After a hard day’s hunting
Reproduced with the kind permission of the Republikein 2000 publication

Finally, a long day in your life draws to a close as you watch the sun set behind the mountains and the light fade from the plains of Africa. This is a time to think and to listen, as the day goes away and the night comes alive. You listen to the changing rhythms of the bush and the lowered voices of these men of Africa, both Black and White, around the campfire. And you realize that you have earned your trophy and your memories.

You realize that what this hunt has cost you will help ensure that the efforts of the men around the fire will continue, that the herds will keep on growing and that the lives of the men that love and protect them will improve. Here you learn a little bit about the hardships involved in changing from livestock farming to game farming, about building and protecting herds of game until one day when they will provide an income, and you feel proud that you have contributed to making their dream a reality.

As you study the weather-beaten faces in the firelight, you see men who do not give fake emotional displays in public places, who do not beg for funding.  Men who talk very little, yet do so much for the survival of our wildlife, and you realize that they are the real “green people”.