Pain Meds, ducks, and in the doghouse
I do not know what sort of pain medication the good doctor gave Byron, but fifteen minutes after swallowing one down dry at the pharmacy Mr. Byron was feeling pretty good. After stops at the local Air Namibia office to pick up some game permits and the local hardware store for a plumbing fitting for Byron’s camp, we headed back to Salambala. We made it back just as the sun was starting to touch the tree tops. This is my favorite time in Africa. The temperature drops and the game is moving. It is a time when anything can happen and my senses always seem to be in hyper drive when I am afield this time of day. Byron insisted on resuming hunting, so we unzipped the shotgun and bagged two more knob-billed ducks. It was a pleasant way to wind down the day.
We happened to run into another PH and friend of Byron’s while we were out. Byron introduced me to Cobus. I had never heard this name before and found out it is a shortened from of Jacob → Jacobus in the Afrikaans language. Pretty cool. Cobus and his client had just bagged a pretty good Burchell’s zebra and they were loading it in the truck. I thought we traveled with a lot of people, but Cobus appeared to travel with a whole entourage. Two Land Cruiser trucks were needed to transport people, and a third had been called in to haul the zebra out. I did not know what the hunter did for a living, but the double rifle broken over his shoulder told me he made plenty of money.
We made it back just as darkness fell, but I decided it was still close enough to sundown for … (you guessed it) sundowners. I do not know who had the most interesting story to tell, but we had to go first as, unbeknownst to me, Byron had texted Johann that we were on the way to the hospital and then put his phone away. They had no way of knowing if it was Byron, me or one of the staff that headed to the hospital and were most annoyed with us for not getting back to them. The mere fact that I had not known about the phone call or any need to communicate more information was irrelevant. I was in the dog house, no matter what.
It turned out that Johann and the girls had an interesting day of their own. First off, they had a flat tire in the middle of Chobe. After being forced to exit the truck in a “do not exit the vehicle” area, they spent the rest of the morning looking for a new tire. The good news was, while in Kasane looking for a tire, they decided to have lunch at the Mokoros Restaurant at the Kasane Marina. It was very plush and the rainforest décor around the pool had been very nice. Me, I got no lunch and spent the day in the truck and at a doctor’s office. Man, those sundowners were good.
Johann Veldsman, Zoe Veldsman, and Janice Brown
The moisture from the river allows for a lush tropical environment.
The dining area at the Mokoros Restaurant flows right into the pool area
Tomorrow: Vic Falls
