Journey to Africa

By Xlibris US

The book is about a game ranger in the Kruger National park who has invited his brother in laws two children Tim and Cathy to spend some time with him in the park.
His wife the twins aunt and her daughter were killed by a stampeding elephant when Steve went in search of water because of the vehicles engine overheating.
Steve arranges a walking tour from one of the camp sites where these types of tours are arranged and supervised by park rangers where tourists can have an up close encounter with wild animals.
Over the border with neighbouring Mozambique a farmer who supplies food to rebel forces has to flee the country with his wife and two children.
The children escape over the boundary fence of the Kruger park but the parents are captured.
Steve comes upon their tracks and sends Tim and Cathy back with Jim the assistant ranger to alert the authorities while he and Solomon follow the tracks of what seems to be two young children.
Policemen from Mozambique follow the children into the park and capture them.
Steve rescues the two children takes the policemen captive and asks Solomon to take the little girl and the captured Mozambique policemen back to base camp where Jim would be waiting.
Steve and young Jeorge set off for Mozambique to rescue his parents.
They become involved with rebel forces and eventually escape into South Africa.
Solomon gets involved in his own adventure with a lion and a crocodile. (Alligator)
Steve almost does not make it back when he is bitten by a venomous snake, Jeorge then sets off to find help for Steve.
Eventually everyone is reunited again, the Portugese couple and their children go off to Portugal and Steve is reprimanded and asked to resign his position and he leaves his beloved Kruger Park.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 29, 2014
• ISBN: 9781499064223

Book preview

Copyright © 2014 by Donald Penn-Goff.

ISBN:        Softcover             978-1-4990-6423-0

                  eBook                  978-1-4990-6422-3

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 08/27/2014

Xlibris LLC

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

665594

Contents

Chapter 1 The Journey

Chapter 2 Home In The Bush

Chapter 3 Journey To Freedom

Chapter 4 On The Trail

Chapter 5 The Hunters And The Hunted

Chapter 6 The Reunion

Chapter 7 Solomon’s Quest

Chapter 8 Journey’s End

Epilogue

Endnotes

A s he weaved his way through traffic on the M2 on the last leg of his journey to Johannesburg International Airport, Steve stroked his beard with one hand while the other firmly grasped the top of the Landrover’s steering wheel.

He glanced at his watch. Four hours and twenty minutes since he had driven through the gates of Kruger Park. Not bad timing, he thought, another half an hour and I should be there.

His thoughts drifted to the last time he had seen the twins – they must have been about three. A lump formed in his throat. The only time he had been overseas, he remembered was when his father-in-law had paid the airfare for the three of them in 1972. Swallowing hard, he remembered that Sharon would have been twelve next week, had she still been alive. Jolted out of his thoughts, he swerved right to overtake a slow-moving truck and nearly struck a BMW overtaking him on his right-hand side. The driver glared at him, Steve lifted his hand and shrugged his huge shoulders as a sign of apology. With his eagle like vision, he saw the Johannesburg International sign from a distance and moved into the left lane, ready to take the turn off. The traffic started building up, and Steve wondered where all the people came from.

He was not used to city traffic. Being a game warden in the Kruger Park, meant that the only traffic he ever saw were herds of buffalo and elephant in the Park’s Northern parts. He longed for home. This was definitely not his kind of life. The rat race, he thought, everybody racing around developing ulcers and having heart attacks. His longing for his little brick home at Pafuri intensified.

He switched on his indicator a good fifty yards before the off-ramp, not liking the way city drivers drove almost bumper to bumper. Looking into his rearview mirror, he could read the name of the truck behind him clearly it was so close to his rear bumper.

As he took the off-ramp, he glanced out of the window as a 747 was making its approach run to land, no more than a couple of hundred feet above him, or so it seemed.

Off to his right he saw the green light of the Holiday Inn sign, then the sign saying Airport Parking. He took the upper level parking turn-off. He drove through the parking barrier point and began wondering where to park, there seemed to be cars everywhere.

After having found a suitable spot, he crossed the car park to the airport entrance, glad to finally be able to stretch his 6’4" frame. A Japanese couple, who had just got off a flight, almost pushed their baggage trolley into a parked car as they stared in amazement at the tall, rugged, bearded giant who passed them, nodding his head in greeting. As he still had half an hour before the flight was due in, he decided to go and have a cup of coffee. He was relieved to be able to sit down again, not liking the way people stared at him.

He heard the announcement clearly above all the hustle and bustle of airport activity. ‘Attention please, flight No. BA 055 from Heathrow Airport has just landed.

He felt excited. It was going to be good to have company again. He had enjoyed being on his own before he got married, but five years of marital bliss had changed all that, that is, until the tragedy of the accident had left him all alone again.

Tim saw him first as he walked through the security doors. ‘Uncle Steve’, he shouted, above the hubbub of hundreds of other greetings. Tim pushed his way through the crowd and ran into his uncle’s outstretched arms.

Tim could feel the strength flowing through those mighty arms as they embraced him, scared his Uncle Steve would squeeze too hard.

How the lad has grown, Steve thought, as he noticed a blond headed young girl looking around as if lost. ‘Here Cathy’, Steve boomed, his voice carrying across the din of the arrivals lounge. Cathy ran to him, flinging her arms around his huge frame. Tears sprang to her eyes as she buried her head in the embrace of those tree-trunk-like arms.

Suddenly she broke away from Steve’s embrace and turned to her brother, scolding him for leaving her alone like that. Steve sensed a fight brewing and intervened.

He told them he had booked them into double Suite accommodation at the Airport Holiday Inn for the night, before they leave for the park early the next morning.

Chapter 1

The Journey

Chapter_1.jpg

T he traffic on the highway was congested. Some people leaving the airport and others going home from work. Fortunately, the Holiday Inn turn-off was not even a mile from the airport parking, Steve gave a huge sigh of relief as he parked in front of the hotel. He grabbed his overnight bag, slung it over his shoulder and picked up Cathy’s bags from the back of the landrover. He handed the keys to Tim, saying ‘Bring your bags, son, and lock up for me, please’.

‘May I help you, sir?’, said the young receptionist as she gazed up in the awe at the bearded giant.

‘I have a double room booked for the night, du Bois is the name,’ he answered,

‘Yes, Sir. Please fill out the form, your name and address in here and sign here, and again here. Are you paying cash?’

After signing in, a porter gathered the luggage together and they all made their way to the lifts. ‘What is your room number, Sir?’ ‘601,’ replied Steve. ‘This is great!’ exclaimed Cathy, looking around the double suite with two huge double beds and other luxurious furnishings.

Steve glanced out of the 6th storey double window at all the Jumbo jets lined up in a neat row and thought to himself, Well, my girl, I have tried to maintain the things you are used to in life'’ His thoughts drifted for a moment to the millions his brother-in-law had inherited when the old man had passed away, leaving him with no worries about money, travel, expensive cars… ‘Uncle Steve, Uncle Steve!’

‘Sorry Cathy, I was a bit lost in my thoughts for a moment. What is it?’

‘Can we phone Daddy? We’ll reverse the charges.’

Well, thought Steve, Why not? After all, if he has money to send the twins all over the world, what is a telephone call?’

‘Okay, I’ll tell you what we’ll do. You two get out the things that you want to use and wear for tonight and tomorrow, then we’ll phone Dad. Cathy, you can have the other double bed for yourself, Tim and I will share this one.’

Steve dialed the reception desk and asked them to place a call to London and to reverse the charges. Ten minutes later the shrill ring of the phone interrupted the TV news. ‘Turn it down Tim. Hello Steve du Bois here.’ ‘Hi Jim, it sounds as if you are next door to me.’ ‘Modern day technology Steve. How are you and the kids?’ ‘We are all well, in fact, they are just bursting to talk to you,’ said Steve, handing the