Day 2.
I awoke at about 4:00 am with raucous of the Whitebrowed Sparrow Weavers nesting close to the camp. I looked at my African sky, and prepared myself to shoot my pig that day. Rod brought the customary coffee-in-the-sleeping-bag, and asked what I was dreaming about. "I'm thinking about the pig I'm going to hunt today, actually doing some active visualisation." (Used to do this a lot in my days as a tri-athlete)
I left camp with Raymond and Uncle Clive and we set out on foot for the top camp. We again picked up the spoor of the wounded Blue Wildebeest and we set out to track him again. Following his tracks was difficult in the tall grass and hard ground, and there was no longer a blood trail. I was asked to keep my eyes open for the "Wildie" whilst they concentrated on following his tracks. I spotted a Steenbok ram, who was unaware of our presence. Uncle Clive and Raymond looked at each other, gave nods and I knew that they wanted me to take him. All of a sudden my mind raced. I had prepared myself to take a Warthog, not a Steenbok. Anyway, he disappeared into the bush. In all honesty, I was quite relieved. By then we had lost the Wildebeest spoor and we decided that we should scout the area and see if we could find a suitable and worthy Warthog. Stalking carefully through the bush, we nearly "stepped" on a Bushpig sleeping under a bush. I did not see him, but according to Raymond, he was a Rowland Ward trophy. Moment lost.
Raymond had spotted an excellent spot for "Warties" the previous day and we set off to park and wait for them. We settled ourselves in the shade of a tree and I must admit this was quite welcome, as it was hot. Raymond gallantly removed any sticks and thorns for me to sit down. I was instructed to aim and look through the scope to ensure that I had a comfortable shooting position. Did so and we settle down.
The peace and tranquillity of the bush had its effect on all of us. I noticed that Uncle Clive and Raymond had actually dozed off. All of a sudden I was alone, trying to stay awake as the hypnotism of the bush is quite strong. I studied each little bush, relaxing, watching the birds and the fight a Glossy Starling was having keeping other birds away from the water. |
Self catering