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Caracal, If i was the person behind you I would probably have passed out before you So you would have a soft landing

You know what, there are a lot of books on the subject & some of them saved a lot of peoples bacon.(Including myself) One thing though, I have not seen a lion or ellie reading in the library yet.

There has been discussion on recipes recently but nothing on what you could or could not eat out in the bush, anyone know?

Lots of things to eat in the bush!

Marula fruit are full of vitamin C. Only eat the yellow fruit that you will find on the ground. remember that they have to ripen on the ground, not on the tree.

Mopani worms!! Yum-yum!!

The young leavlets (baby leaves) on the Boabab tree can be plucked, and cooked like spinach. Also High in Vit.C and Tianin. as well as the seeds which are have a lot of ascorbic acid. It makes a nice revitalising drink.

Then the Raisis bush. The small buds are eadable as well.

We can go on for hours

I think I will have to follow the the troop of baboons to show me what to eat . I am just not so sure about the drinking water as the rivers are full of crocodiles

Jeanus, i found this:

Pikasso, maybe this will help in a way for one answer

I have bought the following book at a flea market for R5,00. The name is 'Don't die in the Bundu' by Col. D. H. Grainger. It covers topics like, Shelter Fire an Weapons, Signalling to an Aircraft, The sources for Water, Food resources, Pointers to direction and many more. It is from Timmins Publishers ISBN 0 86978 056 5.

It is an old book and I have seen newer books at shops like Exclusive Books and others.

That was a bargain Rooies as for R5 a person could learn how to build a shelter, make fire and where to go. It would be interesting to read the part on the water supply as water is scarce in some towns as well, not only in the Bundu.

Some more avice:

I will remenber to take my valuable R40 book exchange copy along when venturing onto the rarely uncrowded gravel roads in the KNP .

We have that book at home as well old yellow soft copy.

I bought Hubby The SAS Survival Guide (pocket edition) for xmas its small (really a pocket size) and it now stays with us every where. It is not just SA but the whole world and has everything from shelter to edible plants R75 at a book shop (Escaralda or something like that) in Cresta was on the counter at the tills.

Same thing works with Ellies as with Lions but watch their behaviour if they trumpet and flap the ears you are facing a mock charge but it he's quite, ears flat and trunk rolled in .. well you know the drill.. bend over an kiss...... big tree might help but not always. We had trouble with a young bull that had racked up 3 know deaths before he was shoot...... scary beyond believe sitting watching him knowing he's a killer. Must be the same feeling going the death row and seeing a serial killer.

Just thought of another book maybe not for everyone but great animal behaviour discribtion writen from the eye of a PH is Peter Hathway-Capstick's Death in the long grass.
He recons one of the must deadly "non deadly" animals in Africa is the bush buck, really good read don't sure if it's still in print he also wrote Return to the Long grass.

Maybe try your localy second hand book shop.

I believe its Estoril Books?

NetEk, what do you think of the book? Is it worth buying?

Although it may still be of vital importance and may save a life, I am of the opinion that these books will become obsolete one day. When these books were written, there were no such things as GPS, Smart phones, transponders, satellite phones and stuff. When your plane went down in the bush, you were history, but with modern technology, a rescue squad is always just around the corner. KFC is an sms away.

Makes me think about the story the late Tolla van der Merwe told about his excursions into Kruger. Now, only Tolla could tell a Tolla story but the shortened one is about the day a lion chased him. He said that he ran fast for 6 hours before he reached the safety of a tree. In fact he ran so fast that it took him 6 days to walk back. The lion prevented him from leaving the tree for an entire weekend and when the interviewer asked him about food, he said 'no problem' "Every night when the lion went to sleep, I got out of the tree and walked to Skukuza for a hamburger"

I have quite a few of Peter Capstick's books and while friends who have spent a lot of time in Africa have told me it was more likely to find him propping up the bar. In fact I became quite fond of him and read some books several times.

I've also got Col. Grainger's book. I used to live in the same block of flats as him, a long time ago. I seem to remember he was also something important in the St John's Ambulance Brigade.

I also have Ron Reid-Daly's "Staying Alive", published in 1990, which has a lot in it about finding water and food.

I guess all of these books are long out of print and would only be available second hand.