WHERE ARE THE BARKING GECKOS ?

The sun was setting over the dunes, amidst a flurry of clouds tinged with orange and pink. It was our first evening in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. Noel raised his glass, a cocktail of gin and tonic water, with  lots of ice and a slice of fresh lemon. The lemons had been brought from our garden in Johannesburg, about 1 200 kilometres away. "Cheers, cheers, here's to a good trip and to good sightings and to good photography," echoed the four of us, as we raised our glasses. Yup, we had brought our own alcohol, so the "no purchasing of  alcohol on a Sunday" law did not effect us. "Cheers, Oom Piet, here's to you ! " Noel raised his glass in a toast. "You taught me a lot of things about the Kalahari, Oom Piet. You introduced me to gin and tonic and to your tot measure with Tietiesbaai inscribed on it, and we had many great conversations around your braai fire. So, once again, here's to you."  Noel was referring to Piet Heymans, who had a passion for the desert and its life, and had spent many hours photographing it.





Together with Henriette Engelbrecht, Oom Piet had written a book entitled, "Ousus: lady of the Kalahari." Oom Piet had photographed four lionesses and their cubs drinking at a waterhole at Kousant in January 1993. Just over a year later, Oom Piet, saw one of the female cubs, with the characteristic notches in her ear, and knew that this was a cub he had  originally photographed at the Kousant waterhole. Oom Piet took a photo of the regal lioness, which had now reached adulthood, surveying the landscape. He entered this photo in a photographic competition, and entitled it "Ousus", which means "older sister". It took over thirty trips to the Park since 1993 for Oom Piet to photograph and document the life of this lioness, he named Ousus. Ousus was not seen on every trip, and at times, Oom Piet became despondent. It was difficult to photograph and to track this lioness, as Oom Piet was restricted to gate times and to driving on the roads, and he was not able to visit the Park as often as he wished. Ousus lived for several years, and successfully raised a family of cubs. Her cubs, named Jan ( after Jan Hamman, chief photographer of Die Beeld newspaper ) and Freek, were often seen haunting the dunes. We were told that these two males are still seen today.

Oom Piet took a series of photographs of a Cape Cobra swallowing a Puff Adder near the Langklaas waterhole. These pictures have been published in many newspapers and other publications, worldwide. Oom Piet sat and photographed  for 52 minutes, watching the Cobra swallow the other snake. Below are four photographs from that sequence:

"You know," said Noel taking a sip of his gin and tonic, "I learnt a lot about the Kalahari from Oom Piet. He told us that if you see the agamas sitting high up in the bushes, and they are looking North, then it is going to rain." I glanced up at the cloudless sky. It did not look like rain, and I had not observed any agamas. The air was still warm from the scorching hot day and it was silent. I listened for the Barking Gecko ( Ptenopus garrulus ) bu theard only one calling in the distance. I always know that it is sunset in the Kalahari when I hear a cacaphony of clacking noises. The male Barking Gecko calls during the early evening in an effort to attrarct its mate. I listened but there were only one or two "clacks", and then nothing.  I was missing the sunset chorus, and was wondering what had happened to all the Barking Geckos.