Frustrated with the cams going down? Annoyed when you settle in for a night of relaxing frog songs only to find the cam is pointing to the ground as if it’s looking for insects? Well before you blow a gasket...step back and take a deep breath. 
Earlier in the month Elephant Plains had lightning travel through the wiring and blow out who knows what...an electrician is on his way to figure that one out. If the power surge didn’t fry the radios, EP might be up sometime this next week.  Is it a guarantee? No...Why not? Well, while we watch the zoomie take us into the bushes and around the waterhole, the fact remains that in this part of Africa, our peeks into the world of amazing nature is a gift. The men and women behind the scenes work literally day and night, fixing and tweaking in order to allow us to sit in comfort and appreciate the sights and sounds of South Africa.  The signal from the camera travels for thousands of miles...over and under the sea, across the air, through cables and if we’re lucky...ends up on our computers or televisions as if by magic.
Tembe cam, the new beta test view that we’ve all learned to check for a daily dose of elephants and critters, took a direct hit by lightning, frying everything down to the nub.  This one is going to take time to assess and determine how and what can be done to get it back up as soon as possible. Why will it take a long time? Tembe is in a very remote place in Africa, hampering the possibility of a quick fix.  Take a peek at the link:

TEMBE INFO
Nkorho Pan cam survived a horrendous lightning storm this past week. The power went out several times causing the cam to return to its start up position, pointing at the ground.  Did we fuss? Only a little bit. Were we impatient? Yes, more than likely.  Were we grateful when the zoomies got up before the sunrise and fixed it? Oh yes...we certainly were. Will it happen again? You bet... 
Sure, we have times that storms take the cams down, we have times when the internet service is barely acceptable, and we have times that the cams just plain quit working for no apparent reason.  But when they do work, we are given the chance to see a tiny bit of Africa as it lives and breathes.
So what’s the good side of all this? If you happened to be watching when the storm rolled through at NK, you were treated to the awakening of all sorts of life, and might not have even noticed.  As the lightning flashed, the clouds opened up, and with the rain came promises of new life that had been lying quietly dormant for the past few months.  The grass seeds that had fallen into the dry soil were touched by the gentle hand of water, telling us the brown dry look of Sabi Sands will soon be turning a beautiful green.  Frogs, toads and insects felt the water touch their skin, telling them it was time to raise their heads and start their songs around the waterhole. Along with the rains, comes the birth of new babies, impala, wildebeest and the like. The recent storm came in with huge bolts of lightning, but lingered as it showered the area with a steady soaking rain, the life giving source for every living being on the earth.
These lightning storms will continue to roll through, but as we sit and wonder when the cams will come back, maybe we can remember that we are the invaders into this beautiful piece of nature.  As long as the rains come and the critters thrive, we can only be grateful for the glimpses we get from day to day.

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