As many of you know...Nigel Theisen has been been hunting Uganda (80%) and Tanzania (20%) most of the time the last 3 years. He gets to spend very little time at his home-base in Bulywayo.

Last week while conducting a buff hunt in the Karamoja...he received news that his home had caught fire and burned. He is back in Bulywayo now assessing the damage. Luckily...the fire did not reach his rifles or Cruisers...but...it burned a lifetime of signed books, African art, and other African artifacts collected over a lifetime of exploring Africa and professional hunting...I can tell it has taken the wind out his sail.

Any of his friends who may be reading or fellow Rhodesians who are in country...drop him a line.

Sorry to hear that. My ex wife once burnt everything I owned so i know the feeling.

Not the books...

I would rather be tasked with replacing my rifles than my books.

Knowing how they secure their houses over there I think he could consider him self luck that his family are OK.

quote:

Originally posted by ozhunter:
Knowing how they secure their houses over there I think he could consider him self luck that his family are OK.

+1

I have always worried about a fire when staying in the houses in Africa(most have barred windows and very secure doors).

I'm sorry for his loss, but I am glad that his family are OK.

Very sorry to hear this

That is bad news and will take some time to recover from. A friend of mine in RSA just had his place burn to the ground a few weeks ago. They lost everything except human life. He, his wife and 4 kids are all OK. BTW, he is Mof Venter is case anyone else knows him here.

quote:

Originally posted by ozhunter:
Knowing how they secure their houses over there I think he could consider him self luck that his family are OK.

His immediate family lives in Joberg while he is out of country. But no one was hurt...and that is a good thing for sure.

pm sent lane

I have been fortunate enough to have been at Nigel's home. It was an absoluely beautiful and stunning place. I had the privilege of holding his books and looking at his art and memoribilia. MY HEART IS BROKEN FOR HIM. Thankfully....he does have the good sense to keep his family in S.A. where there is a simblance of a little more infrastructue and (safety???) They would be pretty 'alone' in Bulayawo. We are praying for Nigel.

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Sharpshooter:
Not the books...

I would rather be tasked with replacing my rifles than my books.

Someone once asked me " if you had a fire what would you save?", my reply "My books!", was met with a look of genuine surprise.

At least the family is ok.

Very, very sorry to hear this. Fire is a nightmare. Please send him our regards and regrets.

+1

So sorry to hear of these losses. I don't personally know Nigel but I do know Mof and his wife. Great folks. We've had our share of wild fires here in Central Texas the past few months and it is heartbreaking to see the devastation and ruin left behind. Thank God no one was hurt.
kh

any of you that get a chance to hunt with Nigel take it you will not regret it. I had the pleasure of sharing a few day with him and Lane in Uganda. I know from personal experience how devastating a fire can be.

I know how they feel. We had an electrical fire break out a couple of years ago inside the wall of a bedroom where most of my photos were stored in a closet.

(The electrician who wired our house more than 40 years earlier had joined copper and aluminum wire, and the circuit breaker failed after all those years.)

Firefighters were able to keep the flames from spreading to the rest of our Tucson home, but doing so meant they had to tear the wall apart and pump 800 gallons of water into two rooms.

Between the fire, smoke and water, most of our photos were ruined. It would have been much less painful if it had been books instead of more than seven decades of memories that we had to throw away.

Bill Quimby

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:
Sorry to hear that. My ex wife once burnt everything I owned so i know the feeling.

Andrew,
Unfortunately...one of mine did the exact same thing.

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Sharpshooter:
Not the books...

I would rather be tasked with replacing my rifles than my books.

I can relate. I lost all my books in hurricane Andrew in 92 along with my house, but saved the rifles. Many of those books were irreplaceable. My deepest sympathies to Nigel.

quote:

quote:
Originally posted by fairgame:
Sorry to hear that. My ex wife once burnt everything I owned so i know the feeling.


Andrew,
Unfortunately...one of mine did the exact same thing.

Must have been quite a pair of charming lasses...geez... Are they on the same bowling league now?