Traffic jams and human nature in the bush

There’s no place like home, they say.

Well, after spending two and a half days in a national park, I must confess that I was very relieved to step back into my humble abode.

Don’t get me wrong, the park was spectacular. We saw elephants, hippos, giraffe, lions, wildebeest, rhinos – yes, they’re not extinct yet – and a variety of other magnificent creatures. And, as a bonus, the weather was perfect – exactly what one would expect during summer in Africa.

But, by golly, the traffic nearly killed me.

Who’d have thought it possible? Working in the city means traffic is part and parcel of my daily life. But it was the last thing I expected when going on a bush adventure.

During the daily commute on our highways, accidents and other calamities that befall our fellow road users daily usually offer a bit of spectator value. Imagine when a herd of hippos seem to play a match of underwater hockey in a pool barely five metres from a low-water bridge.

Or when a bevvy of lionesses give each other a spa treatment while their cubs practise their hunting skills on each other’s tails.

But the most interesting observation when it comes to traffic jams is that human nature does not change with the venue.

Those who believe in multitasking while driving are there. You know, the ones who apply make-up, have breakfast and check their mail while behind the wheel.

One lady who specifically caught everyone’s attention is probably a professional contortionist. Not first on the scene, she was forced to take a photograph of what could possibly have been a leopard through the rear-window of her Mini – while driving.

In order to get the half-metre-long lens in the correct position, she used her butt as a suction cup on her windscreen, managed to overtake three game viewing vehicles, changed gears and snapped away. It was amazing to see and a tribute to homo sapiens’ dominance on the evolutionary ladder.

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