Mahlangeni: Stories of a game ranger's family

Highly entertaining stories of a ranger's family in Mahlangeni, one of the most remote ranger stations in the Kruger National Park.
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978-0-14-024293-5
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Title: Mahlangeni
Subtitle: Stories of a game ranger's family
Author: Kobie Krüger
Genre: Memoirs
Publisher: The Penguin Group (SA)
Cape Town, South Africa 2011
ISBN 9780140242935 / ISBN 978-0-14-024293-5
Softcover, 14 x 21 cm, 250 pages, sketches

Description:

Far from everywhere, in a remote corner of a vast expanse of lonely wilderness, two rivers meet: the Little Letaba and the Greater Letaba. On the northern bank of the confluence, you will find the house Kobie Krüger, wife of the ranger in charge of the station, and their three daughters used to live for eleven years. It's not an easy place to find. If you approach it from the south, you may not be able to get across the river - the road ends there. If you approach it from the north, you will probably get lost. The road forks into branches that scatter and fade away in the savannah. You can't reach it from the west either: there's another river. It's best to approach it from the east: there's a road there. Actually, it's a dirt track, and it's not on the map.

You'll need a compass and a four-wheel-drive vehicle. The area is called Mahlangeni, which is the Tsonga word for 'meeting place'. It must refer either to the meeting of the two rivers, or to the meeting of wild animals. Nothing else meets here that I know of. In the hour just before day break, when the frogs and the crickets fall silent, you can hear the solitude. It's a hush that extends from the soundless universe to the woodlands and savannahs of Mahlangeni. Occasionally the howl of a lone hyena or the cry of a jackal may drift through the darkness, and the echo will linger a while in the silence. The African bush seems tranquil in the pre-dawn hush. But it's only an illusion. At the first, faint hint of dawn, a pair of wild geese swoop to a landing on a rock outside our bedroom and startle the world awake with raucous trumpeting.

The baboons in the jackalberry trees across the river start muttering and chattering or quarrelling and screaming, depending on the mood in which they awaken. As the silvery dawn touches the water, the hippos come to life and call out to one another in booming voices. By this time, a thousand and one birds are performing fortissimo from a vast repertoire of musical ideas. And so the daily bush concert begins. Mahlangeni is one of the most remote ranger stations in the Kruger National Park. One would think that life in such a remote place would be quiet and peaceful. But it's not. It's hardly ever quiet here. And it isn't too peaceful either. Alarming things often happen, like the night we moved into our new home ...

Content: Mahlangeni: Stories of a game ranger's family

Mahlangeni
A Dramatic Welcome
A Leopard for a Neighbour
The Mean Hippo
Beware of Elephants
The Affectionate Honey Badger
Troubles on a Lonely Track
Sweet Solitude
Encounter on the Koppie
Bush Athlete
Children of the Wild
The Game Rangers
The Wives
Mahlangeni's Shangaan Folk
The Whims of the Generator
Malaria and a Month of Mishaps
Coping with Snakes
The River, Part 1
The River, Part 2
Fire
Trumpets in the Morning
Hyenas
Getting to know Baboons
Baboons as Movie Stars
The Thoughtful Elephant
Elephants in the Night
Horses, Dogs, Pigs and All the Rest
The Ordeals of Summer
Autumn and Winter
The Rains
Bush Concert