By BETH HENDERSON
Lifestyles Editor
Nine-year-old Myers Falls loves to hunt - mostly deer and such - but his grandmother recently offered him the deal of a lifetime.
Bess Falls, a designer at John-Richard, recently took one of her regular trips to South Africa, and she took her grandson along. For her, the trip was just another safari. For Myers, it would be one for the memory books.
The two left on May 1. They flew out of Memphis to Atlanta and then on to Johannesburg, South Africa. From Johannesburg, they then traveled to Durban. The plane trip was a grueling 21 hours. For Myers, it was the least favorite part of the week-long excursion.
"I played lots of video games," he said. He is the son of Aubrey Falls and Carol Falls.
It was Bess's sixth safari trip, although she's been to Africa many times. She started going in 1975.
"My husband William and I both hunt, and we've made friends there," Bess said. "And we traditionally take our grandkids on trips with us. But this was the first grandchild to go to Africa."
Last year, Bess took her son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter to a dude ranch out west.
The two met professional hunter Pete Gernetzky in Durban, and he drove them for four hours to the Isibindi Private Reserve, which is located in the Northern KwaZulu Natal Province. The area is fronted by many miles of the Buffalo River, and it is mostly made up of rolling hills, steep slopes and thickly wooded ravines along with open sweet thornveld plains. The area is an ideal habitat for numerous species of game. Some of the animals on the reserve include the kudu, nyala, wildebeest, impala, zebra, warthog, giraffe, blesbok and more.
The area is the home of the native Zulu tribe, and Bess and Myers learned much about the culture of the area. Myers even came home with an "asagaii," an authentic Zulu stabbing spear.
They stayed at the Isibindi hunting camp, which is a game lodge. Lodging rooms are known as beehives because they resemble a beehive. Each has a traditional Zulu name. The suites have bathrooms, hot and cold running water and electricity and a private deck overlooking the beautiful African countryside.
The reserve is privately owned and managed.
Bess had one purpose in mind for the trip, and that was to bag a couple of prize animals, specifically the kudu and the nyala.
The kudu is known as the greater kudu, which is a member of the spiral-horn antelope family. The nyala is a similar animal, but with slightly different horns.
Bess and her husband have a game room at their home in Webb, and they make the trips to Africa to add to their collection.
"You have to have a special permit to hunt each one of these animals while you are there," Bess said. "On this trip, we had tags to hunt the kudu, the nyala and a zebra, which was what Myers killed.
"The reserve exists solely for conservation. That is their goal," Bess said. "Hunters are allowed to hunt these animals for population control. There are so many hunters allowed each year on this particular reserve."
Bess also mentioned that a game scout employed by the reserve scours the property non-stop looking for poachers.
On the first hunting day, Bess and Myers met up with Dumisaan, a native Zulu, who is the spotter and tracker for the hunt. He goes ahead of the jeep and helps to spot and track certain animals.
While riding in the jeep, Myers and the group spotted a herd of zebra.
"They showed me which one to shoot to get a good rug," Myers said. "I took one shot and it took three more to kill it. I was using a 30.06 rifle and it had a little kick to it."
Myers admitted he was nervous, but he said "I just pretended like I was deer hunting."
They enjoyed weather similar to America while in South Africa.
"They are in their fall season, and it's much like it is here," Bess said. "It was cool in the morning and hot during the day. And there's no humidity."
When Myers packed for the trip, he included camouflage, khakis, green shirts and mostly dark colors for hunting.
Each day, the two would rise at 7 a.m., eat a traditional breakfast of cereal, toast, yogurt and homemade bread, and then set off for the hunt.
They would return to the lodge between 11 a.m. and noon to eat lunch and rest.
"The animals don't move around much during the middle of the day, so I would take a nap, and Myers would play games or help out in the kitchen," Bess said.
They would return to hunting around 2 p.m. and continue to hunt until dark. Nights were spent building and cooking over warm campfires. Supper usually consisted of a "braii," or barbecue, cooked sausage or some of the things killed during the hunt. They ate ostrich one night and tried some kudu jerky as well.
At night, they would retire to their respective beehives for much-needed slumber.
"Myers stayed in a beehive all by himself," Bess said.
"The first night I was kindof scared, but it was good. They would leave these butterscotch candies on the pillow with a little poem. They were so good," Myers said. "I would save them and take them with me during the day.
"I really enjoyed the trip," Myers said. "I wasn't sure what to expect at first. It was strange driving on the wrong side of the road and the steering wheel being on the wrong side. The language was different, but the hunting methods were the same. I did think we would be staying in tents in the wild, but we didn't."
"We have stayed in tents on every other safari we've gone on," Bess said.
The animal skins and horns were left behind and prepared. They will be shipped to the States once everything is complete.
Bess admits even though the thrill of the hunt is the reason she chooses Africa, she does cotton to its peace and quiet.
"There's no street lights, no passing cars," she said. "But there are some inconveniences, like shopping."
When asked to give advice to others who might want to go on African safari, Myers offered this: "Be sure to take a sweater and a water bottle. Take a jacket and sunglasses. And, you can't be a wimp."
