Cats and Caves
I feel caged in big cities sometimes, so I was more than happy to get back to Nature, even though it meant climbing down into the musty and stinky Arnhem Cave in search of bats. Ankle-deep in guano, we searched in the darkness for flying creatures with big teeth or funny horseshoe-shaped noses, disturbing their sleep. As long as we used red light, the bats were not bothered much. Only on dead mummified "vampires" could I use the full force of my flash. Hanging just as they died - still upside down, clutching to the ragged ceiling with sharp claws, they looked like perfect Halloween decorations.



Back at the farm on whose property the caves were located, a year-old cheetah was closely guarding a chewed-up yellow tennis-ball. It wouldn't let me get too close, but to the farm owner it was just like a house cat.