Meerkats and Tims

I lie in until 5.30 this morning, as I have been assigned to the Van Helsing group which is right next to the farmhouse. I grab a coffee and a rusk to dip in it, then Doug comes to pick us up and drives us a short distance to the burrow where the meerkats spent the night. This is a large group and it takes a while for them all to emerge from the burrow. There is a lot of play-fighting among the younger meerkats, while others – including a pregnant female – stand and soak up the warmth from the morning sun. Doug sets to work weighing them, but they are not especially co-operative.

Suddenly they are off and foraging, heading towards the road. There are wooden ladders on the high fence on our side of the road and the lower one opposite, and we clamber over to follow them. On the other side of the road delicate pink lilies grow close to the ground in between the trees and the landscape looks quite magical, like the forest in the movie Avatar. A crimson-breasted shrike provides a splash of red against the pastel shades. 

The meerkats use the fallen trunks of trees as sentry positions and don’t mind at all when we approach to photograph them. If we sit still they will come very close, paying no attention to us as they forage for insects. They are quite spread out so it’s possible to get between the leaders and the laggards and choose a spot that the rest of the group will pass. I find a fallen tree that looks like a prime sentry spot and settle at the lower end to wait for the meerkats. As expected, a sentry takes up his position at the opposite end to me and stays for quite some time, surveying the landscape in search of threats. A small lizard emerges from a hole in the trunk and briefly suns itself.

Taking a break from foraging, some of the meerkats begin to play-fight while others “pancake” on the sandy ground – spreading themselves out like spatchcock chickens on the grill at Nandos. Because the meerkats were slow to emerge, Doug radios HQ to let them know he won’t be taking their weights until 11am. By 10.30 the meerkats have resumed foraging and we decide to walk back to the farmhouse early. It’s been an amazing morning, with the meerkats displaying various different types of behaviour in a stunning landscape. It feels like such a privilege to be in this beautiful, peaceful place and to be able to observe the meerkats behaving naturally, as though we weren’t there.

When we get back, Mike prepares lunch of leftover spaghetti Bolognese accompanied by steak wraps. After brunch Bobby-Jo continues the photography lessons and we learn about focal lengths and apertures, then practice panning as she runs backwards and forwards along the drive. I’m definitely more confident now about switching between different settings on my camera although the pictures I take vary more in quality.

I’m with Sue and Ray again this afternoon, but Bobby-Jo is with another group and Mike is joining us. Alice picks us up, giving Sue the opportunity to give her the promised meerkat top, and we return to where we left the Van Helsing group this morning. They are very scattered, but come running towards Alice before beginning to make their way back to last night’s burrow. A pregnant female starts to dig frantically and we watch her, hoping she’ll find something impressive to eat, like a scorpion. She continues digging until we can see only the tip of her tail, stopping occasionally to look at us quizzically, but she never seems to find anything. Suddenly she stops digging and runs after the others who have mostly crossed the road by now, stopping briefly in sentry pose at the side of the road before scampering across with her tail held high.


The Van Helsing Group is particularly cooperative this evening, both in allowing Alice to weigh them and photogenically. Some groom each other and others play-fight in the golden evening light and we have plenty of opportunity to photograph them before one by one they slip into their burrow. We walk back to the farmhouse to change into clean clothes and Mike drives us over to Tims. We’re first to arrive at Tim’s house which was built for a former manager whose wife insisted that she would only accompany him if he built her a house. He invites us in, introduces us to another Tim who manages the research projects and pours us a “Tim’s” – his name for Pimms, a quintessentially British drink that seems incongruous here. We’re directed to the veranda and settle down to chat. An American woman called Laura arrives – she is a friend of the Kalahari Meerkat Project and receives exclusive access in return for generous donations – then Bobby-Jo and the others. The Tim's flows as smoothly as the conversation, while Sue and I (who are seated nearest to the light) try to evade the attention of countless moths and bugs.

We return to our farmhouse somewhat the worse for wear; Sue goes straight to bed and the rest of us eat dinner first. Tomorrow’s early start could be a struggle …