8 - Dangers of Sitting in the Back of a Land Cruiser

18 May 2010

Time here passes slowly and quickly. I cannot believe that we have been here a little over a month. It seems like we were arriving in the Joburg airport just a week ago. But when I think of all the things that have happened and all the fun we’ve had, it seems too much to fit into just a month.

Nothing too huge has happened in the past week, but a few small incidents are worth mentioning. The first happened when we were out with Mr Galka on a game drive. I was sitting on the back bench of the Cruiser with the trackers. When we go for game drives the bench and chairs in the bed of the Cruiser are elevated so that the passengers’ heads are well above the roof of the cab so as to have an unobstructed view of the surrounding bush. It is wonderful to sit there on the back, the wind whipping my hair, the sun on my face and 360 degree views of the life around me.

There are some dangers involved in this kind of seating, though. The bench seats are particularly dangerous, as there is not a whole lot to grab onto to keep oneself upright, especially when the driver overlooks one of the many deep aardvark holes in the road. While sitting on the back bench one must also be constantly wary of low-hanging plant life, often resorting to last-minute duck-and-cover maneuvers to avoid one’s face being scratched off. More than once I have been sitting on the back, totally absorbed by the beauty surrounding me, and been caught unawares by a malicious low-hanging thorn branch. The result is a decidedly ungraceful lurch of my body, arms and legs flailing as my head is wrenched backwards by my hair, a large chunk of which is usually left behind on the offending piece of greenery, waving in the breeze like a spoil of war.

On this particular game drive one of the trackers spotted an impala and called for Tokkie to stop and reverse a short way for Mr Galka to have a better view of it. I had thus far succeeded in avoiding any undesirable encounters of the botanical kind, but this was not to last for long. I was straining my eyes in the direction the tracker was pointing as Tokkie began to reverse slowly. So totally preoccupied was I that I had forgotten about the small branch of curved thorns which I had previously avoided when we were driving forward. I was rudely reminded of it as I felt the claw-like thorns dig into my left ear just as the Cruiser rolled to a stop. My head followed the branch as Tokkie put the Cruiser into first gear, the impala gone. My reaction was to grab the branch with my hand to try to keep it from pulling me completely out of the vehicle, which got me nothing except more pain, this time in the palm of my hand, and if it were not for the quick action of Lazarus the tracker I would probably be less an ear today. He snapped the twig off above my ear just as the Cruiser began to gain some real speed. I was then at my leisure to disengage the thorns from my tender earlobe, feeling somewhat less enchanted with the beauty of the surrounding bush. I am healing well from this little mishap and am glad to report that none of the thorns succeeded in making it all the way through my ear.

Other than that, there has been reports of another problem elephant and three problem buffalo roaming around. It’s difficult to know what to believe when things like this crop up because all the meat from problem animals is up for grabs to whoever happens to hear the gunshot and come running. Free meat is definitely something to lie for, and it puts Threeways in a somewhat awkward position. On the one hand, it is Tokkie’s contractual responsibility to go after any real problem animals to protect the people who live on the concession. If he does not do something about a reported problem animal and someone gets hurt or killed, he could be in a position to lose the hunting rights he has already paid for, no refund. On the other hand, if he goes after every “problem” animal that is reported, not only is he out the money and time and fuel spent to track it down, but he also is potentially taking out an animal which could have been made into money on a hunt. Like everything around here it is a line which must be walked with caution.

Anyway, Tokkie decided that the rumored problem elephant warranted at least an investigation, so the past 2 days have been spent on the concession chasing 2-day old spoor and wild stories. It has made for some wonderful bush walks, but seemed to me to be a massive waste of resources. Although, I suppose in the long run it was better to at least show up and move around in order to avoid conflict and accusations later on. Yesterday we walked through a section of the concession which none of us had ever been to, and was radically different from the other areas we’d rambled on. The trees were tall and green, the land was scattered with small hills, some pure rock, others sandy, still others covered in fertile soil. We followed a small flow of water to its source, a small bubbling spring coming straight up from the sand.

At one point when it had been some time since we’d seen human life we stumbled onto a small shantily-built encampment. There were a few hovels squatting forlornly on the swept dirt, a worm-ridden yellow dog growled lethargically at us, and a little black-and-white cat kept a wary distance. A woman of indeterminate age emerged to talk with the trackers. She wore a knit cap, a filthy t-shirt fashioned into a tank top, and an old bath towel wrapped around her waist. Her face was wrinkled and twisted into a permanent grimace of such character that I could not help taking numerous pictures. She had maybe never seen a camera in her entire life and I found myself wondering if she thought I was as interesting as I found her to be.

When we had moved on, Tokkie confided in me his convictions that this woman and her husband were poaching out there. We had seen more game spoor way out there than we had in other areas of the concession, and the woman and her husband did not seem to be lacking for food.

Dirkie and I have been taking walks together in the evenings, which has been really fun and relaxing. I’ve decided that my volatile first impressions of her must have been clouded by stress or moodiness or something because she is a very sweet girl and I’m finding myself becoming better friends with her every day. She and David and I spent 2 days cutting, spicing, and hanging meat for biltong and jerky. Can’t wait until it’s finished drying, although the changing weather may delay the process a bit. The temperature has dropped significantly from shorts and t-shirt weather to jeans and sweater weather. The drive home from the concession yesterday evening nearly froze my face off.

I’ve spent some time working on Tokkie’s cattle records and now have a better idea of the enormity of the mess and state of disorganization they are in. I anticipate that it’s going to be an ongoing project for the entire remaining 5 months, but I dearly hope it doesn’t take that long. I might lose my mind.

Today Mr Galka is sitting in a blind with Mrs Galka. Their son may or may not be walking around looking for wildebeest. I am not totally sure if he went out or decided to hover around camp for the day. He is very ready to head back home, and that’s putting it lightly. They leave the day after tomorrow, and I honestly think all three of them are very eager for this vacation to be over. For some families 14 days in the bush is just too much.

Otherwise, things are just peachy. David and Tokkie have been scheming up various business plans for us to start over here, everything from cattle and chicken farming to small loans and private schools. And according to David’s mom our India stuff is selling for plenty enough to make it worth our while, so who really knows what we’ll end up doing. We bought a GRE study book and are also thinking of going back to school. Who really knows where we’ll end up. . .