Once Upon a Time in Africa - Part 2
Where our Intrepid Hunter Experiences the Incredible Doubling Double Rifle, and a Small Fuzzy Thing Causes a Situation
It’s now 1997, one year after the infamous ivory-nut-on-the-elephant’s head event, and the desire to return to the land of large animals has become virtually overpowering. This time, the menu would include something with teeth, claws, and a bad attitude. After a careful perusal of the Murphy financial investments (small piggy bank, and a heavily-depleted bank account), I had to remove the possibility of a lion hunt from my list. As I really wanted a cat, calls were made, people spoken to, and again Johan Calitz rode to the rescue.
For the princely sum of half of all the money I would accrue over the remainder of my life, he promised me the most very excellent and satisfying leopard hunt, to be accomplished by returning to the waters (and mud, bugs, and strange noises in the night) of the Okavango Delta. It seems as though there was a surplus of Panthera pardus in the neighborhood, and it was up to me to thin the leopard herd – so to speak.
Of course, my name is Murphy… In my case, this involved a phone call from Johan about four months prior to my safari.
“Tom,” (spoken with a real South African accent) “I’m afraid I’m going to have to
