20 Nov, 2009

An unexpected snowfall has transformed Lesotho's Sani Pass region. Cameraman Boris von Schoenebeck seizes this rare opportunity to film the region's hardy ice rats as they forage in the snow.

Sakhile and I were staying at the bottom of the Sani Pass and so had no idea what sort of weather to expect each time we travelled to the top of the pass. Weather conditions at the bottom (in South Africa) are usually very different from those at the top of the pass in Lesotho.

It was raining when we started our trip on Friday. Some way up the mountain, the rain turned to sleet and it was snowing by the time we reached the top of the pass. An icy wind was also blowing and we soon realised that we were very unsuitably dressed for the harsh weather.

I had never filmed Sloggett's ice rats (Otomys sloggetti) in the snow so we decided to brave the cold in the hope of spotting the hardy rodents. We crouched in the snow and waited for any movement. As its name suggests, the ice rat is well adapted to the cold climate here – but no animal would have been foolish enough to come out of its hiding place on this particular day (except perhaps a polar bear!). The snowy landscape was very still and the only movement we noticed was that of the wind in the small bushes around us. We soon packed up and headed indoors for some hot chocolate.

We returned to the same spot on the following day and were surprised to see how much snow had melted during the night. Large areas of grass and bare ground were now visible. We soon spotted ice rats scurrying across the remaining snow and foraging for food on the green islands of grass. I had filmed these animals in all types of weather but on this day they really lived up to their hardy reputation.

These last two days were quite special for Sakhile and me. We did not expect to see so much snow in the middle of November and we certainly learned that Lesotho and the Maluti Mountains are full of surprises...

Comments

Please log in or join to post a comment.