Cape Buffalo Quotes

Thomas came last, buckling on his gun belt, which was currently hung with his ridiculously huge Desert Eagle, just in case we were attacked by a rabid Cape buffalo.

Elephants, it turns out, are surprisingly stealthy. As the sunlight fades, other species declare their presence. Throngs of zebras and wildebeests thunder by in the distance, trailing dust clouds. Cape buffalo snort and raise their horns and position themselves in front of their young. Giraffes stare over treetops, their huge brown eyes blinking, then lope away in seeming slow motion. But no elephants.

It wasn’t because the lions were particularly hungry. The humans had been nothing compared to the eighteen-hundred-pound Cape buffalo, the pride’s more typical prey. The cars had been like boxes full of snacks.

Why is any of this relevant? Put simply, Rick has loved and supported me throughout our entire life together, even when it was inconvenient, costly, lonely, and stressful. When someone shows you that much devotion and understanding, it makes you love them even more. Their happiness becomes your happiness. If something is important to Rick, you better believe it is important to me. I wanted him to get the very most from his African hunting experience. If that meant a second or third Cape buffalo, so be it. We would find a way to pay for it, just like we found a way for me to be in Pennsylvania when my heart called me there.

I had come face-to-face with a lot of potentially dangerous animals in my life: a tiger shark, a polar bear, an anaconda, a herd of Cape buffalo—and as of that morning, a grizzly bear. (Surprisingly, all of those encounters had taken place after I had moved to civilization. During the ten years that my family had lived in a tent camp in the Congo, my life had been far safer.)

Rinderpest is endemic in Central Asia, and was brought to Africa by the Italian forces in their war with the Black King Menelik of Abyssinia. The deadly germ got into the Italian transport, perhaps through some infected sheepskin or saddle pad stuffed with hair from a sick animal, and triumphantly survived its six-thousand-mile journey to the Cape of Good Hope. The malady attacks all cud-chewing animals and is fatal to probably ninety per cent. Great herds of buffalo were exterminated by it; millions of antelope of all varieties, from the lordly eland to the tiny dick-dick, died of it; and vast numbers of domestic cattle were wiped out. Many native wars blazed up in its wake, and the resultant financial cloud continued for years to hang over the great colonial governments of Africa. Science eventually found a way of combating the disease, although strict quarantine is still the first and best line of defence.

Marco went on. “Let me explain. On the plains of Colorado, something interesting happens to the wildlife when storm clouds roll through. When the cows sense a storm coming, they hightail it in the opposite direction, trying to escape it. But cows can’t outrun a storm. Eventually, it catches them—and they end up right in the thick of it, suffering as they’re forced to put up with the treacherous conditions. The herds of buffalo respond a bit differently. When buffaloes sense a storm coming, they move straight into the dark, windy skies. By heading into the storm, they spend less time in the dangerous environment and come out on the other side with fewer injuries. In your past training, have you been more like the cows, running away from the storms, or like the buffalo, running straight into them?” Niko cringed, thinking about all the times he had opted out of training because the circumstances were not ideal. “Probably more like a cow.” Marco smiled. “Many people think courage is reserved for superheroes wearing capes. But it isn’t. Extraordinary courage is found in ordinary people consistently choosing to face the storm head-on, day after day. We need you to shift your mindset from a cow to a buffalo by reframing how you see the situation. Running from the storms to seek immediate comfort will only prolong the pain. Stop running from the obstacle. Run toward the opportunity. Stop running from relentless training. Run toward the chance to grow. Stop running from the fear of judgment. Run toward the value of being different.” Marco put his arm around Niko. “It is easy to believe that courage means facing storms without fear. But that’s not it. Courage is acknowledging your fear, checking in with your Big Man wisdom, and facing the storm in spite of it. It is inside the darkness of these storms that your greatness can emerge.

Cape buffalo are like mules—they never forget an injury, and one man with a gun looks much like any other.