Tonight was an exceptional final night though. The boys having cleaned the Landcruiser whilst we packed up things this afternoon, we drove the last few bags of recycling and rubbish to the dump a few km's away and swapped vehicles near there for the 'real world city slicker version' to take us back to Jo'burg, putting the cover on the old faithful Cruiser to rest 'til next time.
On getting back we settled down for a final sundower around the fire in the boma as the sun started to wane and the backdrop turned from yellow to orange to dark African red.
As we sat there chatting about the past 10 days, there was a loud trumpeting from behind the house, which shut us all up rather quickly. The boys ran to the sides of the house to see if they could spot what the elephant was angry about (usually something like a lion in its way which meant that the poor ousted beast might be scuttling our way looking for a safe exit). And as if from nowhere an entire herd of 20-30 or more elephant appeared from the trees behind the house and at speed headed down our dirt driveway straight towards the house.
Quick as a flash we grabbed the few bits and pieces worth grabbing, (in my case a magnificent bottle of Australia's finest, a Wendouree Shiraz 1993, my last bottle..), and headed for the stairs and safety of the front deck. The herd was fast, and on reaching the back of the house then split, half going around one side, the other half the other side, straight past the open boma where we had just been seconds before. One young bull elephant stopped beside the boma for an inquisitive sniff of the fire (or perhaps it was the foreign scented Wendouree?), and then with clouds of dust they simply settled into a relaxed mode, wandering around the front 'garden' munching from the thorn trees and down to the water's edge for a drink. Trunks of all sizes dipping down into the river and curling back up into their open mouths. This continued for some time until the sun had set and my fire was beginning to burn out, much in need of a log to keep it alive. But venturing down there then with protective mother ellies on high alert with a few tiny youngsters about and frustrated young bulls would have been unwise.
After this most brilliant display, as if to day "so long", the matriarch gave her typical low rumbling purr and they all stopped what they were doing and followed off along the bank up river, disappearing as quickly as they had appeared.
So finally we were able to head back down to the boma and rebuff the dying embers. Some, it must be said were a little more cautious and found chores to do within the house for a while before venturing out again. But venture out they all eventually did.
Onto the perfect coals (thanks to some unbelievably hard knobthorn logs) our last 1.8 kg chunk of well aged sirloin, bought from my mate Steve Maresch-Botha of The Local Grill fame, marinated earlier in olive oil and rubbed in his secret rub, with some additional course salt and cracked pepper on the fat side, nothing more. A few turns on the open fire grid later, perfection personified, even if I say so myself.
After dins, Dyl and I headed back out to the boma, spotting a large hippo venturing out for a night's grazing. Fire stoked a little, though no new logs needed, Dominican cigar clipped and ignited with on end of a firery red log, and I was like a bushpig in truffledom. An incredible end to another great stay in my one of favourite places in the world, the wild African bush.
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