people ,
i post on behalf of Ron Thomson ...i have read the books he has written so far and they are very entertaining indeed ...

here is a photo or ron in the heart of an elephant cull , many years ago in zimbabwe ....



The next book in the series – “In the Shadow of NYAMINYAMI”
Dear valued friends and clients.... in South Africa and all over the world,
You will be pleased to know that the next book in my Big Game Hunting Memoir series is now with the printers and that I am expecting to have the first 200 copies delivered by the end of June. Consequently, we have started to take orders and will be posting books out to their new owners just as soon as we get these copies to hand. For those of you who will be placing orders please see what books are avialble on my website http://www.ronthomsonshuntingbooks.co.za


NYAMINYAMI is the name of the Batonka peoples’ River God who once, so the legend tells us, lived in the waters of Kariba Gorge on the great Zambesi River. The gorge, of course, was dammed to form Lake Kariba – the biggest man-made lake in the world at that time. It took several years to fill to capacity. The lake swamped the middle Zambesi valley and displaced 57 000 Batonka people and hundreds of thousands of wild animals - which were forced to walk out of the lake basin ahead of the rising waters. The lake finally filled to capacity for the first time in 1963.
The period of this book chronicles all that happened in the 5000 square mile Binga district during the five years following 1963 (1964 to 1968). 14 000 of the Batonka settled in this district as did many thousands of the valley’s big game animals, and they lived cheek by jowl with each other in the hinterland areas away from the lake shore – all struggling to adjust to the upheaval and the turmoil that followed in the aftermath of Lake Kariba. During my first year at Binga (1964) I shot over 600 elephants (alone) whilst resolving the problems that this very unusual set of circumstances created.
Many elephants and buffaloes moved far southwards, out of the hinterland areas of the valley, and they took the tsetse fly with them – onto the highveld commercial cattle ranches and into the tribal trust land communal areas. This caused cattle deaths from both nagana (from the tsetse flies) and corridor fever (from the brown ear tick on the buffaloes) and, in order to protect the national cattle herd, the Rhodesian government initiated an anti-tsetse fly game elimination campaign inside what were called ”tsetse corridors” all around the Zambesi valley. The 1 500 square mile (ring fenced) corridor in the Binga district was called “The Sebungwe” and it was my duty to eliminate all the elephant and buffalo within this area. These tsetse fly operations lasted four years.
This period also saw the start of the Rhodesian Bush War in which my trackers and I became heavily involved tracking insurgent groups of terrorists (a.k.a. ZANLA freedom fighters) who had invaded the country (through the Binga district) from Zambia. It also saw the start of the pioneering black rhino capture operations in Rhodesia over which (in 1965) I took command after Rupert Fothergill (of “Operation Noah” fame) was badly gored by a rhino.
This book, therefore, tells the story of my life as a big game hunting game ranger at the next level. The unbelievable hunting opportunities of this era will never be repeated. If you enjoyed the previous two books in this series, you will definitely like this one!
With kind regards,
Ron Thomson
Email: magron@ripplesoft.co.za
Web: http://www.ronthomsonshuntingbooks.co.za

If the book is as good as that pic it must be a very good book.

Must have been a truly incredible time and experience.

I never realized that some of the tsetse fly culls were a byproduct of the filling of Lake Kariba. Interesting. I believe I will buy it.

quote:

Originally posted by ivan carter:

here is a photo or ron in the heart of an elephant cull , many years ago in zimbabwe ....

NOTE FIREARM ; 7.62 SLR Oh so much better than a damn 5.56mm.

The first two books in the series were excellent, as was Mahohboh. I can recommend each of them . . . although I wish the shipping was not so painful.

I think Ron's books are absolutely some of the BEST. My wife just got my third one in the mail that she is giving me for 'Fathers Day'. It is called "Stand Your Ground". You are right though - the cost of the book and the shipping are steep!! $117.00 U.S. dollars to get the book here from S.A.

Ron writes a good book, and has the right slant on conservation and sustainable use. I've got them all, including his first two, as well as the two so far in this autobiographical series. Just ordered the new one last night.

I know most AR members spill $117 on weekends , so just pony that money up for something real!

Regards

i have just learned that the books are limited editions hence the pricing and each is personalised ....
thanks ..

quote:

Originally posted by Tim Carney:
Ron writes a good book, and has the right slant on conservation and sustainable use. I've got them all, including his first two, as well as the two so far in this autobiographical series. Just ordered the new one last night.

Regards

+1