Top_Heavy's World

I felt more alive than I had in years. I finally slept, had a great breakfast and several mugs of that excellent British sweet tea. After breakfast I walked the compound, the name given to the cluster of cement buildings with thatched roofs, surrounded by a very high chain link fence with razor wire on top. The fence was built to protect the inhabitants during the revolution when Rhodesia became Zimbabwe. This was a bloody and tough time for the safari trade and the good people of the area.

The lodge was a circular building with 3 bedrooms, bath room, kitchen and family room. My room had 2 rocks, almost the size of basketballs, one in each corner. I asked why the rocks were placed in the corners and Milton explained the superstitions of the Africans. Evil spirits hide in corners, hence the buildings being round, they hide there waiting for people to mess with. The rocks are put there because the spirits can't stand on the rock, so they won't hide in the corner if there is a rock there to protect it.

The skinning shack and hanging pole were at the far end of the encampment. I walked down and watched as the fleshing of my Zebra skin continued. The eyes, ears and nose was carefully turned an scraped clean of flesh and fat. It was amazing to watch the detail work so carefully completed with such crude tools. The old knifes they used was about 1/4 of what they started as. By the handles I could tell most of them had been Old Timers, the antler or bone handles very worn. The blades were sharpened on a rock when ever they were dulled. The edge created by this type of sharpening was never close to the original fine edge, but it was as good as they had. The skinning shack itself was a square building, if "buiding" was the term. It was a furrow dug into the ground with sticks, peeled of their bark, stood into the trench. The dirt was repacked and the tops of the sticks were tied together with a crude rope made from the bark fibers. The frame for the thatched roof was constructed in the same manner. The door hole was left open. I assume the entire structure was built for shade, as there was no way it would keep out insects, varmints or large predators.

The skinning pole was 2 long steel pipes buried into the ground with cement around the base for support. There was a pulley at the top where the two poles met and a manual hoist crant to lift what ever animal had been harvested. The entire set up was primative, but seemed to work well in this part of the world.

I took time to look over the plumbing for my bath last night... I had been warned, under no circumstances allow the water into my mouth. I used bottled water to brush my teeth with and the cooking was done with filtered water. The water came from a 2" hose that ended in the lake a couple of hundred yards from the camp. I could see a 10' croc sunning on a big rock in the lake from where I stood. This was the largest body of water for the cattle and wild animals for miles around. The water was pumped by a 5 hp Briggs and Straton motor through a solid pipe to a brick structure. This tank, if you could call it that, was a 4'X4' square about 6' tall. It stood on legs of bricks that supported the base structure which carried the entire weight of the tank. A fire was burning under the tank to warm the water... part of yesterday's zebra hung on the side of the tank. This fire served to warm my water and to cook the servants food. This was definately not Iowa! There was another solid pipe that ran to the outside wall of the lodge, it was a gravity feed system to the 2 faucets. When I bathd last night, I could see small water insects swimming in the 2" of water. There was some algea in the water too, but I didn't know what it was until now. At least it was warm!

We finally decided to hunt, I was so interested in Africa I almost forgot that is why I was there! I left the baby eland, bottle fed since it was found, as friendly as any domesticated sheep or calf back home. A beautiful animal, I hoped to meet it's father or grandfather one of these days. We loaded into the truck, Allan and I in the front and my tracker and gun bearer on a 2X12 laid across the rear fender wells. The open cab was fantastic for game viewing and enjoying the splendor of Africa. In our travels I saw duiker, bushpigs,a hairy little pig much like the feral hogs I hunted back home, they were to quick to get a shot, impala and a big bull sable. I was still in awe of the sable from yesterday and I had decided to take him if the shot was offered. We manuvered but the old bull didn't hang around for long. Francoline and guinea fowl were plentiful and I was looking forward to a bird shoot this week. We spent several hours on foot, looking over the terrain and earning the fantastic sights and views. We needed leopard bait, so when an average impala ram offered a clear shot at about 60 yards, the .375 answered the call. Not overly climatic, we saw the small group, moved a short distance and I waited by a termite mound until it cleared. Impala are beautiful animals, similar in size to a 1 1/2 year old doe whitetail back home. We butchered most of the body and used the front shoulders for baits. I must say, of all of the game I ate while on safari, Imala was my least favorite.

The day came to an end with promise of another fantastic hunt in the morning.