Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
From Maun we set off in two cars, Lisa's and Tony's with two trailers packed to the brim behind us. We drove for three hours, starting off travelling South West before making a turn and heading North so we were in Gumare just to the left of the Okovango Delta. Gumare was a much smaller town than Maun with very few shops and but lots of houses. We reached a house where Justin, Laura's son, was waiting with Thys a close friend of Laura and Lisa. We left the trailers at the house, who's owner was a friend of Thys, so we didn't have to drive them down the sandy roads to Thys' game farm.
Thys' farm was a further half hour along sandy roads, driving these was defintitely more interesting than the long and straight roads we'd drive on up till now. When we arrived it reminded me instantly of where I stayed in the Ecuadorian jungle because it was a tree-house lie structure. Except this was the most luxurious tree-house I had ever stayed in! There was a kitchen, dining room, living room and a room with a bar and darts board. Seperate from the main tree-house were five individual lodges. These were also raised up slightly from the ground. My room was beautiful, very African with an outside shower. There's nothing quite like showering under the stars! It's a feeling that brings you closer to nature. We spent the afternoon just enjoying being in Africa, there was no phone signal and no internet, just nature and us!
In the morning I woke up to the best sight I have ever woken up to in my entire life. I was woken by the birds chirping, animals rustling in the bushes around me and the light coming into my room, the door to my room was made of transparent mesh. As I rolled over in bed I saw a beautiful red sun rising over the trees creating a gorgeous red colour across the whole sky. Just as I was witnesses this miracle Laura came to tell me that Justin had shot a wilderbeast! As soon as I had scoffed some breakfast down I was witnessing the Africans who worked on the farm skin and butcher the wilderbeast that Justin had shot. It was absolutely fascinating and interesting to watch. Thys told me that this one wilderbeast would feed seven people for two months. I struggled to believe him but I soon realised it's because the Africans use and eat nearly every part of the wilderbeast so nearly nothing is left to waste. It really was a beautiful sight to witness because this was people living off the land, Justin had shot the wilderbeast right through the heart (I saw it myself!) and now it was providing food and a bit of income from the skin for seven people. Nature at its rawest!
As a person I am never one to shy away from a new experience or opportunity which is why I surprised myself so much when I realised I didn't want to pick up a gun even to shoot at targets. Laura, Lisa, Andrew, Thys and Justin all had a turn at shooting at the targets in the distance but when I asked if I wanted a go I couldn't bring myself to pick up the gun. These were large and very much real guns used to kill animals, they were a weapon. They were just so violent and I didn't want to use one. As I said this surprised me a lot because I have no problem with killing animals to eat but it was becoming clear I was not able to kill the animal myself to eat. Even though it's the way of the world, it's the same way that lions kill smaller animals to eat and survive, we too much kill and eat smaller animals. This inspired an awful lot of thinking to go on in my head, my philosophical brain was sent into overdrive. How could I be happy to eat meat but unable to use the weapon required to get that meat?
Despite my inability to kill dinner, we had a delicious "bush stew" for dinner, cooked on the brie as usual. We sat around the campfire listening to the sounds of Africa when we saw a honeybadger in the distance! Honeybadgers, although little, are an extremely aggressive animal and wouldn't hesistate in attacking a human if the human stood in the way of food. We were fully exposed to the animal and we sat silently as we watched him potter around looking for food then he got very close because the smell of our dinner was still lingering. We were ready to move if we needed to but we were confident that if we posed no threat to the animal and didn't get in its way we were perfectly safe. We saw that same honeybadger a few times over the days we were there.
- comments
Henry Really good V. Sounds like you have had a seminal moment and looks like you would be good at it! H
Andrew Brilliant
Laura Pagan I felt that I was with you as you described everything so well....what an experience you will never forget....Amazing. Love Auntie Laura xxx