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When one is immersed in Nature, and one avoids, as far as practically possible, making use of the few accoutrements of comfort you may have brought from the modern world, you become acutely aware of your environment, of your situation, and of any change to it. Any sound, any smell, the strength and quality of the light, the temperature, the wind, all take on new importance. Each state has special meaning and implications; each change in state becomes an event. So it is with dawn. Dawn, when a new world slowly emerges from the darkness. It is a time...

I arrived at another pan in the afternoon. There was quite a lot of recent animal sign around, and I spotted a few Hartebeest out on the pan. It was a place that made me feel like I had arrived. I organised my camp so that I would be reasonably safe from night predators, then took a chair and gave myself over to the night… You can listen to my impressions here: Enjoy!...

I continued on my meander through the bush and by late afternoon I came upon another pan where I decided to make camp for the night. Here are more of my observations and thoughts...

Today I worked my way Northwards, deep into the wilderness. I was heading for some pans I planned to explore. Tonight I have my camp on the edge of one of them. The light is slowly fading from the sky, but I am ready for the night; as safe as I can hope to be out in the open. It is time to face my chair to the setting sun and to let my thoughts go… Enjoy!...

I left behind the last signs of the Middle World some two hours ago. This is proper wilderness, and that means almost anything can happen. The sun is setting and I need to find somewhere to overnight. I turn off the track (which I guess still represents evidence of human activity, however tenuous), and work my way into bush. About a kilometre in I find a suitable tree to spend the night under. Enjoy the rest of the story here:...

I spent the first evening of my expedition at a guesthouse on a Kalahari farm.It was still in the Modern World, but nearing its end. Before sunset I went for a walk. Here’s the voice recording I made that evening. Enjoy!...

After much planning and shifting around of responsibilities and obligations, I was finally able to get away on a new expedition. Below is the first of a few voice recordings I made in the veld, which I will share with you. Enjoy!...

  You can listen to the voice recording, or rear through the text below. Enjoy!   Lion sign! The spoor from their soft pads was difficult to spot in the grass and litter, but the droppings told the story. This mere trace, more than a day old, grabbed our attention. Somewhere here, perhaps close, was the absolute predator of the African bush. We were in the presence of brutal strength that is singularly focused on its own survival – without question or compassion. The mere possibility of confronting lions in the wild when you are on foot and exposed,...

You can listen to the voice recording, or read through the text below. Enjoy!   I was not expecting them in such dense bush, but there they were – a small herd of zebra in a grassy clearing. They were unaware of me and completely at ease. Some were leisurely grazing, others stood dreaming with cocked hind leg, one or two were lying down. None jerked up a head to nervously scout around, or paused to test the breeze with wide nostrils. It made sense. I had not spotted any lion sign in the area nor heard any roaring...

I felt I could not do justice to the richness of this piece in a narrative, so I would ask that you rather read through it. Enjoy! The sun is setting and the fire is happily murmuring to itself. Jan-Martin, my companion on this expedition, is fiddling together something for dinner. I should write up my diary.  Soon it will be dark and the evening will take its own course, which I won’t want to interfere with.  Now is the best time to record the day. But I just sit and gaze out over the darkening valley below and...