My first hunting trip in Africa

This is me some time ago

One of the great trips I was able to go on in Zambia as a kid was a hunting trip with my friend Neal Greyling and his dad.

We started out early in the morning and drove most of the day. First we were on paved roads then dirt roads, and finally two tracks. We finally arrived at a village where Neal's dad spent two hours bargaining with the chief over the hunting rights, what he would get when we returned and some camp help and a tracker.

Then we drove on into the bush. No roads. After a few hours of this driving we arrived at our camp. Not that it was set up or anything.  It became our camp after a bit of work setting up tents and other luxuries you don't find in the middle of the bush  including a wooden box with a hole cut into it with a toilet seat mounted on top. The African bush is very beautiful despite the many dangers. No words can describe it. You really have to take a trip out there and feel, hear and see it all. Sunsets and sunrises can be extremely colorful, from purple to oranges and reds mixing together to form such art you would think you are in some luxury paradise. Boy, was I spoiled as a kid to be able to grow up in such a great place.

Animals were scarce and it took some effort before we found some wildlife.  Neal's dad managed to shoot one. The order of the hunt was tracker until we visually saw the animals then Neal's dad took the lead followed by Neal since he had hunted before, (it was my first trip), then myself backed up by the tracker who I think was actually behind me to make sure I didn't mess up. When Neal's dad took a step we all stepped at the same time to try and keep the sound to a minimum. We walked like this for quite a ways since we first had to put a huge ant hill between us and the animals. We wound up going up the ant hill and Neal's dad had a kill-shot in one round. There was no good way for Neal or myself to get a bead on any others without spooking them so we wound up not even trying for more as they were gone in seconds.

We then left the tracker with the animal to fend off any lions or scavengers and went and drove the truck out to get the animal back to camp where the help butchered it. Everything is used except for what was inside the intestines.  We made a lot of biltong which is delicious.  It is like making beef jerky in America.

We spent a few days and found nothing else moving anywhere, not even lions or hyenas. Neal practiced driving his dad’s truck and backed into a tree and dented a custom made thick steel bumper. His dad was not happy; Neal and I spent the rest of the day further from camp as not to have to deal with it. We also spent hours at camp just target practicing for our last day there shooting trees.

Neal's dad said we had been there for a week. In fact we hadn't however none of us wore a watch and he was the boss so we packed up for the trip home. It was on the way back we found a warthog and again Neal's dad shot him.

Neal and I were hoping we would roll the truck so we would be stuck in the bush. Shortly after we get back home we knew we had to head off to boarding school and figured being stuck in the bush we could miss a few days of school. This never happened.

So after returning the helpers to their village we drove home.  Our parents showed Neal's dad the newspaper for that day. He thought everyone was playing a joke on him since we had come back two days early.

I heard Neal’s dad talking to my parents saying that Neal and I never had a drop of water on our skin during the whole trip.  I still can’t figure out what he was talking about as I drank lots of water during the hunting trip.