|
Texas bow hunter tackles wilds of South Africa.
“It was the experience of a lifetime, maybe
several lifetimes.” That’s how Juan Flores describes
his 16-day African safari in August 2003. During his adventure,
he found a human skull in the bush, encountered a black mamba,
and ate fresh antelope, kudu, and wildebeest, which he and his
two safari mates felled with bows and arrows.
Juan, a purchasing representative at ABS Texas, says
the two friends lobbied him long and hard to join the expedition,
since the safari offered a discount rate for triple occupancy.
A long, strenuous trip.
The flight from Dallas to Johannesburg, South Africa
took 19 hours, with a brief stopover in Atlanta. But that was
the easy part of the trip.
Upon arriving in Johannesburg, Juan’s group
was met by two safari guides who said they’d be traveling
overland to the ranch through a “pirate corridor.”
The guides armed Juan and his two safari mates with
pistols. “They told us to shoot at anyone who tried to stop
our vehicle,” Juan recalls. “It was pretty weird.”
The 10,000-acre ranch sits 175 miles northwest of
Johannesburg near the Botswana border and the ride through the
pirate gauntlet was unnerving, but thankfully uneventful.
“Calming” advice about black mambas.
Juan’s nerves were further frazzled when he
arrived at the ranch and was told by a native to beware of deadly
black mamba snakes.
“What happens if I get bit?” Juan asked.
“In that case,” the native said, “find
a tree, lay down under it, and put your arms straight by your
side.”
“And that will cure me?”
“No, that will keep us from having to break
your arms when we put you in the coffin.”
In other words, a bite from a black mamba meant certain
death. On the safari, Juan and his group did spot a dreaded mamba
one day about 20 yards away.
“Needless to say, we stayed very clear of it,”
Juan says, laughing at the memory.
Roughing it, Africa-style.
Juan and his two fellow safari hunters bunked in
a thatched hut built over a dirt floor. While the accommodations
were spartan, the hut was outfitted with a shower and water pump.
A wooden monkey perched atop the hut was designed to keep unwanted
critters away, especially snakes.
The men were constantly vigilant to check their bunks
and shoes to make sure nothing else crawled in.
Juan said, “I learned pretty quick that if something
didn’t bite you, it would stick you.” Luckily, Juan
and his safari mates didn’t suffer any attacks from scorpions,
venomous spiders or killer snakes.
Small bushmen hugely helpful.
The men hunted nearly every day. A ranch safari
guide accompanied them, along with a five-foot-tall barefooted
bushman.
“The bushmen were amazing,” Juan recalls.
“They could look at dozens of different tracks and find the
one set of tracks that led us to our prey.”
Juan bagged five animals on his hunting adventures—a
warthog, impala, wildebeest, zebra, and kudu. The men feasted
on the animal meat in the evening and shared their food with the
natives.
“It was a good feeling knowing that we were
helping feed families, especially the children,” Juan says.
Daily doses of excitement.
Every day brought new adventure. Late one afternoon,
Juan spotted several hippos bathing in the Limpopo River, sharing
the water with 20-foot crocodiles. One morning, his group spied
a leopard creeping through the brush. And then there was the day
when Juan’s safari party was chased by an ostrich.
“It might sound funny,” Juan says, “But
an angry ostrich is nothing to mess with.” He said that his
group had a 100-yard head start on the enraged bird and was able
to run to safety.
Memories that linger long after.
For now, Juan is content to reflect on his safari
memories, although he dreams of seeing a rhinoceros in the wild
some day.
“I’ve always felt a spiritual connection
to the rhino,” Juan says. “A rhino is big and tough
and doesn’t mess with anybody unless it’s messed with.”
“It’s an animal I would never hunt. I would
just like to see one in its natural habitat.”
|
