Happiness
KwaZulu-Natal: Circa turn of the century… It was a difficult safari. The vegetation was dense and green. The rainy season extending very late this year. Two of us were in pursuit of a pair of Nyala worthy of the adjective “trophy”. They seemingly were on holiday at an undisclosed location. Our daily marches had yielded nothing but wet clothes, run ins with various ill tempered Jumbo’s and more than a handful of reptile encounters in the armpit high riverine habitat. Riverine nyala habitatThe red pepper ticks were in the midst of a population explosion that yielded results in the ounce per leg category nightly, despite our best efforts and applications of all repellants known to man. Gaiters capping boots and socks soaked in various concoctions, and liberal dousing of pant legs would do nothing to deter the hungry hordes. My friend Con and his lifelong tracker Eric were in shock at the severity of the infestation. It seemed everything from ticks to jumbo were thriving. One evening Er..
