Day 6 / Exploring and Enjoying

 

  May 7, 2018
Last night we watched some of the black people skin the zebra.  Today, we went back to the skinning shed and looked at the meat and heart.  The bullet hadn't gone out [after entering the zebra], so [since the skinners found it] Dad got to keep it.

Skinning the gemsbuck

They have a very cool shed for skinning and salting.  [Salting the hides and skulls is one of the steps of preserving them and helps dry it out/keeps away bugs.]  [One of] my favorite spots is the salting area, [as I mentioned in the last post].  The floor slopes in the middle and they put the hide on the floor.  They then dump salt and cover the entire hide/skull.  Because that whole part of the room is for salting, they can get it everywhere and do what they need to without worrying about making a mess.



Even though it's going into winter here, there are still quite a lot of different flowers.  There is even Blue stem, like at home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The roofs at this lodge (Palala River lodge) are made from grass.  J.L. said it only needs to be redone every 20 some years.

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

Today, Dad, S., J.L, and I went to hunt in a spot which looked more like what we pictured Africa to be.  It was not as brushy, and grass was thicker.  Fewer trees were here and there.

 

We saw a herd of sables and got good pictures of them.  We saw leopard and hyena tracks.  I saw one and part of another centipede.  They [centipedes] are quite large and look as if to have a shell.  But I think they have been dead, so I'm not sure if they actually look like that.

 

J.L. gave us a couple of guinea fowl feathers and a huge porcupine quill.

Then we found them.  The gemsbuck.  We saw one at first, but Dad passed it up.  Then we saw 2.  Dad shot one from J.L.'s shoulder as we were all in the back of the pickup.  We got out and went to find it.  It took a while and S. and J.L. put their tracking skills to work.  It was some time later when they finally spotted blood.

We followed it and found the shot gemsbuck.  That one was tough.  Dad shot it correctly, but it was still up as best as it could and running.  When Dad got a chance, he shot it again, ending it completely.  It was a nice one.  We took a bunch of pictures and the 3 men loaded it.

As we drove out, we saw a large herd of wildebeest.  We came in, watched part of the skinning process, and then came into the lodge to eat dinner [noon meal]. 

This afternoon we have visited and relaxed.  The weather is so beautiful.  There is only a slight breeze, if any.

When we were told to duck or watch out for the trees, they weren't kidding.  Plants like this were plentiful.

9:18PM

Around 4PM, we 5 went with S. and J.L..  This time we drove around and saw quite a bunch of animals.  Impalas, steen bucks, warthogs...birds.  At one spot in the road, warthogs ran one way across and some type of buck ran the other.

All at once, as we drove through a really open area, J.L. pointed out a warthog.  And after it lifted its head to show off its tucks, J.L. told me to shoot it.

I shot myself one "pretty" warthog!

Okay, maybe not pretty in most people's opinion.  It was in very poor condition.  She was OLD and had no teeth.  Her skin was like old leather and she looked as though she had already been dead for days.  The poor girl.  I did her a favor by putting her out.  But I am pleased--very pleased--with her for she has such character and her tucks are so unique!  [And I like abnormal things, so she was perfect for me.]

I think I'll call her Aunt Matilda.

 

We drove around and saw still more animals.  The sunset was so gorgeous.

 

 

 

After dark, we spotlighted and were able to see new critters.  Rabbits, some of what we have [already] seen, bats, porcupines, waterbuck, etc., and the cutest little bush babies.

 

  

 

I asked Big J. how he's going to mount his monkey and he said he wasn't sure.  I thought then that he should have it holding a rope.  Dad added he should also put a little bandana on it.  J.L. and the rest of us got such a big kick out of it while in the back of the truck, spotlighting after dark.

Tonight we ate zebra for the first time and we all truly liked it.

 

Fun facts:

• Aunt Matilda (my warthog) was at least 9 years old.  Old for a warthog.
• Are you being aware of the lions and ticks?  It's crazy how both are or can be equally as deadly.
• Still no wifi, so we haven't been able to contact anyone in the States since we left the airport in Johannesburg.  The monkeys climbed up to it and messed it up before we got here.

One of the many meals we ate

 

 



Day 5 / Hunt, Eat, Rest, Hunt Some More

 
  May 6, 2018
Woke up at 5:30 AM and ate a very big (to me) breakfast.  They serve females first here and it is served quite fancy.

In the bedrooms, we had little jars of chocolate.  It was some of the best ever.

They [the people who help out with all sorts of things at the lodge] set the tables with 2 forks, 2 knives, one large spoon.  A cloth napkin is either folded up in one of at least two ways or draped over the hot plate pad.  One also gets a glass, a little plate, and a large plate. 

They usually serve you a starter in a plate or dish, depending on what you're eating.  Then, when finished with that, you serve yourself the meal [buffet style].  As I said, girls go first and that was something we had to get use to, since here we all get in line however we want, or usually older people first.  Then the ladies working there serve dessert.  Whenever we finished our dish/plate, [starter, main meal, or dessert], they immediately took it away.  

They make our beds every morning and do our laundry.  [They] make us snacks and build fires for us to visit around in the evenings.

[After breakfast, we loaded up and headed out in the pickup to do some hunting and exploring.  At one of the very first spots we stopped, our guide, J.L., {his initials} pointed out some clay pots natives made years and years ago.  He said those types of pots have never been found anywhere else in the world except for in Egypt and Mexico. 

The people left a hole in each pot and then patched that hole.  That way, when they needed to retrieve grain, they could break that small hole without destroying the entire container.  And they're not small pots.  No, they're like 3-5 feet tall.  But because of research being done around the pots and lack of time, we were unable to get any closer than this.]

Since we were already stopped to look at the pots, I took the opportunity to take a few pictures in this area.

 

 

 

  

  
This morning, we went to hunt, but also got to see a lot of different animals that we weren't going to shoot.  One of my favorites were the giraffes which we got to see up close and relaxed in their element.  We got many pictures (as you can tell...).  Also, I liked when a wildebeest ran across the road right in front of us. 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

We drove all morning, tracking animals and ducking trees.  [There were roads and trails through the bushy areas we drove, but branches hung over and, since we were sitting/standing in the pickup bed, we had to be careful to not get smacked by passing thorny branches.]
 

 

 
S. {his initials}  [our tracker/pickup driver] ducked as we passed under a tree, but his hat was taken off by a branch.  He had J.L. stop the pickup, as he was driving at the time, so he could retrieve it.  When he had gotten it, J.L. hit the gas and sped away, leaving S. in a cloud of dust.  Big J. had been standing and was not ready for that and I kid you not, he was same as thrown from the back of the pickup.  It was so funny [after he caught himself and didn't fall].  And with S. still on foot on the ground, trying to catch us, the rest of us cracked up.
 

 

 

 

[J.L. and Dad got off the pickup to track down an animal on foot and the remaining four of us stayed with S. as he drove around some land and stopped at a meeting place. 

 

While doing that, we went by J.L.'s house and got to see his goats and "pet" ostrich.  The ostrich was actually a wild one who got into J.L.'s pasture and refused to leave.  J.L. had told me I could shoot it as it was causing problems by attacking anyone who got in that pasture.  I was really looking forward to shooting him as he was a beauty!  But alas, the crazy bird got word from a "little birdy" and flew the coop before I could hunt it.

 

So, I suppose I'll just look at these pictures of that ostrich and think about the what ifs and how nice he would have looked mounted on my dark blue wall.  Mean while, he's probably running wild, enjoying life, and certainly not stopping.] 

 

 

 



Guinea Fowl 

 

 

Right before coming in to eat, some blue apes were playing on the bridge.  From the pickup, I think at 200 yards, Big J. "broke the ice" and shot the first animal of the trip, a monkey!  He hit it and then J.L. finished it quickly as it hadn't died instantly.
 

 

 

[After eating, we took a break to relax/nap/shower/etc. and let the heat of the day pass.  It was going into winter while we were there, so mornings and nights were chilly, but the day was pretty warm.  It was hot at times.  Usually around 3 to 4 PM, we would head back out to do more hunting.] 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have you ever seen a centipede like this?  We saw many of them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This evening, as we drove and hunted, we came across some zebras.  And just like that, Dad took aim and shot his first "striped horse."  He was pumped!  It was a mare and she was a beautiful one. 

 

 

Family pic with the zebra (minus Little J. since she stayed back at the lodge to catch up on sleep)

Dad, J.L., and S.

 

 

[And because I have a slight obsession with bones, skulls, and curious things, here's a collage of bones, skulls, and curious things we found while at my favorite place near the lodge.  The skinning shed!  I mean aren't those monkey and baboon skulls something?]

 

 

 

[Day 5 of our trip was great.  We were all having a wonderful time (though tired after all of the flying) and it was really just beginning.  Our daily selfie was taken after lunch/dinner (we were always calling it something different than J.L.'s wife, H. {her initials}, and it turned into a joke between us). We usually ate the noon meal and evening meal in the partial outdoor dining area/bar, where we shared so many stories and laughs during the entire time spent at the lodge.