African Hunter Published Books Campfire Tales Volume 2 of 20 | Page 7

outpost with a Chef de Post, a few minor government officials and
local stores that sold basic necessities and food-stuffs.
Our camp was a stone’s-throw from the north side of the
Zambezi River and was shaded by a huge hollow baobab tree.
One day while out setting traps, I chanced on a well-used game
trail which lead up a small hill and disappeared between a group
of large boulders. I followed it, and getting to the granite stones
worked my way between them. The temperature in the Zambezi
Valley was then in the 40’s (deg C). So, as I squeezed between
those boulders, I came into a shaded area. Immediately there was
a temperature drop as well as a general calmness which appeared
to permeate the area. The ground sloped downward and there were
green shrubs and lush grass which looked cool and inviting after
the white-yellow heat of the outside. I remember that it had been
so hot that even the doves which normally call incessantly were
sitting with open beaks panting in the shade of the various trees.
Even the insects were silent. The sweat had been pouring down
my chest and out of my armpits making a dark ring around the
waist band of the shorts I wore. Even the veldskoens felt slippery
on my feet. To top it all off, the mopane bees had been in a frenzy
to get at the moisture around my eyes and mouth and the heavy
trap bag had been cutting into my shoulder. It was a relief to find
this cool, shaded place.
The trap bag fell from my shoulder. I just stood gazing at this
green oasis and again a calmness washed over me. At the bottom,
a small pool of dark water with a number of well used trails
leading into it caught my eye. A cool breeze passed over me and
the hair on my arms and the back of my neck stood up. I quickly
looked around and reached for the pistol the Smithsonian insisted
we carry, but a hidden voice whispered, “It’s all right, be easy”, or
I think it was a voice.
I felt a need to rest and picked up the trap bag and walked
African Hunter Magazine - Campfire Tales, Volume Two

Page 7