Short Story
BANK HOLIDAY
A
Mark Milbank, Sherborne Scribblers
s long as you have a bit of capital it is easy to start a safari company in Africa. Buy a couple of Land Rovers, a lorry, some tents, light moveable furniture for the tents etc. etc. Call the company ‘Rhino Safaris’, or something like that, and you are ready to go. Did I say, ‘a bit of capital’? Amend that to a lot because all of that is just a start. Where are all the clients coming from? They have never heard of some aspiring ‘White Hunter’ who is about to charge them through the nose for the pleasure of taking them out into the African bush. So a vast amount of advertising is necessary – not to mention word-of-mouth recommendations. I did have a bit of capital and thought that I was God’s gift to any American who had enough money to pay for my priceless services. Also I did genuinely love the African bush and newly independent Zimbabwe was as good as anywhere to give it a go. I duly spent all my capital on the above equipment, put an ad in a couple of geographical magazines in America and waited for the flood of bookings. Nothing happened. Then one day, as I hopefully opened my post, I got a letter from an old school mate who lived in New York. He had seen one of my ads. ‘Great idea!’ he enthused. ‘If you can fit them in, my cousin would love to do an African safari with his family – he was talking about making plans when I last saw him so, unless he has booked with someone else, I think I can persuade him to come with your outfit.’ I wrote back immediately (no e-mails in those days!), outlining a possible itinerary and asking who his cousin was and how many of the family would be coming. I got a reply by return. My friend’s cousin was probably one of the ten richest men in America – Philip Pillsbury of Pillsbury Flour. A total of four of them would like to come and would I send the cost. To my delight my quote in US dollars [not the suspect Zimbabwe dollar] was accepted and dates soon booked. I planned to take them camping on the banks of the Zambezi River, then to the luxury Bumi Hills Lodge on Lake Kariba, onto Victoria Falls, Hwange National Park and end up with more camping in the lowveld. Three weeks in all with a pretty hefty bill attached. To my further delight they accepted this and I asked my friend when I could expect payment, which I needed in advance, as because being an unknown tour operator in Zimbabwe, all accommodation in the luxury lodges expected payment up front. My friend replied saying that on no account must I press Mr Pillsbury for payment as this was the one thing that really annoyed him. He had accepted my price without a quibble and certainly would pay in full. But when? I took my friend’s letter to my bank together with the planned itinerary and cost. I explained that I had to pay a lot of this cost up front so could I have an overdraft to do so?
140 | Sherborne Times | August 2021
