The Ghost and The Darkness - two questions

[Slope77]

I saw them in October. Yeah, they aren’t the best mounts, but awfully cool to see them.

It was a good movie. Made for a fun evening with the kids. The invention of Michael Douglas’s “Remington” character was pretty much Hollywood adulteration of the truth and a bit corny, but the movie was still fun to watch.

Not sure how/real correct, the “lair” with stack of human bones was, either. I’d watch it again, with the kids. Probably not by myself.

 

[Jim Golden]

No doubt much has been discussed about the Tsavo lions on this forum, but let's have some fun with these two questions:

1. Who has actually visited the Field Museum in Chicago to view these two mounts on display?

2. What, if anything, would you have done differently than was depicted in the movie or the book in order to deal with these two?

I've been there and looked at them. They had no manes. Tsavo is very thorny, and the wild lions running through the thorns had their manes torn off. In the movie, they had big manes. One of my favorite movies though

 

[Jim Golden]

I haven’t been to the museum to see the lions, but did stop at the bridge back in February when we visited Tsavo East & West. It was pretty neat to spend a bit of time where the lions stopped The construction.
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I'm an engineer and I build bridges. In the movie, it was a truss bridge. These are I-Beam bridges. Simple Spans. I wonder if the movie was wrong, or the bridges were redone later on?

 

[baxterb]

I've been there and looked at them. They had no manes. Tsavo is very thorny, and the wild lions running through the thorns had their manes torn off. In the movie, they had big manes. One of my favorite movies though

I read a critique of the movie once where the person was mad that the movie made the lions male! She contended that since the real lions had no manes they were surely female.

She was set right with authority.

 

[sestoppelman]

I saw it when it first came out, in the theatre. It was funny at the end me and a few other guys were hanging around till the very end of the credit roll to see where it was filmed and any other interesting accreditations.
The movies is far from perfect, but I do enjoy watching it from time to time and loved the music. The casting reminded me of how foolish it was to cast very American Robert Redford as Englishman Finch Hatton in Out of Africa which I also like very much, but it could have been better with a better lead actor, though Streep is good as always, a very fine actress.

 

[Doug3006]

I’ve seen them at the Field Museum and love the movie.

 

[Doug3006]

Another great Africa movie is Mountains of the Moon. The story of Burton and Speke’s search for the source of the Nile.

 

[Brent in Az]

I've only seen photos of the Tsavo Lions, and its been quite awhile since Ive seen the movie, such as it is.
2 marauding man eaters that put the fear into hundreds of railroad workers.

 

[Jack Stevens]

Two Tsavo lions can’t compete with a real man-eating bruin like:

 

[baxterb]

Another great Africa movie is Mountains of the Moon. The story of Burton and Speke’s search for the source of the Nile.

Geez - have never heard of this - thanks, I will look it up.

 

[DLSJR]

I'm an engineer and I build bridges. In the movie, it was a truss bridge. These are I-Beam bridges. Simple Spans. I wonder if the movie was wrong, or the bridges were redone later on?

Jim, I’m sure the bridge has been rebuilt a few times over the years. The higher bridge was much newer and more modern looking. The lower bridge, the one closer to the road is the actual old bridge site. It certainly wasn’t built originally with the steel seen in my photo. Regardless, it’s a cool place to stop for a moment and ponder the historical significance of the location.

 

[Jason Miller]

I don’t consider myself to be any great authority on the subject, but since I’ve shot 3 man eating Royal Bengal tigers and 7 lions over the years (with 1 of them being a confirmed man eater)… I’ll have a go at this.
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1) When constructing a macchan for hunting a man eating great cat, it must be made to appear is if it’s a natural part of a tree. It also must be high enough to prevent the lion from reaching you with a determined jump.

2) The .303 British is not a suitable lion caliber. Since these events took place in 1898 (and I’d have to limit myself to armaments available in that era), my weapon of choice would have been an 8 gauge Holland & Holland Paradox gun (loaded with 10 drams of Curtis & Harvey’s #6 coarse grained black powder and a 2 1/2 ounce lead hollow point Express bullet). It may have been antiquated even for 1898, but it would absolutely crumple a lion.

3) I wouldn’t employ so many helping hands to hunt down the lion. I would just keep one extra person with me to hold a torchlight for me. It’s incredibly difficult to keep large numbers of people quiet and under control while waiting for a lion/tiger. They are also liable to panic more. Colonel Patterson recalls one of the lions getting stuck in a cage trap and many local workers were trying to shoot him while he was trapped. Not only did they all miss, but one of their bullets a actually broke the cage lock and allowed the man eater to escape.

4) Whenever a natural kill of one of the man eaters would get reported, I would immediately have the kill-site cordoned off in order to prevent anybody from moving the man eater’s partially consumed natural kill. I would then have a macchan built to overlook the kill-site and lie in wait (with just one reliable assistant) for the animal to return to complete feeding.

And yes, I’ve seen the two lions at the museum in 2017 with my grandchildren. Will share a photo soon, as my daughter still has it framed.

Wow, I would travel across the globe to shake your hands and hear some first hand stories....

 

[Tokoloshe Safaris]

Have any of you seen the otiginal movie about the tsavo lions “Bwana Devil” in 3 D no less? With Robert Stack, laugh a minute.

Poison would have been better, but I think it would have made for a lousy movie.

How about a remake made by the “antis”,
Where the lions and the RR workers are re-educated where they all become vegans.

Lon

 

[baxterb]

Jim, I’m sure the bridge has been rebuilt a few times over the years. The higher bridge was much newer and more modern looking. The lower bridge, the one closer to the road is the actual old bridge site. It certainly wasn’t built originally with the steel seen in my photo. Regardless, it’s a cool place to stop for a moment and ponder the historical significance of the location.

Pretty cool - even on Google maps/streetview you can see the old bridge. I agree with the notion of stopping there and pondering what went on in the vicinity. I will do it on my next trip to Kenya. I love to be where history happened.

 

[Jim Golden]

Have any of you seen the otiginal movie about the tsavo lions “Bwana Devil” in 3 D no less? With Robert Stack, laugh a minute.

Poison would have been better, but I think it would have made for a lousy movie.

How about a remake made by the “antis”,
Where the lions and the RR workers are re-educated where they all become vegans.

Lon

I actually have that movie on DVD. Corny and bad as all get out...but the title is cool

 

[Altitude sickness]

I agree, we are fortunate to have someone on this forum that has hunted the amazing Bengal Tiger. Much less killed them.

I would venture that more people walked the moon than have killed 3 tigers and are still living.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

@Jason Miller & @Altitude sickness I assure you. I’m a very substandard hunter who has simply had a lot of exciting hunting opportunities over the years, that’s all. In regards to the 3 man eating Royal Bengal tigers, I was incredibly lucky to have the full logistical support of the Sundarban Department of Forests. Without the assistance of my dedicated men, I wouldn’t have lasted a single day against the first man eater (let alone all 3 of them). And I was actually very much scared out of my mind during the entire ordeal. But fortunately, I was far more terrified of my superiors than I was of any man eater. If I didn’t succeed in hunting down the first 2 tigers, then I would have lost my job.

In regards to the African lions, the full credit goes to all the excellent white hunters who’ve been guiding me so flawlessly over the years.

In either case, my hunting success is largely attributed to my logistical support and sheer luck. I made many reckless mistakes during my early dangerous game hunting days when I was young, and now that I think about it… it’s a miracle that I’ve been managing to successfully hunt dangerous game for so long without so much as a scratch. I sincerely hope that it always stays this way.

 

[Daniel Cary]

I just like Bunny Allen, 3 mins in ..

 

[cajunchefray]

I’ve seen them at the Field Museum and love the movie.

My first trip

No doubt much has been discussed about the Tsavo lions on this forum, but let's have some fun with these two questions:

1. Who has actually visited the Field Museum in Chicago to view these two mounts on display?

2. What, if anything, would you have done differently than was depicted in the movie or the book in order to deal with these two?

First business trip to RSA, I saw the movie in the hotel room. I became fascinated by the story, and later bought Patterson’s book.

In early 2003, went to the Field Museum with 2 colleagues, for an evening party.

I kept telling them about the lions and was excited to see them.
Bit of a disappointment, my friends were not impressed, but they are not hunters.
I thought they were small.

Later I learned about the mounts made from rugs. The pictures of the actual lions are impressive.

I thought the movie was entertaining but had some Hollywood factor, but still a hell of a story.

 

[PARA45]

I read the book when I was like 10 or 12 years old. The movie is entertaining and after all its Hollywood, in very rare cases the movie follows the same script as the book. Enjoyable movie with all its flaws.

Maybe the lions where CBL and got tired of eating chicken.