28 June 2008, 00:07
NavalukCameroon in June
Dates: 5/28-6/17Location: Cameroon
Outfitter: Mayo Oldiri
Camp: Lognia
PH: Mike Currie
Travel: Susan Hill of Gracey Travel
Target: Bongo
Cant do photos yet.
My wife and I flew from Idaho to Seattle then direct to Paris (CDG). I can sum up all my problems with Air France and France as follows: NONE ZERO ZIP ZILCH. We spent 2 nights in Paris and did the tourist thing. On May 31 we flew to Douala, Cameroon on Air France. The airport reminded me of the Christopher Walken movie, "The Dogs of War". Or the old soviet airport at Dushanbe. Very exciting really, only had to fend off a couple panhandlers/crooks. Not as many really as you find in most US citys frankly. Mayo's people got us through it and safely to our hotel. 230 euro a night and your own security guard on every floor. Next day we were taken to our charter and off to Kika.
WE were met by our PH there and spoke to the outgoing hunters, a Texan a New Yorker and a guy from Argentina. We went into metropolitan Kika and bought supplies Everything seems to come from China including NANFANG motorcycles and an enormous selection of hair extensions. Then it was about 3 hours to camp over what I would call average Idaho roads. I just marveled at the forest all the way.
Lognia camp is where Peter Flack shot a video and Tracks Accross Africa did as well. It is a Bongo rich environment. The camp has been substantially redone so clients now have indoor plumbing screened windows etc. Very nice.
Everything is alien compared to north america or southern africa. Plants bugs and night noises are very different except for crickets. At night you have to get used to screaming tree hyraxes and bats also. They have cicadas and moths you could hunt with a 410. If they had lions you could not have heard them roar.
The hunting is done in several ways, you drive looking for suitable tracks or you hike into diferrent salt licks or open wet areas to search for tracks. Once a suitable track is found you track it slowly until they find its warm bed then they release the dogs. These are old lady type dogs, you have to bend down to pet them. They are small, about one size bigger than a jack (daniels) russell. But they must be tough to live where they do. If you are lucky they catch a bongo that wants to kill them. If not they will never catch the bongo. They can only hold them for so long so if you do not get to the bay up quick the bongo may well take off and never stop.
It is scary how many elephant inhabit this area. I believe it is accurate to say that we saw more elephant sign then all other game combined. Mike had never seen so many elephant in a area. There are also many birds including palm nut vultures, hornbills and gray parrots. (For you parents, they say if you boil the grays head in soup it will make your kids smarter. A word to the wise.)
The first day we trailed a big bongo track and caught one. We let it go but got some brief video and had a practice run to catch up to the dogs.
Fun hunting in stuff so thick it makes Zambezi Jess look like Kansas. You get scratched up good but man is it exciting. Many times, in fact at least once or twice a day you are sneeking along after something and some animal explodes next to you, sometimes ten feet sometimes 30. Elephant? Buffalo? Bongo? Duiker? Gorilla? or a bunch of monkeys? You are constantly full of fresh squeezed adrenaline. It is fantastic.
We tried to follow 2 other bongo that first day but no luck. We took a tour on the way back to the truck to check out a salt lick. Old tracks only and one big silverback Gorrila dead face down in a stream. I rubbed its head for luck.
After lunch and a shower we headed out for Duikers, That was fun. You chop and hike until the Pygmies find an open spot to call. An open spot is somewhere where you could probably see a bongo at 30 yards IF it was moving. I sit with my shot gun between Mike and my wife while 6 pygmies sit right behind us. One or the other calls to replecate a wounded or injured Duiker. This causes othe duikers to come in to investigate and that is how poachers slaughter them. Poachers set snares say 50 or so all in one small area. When a duiker is caught more rush in and start screaming when they get caught. Bastards anyway.
I did manage to get a Bay that evening.
The second day we saw old tracks and monkeys, the strange forest porcupine and enjoyed some fun four wheeling. The third day despite no rain we decided to hike into various salt licks to see if we could pick up a bongo track.
So we are driving down a 2 track at a decent clip and the tracker stops the vehicle because he saw out the window a bitten off plant. I kid you not. Like seeing a needle in a hay stack as you drive by. The pygmies poke around and find a big bongo has been there. I nod since they are pointing it out to me like any idiot should see it. I photographed the plants they pointed out and a track then we start to follow it. The tracker leads then Mike then me then my gun bearer Mombato then my wife then the rest of the team. Its not bad when you go slow, its hot its Muggy all the plants stab or stick you so you wear leather gloves. Occasionally you run and jump over ant armys hopefully without some plant poking your eye out. You cross fresh elephant tracks and can smell them. Finally we and by we I mean Vallers our tracker finds where the bongo was just bedded. He feels the bed and it is warm. the dogs are moved up while I feel the warm bed and smell a urine covered leaf. Smells like dilluted cow elk urine. The dogs take off silent and we stand straining our ears. Suddenly a pygmie hears a bark then we here it and Vallers takes off with Mike me and Mombato right behind him. Dodging ducking twisting and crawling we go. When you finally build up some speed a vine trips you or catches you accross the stomach or chest and you stop like a fighter landing on an aircraft carrier. You get over or under it and start again. Even the pygmies occassionally have trouble but what do you expect some are wearing flip flops for pete's sake. Mombato hisses and we all stop with varying degrees of grace, to listen. The barking is faint and now way to the left of our line of flight. Off we run towards them. If possible its actually getting thicker. Some times I can't see Mike and sometimes I run into him or his rifle. We start to be able to here the dogs while we are running. Through one thick wall and there he is. Vallers is thumbs up and Mike says get your gun. Mombato has it in my hand instantly. The Bongo is 10 to 20 yards away in the open. By that I mean I can see at least 50% of him sometimes. Mike says shoot him. My gun goes up as I look at the horns good mass lenth and kick. I successfully burn his image into my mind as I shoulder my gun. I notice there are no pygmies anywhere. Mike stands by me gun up and says watch the dogs. No dog behind the bongo most are out front dodging horns, but one stands with the top of his head right where the bottom of the bongos heart should be. Six inches above the dogs head and bang I don't feel the 416 recoil at all. I reload as the bongo lurches forward gains his balance and runs a tight circle now aiming at me. Mike is yelling shoot it again. I aim right between his horns (don't hit the horns!) and bang he drops with a shot through the spine were the neck meets the shoulder. We recovered it on the back ribs. Horns are fine. I reload frantically as my bongo lays just 4 steps from me. Mike says don't shoot you got him. Suddenly there are pygmies again all wanting to shake my hand. Everyone is talking and reliving the hunt from their perspective, trying to burn off the adrenaline. My wife and the rest of the team shows up and preparation is made for photos and butchering. The Bongo has 3 snare marks one on each front foot and one on a back foot. Everything is packaged up and hauled back to the truck and the waiting sweat bee army.
Pygmies sing all the way home while I am all smiles reliving this moment again and again. I am sure I looked silly.
Mike and I saw to the trophy care while the whole camp was out to congratulate us and start getting ready for the party. People were sent to town about 6 hours to get UNGULLUGULLU their word for booze. That night they had a big party and even Likkabow the forest God showed up. The bongo meat was consumed that day and the next. During the party the pygmies reenact the hunt with different people playing us. The reenactment of the charging bongo was quite a hit with the crowd.
The next day was called on account of rain and hangovers in Baka city.
The rest of the hunt was chasing buffalo and we did get a blue duiker also. On one day we were driving the main road and spotted a backpack. The truck stops and the pygmies swarm into the forest. The come out with poachers loot, gear smoked meat and snares. We tracked many buffalo and saw a half dozen, but I wanted a old bull so I came home without having to pay a buffalo trophy fee, but I got every bit of value out of the hunt. We would track this buffalo then that one then small groups with a big bull in it. It was great. We had gorillas go nuts at 15 feet on one buffalo hunt and nobodys guns were on safe. We got video of a baby gorilla and got to watch the pygmies get a silverback all worked up by calling to it.
One day we spent a few hours tracking 3 buffalo one they believed was a bull. finally we came upon them bedded and spent 5 minutes trying to determine if there was a bull and how old. We never did figure it out and when the wind changed they bolted out of their beds 10-15 yards from us. WAY TO COOL. We spent one afternoon testing our engineering skill against a formidable mud hole. After a lengthy battle we escaped. Coming back from another close encounter with buffalo the pygmies recovered a huge stash of poaching gear snares and meat. This haul was at least twice as big as any other haul they got when we were there:
1 Chimp
1 Giant Pangolin
8 Blue Duiker
26 Peters Duiker
4 Water Chevrotain
8 Porcupines
1 Mongoose
1 Red River Hog
That evening we tracked giant forest hog but no luck although we spotted and got photos and video of a big silverback gorilla, a live one this time.
One buffalo hunt we tried the dogs but the stopped a big old cow in a watery opening about 20 yards by 20 yards. God was she grumpy she kept trying to run us down or get away from the dogs. She came within 10 yards several times as we backed out of there. That was the only buffalo I saw clearly in the open. They are maybe 1/3 the size of a big cape buffalo and can go through a tangle of jungle that I would have bet real money would have stopped a rabbit. Many times on there tracks I thought how did it get through here and they must be tiny.
In sum, Great people, great land, and great adventure.
