To start with he lifted his head but almost instantly it dropped back to the ground but his eyes remained open as if trying to focus and make sense of his situation. After a few more attempts he finally managed to sit up but seemed reluctant to try to stand.
A short whistle from Kilifi alerted them to the second lion that was making his way cautiously down the hill, stopping periodically as if to assess both his brother and the two vehicles that remained close to him.
As he came forward the injured lion managed to stand, all be it in a very faltering manner, where his back legs looked as though they could give way at any moment. His companion walked past him, rubbing his left flank gently against his side several times. Turning to face him his long pink tongue licked across his brother’s whiskers while he made a throaty sound somewhere between a gentle roar and a purr.
“That’s amazing,” whispered Ana. “There is such affection there. I can sense the bond between them so strongly. They have both been eying us up but it is as though they sense we are on their side.”
After a few more minutes they started to move together slowly up the track with the uninjured brother remaining protectively on the outside. The patient walked with barely a wobble and on final turn where the pink of his neck contrasted dramatically with the deep yellow of his eyes he stared back, unblinking at them, before cutting off into the bush.
“Wow,” said Harry. “I think that final image will remain with me for a long time. I only hope between them that they can find some breakfast and he can begin the road to recovery.”
“Talking of breakfast,” smiled Jim, “I’m starving and do you realise it is not even nine o’clock yet! I feel we’ve done enough for a day’s work already.”
Chapter Ten
“I told Aziz I would drive him into the local town this morning to collect a few supplies. It’s a couple of hours each way and I will probably run out of conversation in five minutes. Please, please can you come with us Ana.”
“Of course Harry. It will be good to see a little of the outside world.”
Aziz was already waiting down by the garages and looked at his watch in rather a pointed way as they arrived.
“Sorry we are a little late,” smiled Ana. “It’s been a pretty full-on morning already.”
Aziz’s usual gruff manner seemed to melt somewhat. “That’s fine Ana, no real hurry. I’m glad you are coming along for the ride.” She squeezed in next to Harry and Aziz heaved himself up next to her, his lap awash with papers stuffed into a tattered notebook. “Think I’ll leave the window up for a while if you don’t mind. We don’t want all our shopping lists blowing out down the track.”
As the road began to level out, they started to see more plain’s game. The dark shapes of the wildebeests dotted the area to their right, their long faces looking both sad and startled at the same time and their almost grey beards brushing the dry grass as they ate. Their presence startled one which sped off in a haphazard zigzag run, causing others to do the same.
“They haven’t got too much in the way of brain power,” grinned Harry, “Nevertheless, they are part of one of the greatest shows on earth when they move north from Tanzania into the Maasai Mara looking for fresh grass that comes with the rains. Jim was telling me that there are about one and a half million of them as well as hundreds of thousands of zebras and gazelle. I have only seen pictures in books but I would give anything to witness it first-hand.”
“It’s a sight you will never forget Harry,” said Aziz. “It is ranked as one of the great wonders of the natural world and I have been lucky enough to see it twice.”
Harry found himself speechless. He had never heard Aziz talk about wildlife with any enthusiasm.
“Most people only see me an accountant of course. All I seem to be interested in are figures and stores but as a young man, working in a dull office in Nairobi, I persuaded my boss to send me down to one of the camps in the Mara that the company owned. There were some issues that needed looking into. In fact I found a clerk working in the store who was selling some of our supplies to a crooked, local shopkeeper.” He grimaced at the memory. “Well I soon put a stop to that! However, when I was sorting things out I got to go on early morning game drives before getting back to the accounts at my desk. They were happy memories.”
“I haven’t heard you share your love of wildlife since I have been in camp,” commented Ana, looking at him with more curiosity than usual.
Aziz shrugged, “I suppose I am quite a private person and while it’s quite true that I haven’t gone on a game drive for ages it would also be fair to say that nobody has asked whether that’s something I would like to do.”
Just then Harry stopped the Land Cruiser. The side of the track was thick with wildebeest. “Just listen for a little while. We see game viewing as so visual but one of the things I have done more and more when I am alone is to cut the engine and just take in the sounds.”
They were instantly aware of grunts all around, some of them surprisingly loud, almost like a bellow.
“Perhaps it is just because I like figures but the sound they make can be heard almost two kilometres away; I remember being told that by our guide in the Mara. Did you know too that once they are born the young can walk within five or six minutes? Rather puts us to shame eh?” said Aziz, looking positively animated.
As they watched Harry was aware of half a dozen vultures that had just settled on the branches of a bare tree in the near distance.
“Look at that,” he said, pointing to his right. “Something is certainly up. Kilifi said that when they gather and watch from perches there has either just been a kill or they are watching lion or leopard hunt in the hope that they will be left with some tasty pickings.”
They just sat listening and watching. A male impala, his magnificent antlers setting him apart from his nearby wives grazed just near the road side.
“Look on his back,” exclaimed Ana. “What are those little birds?”
Several small brown birds with vibrant red and yellow beaks were strutting confidently on the back of the impala, their heads moving constantly up and down.
“Those are oxpeckers,” replied Harry. “They love nothing better than the ticks that live on the impalas’ backs, apart from a tasty bit of their earwax of course.”
“Oh yuck, that’s enough detail thank you,” she winced, screwing up her nose somewhat.
“I don’t want to be Mr Boring again,” interjected Aziz, “but we do have a fair way to go for supplies and we really need to be back before dark.”
It wasn’t long before they reached the entrance to the reserve. A small brick building with a thatched roof marked the border with the outside world. The warden on duty gave a gap-toothed grin and raised the red and white barrier as they sped on their way.
These roads were of no interest to the Chinese and were worse than those in the reserve after years of neglect and the Land Cruiser rattled and bumped its way mile after mile, leaving a dusty cloud behind in the hot, still air. Children waved and those herding goats made some sort of effort to keep them off the track, the passing vehicle probably one of the only things of interest that had happened in their day.
After what seemed an age, dirt gave way to tarmac and despite the frequent potholes it certainly made for an easier journey.
Small shacks with mud-built walls changed to brick buildings, their corrugated iron roofs glinting in the sunshine. Traffic began to build up as they entered the outskirts of the town. Young men washed their motor bikes on the sides of the river and vastly overloaded three-wheeler tuk-tuks, a relatively new addition to the country, strained to carry huge bags of charcoal up comparatively small slopes.
“Can we head for the Make Good Hardware Store as our first stop please?” said Aziz. “We need to get some heavier stuff from there first which should then make loading the rest of the supplies somewhat easier.”
Harry pulled up outside a well-built store, its freshly painted green walls advertising the
advantages of the Safaricom mobile network.
“Come in with me,” suggested Aziz. “It’s good to learn all that is needed to make a business work. Without this side of things there would be no worthwhile game reserve to visit.”
They blinked as their eyes adjusted to the gloom inside the single room store, the open door behind them almost like a portal to another world.
A serious looking man wearing small round rimmed glasses and boasting a large tummy, barely kept in check by straining buttons, moved from behind the counter, hand outstretched towards Aziz.
“This is my friend Mr Kariuki who can usually get us anything we need, even if it isn’t in his store at the moment.”
Ana shook his outstretched hand and Harry greeted him with what he hoped was a cheery hello. He had been fascinated on his previous visits by this Aladdin’s cave of a shop.
Aziz had his lists on the counter and as he read from them Mr Kariuki dispatched assistants who reappeared from the depths with bags of nails, canvas sheets, mops and buckets and even two smart-looking director’s chairs that would replace the damaged ones on the veranda of one of the tents.
“Do you think you two could go to the bottle store up the road while Mr Kariuki and I discuss some more equipment that I’m after? We certainly need to stock up on beers for our guests, White Cap and Tusker, as well two dozen bottles of that new South African wine they promised they would have in. Take this list. I’ll see you back here in about twenty minutes.”
Ana and Harry headed out into the sunlight. “Let’s leave the Land Cruiser here, order the drinks and then we can load them up after finishing in the hardware shop.”
They walked down the street past the stalls selling vegetables and fruit and a young man cooking maize cobs.
Dusty crates of beer stood just inside the door. “How many of each do we need?” asked Ana as she scanned the shelves piled high with bottles of every description.
“It’s on the list that Aziz gave us, I really can’t remember.”
“Well have a quick read Harry then we might have time for some of that good smelling maize on the way back.”
Harry patted his pockets. “I can’t believe I left the wretched thing on the counter.”
Ana raised her eyebrows in mock irritation. “Look you make a start here, you must have a reasonable idea and I’ll pop back for the list.”
Before Harry could protest she was gone. The hardware store was only a few hundred metres back down the street.
When she entered the place seemed oddly deserted. There was an assistant behind the counter but no sign of Aziz, Mr Kariuki or indeed the list. “Where is everyone?”
“They have just gone into the office at the back to discuss something, I’m sure they will be out soon.”
Ana took a few steps towards the office door. “Oh I don’t think they want to be interrupted,” said the young man, his eyes widening somewhat.
“That’s fine, I just need the list from Mr Aziz. It won’t take a sec.”
As she opened the door she was surprised to see not just Aziz but another man sitting, back to her, at Mr Kariuki’s desk. All three looked up but the one that held her gaze was that of Mr Hu, his face expressionless but dark eyes seeming to bore into her.
“I am so sorry to disturb you,” said Ana, trying to sound as matter of fact as possible, “I just wanted the shopping list for the drinks store. We seem to have left it behind.”
Aziz got up from his seat, his face a mixture of irritation and concern. “I am sure I left it on the counter, but hang on just in case.” He opened the well-worn notebook and sifted through his papers. “How silly of me, I can’t believe I put in back in here.” He handed the crumpled paper to Ana.
“Many thanks, I’d better dash, Harry will be waiting.” She was shutting the office door behind her before anyone had the chance to say something else and striding back up the road, her mind whirling with questions.
Harry looked up from the counter, his light-hearted jest about shopping lists frozen on his lips. “What on earth is the matter? You look as though you’ve seen a ghost!”
“Worse than a ghost I’m afraid! I have just barged into a meeting in Mr Kariuki’s office between him, Aziz and can you believe it, Mr Hu!”
“Mr Hu, are you sure? I mean of course you are but what in the world is he doing there?”
“What indeed? I have met a few men like him in my time, humourless, ruthless and almost inevitably bad news. But more to the point, what were they talking about? I wasn’t even aware that Aziz and Mr Hu knew one another.”
“Me neither,” said Harry, “but let’s just play dumb. If we start asking him questions he will only clam up.”
“Agreed. I’ll do my best but he must have seen the look on my face when I barged into the office.”
They went through the list, putting the crates they needed on one side and making sure that the wine bottles were well wrapped for the bumpy journey back to camp.
When they returned to the Land Cruiser the last of the purchases were being loaded by Mr Kariuki’s assistants.
“That’s fine,” said Aziz. “We’ll pick up the drinks and there are a couple more visits for flour and rice and then the garage for some new suspension parts that have been ordered for a Land Rover.”
Shopping over, they stopped at rather a shabby looking restaurant with outside tables that didn’t look as though they had been wiped down for a few days. “Fried chicken and masala chips are a speciality here, I can recommend them,” smiled Aziz.
It took a while to arrive. Breakfast seemed an age ago and their tummies were rumbling. Despite the dirty table and cracked plates that the food was served on, the smell was enticing and the taste even better.
“Well,” said Ana, “as the old saying goes never judge a book by its cover. That is the tastiest meal I’ve had for ages.”
“Indeed,” said Aziz. “Things are often not what they appear.”
How true thought Harry but then what a strange thing to say, bearing in mind the meeting Ana had disturbed. Was Aziz trying to be funny or give them a message?
The return journey was somewhat slower with Harry trying hard to avoid the worst of the potholes and taking it especially easy over the heavily ridged tracks. Nevertheless, their cargo seemed to bounce about rather alarmingly in the back.
“I hope we are going to enjoy the occasional cold beer once we’re back,” joked Ana.
“Don’t worry about the beers,” said Harry, “they are all in crates and the bottles are pretty thick.”
“Agreed,” added Aziz. “It’s the wine at two thousand shillings a bottle that worries me. By the way is it getting colder or is it just my imagination?”
“Well the word according to Kilifi is that heavy rain is on the way. He was talking about that yesterday and the others were teasing him as there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and this is not really the rainy season. However, somehow he seems to be in touch with nature in ways that leave the rest of us far behind.”
“Well Harry, I think he might be right as usual. Having worked in dry areas of the world I learnt that you can smell the rain sometime way before you see it,” said Ana. “If my nose is to be believed I would say his prediction is spot on.”
As though on cue, the sky was visibly darkening in front of them. It wasn’t that the sun had gone behind a few clouds; in a remarkably short time it was almost as though it was early evening. The darkness seemed to swallow the colour, the track appeared as a black strip leading unerringly towards the all too distant hills where the camp was.
They could see the rain now although it was still miles off. In the vastness of Africa where your eyes were used to looking at faraway horizons this was not unusual. Individual storms could be picked out with ease but this was something different. There was only darkness.
All three of them were silent, and the sound of the Land Cruiser changed as Harry engaged a low gear to take on the first of the steep hills that led to the camp.
&n
bsp; “I know I am pretty new to the country but this storm looks as though it means business,” he said as he turned on the wipers in response to large blobs of rain that were striking the windscreen.
“It certainly looks a bit of a monster,” agreed Aziz. “There isn’t really anywhere between where we are and the camp that we can shelter and this looks as though it will go on for hours. I think we are better off just ploughing on slowly.”
“Agreed,” said Harry as he picked up the radio. “Uwingoni this is Harry, can you hear me? Over.”
Mike’s voice, somewhat distorted answered, “Hello Harry, yes can just about hear you over the noise of the rain. Where are you?”
“Just climbing up the first hill towards the base of the escarpment, Mike.”
“Well take care the tracks can be treacherous on the hillsides, they almost turn into rivers but I would just keep going if you can. It looks like a long drawn out storm and there is nowhere for you to hole up.”
“Thanks for the cheery advice Mike. We’ll do our best.”
“He wasn’t kidding when he talked about rivers. I am just looking at the level of water down the left-hand side of the track. It’s already washing away small rocks in its path and the wipers hardly seem to be making any difference at all,” said Ana, as she gripped more firmly onto the seat.
When they reached the top of the first rise Harry stopped and engaged four-wheel drive.
“The brakes will be wet and by the look of it we will need all the control we can find. Luckily I have a fine teacher in Bethwell, but the truth is I wish he was behind the wheel, not me!”
The rain was relentless and the attack on the roof made it difficult for them to hear each other inside the cab. Harry had the head lights on but despite the fact that it was only late afternoon the darkness seemed physical and even with the other two beside him he felt strangely isolated.
They crawled down, the Land Cruiser sliding slightly now and again, especially when avoiding larger rocks that had been dislodged and on occasions branches and other debris that was being washed in from all angles.
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