An African Sunrise

By J D Belpin

The beginning sees some of our main characters including our heroine landing at a Safari Lodge on the edge of the Kruger National Park in South Africa. They are taken on a quick drive through the game park and are introduced to a few of the African game species. After checking in at the lodge, we are introduced to the hero as he joins the others in the swimming pool.
The book introduces us to the fauna and flora of the region.
We are taken on a few safari drives where we meet and learn about some of the wonders of the African bush, we live through an elephant charge, a black mamba incident, an African dinner by fire light, and a lion attack.
In the book, the two main characters find each other and realise they are soul mates, during the various incidents, they save each other’s lives, and this re-enforces their feelings for one another. After the lions attack, to recuperate from his wounds the hero is invited to the heroine’s family ranch in New Mexico.
In New Mexico we find ourselves on a cattle and horse ranch, where the family breed mixed cattle and some of the finest American Quarter Horses. We are taken on a wild ride, and the heroine comes into her own when she foils an attempted robbery.

The hero is an Australian vet, who grew up on a cattle station, and spent time in Special Forces in the Australian Defence Force.

• Language: English
• Publisher: J D Belpin
• Release date: Sep 7, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311980496

J D Belpin

J D BelpinJD was born in Africa and spent a lot of his youth in the African bush.Having spent 5 years on and off in the military, JD decide to study teaching, before working for various financial institutions.Specialising in facilitating and coaching, in 1986 JD decided to move to the UK where he studied psychometrics and psychology. Becoming an expert in body language and behavioural analysis.His love of the African bush and interests in the military has allowed JD to write this romantic adventure.JD now lives with his wife in New South Wales [e-mail]

Book preview

Chapter One

Ladies and Gentlemen this is your captain speaking, we have just been advised that there are no elephants on the runway, so we are making our final approach. Thank you for flying South African Airways, we hope you had a pleasant flight and look forward to welcoming you again in the near future. Cabin crew take your seats for landing.

Antoinette looked at her cousin Jean, with a huge grin on her face. Brian, Jean’s fiancée was holding her hand as all three peered out the window at the African bush. They could see three open topped Land Rovers with a couple of trailers sitting next to the runway as they landed on the only tarmac they had seen for the past 2 hours.

Please remain seated with your seat belts fastened until the captain has turned the seat belt signs off said the Air Steward as the plane gently bounced on impact.

The pilot hit the brakes quite hard and as the aircraft started to slow, he turned the plane in a tight circle, getting ready for take-off.

"Welcome to Lalapanzi, as you can imagine with wild animals roaming freely around the area, the captain is keen to leave as soon as possible. When you disembark, please identify your luggage to the porters who will issue you with name tags. Once you have placed the tags on the luggage, please climb aboard one of the Land Rovers. Your luggage will be taken to your chalets at the lodge.

Once again thank you for flying South African Airways and we look forward to seeing you in the near future".

As the seat belt signs were switched off, Antoinette stood up to retrieve her overhead luggage, Brian did the same for Jean and himself and when they were ready Brian lead the way down the stairway which had been lowered.

The first thing that struck Antoinette was the heat and smell of Africa, it was nothing like she had ever experienced before, the air was dry, she could smell the vegetation and some wild flowers intermingling with the dust which came off the ground in small puffs from the sandy road as people made their way towards the open top Land Rovers.

The Land Rovers were designed with two seats in front, the driver and one passenger, this was followed by three rows of benches, each bench could sit three people quite comfortably and then there was a single chair perched on the back where a sighter/tracker would sit.

The heat seemed to just sit on you as there was not even the slightest hint of a breeze and the bush on either side of the runway was thick with greenish brown shrubs, there were white, blue and purple flowers all around and thorny bushes which overlooked yellow, brown and green trees. Trying to look through them, Antoinette realised that they could very easily hide even the largest of the elephants.

The passengers all looked at the three game rangers standing next to their vehicles, all looked just as you would expect them too, they were tall, tanned with muscular arms, dressed in khaki shorts and shirts with closed boots. All three carried handguns in holsters on their hips.

The dark haired ranger turned towards them and said in a broad South African accent.

Welcome to Lalapanzi Game Lodge, we are sure you are going to have a very exciting time. I am Robert, this is Sam, he pointed to the man standing next to him, "and James is standing by the last car.

Jean turned to Antoinette and whispered I’m sure they have plenty of excitement, and you know exactly what I mean, just look at them, all real fit and good looking, I’m sure with all the single ladies who come to the lodge, an exciting time is had by all. I think you could have a ball!

Robert continued, Please just identify yourself and your luggage to Phillip, he pointed to a large man standing by the suitcases as they were brought from the aircraft. And once he has tagged your bags please climb on board one of the Land Rovers.

Phillip, had two porters working with him, they worked with military precision, arranging the tagging of the luggage as the passengers identified their personal belongings. Soon they were all loaded into the Land Rovers and as they drove off, all could hear the three rangers saying simultaneously, Don’t worry about your bags they will be in your chalets when you get there. They are perfectly safe.

With that the three Land Rovers turned in different directions. In the first Land Rover, there were three people sitting in the second row and Antoinette, Jean and Brian sat in the front row. When they had driven about fifty yards, the Land Rover turned left and was soon out of sight of the others cars.

Chapter Two

"Hi, my name is Sam your Game Ranger for your time at Lalapanzi Game Lodge, and behind you at the back is Jacob, the best game sighter and tracker at our lodge, if you see an animal before Jacob , I will personally give you a ‘Lalapanzi Game Lodge Wind Cheater’ which is a prize I have yet to give away.

I have been a ranger for the past 5 years, so if you have any questions about anything you see, hear or smell, please feel free to ask.

We are just going to take a short trip for now, giving you a taste of what we have to offer. In the meantime let’s get to know one other". And he gestured to the brunette lady sitting directly behind Antoinette.

Hi, I am Gaynor from Derby in England, and this is my husband.

Hi I’m Bill and this is Ricky our son. Ricky was about fourteen years old and he nodded and smiled at all. Brian came next, and he introduced himself and his fiancée Jean. Then Antoinette said Hi, I’m Antoinette but please call me, Toni, I’m Jean’s cousin and we hail from New Mexico in the USA.

They were driving down a sand road when Sam stopped the car and hopped out, he walked to a tree just on the side of the track, and picked up something from a bush before coming back to the car.

This is a Chameleon, they live on flies or grass hoppers and insects, they are a highly specialised clade of lizards, there are about 180 species and many of them have the ability to change colours. This one can change its colour so that it blends in with his surrounding, he will get splotches of browns and greens, exactly like the branch he is sitting on. They have a tongue that shoots out, forms a circle around a fly or other insect, then they bring it back into their mouths. Here, Sam said as he handed the chameleon to Gaynor, look at the five toes and feel the skin; gently, as we don’t want to hurt him.

Gaynor’s face was a picture as she tried to show no signs of trepidation in front of her son. The chameleon went from person to person sometimes grabbing on to the hand with its claw like feet.

As Sam turned to put the chameleon back onto the branch, Bill asked Is it safe to walk about out here?

Sam replied, Not really, there certainly could be Lions, Black Rhinos or even a Leopard in this area, all wild animals are dangerous so I’m taking a bit of a chance and I wouldn’t let any of you do the same. Jacob and I have been together a long time and I totally trust him to see anything that I need to be aware of. Getting back into the car, he continued. As long as you’re in the Land Rover the animals don’t see you as a human or as their prey, they see you as part of the vehicle, but please don’t stand up, you don’t want to high-light yourself as being separate from the vehicle. Especially when we have the animals really close to the car. Please remember to remain seated. Although Jacob is higher up, the animals around here are used to seeing our Land Rovers with this strange thing at the back, he said as he laughed with Jacob.

Turning back to the steering wheel, Sam started to drive on, after about a mile, we stopped as Jacob pointed to a herd of Impala. ‘Let me introduce you to the ‘McDonalds of Africa’, can any of you tell me why they are called the ‘McDonalds of Africa’? He smiled as he said because you will find them around every corner. He laughed, "I know they are common but I love them, I find them absolutely beautiful, the males grow to about 36 inches tall weigh about 168 pounds while females grow to about 33 inches and weigh about 117 pounds Only the males have the characteristic slender, Lyre-shaped horns, and I love their colour. From their reddish brown coat to the Khaki sides and white underbelly.

They have this scent gland located just above the heel on each hind leg, so when in full flight, they leave a scent trail behind them, and those following know which way to go. And they can jump to about 9 foot high. I hope you find them as pretty as I do".

We watched them for a little while when two young males started to rut , facing each other they would jump at each other, knocking their heads together and interlocking their horns before pulling back to jump together once again. Sam said ‘they will play like this until they get bigger and feel they can take on the head of the herd and once successful they will be allowed to mate and produce.

In the wild, the best of the species is used to produce so that their offspring always have the best genes available.

We drove on and soon came across two big buffalo bulls covered in mud, Sam said, ‘Let me introduce you to our camp Dagga Boys these two buffalos have been kicked out of their herd and wander around together, there used to be three, but the lions got hold of one about a week ago. You will often see them roaming around the camp. They wallow in the mud, which as you can see becomes hard and as it falls off, it takes all the parasites off their hides.

With that we turned a corner and ahead of us was Lalapanzi Game Lodge.

There were two imposing gates standing about twenty four foot high with an eight foot wide cattle grid; electric wire went along the sides and over the top, with fences of about the same height going off to either side.

We drove along a short driveway up to an imposing structure, there was a veranda that disappeared around the corner with the main entrance in the front. On each side of the double doors were skulls of two large animals with short tusks and big teeth.

Sam explained this was reception and the skulls had belonged to two hippos.

We all got out of the Land Rover and Sam escorted us into the building, which was lovely and had a floral odour permeating through the room. The air conditioners were pumping cool air into the foyer.

In front was a counter and off to the side there was a table with glasses of cold orange, guava and apple juice and some still water. There were plates of sandwiches, Toni could see chicken salad with mayonnaise, beef on rye, smoked salmon and some that she assumed were for vegetarians.

Hi and welcome said the red headed lady behind the counter, I’m Naomi. Linda and I, pointing to her colleague, would like to check you in. Please have something to eat and drink, and when you’re ready, we will help you to complete all the necessary paperwork.

Gaynor, Bill and Ricky made their way to Naomi whilst Brian and Jean walked over to Linda.

Toni walked over to the food and drinks tables and chose a guava juice and a smoked salmon sandwich. The guava juice was nice and cool and the sandwich was fresh and tasted delicious. Looking around the reception area, Toni could see pictures of celebrities who had stayed at the lodge and there were photographs of lions, elephants, buffalo, rhinos and leopards, ‘The Big Five". Horns of various antelopes were hanging on the walls with skins of other animals on the floor and over the counters.

When Brian and Jean had finished they were escorted out to their chalet. Then it was Toni’s turn, as she finished the documentation, Sam was waiting to escort her to her single chalet. As Toni and Sam walked out of the reception, Toni noticed a man standing in the shade as she looked at him he smiled and nodded a greeting before turning and walking away. Toni was shocked at the way her body reacted to the smile, his whole face just seemed to light up and a warm feeling went through her entire body. She stood for a second to get control of her feelings before quickly moving to catch Sam as he showed her to her chalet.

Chapter Three

To say it was for a single occupant would be to insinuate it was small, it was huge for one person. From the entrance hall, you walked into an open plan lounge and bedroom area, with a bed which was at least king size, then there was a door which led into a dressing room and a huge bathroom. The bathroom, comprised a Jacuzzi bath, a shower big enough to have a party, a bidet, a loo and two sinks. Behind the door was a white bath robe and some slippers.

The lounge had two easy chairs, a coffee table and a mini bar with fridge.

From the lounge you walked out onto the balcony which overlooked a running river, and although there were no animals drinking at the time, the pictures on the walls showed that many different antelope, rhino and elephants were to be seen lazing, washing and drinking from the river.

Toni’s bags were in the entrance hall, with a typed letter of ‘Welcome’ and a schedule for the rest of the day. After checking the time and today’s plan, Toni unpacked and had a leisurely shower. As there was plenty of time before they were due to go on the night drive, Toni decided to check out the resort. She put on a track suit and some comfortable slip on shoes then followed the map to the main lodge.

As she walked in, Toni noticed Brian and her cousin Jean having a quiet drink in the bar. From the bar you could see a swimming pool built into the rocks. It looked so cool and inviting, Toni promised herself a swim before the evening drive.

As she turned Jean said, Doesn’t the pool look inviting, Brian and I are going to see if it feels as good as it looks. Making