Lost Cities 32
and leopards that would keep the air full of wild sounds.
I carried a pistol on my hip most of the time to protect
against animals and would often have to ride on top of the
truck with a 375 mm Winchester rifle hoping that the truck
would flush a buck and I could get in a shot.”^90
A saying in the desert is that there’s no such thing as an
intruder. Anyone who shows up is somehow expected. On
one occasion, when they had heard a dangerous predator
growling, Wyn had to spend the night by guarding the
camp armed with a pistol. Wyn shared Joshua’s interest in
pistol shooting and became a South African women’s pistol
champion. “Scott and I were too sleepy to stay awake, but
felt perfectly safe with such a good camp guard,” Joshua
said. “She can shoot faster and more accurately than either
of us.” When they woke up the next morning, they found
traces from leopards close to the camp.^90
Each expedition through the desert could take up to one
month. To avoid living on canned food during the entire
trips, they hunted animals. Joshua shot a buck, and the
twin-sisters had to take skin off the animal. They didn’t
like the task, so they often cried as they felt sorry for the
dead deer. But it didn’t stop them from eating the cooked
stew with great appetite.^80 They always killed animals to
eat – never for pleasure. “Dad never allowed hunting for
hunting’s sake although on one occasion we had to help
out a village and hunt a lion that was killing the village
goats as he was old and could not hunt wild animals,” Scott
said.^90
These adventures through and above the desert ended