Cape Buffalo Bull

Pen Drawing on A4 Paper

Here is a sketch that I did tonight , it is of a buffalo bull that I saw near Baines Camp in the Okavango Delta about a month back. I wanted to paint it, but just didn’t have the energy after a long day at work so I decided to do a Pen Drawing instead. I used three different pens to do this, a BIC ball point pen, a NS Liquid Ink Roller and a Staedtler Lumocolor permanent marker to fill in the large black areas. It took almost 2 hours to finish, but I would still like to do an oil painting of this.

Buffaloes are one of my favourite animals to see in the wild from a vehicle, but not on foot, since they have a reputation of charging first and asking questions later. It is not uncommon to hear reports of people who have been injured or killed by these beasts. Normally this happens when people are traveling on foot and happen to surprise one of these animals. It should not be strange that they are aggressive, since lions view them as prime game, and so it is only natural for them to go on the defensive and even to attack.

I remember the first time I saw some buffaloes on foot , which was while I was staying in Kasane.

 It was early in the morning, dew was still clinging to all the vegetation, which meant I was more interested in dodging the foliage so as not to get wet than paying attention to my immediate surroundings. That is why it came as a surprise when I thought I saw some cattle in the thick bush, but on closer inspection, turned out to be a herd of buffalo with calves. In order to get a better view, as well as to feel safe, I climbed a tree and spent some minutes watching them. Despite my good vantage point the wind was not in my favour and it was not long before they detected my presence and melted into the bush.

It is experience’s like this , when a person is alone with the wild, that one starts to cultivate a deep respect and awareness of nature. I still enjoy walking and exploring the bush when I have the opportunity to do so, however I am very careful, and never do it in areas where there is a high risk of meeting dangerous animals.