Safari surprises
It had been a long stalk, the dust of the bushveld coating my Courteney boots and a thousand thorns puncturing their solid leather soles. Solid leather soles are essential when hunting Africa because they offer the quietest tread – silent footsteps in the dirt and grit. Soles with air pockets impregnated in the rubber for comfort amplify any crunching sound and telegraph your approach. However, it was a moot point; the waterbuck bull had the uncanny ability to hear the unheard and see the unseen, and it vanished like a slick card trick.
For three days that waterbuck, my PH Hennie, and I had danced among the thorns in a game of cat and mouse that was becoming tedious.
“These big bulls, Sir Crimpy,” Hennie addressed me respectfully, “are super cunning – we just need to
