natural fertilizer, priming them for germination. In this way the animals ensure propagation for the forest trees even as the trees sustain them. The riverine trees attract bird species otherwise more typical of forests, such as turacos, green pigeons and parrots. Both Vervet and, in the more easterly part, Samango monkeys, also feed in the trees, while other mammals pick up fallen fruit from the ground. Reptiles such as lizards and snakes use the warm, moist corridor formed by the river and its tributaries to move inland from the subtropical lowlands of Mozambique, for example the Forest Cobra Ruan and I found at the Mphaphuli Nature Reserve. Several bird species are 'Limpopo Specials' and our club always looks out for them when visiting the Club Ranch: Meves' Starling, the Tropical Boubou, the White-headed Lapwing, Meyer's Parrot, the White-backed Night Heron, and the fishing owls, of course. While these are not entirely restricted to the river, it's one of the best places to see them.

The waters of the river themselves host many aquatic creatures. These include several species of freshwater fishes, including lungfish (a very ancient group), eels, minnows, barbs, yellowfish, labeos, tigerfish (we even saw a fish owl eating part of a tigerfish up in a tree!), catfish, killifish (beautiful, tiny fishes that complete their whole life cycle in a year) and cichlids (a huge family extremely diverse in Africa). There are times when even Bull Sharks, otherwise ocean-dwellers, swim far upstream and are found well inland in the Limpopo! The fishes sustain not only the fishing owls we saw, but a host of other fish-eating species from crocodiles to otters to kingfishers. The river hosts a thriving population of hippos. Other mammals large and small use it for drinking water, a very precious commodity especially in its higher reaches where it flows on the margins of the arid Kalahari Desert.

The river also sustains a large human population. In the whole of the Limpopo basin, about 14 million people live at present. A lot of water is extracted from the river for crop irrigation and for other human use. It is vital that the natural ecology of the river and its basin be protected to ensure the quality and quantity of the water it provides. This needs to be kept in mind because there is a lot of pressure for development in the Limpopo Valley, including things like coal mining and other large industries that may end up either withdrawing too much water, polluting the water of the river basin, or destroying the natural vegetation and its denizens. And indeed behind lots of these development plans, there are people who see dollar signs but have no concern for the welfare of either humans or animals. Beyond the romance of this river and the beauty of its wild landscapes, we need to think about all the living things that depend on it. As do so many living things for all of Planet Earth's natural, life-sustaining systems.

Willem

23.10.23 Front Page

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