Group W Bench

Johannesburg Airport. My departure for Zimbabwe was delayed because of immigration and work-permit problems, but I finally did get off, and I hope to be in Mutare sometime tomorrow. Catching the jet plane out of South Carolina was easy, of course; nobody showed any concern (or even much interest) in any of my equipment or baggage. I arrived in Washington-Dulles on time, but the South African Airlines flight was boarding almost an hour early. That suited me fine, but the subsequent delays on the transit bus were, well, interesting. August is, of course, late winter in southern Africa; most of the trees are leafless, and the temperature is suitable for American tourists. So, this is High Season for mission-trippers and safari-hunters; my flight was beset with both. On the transit bus (which carried us to the aircraft, parked way out in the middle of Dulles-nowhere), I started off sitting with a bunch of would-be slayers of large mammals. They were bound for several countries, and nobody was on his (gender-specific pronoun is used with full intent) first shooting trip. These would-be emulators of Teddy Roosevelt (or was it Hemmingway?) talked their death-in-the-tall-grass stories until one turned to me and said, “You look like a missionary. I bet you don’t even have a gun.” I allowed as to how that was NOT true; therefore I rose immediately in their estimation and was actually included in the macho-affiliation banter for a while. (My favorite tale was, “I’m on safari after a really big lion. It’s a guaranteed thirty days at only a thousand bucks per day.”) Then, after the boys had described the arsenals they had packed, they asked me, “What sort of gun are you carrying?” And I said, “A .22 rifle; I may go after guinea fowl.” And THAT was when the boys moved away to seek their own company. But it turned out all right for me. On the airplane I found myself seated beside one of the Great White Hunters. After telling me (again) about his hunting plans, and after receiving minimal affirmation from me, he said, “I think I’ll go see if I can find a seat with some of my, uh, colleagues.” He did, and I found myself with two seats from Washington-Dulles to Jo-berg!