Gary Faules AOL Poker Hat

Record 62 inch Greater Kudu.

Gary Faules wearing his favorite poker hat which has been around the world and on safari.


This is the baby cheetah I found after lions killed it's siblings.

It Dosent Get Any More Exciting Than This.

In the African Bush nothing goes to waste

The African natives waste absolutely nothing when an animal is taken and I mean nothing. When an animal is cleaned the ONLY thing that is discarded to the vultures is the small intestine. The reason the small intestine is discarded is because that is where E-coli bacteria is stored in the body. They empty and wash out the stomach then use it like a suitcase to carry the liver, brain, kidney, large intestine, heart, and so on, including the bone marrow.

On some hunts there are a couple animals taken that are not edible such as the hyena and baboons but even they are not allowed to spoil or go to waste. Instead they are kept in a safe place until they can be taken to be fed to Nile crocodiles. After all, the crocs must eat too and besides, Nile crocs are another part of the chain of food and delicious.

One day my trackers took me and some baboon meat, bone and all, down to the river to feed the Nile crocodiles. It was so amazing to watch as they took a large steak of meat from me complete with bone and break it in two as if it was a piece of candy and then swallow it whole. One of my trackers showed me the large scars on his leg where a crocodile had gotten hold of him while getting a drink. Many would have died trying to get away but he had been taught early on how to get away should he ever be caught. He simply forced his hand as far into the croc's mouth between his leg and the croc's teeth and then as far into his throat as he could reach. This causes a croc to have some sort of gag reflex and in doing so the croc released him long enough to drag himself away. Native children may not have to worry about playing near the freeway or talking to strangers but life in Africa is most challenging.

What's black & white and red all over?

Well let me tell you, while on safari in Africa it's not a newspaper. I went on my first African hunting safari during my 50th birthday and before I left each member of my family gave me a birthday gift that was not to be opened until the exact day of my birthday which just happen to be the day I took my first Zebra. After the natives celebrated the life and gift of this Zebra bestowed upon us by none other than Mother Africa herself I opened a sealed birthday letter written by my beautiful daughter, Charmagne and read it out loud as my cameraman filmed it. I will always remember that moment as I attempted to read the letter and tried to hold back tears of compassion and true love. When I was finished I looked at the camera, smiled and said, "Well Charmagne, guess what I got and what I'm bringing home to you. I'll give you a clue... It's black and white and red all over. Well it was until the trackers cleaned him all up. It's a beautiful record book Zebra stallion. I love you." One of the things that made this stallion so special is not just his majestic beauty but the fact that he had large scars on his rear quarters where he had escaped the grasp of a large lion.

Payback

Take a stand or run

From the time we are old enough to walk we find challenges placed in our paths. Sometimes we run from them, sometimes we work around them and then there are the times we meet them head on. For all men challenges vary. For some just finding and keeping a job seems to be a challenge. Some men can't seem to find big enough challenges to fulfill their needs. Other find solace in the simple challenge of day to day life. Each man has a desire to accept whatever challenges he deems to be challenge and if he chooses to ignore it that's his right too.

Hemingway wrote, "There are people who love command and in their eagerness to assume it they are impatient at the formalities of taking over from someone else. I love command since it is the ideal welding of freedom and slavery. You can be happy with your freedom and when it becomes too dangerous you take refuge in your duty. I was bored with this since I knew myself and my defects and strengths too well and they permitted me little freedom and much duty."

Regarding challenge, Theodore Roosevelt wrote, "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out where the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred with dust and sweat and blood. At best, he knows the triumph of high achievement; if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

I have lost some challenges in my life and I have won some but what gives me great satisfaction in not whether I lost or won it was the fact that I chose to try. Africa was one of the greatest choices I ever made and it was filled with many challenges.

Dreams of a boy from Bandon

When I planed my first African safari it was important that it be a traditional hunt and not just a few days spent on some one's private property amongst fences. My vision was one of the days long past when porters, cooks, trackers came along into the African bush to make the experience as pleasurable for the hunter as possible. One such tradition is an old English custom of not only having a mid day meal but more like a formal affair at large. As custom would have it the meal is typically set overlooking some panoramic view whenever possible so that one can watch the awesome wildlife while having a spot of tea. All table arrangements are indeed formal considering it is taking place hundreds of miles from civilization. Nice tables and chairs are the norm as well as a formal table setting complete with white napkins, wine and a full setting of utensils.

Traditionally lunch is taken under the shade of an Acacia, Baobab or if you're lucky a blooming Jacaranda tree and served by immaculately uniformed staff. Everything from the chilled wine to the freshly pressed napkins serve to remind you that, in the bush, very little has changed since the first safaris over a hundred years ago. After lunch, if in the camp, with the African sun at its hottest and whilst most of the game rest up in the shade, I would often retire to my tent for a siesta or spend the afternoon sketching, or entering notes into my journal. For me these were special moments when I could reflect on having grown up with a true love for all things nature and now finding myself living the dream that I had growing up.

It is equally as important to dress well for these occasions which also means having enough supplies to wash in the field and dress appropriately. Dinner is even a considerably more formal affair but in the end the experience is one that can not be forgotten. Prior to dinner it is a custom to take part in Boma and then retire for a shower and to dress appropriately for dinner. Boma is not at all unlike sitting around the fire reminiscing the days events over a good glass of scotch on the rocks with the company of the guide, cameraman, driver and friends. Each evening at boma the camp dog named Micky because of his black and white colors took a liking to me and insisted on sitting in my lap. It may have had something to do with the bone I gave him. One afternoon as a gag I placed an elephant thigh bone in his dog dish. He just looked at me as if to say, "Are you kidding me?"