Steve, the intrepid hiker, got us going early to be able to see the buffalo.
Later in the day, they go into the forests and are harder to see. So, while the heavy dew clung to every surface in our campsite, Bethany got up and brought us chai to our tents. What hospitality. She told us the story of her Indian friend’s mother, who brought them chai in bed when Bethany visited her friend. (Bethany was a missionary kid who grew up in Nepal and attended a boarding school in India.) Later, instant oatmeal packets were delivered with hot water.
Anya had a bad night’s sleep, only three hours, because of the cold. But, Steve has a way of directing the day that keeps pushing on. So, despite Anya’s initial protests, she got up and made it work.
We hid the sleeping bags, just in case some others came by, but most of our clothes stayed in the tent. We packed all our water empty water bottles and headed out to the spring, quietly whispering along the way through the waist high grass to not startle the buffalo. We were instructed that if a buffalo would charge us, we were to drop our packs (though today, only the adults were carrying them) and lie on the ground. If possible, roll to a log or into the depths of the grass. The horns of the cape buffalo are deadly when they can hook something and throw you. They are one of the most deadly animals in Africa.
Soon, we froze in a clearing and crouched down to watch a small herd of 11 or so buffalo about 100 yards from us. As they were departing into the woods, Steve started us walking toward them. However, one stood guard at the end of the herd, staring at us. In a split second, we heard hooves running, and the two girls and I hit the grass. I don’t know how long it took to get my backpack off, but it seemed like a reflex. Yet, the buffalo weren’t running toward us, they were running into the forest. Whew! I thought, I’m not sure my international travel insurance would cover any medical issues related to being out walking where dangerous animals were present! I didn’t add the “adventure rider” to my policy!
We walked on, seeing some bushbuck in the hillside, and across another clearing, we observed eland in the distance. They are very skittish from being hunted by many people. Bethany told a story of when her daughter was only 10 months old and her twin boys were older (about 7, I recall), they were up on the mountain. When her daughter was hungry, Bethany plopped down on a tuft of grass and started breast feeding. Soon, an armed hunting guide showed up with a white hunter and at least two more armed guards. A mother nursing an infant contrasted with the dangerous environment portrayed by the armed guards that hunting safari companies want to sell. People will pay more for dangerous adventures.
We made it to the spring, and the stream flowing from it. We filled our water bottles. I have a bottle with a filter, so we could drink right away. Bethany passed out water treatments pills for our drinking bottles, but Steve was not concerned and drank the water directly. It is a remote area with little human activity. He’s a doctor and knows the risks and treatments as needed.
Then, we had to hike back up to our campsite. On the way, we ended up going through several patches with lots of stinging nettles. It was impossible to avoid being stung. The sting hurts as much as a bee sting, but it doesn’t swell much but just stings for about an hour or so. This was miserable for Anya on only 3 hours of sleep, and even pushed me into frustration. When we made it back to the campsite, I put Benadryl gel on my remaining stings from later in the day. Unfortunately, the Benadryl stimulated the stings a bit and kept them buzzing way into the night. I even had to try to fall asleep with them aggravated. Fortunately, they were calmed sometime in the night.
Back to the return hike… While we were ascending to our ridge, we didn’t realize a herd of buffalo was ahead of us. They were startled by us and started stampeding down the hillside in a thunderous sound of hoof beats and breaking branches about 100 feet in front of us. We froze in our tracks, though none came our direction. That was a first for us all!
We plowed through the tall grass at the top of the hill and continued to our campsite.
For the rest of the afternoon, the females sat around, told stories, and talked. Steve was out discovering new buffalo trails, and announced that in the morning, we’d take a “short hike” on the next ridge.
Dinner was Mountain Meals beef stroganoff, which again was good for a freeze-dry meal (or perhaps we’re so hungry anything tastes good). Again, we were in our tents before sunset at 6:40 pm to snuggle into our modified sleeping bag arrangement before the cold became unbearable. We were ready for sleep.
With blessings,
Beth