This episode is literally just a bunch of various hunting stories from Congo, Africa. Stories from the 1950’s until the late 1970’s are shared here in this episode. Hunting for and encountering Hippos, Guinea Fowl, Antelope, Monkeys, Chimps, Buffalo (and being gored by it) and other wildlife. Or how about almost being stampeded by a huge herd of buffalo at night? There’s also a story about the life-threatening danger we were exposed to being out in the jungles of Africa for days on end – a reminder of how we were blessed with minimal injury or death from said dangers.
Then there is the mysterious “Makola”, or Australopithicene sightings – are they real or just a myth like Big Foot? Hmmmmm – I’ll let you decide.
Stories are shared, often 40-50 years after they happened with incredible detail and precision; the impact of the memories remain with the hunter/story teller to this day. And some multi-day hunts yielded almost nothing, save for a wonderful memory of the adventure and experience.
Thanks to my fellow hunters John Lundquist, Dan Noren, James Edstrom, Jeff Dangers, Bob Widman, and Tom Peters for sharing their stories for this episode. I hunted with many of these men in my youth. Great men, friends, and fellow hunters in Congo.
Copyright © 2022 by Jeffrey W. Eales. All rights reserved. No portions may be reproduced or transmitted in any format without the prior written permission of the author.
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I had no idea that people hunted hippos. There are many people killed by hippos each year so they are extremely dangerous.
Jeff – hunting is more about the people you are with and the stories. Occasionally, there’s a trophy to go on the wall, but those typically involve a good story as well.
The photo of the guinea fowl brings back memories from growing up. Although my parents built a new house in a new subdivision which is now considered in the middle of the city, there was an old house at the end of the street that ran behind the house. It has to be close to 150 years old now. The very old lady that lived there had 6-7 guinea fowl as pets. They were regularly seen behind my house. The neighborhood rumor many years later when the house was sold one of the conditions of sale was accepting and caring for the guinea fowl.
These. were great stories Jeff. You have a lot of brave friends. I love your memory of them boiling the hippo’s head for 3 days in order to remove the teeth