The last month in Cubs Den has been one filled with excitement. Starting with the excitement of Father Christmas arriving with his Christmas stockings, dressing up with multiple feather bowers in the New year’s photo booth, to finding fresh lion tracks of the Tsalala pride, perfect for track moulding.
Amongst all this excitement have been many groups of excited children, to say the least. All geared up for the joys of a Christmas feast and new adventures that a new year brings. One group in particular was especially tuned into the Christmas spirit.
They went out on an afternoon drive and on their way home they witnessed and Impala being killed by a leopard. The very next morning they came across an Impala giving birth. They arrived on Founders deck all a-jitter from what they had just witnessed. Instead of simply saying that they had seen an impala being killed and the very next day one being born, the youngest girl wisely said “We have witnessed the cycle of life in the last two days. Both death and the birth of life.” She then simply walked away to choose her croissant and juice for the morning.
Later that day we went track moulding. We drove past many nurseries of impalas. The same girl said “A new year and a nursery of new impala lambs.” She was so very accurate, not only in stating what she saw but in the fact that wherever she looked she saw a cycle of life. Whether it was connecting that the rain had brought life back to the veld by allowing the dormant seeds to germinate resulting in a carpet of green, that in return gave the many impala lambs a positive start. Or by linking her new experiences with the new year and the opportunity that her experience at Londolozi brought her, in the form of the new friendships made in Cubs Den
One often underestimates how insightful children are. Here was a young girl who witnessed two fundamental truths about life and linked them perfectly together.
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” – Marcel Proust
A very pertinent quote, as it is often through children that we can gain a new appreciation for the bush, as they see many things differently to the way adults do.
I was so touched and in awe of the little girl you spoke of. “We have witnessed the circle of life in the past two days.”
Thank you for sharing…
Namaste,
Leah
How wonderful & wise, If only we could view things thru” children’s eyes more.Thank you for wonderful blog.