Taking Stock
hills accented by thorn trees and desert bushes, we were ill-prepared
should something go awry.
Conspicuously absent were signs of civilization. There were no
people moving about, farms growing crops, ranches with fence lines, or
wire strung between telephone poles. As I looked across the unending
terrain, barren of trails or markers that could guide us back, it dawned
on me that my compass was back in camp. Should we become separated
from the Bushman, the Sun rising toward the center of the sky would
be our only reference. Knowing that our fate rested with someone we
had just met less than an hour ago, a heavy feeling descended over
me; our lives were in his hands. We needed him, and he did not need
anything from us.
Marching along, he stopped occasionally to point at something far
off in the distance. Try as we might, our untrained eyes could not de-
tect what he saw so easily. As he motioned, we nodded our heads in
acknowledgment, as if this gesture had somehow improved our vision.
A bit farther along, he changed direction to move downwind of what-
ever invisible creature was lurking.
As the morning wore on and the temperature climbed, fatigue
settled in. Then, without warning, he quickened his pace. He had
picked up signs of an ostrich, that flightless nomadic bird weighing up
to three hundred pounds. With tracking skills honed over a lifetime, he
guided us past clues that ended at a clump of bushes. Tucked beneath
the bushes was a clutch of ostrich eggs, likely deposited by more than
one female. Each egg, we would later learn, weighed between three
and five pounds.
Before he took a closer look, the Bushman scanned in all directions
for signs of nearby life. When threatened, an ostrich’s first instinct is
to hide or run, its powerful legs reaching speeds up to forty-five miles
per hour.^ But if the bird chooses to fight, one powerful kick from
those same legs can easily break the bones of its aggressor.
A mother ostrich, unwilling to surrender her offspring, was not the
only threat. Hyenas in search of food could also be within close range.
When he was satisfied that we were clear of immediate danger, the
Bushman kneeled and peered at each of the half-dozen or so eggs.
Pleased with what he had found, he reached in and carefully removed