Africa Sky Blue

I gently wake up to the sound of a faraway drum softly beating in the early morning air. I’m disoriented and sleepy. Once the drum stops an eerie silence settles. I grab my blankets around me and feel around for my slops on the floor.

“Funny, I usually wake up to the sound of the early morning traffic. Where am I?”

As I stand up to go outside there is a soft knock on the door.

“Wake Up Sir…”

I shake my head to clear the foggy mist and rub my eyes. I hear water being poured into a metal bowl. I open the door of the A-frame. Bentu beams a smile at me. He is busy lighting a lantern hanging on the doorpost. The early morning air is chilly but refreshing.

“Your water is ready sir.” He points to a large bowl of steaming water.

I slosh the warm water over my face trying to rid of the last tendrils of sleepiness. Bentu hands me a towel. “Thanks Bentu. You’re up early”

“Always sir. Early to bed, early to rise…”

“Makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise” I reply.

He smiles again. “Coffee and rusks are ready in the Boma sir. The rangers leave at first light in about half an hour. “

Ando so my first day of trail starts. The previous night the ground rules were laid by a trail ranger called Robert Bryden. At the time I didn’t know him from a bar of soap. Twelve years later I still don’t know much about him except for what I’ve heard from the Kruger staff and fragments of conversations between the trail rangers. If I ask them about Robert, they usually shake their heads and smile at each other, as if sharing some secret anecdote between themselves. Their standard answer usually is “He’s a good guy, that Robert. A very good guy…”

Robert was lounging back in his chair, staring deeply into the fire. He looked like an old man, deep wrinkles on his forehead and crow feet around his eyes. He was only 23. The flames cast haunting shadows around us. I offered him a cigarette; he lifted his hand and shook his head. A man of few words.

“Excuse me everyone!” The laughter and chatter died down.

“Tomorrow I will be your trail ranger. As such, it is my responsibility to keep you safe. You also have certain responsibilities. The first one of which will be absolute silence when we are walking. I will stop if you have questions, but while we’re walking the bush requires my undivided attention and all my senses.”

A couple of years later I realized why the rangers need silence in the bush. We were hiking through thick undergrowth when one of the trail rangers lifted his arm and told us to back off. We turned around and walked up a rocky outcrop. When we looked down we could see a herd of elephants grazing at the exact spot where we were walking only some minutes ago. The ranger said that he heard the Ellie’s stomach’s growling. You can usually hear them grazing but they go quiet if they hear people approaching. Luckily he was alert and had keen senses.

Robert continued.

“The way to get my attention is by clicking your fingers or a soft whistle. I will stop and listen to your question and answer it to the best of my ability…

Secondly, you need to walk in a straight line. I will be first and you will follow me in a line. The second ranger will be last in line looking out for any danger from behind. It is critical that you stay behind me as the second ranger always fires the first shot. It becomes difficult to do if he has a bunch of bodies in front of him scattered all over the place. Always stay behind me… You may change your position in the line, I recommend you do so that everyone can get a view from the front and have a chance to see the animals first. When we stop you may stand anywhere you please as long as you stick by closely, when we walk you’re in a line”

“Sounds like the army” someone joked. His comment received a couple of chuckles.

“Remember the first question was I asked you guys in the game driving vehicle after we met? Which animals you would like to see?”

“Lions!” someone shouted. “Pell’s Fishing Owl!” another piped in.

“Well, it was a rhetorical question, kind of like a private joke between rangers. We can absolutely not guarantee any sightings in the bush. Animals move fast from the last place we saw them previously. Driving in your car you have a much better chance of seeing game than walking in the veldt. But there is one thing I can do that you cannot do in your car. I can track. And if I track something we will see it if you are willing to work hard. I only follow fresh tracks that I know we will be able to catch up to. And on our way we may get lucky and spot something interesting….”

Famous last words.

We started our hike at 6:15 AM. At 11:00 we stopped for breakfast (cold meats, cheese and dried fruit) and continued at 11:45. Robert picked up some tracks at about 12.

“Buffalo. Lots of African water buffalo.”

I studied the track. I could see exactly one hoof mark in the sand. I sighed. Rangers trying to pull the wool over our eyes. Probably another insiders joke.

By one o’ clock everyone had already gulped down most of the water. Any liquid left over was drenched on heads and necks to cool down. I saw Robert smile and shake his head.

“Any water left?” We shook our empty bottles.

Robert had an easy-going way of walking, with his gun strung over his shoulder, resting his arms on the ends of the barrel and the butt. Every now and then he would pick something from a tree or something grassy and pop it in his mouth. We walked for 16 kilometers that day in blistering heat. Robert allowed us to sip capfuls of his water supply. He drank nothing. We were on the verge of giving up when Robert told us to settle behind him. We stooped up a grassy embankment.

He peered over and motioned for us to come closer. As we crawled up, we could hear the bays and sound of hooves. We looked over. And we were fascinated.

Below us were more than 400 hundred buffalo grazing in a large expanse of marshy ground. Some were up to their rumps in the water. It was an amazing sight. There were little ones, light brown, sticking close to their mum’s sides. There were fierce looking bulls standing to the side of the herd. Some of them would be as tall as me if I stood next to them. They had huge heads and horns that must weigh a hundred kilo’s. One of the cows sniffed the air and looked our way. We crawled back and started the long trek back home.

Later Robert told me that we had to outflank the herd as we were walking upwind from them and he was afraid that they might smell us. We were actually walking parallel to them and we emerged at the back of the herd as that was downwind.

Seeing these majestic creatures in their natural habitat was awe-inspiring. Thinking that God made these powerful creatures that could end your life with one swipe of their horns always humbles me.

Thanks for the best day of my life Mr. Robert Bryden – my first trail in the Kruger National Park!

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