Problem leopards, marauding lions and hyenas, crop raiding bulls, the start of DG hunting for me...

[IvW]

OK, I assume you retrieved your son. Sit down and start writing!!!

Sure did and my sincere apologies for the delay.

Been a bit of a rough ride.

He broke his collar bone, eight weeks before National Championships last year, during a match wrestling in a two age category higher than his in preparation for the South African National championships held on 27-28 Sep 2019. He finished the match as the medic said it was just muscle. He won 2 golds and a silver on that compo. After the match it was realized that he had broken his collar bone 1 min 20 seconds into the first round. Operation followed and a pin was inserted. Six weeks later he was back at practice. At the National championships he wrestled, with the pin in and became the new Greco Roman National 0/15-85kg champion, silver 0/15-100kg and 2nd place 0/17 for the National Team trials.

Went to Russia for the two weeks training camp with the pin still in, did very well, still wrestling 0/17 category although he is only under 0/15.

Went in on Monday to have the pin removed and would have been back full time practice tonight. However they could not get the pin out and had to cut the bone open again. The result is he will be out for about another 8 weeks. He will however be back next week helping train the younger wrestlers as a coach until he can compete again.

This is probably boring and not hunting related and I apologize but my mind has been a bit otherwise occupied although I make a point to visit the site when I can. I will make some time over the weekend to continue, I promise.

Thanks for the patience.

 

[CAustin]

Sure did and my sincere apologies for the delay.

Been a bit of a rough ride.

He broke his collar bone, eight weeks before National Championships last year, during a match wrestling in a two age category higher than his in preparation for the South African National championships held on 27-28 Sep 2019. He finished the match as the medic said it was just muscle. He won 2 golds and a silver on that compo. After the match it was realized that he had broken his collar bone 1 min 20 seconds into the first round. Operation followed and a pin was inserted. Six weeks later he was back at practice. At the National championships he wrestled, with the pin in and became the new Greco Roman National 0/15-85kg champion, silver 0/15-100kg and 2nd place 0/17 for the National Team trials.

Went to Russia for the two weeks training camp with the pin still in, did very well, still wrestling 0/17 category although he is only under 0/15.

Went in on Monday to have the pin removed and would have been back full time practice tonight. However they could not get the pin out and had to cut the bone open again. The result is he will be out for about another 8 weeks. He will however be back next week helping train the younger wrestlers as a coach until he can compete again.

This is probably boring and not hunting related and I apologize but my mind has been a bit otherwise occupied although I make a point to visit the site when I can. I will make some time over the weekend to continue, I promise.

Thanks for the patience.

understandable sir! Your story is so good we all want to hear more. We now patiently await your return to telling us more of the adventure of your early hunting days. Thank you!

 

[Wade J VanGinkel]

Sounds like your son has the same dedication and toughness that you do.
Very commendable

 

[BRICKBURN]

Sure did and my sincere apologies for the delay.

Been a bit of a rough ride.

He broke his collar bone, eight weeks before National Championships last year, during a match wrestling in a two age category higher than his in preparation for the South African National championships held on 27-28 Sep 2019. He finished the match as the medic said it was just muscle. He won 2 golds and a silver on that compo. After the match it was realized that he had broken his collar bone 1 min 20 seconds into the first round. Operation followed and a pin was inserted. Six weeks later he was back at practice. At the National championships he wrestled, with the pin in and became the new Greco Roman National 0/15-85kg champion, silver 0/15-100kg and 2nd place 0/17 for the National Team trials.

Went to Russia for the two weeks training camp with the pin still in, did very well, still wrestling 0/17 category although he is only under 0/15.

Went in on Monday to have the pin removed and would have been back full time practice tonight. However they could not get the pin out and had to cut the bone open again. The result is he will be out for about another 8 weeks. He will however be back next week helping train the younger wrestlers as a coach until he can compete again.

This is probably boring and not hunting related and I apologize but my mind has been a bit otherwise occupied although I make a point to visit the site when I can. I will make some time over the weekend to continue, I promise.

Thanks for the patience.

I was teasing.
No apologies required - Family first.
I wish him well and a speedy recovery.

Write when it fits into your life. We will be waiting.

 

[gillettehunter]

We're enjoying your writings. Great subject and quite entertaining. Glad your son is on the mend. We'll still be here when you have the time to write again.
Bruce

 

[Ridgewalker]

Having broken my left collar bone two years in a row many many years ago, I am amazed he could compete in Greco/Roman wrestling with a broken collar bone! A lot tougher kid than I was! I certainly hope it works out for him! It certainly sounds like his skill level is quite good!

 

[Charles de Ribeau]

Lol...I was writing a journal but the hard drive got damaged and is non recoverable...

Will continue soon...my son has been stuck in Dubai since sat evening...they have thankfully just checked in and looks like he will be home tomorrow at about 10h30 local time..

I'm sorry that your hard drive crashed. I don't mean to be a "know it all" but I when it comes to IT matters, I do know a lot. I recommend that everyone create backups of their data at least once a day. Personally, I have multiple layers of backups for my main system. To start with, I use a Mac computer and it has a utility that will copy the entire hard drive once and then once an hour copy any files that have changed. Those backup files are stored on an external hard drive. (I keep two copies of that backup utility - one at the office and one at home). Next I use an online backup service (Carbonite) for all my important files. Given the time that you are investing in writing, it would be wise for you do look for something similar (perhaps not as obsessive as my strategy).

PM me if you'd like to discuss.

 

[Doug Hamilton]

After finishing my compulsory military service, I needed a break from hunting two legged problem animals, so I headed north. I had no responsibilities or family to report to so I headed to the bush. Zimbabwe to be exact. One of my mates who spent his time with me in the military had family in Karoi so we headed there.

Passing Lions Den we stopped at the butchery that was situated close to the main road. There we bumped into a man with a long white beard, a raspy voice and what appeared to be a blind, glassed over left eye. He was well tanned and had backed his Land Rover into the back of the butchery that had a gantry and proceeded to winch up a big “Mombe”(cow/ox). The owner motioned us away, quietly explaining that the man was not very friendly and did not take lightly to strangers. Let’s call him Mr. A.

We left and spent some time with my friends family in Karoi. Going on fishing excursions to Kariba, Chirundu and hunting in the surrounding bush on their and neighboring farms.

Some time later we were invited along to a get together at some shooting club outside of Lions Den and we tagged along. When we got there there was a large congregation of local farmers. Quite a few rifles had been laid out on the range. Two big gun boxes(military style wooden boxes) containing rifles were off to one side. Mr. A appeared and unlocked one, removing a FN FAL assault rifle which he proceeded to lay out on a mat of sorts. The rest of the day was spent by the participants in a shooting competition and Mr.A despite the condition of his left eye had walked away with the prize for the particular event he had participated in. He wore a cap of some military unit he was a member of during the war.

He only spoke to and mingled with certain people who were present and before the party started in earnest he had packed up and left.

I started asking questions regarding this man and was told he was basically a loner, who farmed/ranched cattle at the last property on the far south west of Lions Den. He was also a PH and in hunting season would take foreign hunters out on safari. My ears pricked up. I was however told to forget about it as he did not tolerate strangers.

He ranched with cattle I was told but it was a wild and unorganized affair with cattle running wild as well as a bunch of horses. When he needed cash he would shoot one and then deliver it to the Lions Den butchery, exactly what he was doing when we first saw him.

I kept thinking about this man and his lifestyle.

A while later we again met up with his direct neighbor who was actually the opposite type of farmer. He was one of the most successful, tobacco and maize farmers in the district and did everything to the T and his farm was very well organized and run. He also had a herd of stud cattle. At this get together at the country club, this neighbor informed us that Mr.A was having a lot of problems with leopards catching his calves and foals. I immediately offered my services to the neighbor. He tried to talk me out of it but I insisted I could help and was willing to go and see Mr.A. He offered to take me to Mr.A and introduce me but warned me that Mr.A did not like strangers and would probably chase me away.

The next day the friendly neighbor took me over and sure enough Mr. A was not very friendly. After tea and some casual talk between him and the neighbor the neighbor mentioned that I was looking to help him out with his leopard problem. He stared at me and I tried to not look at his glassed over left eye and gave up, rather looking down at the floor. He then asked me what I know about hunting leopards? Nothing Sir was my reply but I had started hunting when I was 5 years old I have just come out of my military service and I was very keen, was my reply. This seemed to have him relax a little. But he said nothing further. Dammit I have blown it…..

He and the neighbor carried on with conversation and I thought that was the end of that…

As we where getting ready to leave Mr.A said, if you like you can come back with your stuff tomorrow, if you can kill a leopard in the first week I may give you an opportunity…I was overjoyed and could not stop talking all the way back to the neighbor ranch….it was going to be a long night as I was more excited than the night before my first parachute jump from a Dakota…..

Now it is common knowledge that a big kudu bull is referred to as the “Grey Ghost” for its ability to be there one minute and then just disappear into the bush like it was never there to start with. Now the opposite is true of the leopard, one minute there is nothing the next the leopard is there as if appearing like a phantom…I had never seen him approach despite the fact that I had not moved my eyes from the bait…

This is exactly what happened, one minute I am watching the bait intensely the next minute a large male leopard is there, mouth open and the tail curled up exposing the bottom white tip….

Although the sun had set behind the horizon, the leopard was clearly visible…I slowly reach for the “Fun gun” and then froze….Tendai had said not to shoot until the leopard started feeding and was relaxed…what the hell was I supposed to do!!! My mentor was fast asleep, it was not yet dark and we had a large leopard at the bait….

I did not want to touch Tendai for fear of him not knowing the leopard was there making a noise which would blow the whole deal. As I watched the leopard did not start feeding straight away but rather after having a look around flopped down and started a series of rolling actions in the sand, much like a house cat does.

While the leopard was rolling around, what appeared to me scent marking the area close to the bait, I took this opportunity to slowly place my hand on Tendai’s shoulder, as the leopard was not looking around or listening, he immediately but quietly moved and looked at the bait. He slowly moved his hand towards me and with open palm and fingers which indicated to me to wait. While the cat was rolling around I slowly, very slowly moved the rifle into position.

After a few minutes that seemed a lot longer the leopard sat straight up, had a final look around and the moved to the bait, clawing at it and starting to bite at it. There were still a lot of flies around as it was not yet completely dark, causing the leopard to shake his head a few times. Tendai’s open palmed hand changed to the thumbs up and I dropped my cheek to the stock and looking through the scope got the leopard in the sight picture. He was standing perfectly, broadside and had all his attention on the bait. I was surprisingly calm, I aimed on the shoulder at the opposite front leg, trying to visualize the heart and lungs and the spine where it dipped low on the shoulder before rising to the neck. From the elevated position the shot was downward. As soon as I was comfortable with the lineup I slowly started squeezing the trigger. Having only shot the rifle once before, the crack of the shot caught me by surprise and I temporarily lost the leopard in the scope. I remember a muzzle flash as well, even though it was not that dark yet. As I got the sight picture back in the scope, I picked up the spots of the leopard and the next moment I received an almighty slap on the back from Tendai!! The leopard had dropped like the proverbial sack of potatoes!!!

Tendai shouted “zvakanaka bara” and slapped me on the back again, I would later learn that this meant good shot in Shona…

I was ecstatic and the quit tenseness was now broken and we were both elated with the result. We got out of the tree stand and moved over to the bait. I was amazed at the size and muscular appearance of this male leopard. He was pretty scarred up and appeared to have a left eye which looked a lot like Mr. A’s…glazed over with a blue tinge…The fur on the leopard felt very thick, and the base of the tail was also thick. I examined the paws and pushing on the top revealed the claws which were as sharp as needles…

I could not stop looking at and running my hands over this magnificent creature. Tendai interrupted my stroking and said we had to go and get the “Green machine” as “Chena mukuru” would not come.

I walk back to the homestead in the dark was filled with exited jabbering and going over the events again and again.

Finally we reach the work shop; I wanted to run over to Mr. A with the great news. Tendai said he would wait for me but that I should not take too long as the boss would not go out after dark. This proved to be correct and although Mr. A was pleased with the result, he sent me to go with Tendai and recover the leopard.

On the way back to the bait I asked Tendai why Mr. A would not go with us, he then mentioned that it had to do with the war, and that Mr. A never ventured outside after dark…Mr.A’s behavior at the shooting range and at butchery when I first saw him started making sense…

The leopard weighed 176 lbs on the Avery grain scale in the workshop the next morning, an exceptional specimen….

Great story! Thanks mate!

 

[Randy F]

During the day and making the preparations for my afternoon sit, doubt started to creep in and although I was less affected by the spiritual beliefs side of the locals, I felt the need to rather take the 375 H&H that the friendly neighbor had borrowed me. You never know, this ‘Bere”, hyena may just turn back into the mane less lion with the crooked right front paw with the hyena track and then I may well be under gunned for the occasion.

Tendai’s fear had now rubbed off on me as I had seen the effect it had on him.

I was forced to drive myself down to the bait site and park the “Green machine” well hidden in the bush far from the site. I had grabbed a canvas back pack to carry the battery, spot light and the stand/bracket I had made to hold the spot light.

My mind was racing and playing games with me as I walked to the bait site. The closer I got the more cautious I became. As soon as I had the bait in sight I stopped and had a careful look for about 10 minutes to check if anything was there. Nothing stirred and I made my way to the tree stand. It was a bit of a mission getting the battery and rifle etc. up to the platform without Tendai’s help.

I set up the spot light on the new stand and lined it up with the bait. I took a few aims with the new rifle and checked the scope. It was a heavier than the “Fun gun” but felt good and steady. I had setup so that I could get the rifle in my shoulder and holding it with the right hand while my left hand would flick the switch on the spot light and move to the front of the rifle from there. I chambered a round and not engaging the safety put the rifle down carefully.

I settled in. The bush was filled with sounds which invariably meant that there were no predators, leopards anyway in the near vicinity. Being totally alone now sunk in and I started having doubts about my decision to sit alone. What if this hyena was really a “Muroyi”? Would it know I was there? Would it be able to get hold of me on the platform? What was I going to do if the “Shave hyena” rather than the hyena returned? I look back to check nothing was behind the blind platform. For the first time I started feeling fear at being alone and what the unknown would bring.

I spoke to myself in my mind to put this fear out of the way as fear would make me make mistakes, a valuable lesson I had learned in the military, I could not afford to make mistakes, I had to stay focused on the task at hand. Sh…I had forgotten to attach the fishing line, I was not going to do it now as I had been settled in for 1 ½ hrs already. I convinced myself that I would hear the hyena feeding, as it would eat the bones as well. After another ½ hr had pasted, the sounds of the bush changed and things became more quite. This was now the golden hour, the last hour of light when the daylight activities of daytime changed and the bush prepared for the challenges darkness would bring.

It is also the time of day as sunlight fades that your eyes can start playing games with your mind, especially after the things that we had been through the past two weeks. I had brought a half liter bottle full of water as we always did, I was lying on the blanket to deaden any sounds between my body and the rifle as we always did, now things going through my mind were, what on earth was I going to do if the hyena did not show up? I was most certainly not going to walk back to the “Green machine” alone in the dark, incase this “Muroyi” was in the bush with me!!! It may well become a very long night if I was to spend it on the platform till morning. It was now into the last 30 minutes of light and then what was that to the right about 25 meters from the bait? I strained my eyes but saw nothing….I was sure I had seen movement….

I kept looking at the spot but could not see anything. Then I convinced myself I saw some movement to the left of the bait from my peripheral vision….I focused there but could not see anything…again!!! What was going on? It was like mind games…Again I forced myself to calm down and focus on what had to be done. Then I saw it, coming in from behind the bait, a huge hyena and the first thing that crossed my mind was thank goodness I had brought the 375 H&H instead of the “Fun gun”. Suddenly I was very calm; I ever so slowly moved the rifle into position. The sight of the hyena was something to behold.

I had seen many hyenas before, never in a hunting situation though. This one looked real menacing, tattered ears, mouth agape with saliva dripping from it, the sloping back made it look real weird. It looked around left and right move slightly forward and then stop looking around again. The short tail was curved up over its sloping haunches. As it moved forward again its back legs made it walk in a strange way. It was indeed a ugly creature and I now understood the fear induced by this animal to the locals, spirits or not…

I now had the rifle in my shoulder and was looking at the hyena through the scope. It was close to last shooting light but through the scope the hyena was clear. It stopped again next to the bait facing the blind dead on. I was tempted to take the frontal shot but being elevated, I was not comfortable taking the shot. I had to wait. With a last look around the hyena turned towards the bait and as the head went up to take a bite(the tail for some reason was still curled up over the bottom part of the back), the cross hairs of the scope found the sweet spot and I squeezed the trigger. The recoil and a much bigger muzzle flash than the “Fun gun”, surprised me a lot. I could not see anything and I heard the hyena give a yelp that I could not describe. I reloaded and looked through the scope. The hyena was down, biting at its side and flapping around, I sent another round through the shoulders and the hyena lay still.

Now the adrenaline and the reality of what had just happened hit me and I could not contain myself, I started shaking and it took a few minutes to get myself under control. After I had calmed down, I could still see the body but only just. I flicked the switch on the spot light and yes indeed the hyena lay there dead. Taking the rifle, I got down from the platform and made my way over to the bait. I poked the hyena with the barrel of the rifle and got no reaction, it was indeed dead. The smell hit me and was a lot more foul than the smell of the bait. I now had a problem for even if I could get the Land rover to the bait, I would never be able to load the hyena by myself.

I walked back to the “Green machine” and took off to the homestead. I reached Tendai’s hut and had to knock on the door. He would not come out. I explained that the “Bere” was dead and he needed to help me load it. He took a long time to come out after I had explained repeatedly that the Hyena was dead. When I told him eye to eye that the hyena was indeed dead he gave me a bear hug and I was getting nervous that he may give me a huge kiss!!!

When we got back to the hyena, Tendai made a dancing motion and saying things I did not understand, he was very happy. We had a hard time loading the hyena into the back of the “Green machine”, the small opening were the tail gate use to be not helping. It was the vilest smelling animal I had ever had the displeasure of being close to. The size, not the length as the width and thickness, of the teeth were very impressive.

Tendai said we need to deliver the “Bere” to the chief without delay. I explained we could do that first thing in the morning as we had not arranged with Mr. A to do so now. Tendai insisted and said Mr. A’s anger would be nothing compared to what could happen if we delayed with the “Bere”, if he said no we would have a problem. Having in the last 2 weeks seen firsthand the powers that the spirits had over the people I agreed and we took off to the chief’s village.

On the way, I felt very good about what we had done and I was pleased things had worked out so far as they had. As we got close to the chief’s village, I asked Tendai to let the chief know that as soon as the lions showed themselves again that he must please send somebody as soon as possible.

As we drove into the village, it was solemn and quit. As soon as Tendai explained the reason for our visit and they realized that the “Shave hyena” had been taken care of, the whole village came out and the noise they made was unbelievable. I was almost jerked out of the Land rover and it seemed everybody wanted to touch me. It was awkward to say the least but I understood that they were overjoyed with the result. The Hyena was removed from the back of the “Green machine” and after the chief had thanked me in person we were invited to join the celebrations. Tendai and I declined and after a lot of further ado we got in the “Green machine” and left.

On the way back I asked Tendai what they would do now and he explained that the villagers would burn the “Bere” and would go on a drinking spree for some days…

I guess any excuse for a piss up was in order. I was just very glad the hyena had been dealt with and I had my mentor back, so I could learn more from him in regards to the bush and hunting.

It was very fascinating to be a part of the spiritual beliefs of the people at grass roots level and I was very pleased that I could help them.

Unbeknown to us this would not be the last of the “Shave hyena”…..

 

[Jörg Krüger]

Randy F, thanks for digging this up. What an awesome story and read. Wilbur Smith can take lessons here.
@IvW, Hope your writers block has cleared up. I would love to read the rest of this story.
Any plans for starting an Biography?

 

[bowjijohn]

I've been fascinated all the way through

j

 

[spike.t]

Think he has been too busy building his bar...some things are far more important than writing a story....got to get your priorities right...

 

[MMAL]

What an awesome story. Thank you for taking the time to share with us.

 

[Randy F]

Think he has been too busy building his bar...some things are far more important than writing a story....got to get your priorities right...

Oh I get that. All life stopped while I built mine.

 

[Andrew Short]

Agreed! Awesome story and I could Read this for days!!!!

 

[IvW]

Sorry for the extended delay, caused not only by the chinese but the after effect much like a hangover.....let's see if we can slowly proceed....it may still be a long story....

 

[IvW]

Life seemed to return to normal and we continued checking and replenishing baits as needed.

Mr A announced one morning that he was sick of beef and impala, we need to go out and shoot a Sable for a change in diet…not being the first time we did this me and Tendai got ready and saddled some horses and packed some provisions.

The friendly Neighbour had manage to source some 7x57mm German ammunition, I do not recall the make, I think it was RWS but I do remeber 173 gr….this is the rifle I took along.

After a couple of hrs. in the saddle Tendai indicated we should stop. We had been riding in a different direction than what we normally would when hunting sable. We did this and tying the horses up we continued on foot. He wanted to check out a natural water source not too far away.

We carefully got closer to the water hole and as we came around a huge termite mound with a Matopi tree growing from the base, Tendai slunk down much like a cat or leopard out hunting when it spotted its pray….I did the same…expecting sable to be just beyond our position….

“Nyati” is what Tendai whispered….it took a couple of seconds for that to sink in and then I had a flush of adrenaline rush….

The breeze was steady in our favor and the leaves where rustling above us. I slowly rose up and peered over the part of the ant hill that concealed us, eyes searching about 100 meters ahead…nothing….I rose a bit more and immediately sank back down….the “Nyati’s” were close….too close…maybe 25 meters….thankfully they were lying down….

I slowly rose again to get a better view, they were lying peacefully, chewing cud. They had positioned themselves in a triangular defensive pattern, each bull facing a different direction. All three were very old battle scarred bulls. Worn down and some broken horn with smoothed bosses. These three old warriors must have become tired of herd life and being harassed by lions and tsetse flies closer to Lake Kariba and climbed the escarpment to retire in a more peaceful place. I could not help but think our problem lions may have followed some of these buffalo up the escarpment.

Now Mr. A knew that occasionally buffalo would be found on remote parts of the vast ranch and in hindsight, I think he gave us permission to shoot one if we saw one as he did not think we would ever find them.

Low and behold we did find them and I sure was ready…only one small problem…as we were out hunting Sable I had taken the 7x57mm which is a lot lighter and left the heavy 375 at the ranch house…In whispered conversation I told Tendai I want to shoot one, he gave a nervous look at the rifle with question marks in his eyes. I motioned to be calm and slowly rose up again, the buffalo where oblivious to our presence. I checked them over and then a crazy thought crossed my mind…the bull closest to us with one broken off horn and the other badly worn down was positioned with his body quartering towards us and his head to the right, I could perfectly see the soft spot just behind his ear…I told myself this was crazy…thoughts of “Use enough gun” “shot placement” flashed through my head…I convinced myself I could make the shot at 25 meters….

I sank down again and I pointed behind my own ear to Tendai where I planned on shooting the buffalo. I also pointed to the Matopi tree growing out the side of the termite mound. At least one of us would be able to climb that if things went south, the other would have to hope he could make space for himself.

I gave Tendai the thumbs up and received back what was not a very convincing half nod of the head.

Moving slightly forward, I slowly rose up and steadied the rifle on a part of the termite mound, Tendai had also risen up and was looking over my shooting shoulder….we had reached the point of no return. I had moved the rifle of safe as I positioned it. After the initial adrenaline rush I felt remarkably calm. I settled the crosshairs on the sweet spot I had selected, it seemed to suck onto the spot and I slowly squeezed the trigger as I exhaled and the rifle seemed to fire itself…

The sound of the shot seemed load for the little 7x57mm but the result was nothing short of spectacular!!! The bulls head just relaxed and swung back to our side and his legs came out straight the other side giving some feeble kicks, he was stone dead…..his two comrades jumped straight up both standing dead still not moving…neither did we…I did not even dare reload for fear of giving away our position…after what felt like a long time, the furthest bull gave a snort and headed off into the wind, his buddy followed….

I reloaded the rifle but I started shaking like a reed, the adrenaline now kicked in big time…me and Tendai where giggling like two school girls unbelieving of what we had just done…

After a cigarette we walked over to inspect our handy work, this was a very old bull, a real old warrior. I waited with the old bull as Tendai went back to bring the horses. When he arrived we got out our skinning equipment and gutted the bull. We dragged the guts away and then cut some branches to cover up the bull as we heading back to the ranch as fast we could with the horses to collect the block and tackle and the "Green machine" so that we could load the bull. Lots of hard work ahead but it was worth it…..

 

[Wheels]

Glad you're getting the opportunity to write again.

Also congratulations on your sons wrestling achievements.

 

[IvW]

Glad you're getting the opportunity to write again.

Also congratulations on your sons wrestling achievements.

Thanks man he has qualified to represent South Africa at the African championships(been delayed for now)....tomorrow he wil be wrestling in a local competition under 17 and over 17....