Part 5. Sable Lodge at the Night Manager's Estate and barmy buffaloes in the Boma

We left Cawood and Tara the lion early the next day for the long drive back to Harare via Bulawayo. Most of the petrol stations were open until we got closer to Harare where fuel shortage normality resumed. The roads were full of people carriers stuffed to the gunnels with passengers and many pulling trailers piled high with goods. They looked like a flotilla of Trotters Traders trafficking humans and supplies from S. Africa to Harare!

Back in Harare we had dinner at Josh and Jackie’s farmhouse where their kids Shylo, Corben and Joachim gave us a tour. There was a cornucopia of animals and birds………goats, rabbits geese, guinea pigs,hens, strutting cockerels, bantams, moorhens. The majority of the menagerie were being kept for food but I think most had become pets! Away from the animal pens and birdcages we got sight of the huge amount of equipment owned by AWMC…………trucks, crushes, cranes, forklifts, weird people carriers for taking staff into the bush. Josh very proudly showed us a battered and bent short wheel base landrover which AWMC used to manoeuvre buffaloes etc………it turned out we we would soon be sitting in it….Aaaargh!

Josh and Jackie did not own their farm and could have been forced by the authorities to leave at any time. Fortunately this was unlikely

as they had become embedded in the community due to their kindness and helpfulness to the locals and their animals . We hope the “powers that be” leave them alone. Their unshakeable and deep Christian beliefs seem to enable them to live where uncertainty is the norm.

For the next few days we stayed in a lodge on the Thetford Estate…….close to the farm and the centre of Harare. The huge gates guarding the entrance to the Estate made us feel like we were entering the Night Manager’s lair! The owner allegedly had made his fortune through arms dealing with the white Rhodesian regime and then Mugabe himself! Post Mugabe he had fallen on hard times and was now using the estate for “legal” tourism………..enter the Adventurers!

Fixer Innes and Terry just happened to know the manager of the estate and had secured a beautiful (Sable) lodge for us. It overlooked a spectacular valley toward Mazowe Lake and dam. Perfect for G&T on the verandah darling! And Firelighter Trev spied a large pile of wood, an open fire and a fire pit. Oh yes please!! On arrival at Sable Lodge we found the Quartermaster had commandeered a bedroom protected by barred windows and a strong lock on the door…………where she could monitor and control all supplies!! No one else, including Ron were allowed to enter. In fact I don’t think Ron even slept

in there! We decided we needed to keep ourselves in her good books!

The Estate was well stocked with wild animals including buffalo. This was to be a completely different experience to Cawood farm………more complex and as it turned out far more challenging for AWMC.

The next morning, while The Adventurers were enjoying a relaxed breakfast on the verandah of Sable Lodge, the AWMC team had been working their butts off. They had built a massive (>50 meter) long funnel shaped Boma in the middle of fairly dense scrub and trees. A ramp at the tip if the funnel was connected to one of the AWMC trucks. We were called to the scene when the buffalo capture was about to begin The sketch entitled “The Theory” gives an idea of the scale of the operation.

Nick was up in the helicopter locating and then driving about 20 animals toward the mouth of the Boma. How he managed to do this in the terrain we were operating I do not know, but this was testament to the skill of the man. Josh invited Pat, Ian and myself to join him in his beaten up, open topped landrover which was parked up inside the Boma and where the buffalo were to be driven by the helicopter. We sat quietly and motionless hidden behind a plastic curtain waiting for the buffalo to come charging past……….we suddenly heard their snorting and the rumble of their hooves beating on the hard earth.

As they were driven past us another plastic sheet was pulled behind trapping us and 20 rather irritated buffaloes in the mouth of the Boma. It was now up to us to “encourage” the animals into the truck using the landrover, cattle prods and a lot of hollering!!!! ………..this was definitely squeaky bum time…………especially as Pat suddenly remembered she didn’t like cows!!

Despite this being a fairly standard operation by AWMC, these beasts decided not to conform! There was no way they were getting into that truck! After about 40 minutes Josh asked 2 of us to get off the landrover to lighten the load and so make it more manoeverable. Josh continued to shove and yell for another 2 hours. He even lassoed one female and dragged her towards the truck in the hope that the others would follow. No way Hose! Ultimately one rebel beast saw a small gap in the Boma and squeezed through it…….within a blink of an eye they all escaped…….everyone jumped into the nearest available vehicle!

Dusk began to fall and the AWMC team decided to retire hurt ……..all through this Josh never lost his cool despite looking

exhausted…………what is this man made of??!

There was zippo chance the buffalo would go near the Boma again so the next day the massive Boma was dismantled. Nick and Josh adopted a new strategy. The helicopter was used to locate the beasts around the valley and they then picked them off with a dart gun. This was effective but much harder work and more expensive (drugs, helicopter fuel etc) than the Boma method. By midday 13 buffalo had been captured. A further group were corralled into a permanent pen/boma where they were darted ready for loading. We moved in to help as each animal teetered and eventually hit the ground, putting on blindfolds and holding their heads up to ensure their breathing was not compromised. Individuals were dragged onto steel sleds, craned onto the trucks before being transported to the farm to join their compatriots from Beitbridge.

Later we heard just how dangerous these animals are. One of the bulls in the Boma/pen escaped and climbed through the front of the battered landrover then through the passenger seat taking the ignition key with him before exiting over the back of the vehicle. Blimers……….we had been sitting in those seats the day before!!!