What is your spookiest hunting experience whether in Africa or anywhere in the world?
I'll start with mine. With all the experience on this forum, it amounts to just novice's tale.
I was in Timbavati Nature Reserve in October of 2021, during height of Covid. Our base was a well-appointed bush camp, but I needed to conduct an internet-monitored Covid test in order to make my connection in Johannesburg to fly back to the US. There was WiFi internet available at the Timbavati lodge / museum about 30-minute drive from our bush camp.
At about 8pm, my guide drove his Landcruiser seated in the cab with the Timbavati game warden, who always accompanied us, and I was seated up top on a raised exterior seat. It was a warm, windless October night and pitch black, other than the stars and the headlights. I was enjoying the stars and sounds of the African bush at night. As we topped a rise a half mile or so from the lodge, half a dozen sets of yellow eyes glowed in the headlights. The guide slows the truck to a stop, rolls down his window and calmly invites me into the cab. He did not have to ask twice.
I jumped in the cab squeezing the warden into the middle. At which point, the eyes approach in unison and emerging in the beam of the headlights trots 6 adult lions, one with quite an impressive mane. They approach slowly like a hunting party. After briefly surrounding the vehicle, three of them turn around and disappear into the dark and the other three proceed to lay down on the road, as seen in the attached picture.
We enjoyed watching the three for a few minutes at close range, I snapping pictures, while the guide and game warden marvel at how odd that so many lions should be hanging out on the road at night. When it was clear the lions were not moving, the guide gently tooted the horn and they moved enough that he could slowly and carefully wind around them. The three lions remained laid out calmly along side the road.
We continued to drive to the lodge which was now in view, perhaps 500 yards away, and we approached the perimeter electrified fence, which was at least 12 feet high with a vehicle gate. Naturally, the gate is kept closed as Timbavati is adjacent, really an extension of, as no fence separates it, to the entire Kruger National Park. The fence was woven steel so you could not see through it and it blocked the light from inside. There was a light post at that gate, but outside, say, a 30 foot circle, the immediate area around the fence was dark.
Being the last in the cab, it made sense that I jumped out of the truck to open the gate. I had already done it once during day light. This time it was different because a few surprises happened in quick succession. I opened the gate to discover a warden's truck parked just inside the gate loaded with dead impalas, perhaps from a management cull or some accident. We could not pull our truck in. Second, I noticed there was a splash line of blood, forming something of a chum line, from the dead impalas that had dripped along the road. Some blood pooled near where I was standing to open the gate. I realized it was the scent of the blood that attracted the lions to the road. As this is coming together in my mind, some large animal stirred in the brush not far from us, but out in the darkness. Could it be one or all three of the lions that had disappeared in the darkness heading towards the lodge maybe 10 minutes earlier? Was I the only living thing between the lions and what amounted to a buffet of impalas? My impulse was to immediately jump back in the truck, then after taking two quick strides in that direction, I realized I needed to close the gate, so I high-tailed it inside the lodge fence. I am not ashamed to admit I pulled the gate shut behind me with some enthusiasm. I'll note, the warden slammed the car door which I left ajar with similar enthusiasm. Then I called for someone to please move the truck, which took a few minutes. I called out again to the guide and the warden in the truck outside to confirm there were no lions about. I reopened the gate, just enough for him to pull in and then I again promptly shut the gate. The rest of the evening passed uneventfully with no sight or sounds of lions.
Fortunately, the internet-monitored Covid test turned out negative. I am grateful the option was available. I was able to move efficiently through Johannesburg airport the next day showing my iPhone app that I had passed a Covid test within three days of flying despite spending more than 10 days "in the veld."
What is your spookiest story?
I'll start with mine. With all the experience on this forum, it amounts to just novice's tale.
I was in Timbavati Nature Reserve in October of 2021, during height of Covid. Our base was a well-appointed bush camp, but I needed to conduct an internet-monitored Covid test in order to make my connection in Johannesburg to fly back to the US. There was WiFi internet available at the Timbavati lodge / museum about 30-minute drive from our bush camp.
At about 8pm, my guide drove his Landcruiser seated in the cab with the Timbavati game warden, who always accompanied us, and I was seated up top on a raised exterior seat. It was a warm, windless October night and pitch black, other than the stars and the headlights. I was enjoying the stars and sounds of the African bush at night. As we topped a rise a half mile or so from the lodge, half a dozen sets of yellow eyes glowed in the headlights. The guide slows the truck to a stop, rolls down his window and calmly invites me into the cab. He did not have to ask twice.
I jumped in the cab squeezing the warden into the middle. At which point, the eyes approach in unison and emerging in the beam of the headlights trots 6 adult lions, one with quite an impressive mane. They approach slowly like a hunting party. After briefly surrounding the vehicle, three of them turn around and disappear into the dark and the other three proceed to lay down on the road, as seen in the attached picture.
We enjoyed watching the three for a few minutes at close range, I snapping pictures, while the guide and game warden marvel at how odd that so many lions should be hanging out on the road at night. When it was clear the lions were not moving, the guide gently tooted the horn and they moved enough that he could slowly and carefully wind around them. The three lions remained laid out calmly along side the road.
We continued to drive to the lodge which was now in view, perhaps 500 yards away, and we approached the perimeter electrified fence, which was at least 12 feet high with a vehicle gate. Naturally, the gate is kept closed as Timbavati is adjacent, really an extension of, as no fence separates it, to the entire Kruger National Park. The fence was woven steel so you could not see through it and it blocked the light from inside. There was a light post at that gate, but outside, say, a 30 foot circle, the immediate area around the fence was dark.
Being the last in the cab, it made sense that I jumped out of the truck to open the gate. I had already done it once during day light. This time it was different because a few surprises happened in quick succession. I opened the gate to discover a warden's truck parked just inside the gate loaded with dead impalas, perhaps from a management cull or some accident. We could not pull our truck in. Second, I noticed there was a splash line of blood, forming something of a chum line, from the dead impalas that had dripped along the road. Some blood pooled near where I was standing to open the gate. I realized it was the scent of the blood that attracted the lions to the road. As this is coming together in my mind, some large animal stirred in the brush not far from us, but out in the darkness. Could it be one or all three of the lions that had disappeared in the darkness heading towards the lodge maybe 10 minutes earlier? Was I the only living thing between the lions and what amounted to a buffet of impalas? My impulse was to immediately jump back in the truck, then after taking two quick strides in that direction, I realized I needed to close the gate, so I high-tailed it inside the lodge fence. I am not ashamed to admit I pulled the gate shut behind me with some enthusiasm. I'll note, the warden slammed the car door which I left ajar with similar enthusiasm. Then I called for someone to please move the truck, which took a few minutes. I called out again to the guide and the warden in the truck outside to confirm there were no lions about. I reopened the gate, just enough for him to pull in and then I again promptly shut the gate. The rest of the evening passed uneventfully with no sight or sounds of lions.
Fortunately, the internet-monitored Covid test turned out negative. I am grateful the option was available. I was able to move efficiently through Johannesburg airport the next day showing my iPhone app that I had passed a Covid test within three days of flying despite spending more than 10 days "in the veld."
What is your spookiest story?
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