More than any other animal, elephants have shaped the ecosystems of Africa. Their need for space is, in part, influencing southern African conservation and the creation of natural corridors and mega-parks.

This time of year, as you drive through the Overberg and Karoo, you might notice large flocks of our national bird, the blue crane, visible from the road. Winter is the time of year that they gather in numbers.

There is something special about catching sight of a scrub hare just before dark.

Blinkies. Bloody blinkies! Before I went on a photographic safari in the Madikwe Game Reserve, I could take pictures and blinkies didn’t exist for me.

You know you’re in the Kalahari when you start seeing huge, thatched nests attached to any likely vertical structure – quiver trees, telephone poles, wind pumps and camelthorns.

I’m sure you’ve heard of the book Jock of the Bushveld, a South African classic loved by many. The concept and legacy of the Jock Safari Lodge originates from this; the lodge itself was funded from the trust fund of Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, the book’s author.

A different battle is being fought in an area where once Brits and Zulus, and Brits and Boers, fought for their respective homelands. Today, highly endangered big cats as well as other wild felines are fighting for survival in a rehabilitation centre.

In winter, the colours of nature fade to fawn and blonde. But in the Eastern Cape, things are just beginning to brighten up.

It is still dark when we pile into our vehicle and drive to the rendezvous spot – the scouts had gone out the night before to do a recce, and then got word to us that the mission was a go for the morning.