On the hunt
We were told, at the Beitbridge border post between South Africa and Zimbabwe, that His Excellency, the President of Zimbabwe, was attending a ribbon-cutting ceremony, and, in true African style, there were strict instructions that no guns would be allowed into the country until 11 p.m. that night. It was 10 a.m!
We had travelled 1500 kilometers and still had a four-hour drive to the hunting camp, so, in order to ease the pain on our friend and client of twelve years, we decided to leave the three rifles in a lock-up and proceed to the hunting camp. Our spirits picked up when we turned off the main surfaced road between Beitbridge and Masvingo and started to drop into the Limpopo Valley. A cold beer consumed under the spreading arms of a giant baobab tree got us into ‘swinging safari’ mood.
At the hunting camp, in a lovely setting on the banks of the Nuanetsi River (now known as Mwenezi in Zimbabwe), the supplies were unpacked and, cold beer in hand, we discussed the plans for the next day.
We were in the Campfire portion of the Sengwe Safari Area to hunt buffalo for seven days. The Sengwe, in southeastern Zimbabwe, is bordered by Mozambique to the east and South Africa to the south.
All agreed that driving back to the border post for the rifles and returning to camp in the dead of the night would be foolish. They, however, felt that it was quite reasonable that I should get up early the next morning, head back to the border post, get the rifles and return to camp while they relaxed and made plans for hunting the buffalo.
The camp was a welcome sight after asaw places where elephant had recently dug for water in the dry riverbed, but no sign of buffalo.
