SANParks.org Forums

When you head to the park, what is your aim?

Are you armed with checklists, pda's etc. and tick off every bird you see? Do you have a count of how many birds you've seen during the day, how many mammals etc. Are you obsessive about identifying the bird in the bush twenty yards off the road? Does it gnaw away at you if the guy next door gets more ticks than you? Generally these folk are highly alert. You can identify them by the lunge for the binoculars if there is a slight movement in a bush. There is always a checklist and guide book close at hand.

OR,

Do you take a drive without an aim, stop and enjoy the surroundings. You don't get concerned if you cannot identify the LBJ that just flitted from beneath that bush. You enjoy watching the sun set, and don't care that you did not see a lion that day. To you, it's just about being away from it all and enjoying the bush.
These folk are normally identified by the spaced out look they have. You'll see them parked next to the road, staring off into the distance at nothing in particular. They are content to just sit and watch the world go by.

So which one are you?

Me, definitely a 'spaceman'(but a reformed ticker)

I start as a ticker but after a few hours become a spaceman

I'd be a Spaceticker, I think. I have all my guides ready, binoculars and camera never far away, update my birdlist as I go along. On the other hand I enjoy being in the bush, stopping at lookouts to enjoy the view, pulling into a loop for bush coffee, relaxing. Totally unconcerned if I didn't see the Big5 but mighty glad when I do! So yip, a bit of both.

Just call me "Major Tom"

Spaceman, no doubt. Only wake up when I get home & download the pic's

I am a Spaceman of 25 years standing .

Have you noticed that no-one has said 'ticker' yet.?

The reason being is that they are busy comparing lists in the Stiffneck thread

I'm with Bert, start off at the beginning of the holiday as a ticker and gradually become a spaceman.

I become totally "spaced out" the moment I drive through the gate

I'm 80% spaceman and 20% ticker.
I love the calmness of the bush, the total relaxing feeling you get from staring into millions of leaves,branches and spiderwebs. Then the world outside the park does not exist.
My plastic covered guide is always close by to tick off what we see during the day. At diner we would discuss the day's sightings and the guide is wiped clean. Tomorrow we start with a clean page and the wonder of what the new day with bring.

We're the same as Guinea Pig - a Spaceticker. We do all the same things. All the books, pencils, binoc's and camera's are everywhere - ready to grab when needed. I also must agree with DANKBAAR. Life outside the bush doesn't exist once we're through those gates. Even have a hard time to remember what day/date it is.

I would say both, will do the ticking and always have by binocs, camera and video cam ready (for my TR ), but love the bush. Hubby and I always put the engine off under a tree with nothing in sight and just listen what natures brings forward. And believe it or not, by doing this, sometimes natures comes to you, you don't even have to look for it.

I used to be a serious ticker but also have fallen into more the realms of spaceman now, in fact my job of ticker has fallen to Jock or other members of the family as I tended to neglect my duties badly.

Spaceticker!

I don't mind to see the little LBJ fly away, as I'll have made a photo of it, and later <smiley looking around> at work work my way through my photos, which includes ticking.

So I'm enjoying myself twice.

Let's reword this biased thread a bit.

When you go to a national park on your well earned holiday, having traveled from afar, probably at great cost, do you lie in bed each morning, wasting the best viewing time, chilling like you are on the beach, staring into space like a blob, missing all the great sightings, drinking a lot of brown liquid, then Mr spaceman, what the heck are you doing in Kruger or Kgalagadi

If you plan lists and routes beforehand, get up early and see the good stuff, including new birds, see a lot of animal interaction, go on night rides, walk the camps looking for birds, and flop into bed exhausted just to do it all again tomorrow, then you are a maximizer like me, who gets value for the holiday and goes home for a rest.

Let the slobs, sorry spacemen, call us tickers if they like, while showing their videos of the kids in the pool!