Incidents!

I have a few bad moments with Wildlife.

In the 1980s I had several close calls with wildlife. Partially this was statistical inevitability coming into play. Sometimes it was my own fault entirely. I had become very blase about wild animals such as elephant and lion. Because I was having so much daily exposure to the presence of these animals - even inside the proximity of my own camps - I started to take risks without knowing it. Everything concerning wild animals, especially when you are on foot, is a calculated risk. However when you start to ignore the calculation side of things trouble happens. And as I found out on two occasions - when things go wrong - they go wrong so fast that you can not be prepared for it!

1/13 : My elephant incident started when I parked above the lower Ngwezumba Pool. On this occasion my mother was with me.

An image of a vehicle parked just above a pool in a riverbed and some elephants and buffalo are drinking.

2/13 : I set up a hide at another pool. While I was away a group of elephants surprised my mother and unexpectedly attacked the vehicle.

An image of 3 elephants attacking a vehicle with a woman trying to close one of the doors.

3/13 : They pushed the vehicle 50 meters into the bush.

An image of where the vehicle ended up with debris in the foreground.

4/13 : This was the result of the incident.

An image of a vehicle whose back has been ripped open and all the equipemnt inside has been damaged.

5/13 : Me getting too casual with elephants on another occasion.

6/13 : My significant lion incident happened during the rainy season at Kwekampa.

An image of green bush and elephants with spectacular thunderclouds in the background

7/13 : The morning of the incident I had camped nearby in very muddy and wet conditions.

8/14 : When trying to approach the pan I walked through several pools to check the road. Then a lion burst into view and I ran.

An image of a very angry lioness charging.

9/13 : This is the tree that saved me. I was treed for a few minutes but the lion was not serious and didn't try to get me out of it.

An image of Paul Augustinus standing at the foot of a very small tree in the middle of scrubby bush.

10/13 : On a different occasion when I was driving by this Kwekampa lion also charged me several times.

An image of a male lion charging at the viewer in a very agressive way and in full stride.

11/13 : My third incident in the Chobe National Park happened in the Mababe. The Magwikwe road should be used in the wet season

An aerial image showing a long curving sand ridge leading off to some very distant hills and a large low plain.

12/13 : In 1985I had risked using the main track to Kasane. I got stuck with little prospect of any help as all traffic was using the Sand Ridge road.

An image of a 4 x 4 vehicle leaning over on its side and stuck in a muddy stretch of road.

13/13 : I tried for 2 days to get myself out but to no avail. One night lions investigated. Luckily another vehicle arrived 2 days later. I was at the point of walking out (50kl of treeless plain.)

An image of Paul Augustinus desperately trying to jack his vehicle up and out of the muddy hole. He is covered in mud and bits of equipment are lying all around.

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