What sticks in your mind about Africa?

[Altitude sickness]

The pull it has. I’ve been to most of the continents. And many countries. But none have the pull that the African continent has.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

The shear numbers and diversity of game animals you see while on safari. It's amazing!

 

[AZDAVE]

Boy this would be a long list but to keep it simple.
The doves, go away bird sounds, the lilac breasted roller's, Cory Bustards, Fish Eagles.
The first cup of coffee by last nights fire coals as the first light breaks on the eastern horizon.
Sunsets. Smell of the bush, cape buffalo when you get close.
Sounds of lion, leopard, and spotted hyenas at night.
The diversity of the flora and fauna.
The voice of the PH saying to shoot a 1/3 of the way up on the shoulder.
Watching the trackers do their magic.
The smile on the cooks face as they prepare another fantastic meal.
Watching the skinners work the cape of every animal brought in.
Feeling the tires of the plane making first contact with the tarmac in joberg.
ETC!!!

 

[meigsbucks]

Sights: Sunsets and sun rises
Sounds: Lions roaring, leopards sawing and jackals barking at night
Smells: a mopane fire and the African air. Also, the smell of a buffalo herd
Taste: Gourmet meals in the middle of nowhere

 

[Doug3006]

Lions roaring nearby in the dark. Nothing focuses my attention better. When I hear lions, I know that I’m in wild country. It reminds me that I’m mostly just potential protein. When I hear lions roar I feel most free. Isn’t it funny how freedom is always accompanied by a bit of risk?

 

[Firebird]

Just read this in “Bringing Back the Lions” and thought it applied in this thread-quoting Mary Cabela:
“I never tire of hearing the sounds, smelling the aromas, seeing the animals.”

 

[Daniel Cary]

The Rain Spider .. Grief.

 

[geoff rath]

Besides the the hunt itself, what sight/sound/smell takes you instantly back to Africa?

Sound: For me it's the song of the Cape turtle dove. They seem to be everywhere, especially in the morning.

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Smell: There is a shrub in South Africa that is very much like our North American sagebrush. The odor is almost overpowering as I walk through the stuff. Hopefully, someone can help me with a name.

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Sensation: Acacia thorns. Need I say more?

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Sight: The veldt when it is green and bursting with wildflowers.

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Taste: Biltong. It's a dried lightly spiced jerky without the smoke. Some is very good, some is like shoeleather ... tough and tasteless. Never know what you'll get with that next bite. The hunt is on!

All of the above ...

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Sitting around a campfire after a successful day’s hunt; listening to stories from the white hunters & camp staff while drinking African Castle Lager straight out of the ice box. While eating a bowl of warm guineafowl potjie or grilled impala liver or eland steaks or Boerwors or Cape buffalo tenderloin or… Well, you get the idea.

It’s also a little peculiar for me to say this, but I also greatly look forward to eating at the Wimpy chain of fast food restaurants whenever I am in South Africa. The Wimpy restaurants in Great Britain are absolutely atrocious compared to the Wimpy restaurants in South Africa.

 

[steve white]

The blacksmith plover is not much more help to a buffalo stalk!

 

[NIGHTHAWK]

The way the land and dirt smell after a thunderstorm and rain…

Oddly, the perfect timing of Toto (Africa) randomly coming on the radio on the long evening ride back to camp after an even longer, tough, yet successful, hunt for my Cape Buffalo… Man, that song takes me right back to that nights ride on that dirt road recapping the days effort with my trusted PH and tracker, and now long time friends whom I’ve hunted with on many occasion and look forward to hunting with again in the near future.

 

[Katy Darren]

My first African Safari rapidly approaching and I loved this thread!

 

[Tanks]

Nothing beats this.

 

[Fatback]

The sunsets, the smell of the red dirt, the brilliant flash of colors from the various small birds, thatched roofs, the accents of the people when speaking Afrikaans and the smiles of the people you meet while on safari are some of the things that stand out in my memories and tide me over until I can get back over again.

 

[SETH RINGER]

THE LIGHT IN THE CHILDRENS EYE AS THEY RUN TO THE LAND CRUISER TO GET CANDY!

 

[Ryan]

In Namibia, The sandgrouse in the morning going water then the crazy cackle of guinea fowl later. Oh, and being woken up by Orange River francolin perched on my thatched roof. That will wake the dead. Anywhere, the thunder of a herd of (various) antelope and zebra and the silent arrival of a kudu. On my last trip, in January in the Limpopo, the swarms of butterflies.

 

[62flint]

The smell. I guess it was the plant previously mentioned.
The smells, the sounds of the birds, the red dirt and just being extremely happy and feeling alive.
Who was it that was quoted as saying something like it’s impossible to be sad in africa.
I was coerced into Africa by my daughter. But it is now firmly embedded in my being.

 

[Sourdough]

You have a great daughter @62flint

And excellent question @Ontario Hunter

And a fine bunch of answers from everyone else that I can't add to without copying.

 

[Sketchy1973]

As others have said, the Cape Turtle Dove. But my wife would say the sounds of hyena chasing off a lion to steal a kill. It was outside of our tent in the middle of the night..

 

[Trogon]

The death-like calls of a flock of Hadeda Ibis flying overhead, unfortunately. Much more appreciated were the Laughing Doves.