The spirits, the witches, African Tokoloshe, superstitions, experiences and the tales

[mark-hunter]

We already had our two buffalos in the salt. For dinner we had buffalo steaks, and over the fire vividly revived events of previous days spent hunting buffalo, and shared few good laughs. An African sun downer, as it usually happens in the camp!

As the sun set behind the western horizon, one by one we went to sleep.
I stayed the last over fire pit, having the last beer, thinking of last few eventful days, and waiting for fire to diminish.
It became colder, and finally I retreated to my tent, and went to well deserved sleep.
We finished our buffalo hunts successfully and having extra days in the pocket, the plan was to visit Victoria falls next day.
From the tent just before I knocked off, I could hear jackals howling, and then exhausted i turned to full sleep.

At around midnight or a bit earlier, I woke up. For no apparent reason!
I was restless, I couldnt sleep, I felt like something was wrong, or misaligned.
When I cant sleep, I usually read. But this time it was not possible to read under the light of candle, because diesel generator was off for hours and no proper light available. And I cant read under the light of candle or flash light.

I tried closing my eyes again, but that feeling of something being wrong was still present, and the sleep did not come.
So, I woke up, dressed, and went to bar for a drink.
In the meantime the jackals went silent too.
I had a "slow" beer, and spent some time looking at the surrounding darkness, from the chair near cold fire pit.
After an hour or two spent like that, I felt calmness coming back to me, and with the accumulated tiredness of previous days, I felt like it was a time to go to rest again.

I went to bed in my tent, and fell asleep. Deep and deserved.

In the morning I was the first in camp messroom.
My friend came next, and then came my PH Christian.
I wasnt to bring anything up, as I was not giving any importance to few sleepless hours previous nights.

Chrisitan broke the question! He started it as a joke!
Did you guys saw this bloody spirit? It came to my tent around midnight , i could see him crawling up the tent, he was not doing any harm, but did not let me sleep! Then he crawled up the corner, and went out,

Gregor said, he woke up just before midnight. He couldnt sleep.
I said, what I felt, what I have just described. I couldnt sleep as well.
We all woke up at the same time, in each of our tents! Simultaneously.

So, we, western type tourists, did not understand a thing! What spirits he was talking about?

And then, just like that, as a fact of life, or a matter of fact, while waiting for breakfast we heard few stories from PH on occasional spirits visiting the hunting camps, here or there. Sometimes. And this happening everywhere. As it turns out to be, spirits on occasion visit the camps, but never during daylight. It is always in the night. No explanation.

We finished the breakfast, left the rifles for safe keeping with camp manager, and hit the road, for Victoria falls.
While driving, a PH phone rings. It was his son, 3 years old. A kid, said: pop, I had bad dreams during the night, but I was defending you against the bad spirits, so you dont worry!
It was at about the same time, when we had our "experience" in the camp.

Thats it. Nothing really happened, this is not a horror story, but why we all woke up in the same time, and a kid, 600 miles away, we all had bad feeling, and have no reasonable explanations, except that these things sometimes happen. The spirits.

So.
Many authors on occasion were noting and writing the stories from African camps, local superstitions, tokoloshes, and African wiches.

Did you guys heard any of these stories, or had some experiences like that? Especially the outfitters on the forum who live in Africa from everyday life? Camp spirits true?

Feel free to share.

 

[RLD]

I have had the privilege of hunting with a number of native Canadian guides who tell very similar stories about spirits, sasquatches etc with great seriousness and great reverence.

While I have not encountered anything like that myself, I keep an open mind.

 

[Red Leg]

There are very dark sides to this sort of superstition as well. My PH and old friend from Mozambique contacted me about 18 months ago that his lead tracker, Obanno, who had been with him for nearly twenty years had committed suicide. I had hunted with him each time I had been, and he was as sensible, happy, and honest man as you would ever hope to meet. At some point since my last trip he was made an elder of the local village where his family lived permanently and he during the off season. He was of the Sena tribal group.

Some dispute occurred during the off season and a witch was employed to curse him. When Boet arrived to start prepping the camp for the coming season, he found Obanno despondent and listless. Two days later he had hanged himself.

As a Westerner, I personally have zero belief in the power of a curse itself. But, I have total belief in the capability of the human mind, responding to deeply held cultural beliefs, to be affected by one.

 

[Betterinthebush]

No experience nor goose pimple producing stories from me. I’ve seen a lot of strange things in my time but nothing on the order of the OP.

I have no doubt the veracity of the OP. I just don’t call them “spirits”, I call them demons. And they are ancient, cunning, talented, and wise beyond my reckoning. I lean on my faith on this subject not my objectivity. I’m not bold enough to dismiss entities that have been selected out for unparalleled punishment by my creator. Nor do I dismiss their ability to confuse and terrify mortals to death by any means at their disposal.

 

[Happy Myles]

Things that go bump in the night

 

[Graham Hunter]

In 2022 I was hunting the Eastern Cape. On one of the properties there was an older but very nice house that was round. We had stopped there for a break and I asked why the house was round. The trackers said it was so the Tokoloshe couldn't hide in the corners. What is a Tokoloshe I asked. As near as I can tell it's like a leprechaun with really bad manners. I was told they would hide in a corner or under the bed and jump up on the bed and pee on you while you were sleeping. I told the trackers it would only happen once and the tokoloshe would never do it again! The house was owned by an older white couple and the husband had died so she moved to town. I went in to have a look. Still maintained and well kept.As I was looking out the window I let out a big scream and watched the trackers almost jump over the Bakkie. I walked out laughing and got scolded by my PH. He said the trackers really believe in this and not to torment them. A couple of days later we were driving past a little shed/shack where the sheep herders stayed when using the pasture. As we approached I said stop. I jumped out and told the tracker to come with me as I had seen a tokoloshe peeking out the window. If he went in I would go around back and shoot the tokoloshe when he ran out. He jumped back on the bakkie and there was quite a conversation. My PH told me if I didn't stop we would not have trackers. Lesson learned!

 

[deewayne2003]

There are very dark sides to this sort of superstition as well. My PH and old friend from Mozambique contacted me about 18 months ago that his lead tracker, Obanno, who had been with him for nearly twenty years had committed suicide. I had hunted with him each time I had been, and he was as sensible, happy, and honest man as you would ever hope to meet. At some point since my last trip he was made an elder of the local village where his family lived permanently and he during the off season. He was of the Sena tribal group.

Some dispute occurred during the off season and a witch was employed to curse him. When Boet arrived to start prepping the camp for the coming season, he found Obanno despondent and listless. Two days later he had hanged himself.

As a Westerner, I personally have zero belief in the power of a curse itself. But, I have total belief in the capability of the human mind, responding to deeply held cultural beliefs, to be affected by one.

Your comment about he Mozambican tracker reminded me of the TIA interview of PH Peter Wood.

At the 13:25 mark in the video, he tells about an experience in Northern Mozambique where they were on a 21 day hunt with 2 lion, 2 leopard, bull elephant and various plains game on license. They were seeing nothing not even tracks. Then one of the trackers said that his wife was the local queen/priestess and they needed "Jonti Jonti"(spelling?)

I won't spoil the interview but.......
They had her preform the ritual and their luck turned in spectacular fashion.

Like you, I do not hold to the power of curses and agree on the human mind holding to deep cultural beliefs; however I do believe that ancient societies that have remained relatively undisturbed in their native lands have a profound connection with the land that modern science cannot explain.

 

[spike.t]

In 2022 I was hunting the Eastern Cape. On one of the properties there was an older but very nice house that was round. We had stopped there for a break and I asked why the house was round. The trackers said it was so the Tokoloshe couldn't hide in the corners. What is a Tokoloshe I asked. As near as I can tell it's like a leprechaun with really bad manners. I was told they would hide in a corner or under the bed and jump up on the bed and pee on you while you were sleeping. I told the trackers it would only happen once and the tokoloshe would never do it again! The house was owned by an older white couple and the husband had died so she moved to town. I went in to have a look. Still maintained and well kept.As I was looking out the window I let out a big scream and watched the trackers almost jump over the Bakkie. I walked out laughing and got scolded by my PH. He said the trackers really believe in this and not to torment them. A couple of days later we were driving past a little shed/shack where the sheep herders stayed when using the pasture. As we approached I said stop. I jumped out and told the tracker to come with me as I had seen a tokoloshe peeking out the window. If he went in I would go around back and shoot the tokoloshe when he ran out. He jumped back on the bakkie and there was quite a conversation. My PH told me if I didn't stop we would not have trackers. Lesson learned!

Honestly not a joking subject.....not surprised he was pissed off......the vast majority of Africans from the guy living in a mud hut in a village in middle of nowhere to the president believe in witchcraft even if they deny it...not a subject to take the piss out of here.....you should have listened to him in the first place.....people if a spell is put on them will literally go and lie down somewhere and die ...not instantly but will deteriorate quite quickly.....you should respect other peoples culture....

 

[Happy Myles]

Several decades ago we were struggling finding a big bull elephant. The trackers gathered with the PH insisting I go see the witch for advice. The PH indicated i should do so otherwise the men would not try as hard, making failure a self fulfilling prophesy. The witch was a wizened old man who put on quite a show. He placed a foot on the head of a homemade axe then thumped the handle hard up and down while shouting and jabbering in fine style. A crowd gathered listening to his prophesy. He told us to go to one place where we would see three ok bulls but not to shoot one. Then go to another place where i would find the big bull. As an after thought he mentioned something happening involving a leopard but he did not know what.
I was bemused but the next day we followed his advice. We saw the three bulls at the first spot and i killed a 75 pounder at the second spot. I wish i had listened more carefully as i was later mauled by a leopard. While waiting for a small charter plane to take me to hospital i mentioned to the trackers the witch was a wise old man. They looked at me in horror and stated he was a crazy old fool ! He could just foretell the future

 

[Red Leg]

Things that go bump in the night

Why there is DD M4 by the bed rather than a wooden stake.

 

[RLD]

Why there is DD M4 by the bed rather than a wooden stake.

Hopefully with silver bullets...

 

[Graham Hunter]

Honestly not a joking subject.....not surprised he was pissed off......the vast majority of Africans from the guy living in a mud hut in a village in middle of nowhere to the president believe in witchcraft even if they deny it...not a subject to take the piss out of here.....you should have listened to him in the first place.....people if a spell is put on them will literally go and lie down somewhere and die ...not instantly but will deteriorate quite quickly.....you should respect other peoples culture....

Thankyou for the admonishment! I did learn my lesson.

 

[grand veneur]

In Africa, superstition is deeply rooted in many people. In Burkina Faso, every time I shot a buffalo, I had to distribute some of its body parts among the guide and the trackers. As long as they are only animal parts needed for local medicine, it's okay. Unfortunately, in some countries of Africa human parts are sometimes needed.

I wear this mask of the Dan society to protect myself from the various evil spirits of this Forum.

 

[spike.t]

Thankyou for the admonishment! I did learn my lesson.

I live it...my wife is zambian and when she trims my hair she makes sure non is left on the floor...all down the toilet so the cleaner can't take any....same with other stuff....its in her culture...I respect it , and have seen staff on ranch and others who are terrified when a witch doctor is used as a threat against them by local people who want to poach etc...some shit happens that you can't explain...as some have posted ....a witch doctor we got in to try and find out who was stealing, when asked why they held so much power/ influence...he said remember our culture using this was around long before Christianity .....do I believe...not sure ...probably a bit...but I sure as hell am happy not to poke it....

 

[K-man]

I’ve lived and traveled enough to see things that cannot be explained and honestly shouldn’t try. I have faith in my Maker that all is well with my soul and I’m sure I will get to ask Him someday about the rest. Just because we can’t see with our eyes doesn’t mean we aren’t aware with our souls.

 

[Noah_McCoy]

I’ve lived and traveled enough to see things that cannot be explained and honestly shouldn’t try. I have faith in my Maker that all is well with my soul and I’m sure I will get to ask Him someday about the rest. Just because we can’t see with our eyes doesn’t mean we aren’t aware with our souls.

Growing up I was introduced through my church to a couple Native African families. They immigrated and become US citizens after facing religious prosecution in Africa. For whatever reason the man of one of these families went back to Africa to do something (I can’t remember exactly what now) but he stayed with these two women who had an extra room. He stayed with them a couple of days.
Upon returning one day he found that all of his belongings had been removed from the house and were sitting outside and these two women were waiting for him. When he asked what was going on they simply told him he had to leave. After pressing them a little they explained that they were witches and that whatever Spirit he brought with him had driven out the spirits that were giving them their power. Just goes to show that even when you’re unaware of what’s going on God is still watching out.

 

[Daniel Cary]

We already had our two buffalos in the salt. For dinner we had buffalo steaks, and over the fire vividly revived events of previous days spent hunting buffalo, and shared few good laughs. An African sun downer, as it usually happens in the camp!

As the sun set behind the western horizon, one by one we went to sleep.
I stayed the last over fire pit, having the last beer, thinking of last few eventful days, and waiting for fire to diminish.
It became colder, and finally I retreated to my tent, and went to well deserved sleep.
We finished our buffalo hunts successfully and having extra days in the pocket, the plan was to visit Victoria falls next day.
From the tent just before I knocked off, I could hear jackals howling, and then exhausted i turned to full sleep.

At around midnight or a bit earlier, I woke up. For no apparent reason!
I was restless, I couldnt sleep, I felt like something was wrong, or misaligned.
When I cant sleep, I usually read. But this time it was not possible to read under the light of candle, because diesel generator was off for hours and no proper light available. And I cant read under the light of candle or flash light.

I tried closing my eyes again, but that feeling of something being wrong was still present, and the sleep did not come.
So, I woke up, dressed, and went to bar for a drink.
In the meantime the jackals went silent too.
I had a "slow" beer, and spent some time looking at the surrounding darkness, from the chair near cold fire pit.
After an hour or two spent like that, I felt calmness coming back to me, and with the accumulated tiredness of previous days, I felt like it was a time to go to rest again.

I went to bed in my tent, and fell asleep. Deep and deserved.

In the morning I was the first in camp messroom.
My friend came next, and then came my PH Christian.
I wasnt to bring anything up, as I was not giving any importance to few sleepless hours previous nights.

Chrisitan broke the question! He started it as a joke!
Did you guys saw this bloody spirit? It came to my tent around midnight , i could see him crawling up the tent, he was not doing any harm, but did not let me sleep! Then he crawled up the corner, and went out,

Gregor said, he woke up just before midnight. He couldnt sleep.
I said, what I felt, what I have just described. I couldnt sleep as well.
We all woke up at the same time, in each of our tents! Simultaneously.

So, we, western type tourists, did not understand a thing! What spirits he was talking about?

And then, just like that, as a fact of life, or a matter of fact, while waiting for breakfast we heard few stories from PH on occasional spirits visiting the hunting camps, here or there. Sometimes. And this happening everywhere. As it turns out to be, spirits on occasion visit the camps, but never during daylight. It is always in the night. No explanation.

We finished the breakfast, left the rifles for safe keeping with camp manager, and hit the road, for Victoria falls.
While driving, a PH phone rings. It was his son, 3 years old. A kid, said: pop, I had bad dreams during the night, but I was defending you against the bad spirits, so you dont worry!
It was at about the same time, when we had our "experience" in the camp.

Thats it. Nothing really happened, this is not a horror story, but why we all woke up in the same time, and a kid, 600 miles away, we all had bad feeling, and have no reasonable explanations, except that these things sometimes happen. The spirits.

So.
Many authors on occasion were noting and writing the stories from African camps, local superstitions, tokoloshes, and African wiches.

Did you guys heard any of these stories, or had some experiences like that? Especially the outfitters on the forum who live in Africa from everyday life? Camp spirits true?

Feel free to share.

I grew up with a lot of German folklore .. My Grandma came from the time when spirituality was big. Seances, Table tipping, Autonomic writing, Ouija.

I never did like or have felt times of severe Un comfortability entertaining this in my youth.
This was the last thing I've entertained "Pendulum". Use to use it for water witching, detecting metal. etc. Started asking it questions & it spins for yes & swings side to side for No. Not cool

Now "The Moon" dictates the tides. Everyone's well aware of full moons & chaos, crime, born babies, psych wards chaos, etc.

I was told in medic school (the body's made up of apx 90% water @ cellular level). Could explain "intercranial pressure" on the noggin.

Greek/Biblical; Moon derives from Luna, Lunar" Where the word Lunatic came from.

 

[spike.t]

Growing up I was introduced through my church to a couple Native African families. They immigrated and become US citizens after facing religious prosecution in Africa. For whatever reason the man of one of these families went back to Africa to do something (I can’t remember exactly what now) but he stayed with these two women who had an extra room. He stayed with them a couple of days.
Upon returning one day he found that all of his belongings had been removed from the house and were sitting outside and these two women were waiting for him. When he asked what was going on they simply told him he had to leave. After pressing them a little they explained that they were witches and that whatever Spirit he brought with him had driven out the spirits that were giving them their power. Just goes to show that even when you’re unaware of what’s going on God is still watching out.

Christianity..Church going is big here in zambia..along with most countries in the region...probably like it was in the west up to the 1960s....but I guarantee 99% min will still believe and be very careful about witchcraft....I know plenty of well educated Zambians....but they ain't going to mess with traditional stuff...including the president....at his inauguration he wouldn't shake hands with the previous president as rumours going around...the previous put his hand in his pocket then offered it to be shaken....new president took out a pair white gloves..put them on then shook hands.....so......as I said it's the culture and history.....

 

[PerH]

If the thread goes on long enough enough ill
May be writing about once on a hunting tour many years ago . Woke up in a cabin to 3 people in total there , but only one was a Norwegian celebrity of infamy , and he had been in that area 150 years .

 

[PARA45]

When I hunted in Limpopo back in 2012, I saw a Cameleon and caught it to show it to my wife. Our driver/tracker was next to her when I showed up with this Cameleon on my hand. That kid turned white and ran for his life when he saw me with the Cameleon. I looked at the PH, and he explained to me that they are superstitious of them and something along the line of being possessed. I apologized to no end, and tried to explain to him that I didn't know. He understood and accepted my apologies. Crazy stuff.