"Alan Lefol had a satellite phone, so he was able to keep up with what was going on," JoAnne told The Hunting Report late last month. She says they even managed to reach a US Embassy official in Bangui for a while on his personal cell phone. Eventually, the line went dead, however, leaving them with nothing to do but the obvious - go hunting!
JoAnne says it was awkward using a borrowed rifle and clothes, but she did manage to take a bongo and a blue duiker in the 13 total days she was able to hunt. She took the bongo with an offhand shot, she says, that mightily impressed Lefol. Given more time, she says she is confident she would have been able to take the other animals on her list, as game seemed to be plentiful in the area.
Eventually, though, the group in camp had to confront the problem of getting home. To do that, she says they drove some seven hours over horrible roads to reach a village with an airstrip large enough to accommodate an 11-passenger charter plane. Back in Bangui, JoAnne says the streets were swarming with military. Everyone was on edge, she says, not least because of the confusion created by Libya and the Democratic Republic of Congo having sent troops in to support current CAR president, Ange-Felix Patasse. Apparently just about everyone was having trouble deciding who was friend and who was foe.
Forced to spend the night in a hotel, she says she didn't dare wander........(continued)
