Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Adventures in Africa : Part 3

This was a hunting trip, but it was so much more than that. And this being wild Africa and not on a preserve or a canned hunt, there was no guarantee of what, if anything, would be taken. Cape Buffalo are plentiful in the Dande Safari Area, but Plains Game are scarce. Still, DH had an exceptional hunt.

Just warning you in case you don't wish to see trophy photos. Hunting responsibly is an important form of conservation. And in this very economically depressed country, it is a big source of income and food. No less than 80% of the meat harvested is given to the villagers. The rest of it is used by the staff and served at meals. Nothing is wasted and it helps, somewhat, with the poaching. If the villagers are provided good, fresh meat (their main source of protein), then they needn't resort to poaching. Of course there is still a problem when it comes to elephants. They are heavily poached for their Ivory which commands a steep price when sold to China and the poachers do not make use of the meat. The Ivory is all they are after.

On day 7, DH  brought home an old Dugga Boy - they aged him to be at least 13 yrs old, which is old for a Cape Buffalo and he was scarred and nearly bald and beautiful.


His bosses (the 2 thick pieces that meet in the middle) are gorgeous - they are old and worn, and have incredible character. There are bigger bulls out there, but this was the one for us and everyone was excited to see that the tips of his horns were ivory colored.


The scouts, and Muza had to walk to the truck and cut a path for about a mile in order for the truck to reach the recovery site.


I'm sure glad there was a road that close and that we didn't have to haul him miles down from a mountain top!


That night, we dined like kings, but honestly, we did that every night.The chef and kitchen staff announced supper and shared what was on the menu each night. This photo is from the main camp. We spent the last 3 nights there:



 The rest of these are from Matombo Camp.
Here is our outdoor sink. I could use one of these for the crew!

                            

Here is the dining room:

                           

Roy and Rich were our personal bartenders:

                                       

Our table was beautifully set each night:


On one of the rare times we were in camp during the day for a few minutes, dropping off the buffalo at the skinning shed, we ran down to the kitchen. I wanted to meet the chef and thank him for the fabulous food. And this is his entire kitchen!


 Here's the other side


Every delectable dish was cooked in this!



including fresh bread every day.

                            

DH laughed that night and teased me by saying, "And here you've been complaining about wanting a bigger stove!" Why, yes. Yes, I have and now that argument has been shut down and is no longer valid. LOL.

I also think I'm going to have to step up my game in the kitchen. Our plates looked like this every night:


We had Hors d'oeuvres (and yes, I had to look that up!) each evening by the fire before supper and then an appetizer such as a cheese and tomato bruchetta, followed by the main dish, (sorry for the awful photo - I just snapped these with my phone and the lighting is awful)


and always a beautiful, delicious dessert like a milk tart or chocolate mousse. It was a huge treat to have meals prepared for us 3 times a day and we loved it all with the one exception: a French Cheese appetizer that squeaked when you bit into it. It was interesting.

I should have taken more photos of the food. :)

We continued to be spoiled with a daily laundry service. They washed our clothes in river water they heated in a huge cauldron and hung them on the clothesline to dry before ironing with an old iron heated on the stove. DH and I only took 2 changes of clothes. He said that's all we needed and it was. Each night, when we headed to bed, our laundry was neatly folded and waiting for us. And I know y'all are going to ask about showers. LOL. Our tents had a perfectly good bathroom, complete with a shower. Each night, one of the camp staff would stoke our hot water heater behind the tent:


with firewood and hot showers were enjoyed.

                                            

And yes, we had indoor plumbing. :)

                                

There was no electricity but they ran the generator for an hour or so in the morning and then again for a few hours in the evening. I was often furiously writing in my journal when the generator was turned off and fast asleep half a second later.

One night I awoke to what I was sure was a leopard growling and sidling along the outside of the tent on the other side of our beds. It gave me chills and thrilled me at the same time. The next morning I mentioned it to DH but he hadn't heard it. Sure enough, 2 leopards had come into camp that night and gotten into a tussle at the skinning shed. So, although I know y'all want pictures, I was not that brave. We saw a leopard one afternoon slinking across a rock, but he disappeared before anyone could blink. Roy said it was very unusual to see them during the day.

We did see some interesting birds. This is an African Wood Hoopoe. Funny little, busy birds that were fun to watch as they scurried about in the last bits of sunshine:

                              

And this is a Yellow Saddle-billed Stork we saw in a river bed. She moved in such a regal, stately manner as if she had all the time in the world


Poor Roy probably thought he had been saddled with a couple of young school children. We were fascinated with everything we saw and eagerly drank in the stories and information he shared.

I'll leave you with this photo and the accompanying tale.


Many moons ago, the Praying Mantis was the King of the Jungle. The hippo was a land dwelling animal and he ate absolutely everything in his path. As he grew bigger and bigger, the heat began to take its toll and he longed to take refuge in the cool river. He approached the Praying Mantis to ask permission to spend time in the river, but his request was denied, saying, "No. You will eat all the fish in the river." But the hippo denied this. The Praying Mantis finally relented with one stipulation. The Hippo must return to land each night rub his backside against a bush and spray his dung across it in order for the Praying Mantis to be assured that it was free of fish bones. And this is why hippos spend an inordinate amount of time in the water, yet they do not eat fish. :)

Perhaps I should leave you with a cuter photo. How about this little fella. These Vervet monkeys are pests, but they are fun to watch:



10 comments:

Tired Teacher said...

Congratulations to your DH on his Cape Buffalo. The horns are massive. I assume you are having it mounted?

I'm glad you took and posted photos of camp life. The eating area is elegant as is the sitting area. Kudos to the chef for preparing such yummy and attractive dishes in such a tiny kitchen.

Please tell me there are more posts about your trip.

barbara woods said...

enjoyed that very much

allthingzsewn said...

Glad to hear the hunt was successful, and where the meat went and so forth. That was a win win situation for everyone and even the bull in the long run.
The birds were beautiful. thanks so much for taking the time to share, I know that time is at a minimum. Will you get to rest a couple of days before starting work on the ranch again? Which make me think who took care of it while you and DH were gone?
GLad you're home safely.
Tonia

juliehallfeldhaus said...

I hope this is a 10 part story!!!

Unknown said...

Interesting! Is DH having the head fully mounted or an European mount? What about the hide? Not as colorful as a longhorn but would be neat. I dont hunt but we sell guns and ammo at the feed store so gotta ask what DH was shooting and the ammo

Joyce across the Pond said...

Oh thanks again for another good read. Responsible hunting is fine with me....your DH did well.
Elephants....here in the U.K. we had two programmes this week about Sabba Douglas Hamilton and their life in Kenya (google her if interested further)....we watched as an experienced Mother battled disease and didn't want to die because she had a little calf...Sabba and her friend and co-worker stayed all night so that they could ensure the young elephant didn't disappear....the next day the Mother did lie down and the calf was distressed and it was pitiful to watch her hug her mother with her trunk. However they did bring in a plane to take the little calf to an orphanage and it lived and did well...Sabba took her three children to see it and they got to feed it etc.
They also heard shooting one night and managed to find the elephant the next morning first thing before the poachers got it's ivory, Poachers are a nightmare and these people look after the elephants so well....they elephants come into the camp and it makes it very attractive for their paying guests.
Hope I haven't bored you all.
Hope there is more to come!!

Lindah said...

So very interesting! The horns are beautiful. Your DH must be very happy with that trophy. I was glad to read that nothing is wasted. Love reading the stories and "local color." The birds are so gorgeous. And a panther sharing the tent wall --yikes! After a strenuous hunting day, coming back to camp to a hot shower and a lovely meal must have been a real treat. Thanks for sharing. As one of the commenters said, hope this is a 10 part story.

Mary E. Stephens said...

Wow. So much familiar stuff here. It reminds of me of the stories I've grown up with. :-) I'm glad you got a Cape Buffalo. That's really something. It's sad that we live a world that is so misinformed about conservation hunting. We saw the results of under hunting in Michigan and it wasn't nice.

Don't you have an appreciation for African ingenuity? :-) Of course, in some situations it can be downright dangerous, but it doesn't look like you saw much of that. ;-)

My parents and grandparents have talked about some of the cooks that were employed by missionaries (both good and funny), and also some of the challenges of cooking in those situations. One grandmother used a little "oven" for awhile that sat on top of a campfire. Grandpa used to say it was a test of her sanctification. ;-) It's a lesson in thankfulness for what we have, isn't it?

Dar said...

Another interesting and wonderful pics of your experience. Thanks so much for showing us how you lived, ate and the information about conservation hunting. This is a great adventure for sure.

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

I don't know where to start!! Congrats on the success! And Leopards? and Indoor plumbing, and the small kitchen ( I am really going to have to get on the ball) .... oh I love it all!!

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