As it is Christmas at the end of this week and everyone is involved with family, I agreed with my editing daughter, Janine, to make it short. Many of us will be frustrated by the recent new travel restrictions which seem to be as much about disrupting our personal lives as combating the new enemy, Covid-19. I wonder how many nefarious acts are taking place behind the guise of combating this pandemic? Both privately and by states. How hard will it be to get our freedom back? I am sure the easing of restrictions will be much slower than their swift and seemingly haphazard implementation.
“Personal freedom is extremely hard to recover when your life is dictated by the acts of others, especially the state. It is something you have to recover both by will and determination. Remaining placid and accepting this as the new order will be hugely retrogressive to you and your children’s future lifestyle.” - Peter McSporran
Of course, many of us do not know what the definition of freedom is. I like this one:
“True personal freedom is to live as you are, to do what you want, and to spend time with people you like. For many of us, personal freedom is a distant dream.” - Darius Foroux.
It goes without saying in your pursuit of freedom, it should not harm others.
I said I would chat about Little Makalolo this week and also give a quick post mortem on our trip. Little Makalolo was fantastic. As with the ocean in Mozambique, you got a feeling of how the world could have been. Generally free of humans, little sign of their vandalism in the pursuit of food and material belongings with placid wildlife only occasionally annoyed by our trespass. The lodge itself, which is tented, gave a feeling of space, on some days we were the only guests. This was brought about by cancellations due to new travel restrictions in the region. Our gain to the operator’s detriment. We certainly got fantastic service and attention. Driving around, we rarely came across another vehicle in that area of the park with lots of plains game, lions and elephants. Yes, we saw roan antelope nearly every day, especially rare to be seen, a favourite of mine. In addition, sable, eland and wildebeest. The wildebeest, impala and zebra were busy dropping their young. I know young antelope get to their feet quickly, regardless, I was so impressed seeing still wet from the womb youngsters running at full speed within minutes of birth. As for elephants, they were everywhere.
It was probably not the best time of year to be there for viewing as there had been some early rain bringing about a flush of new leaves in the shrubbery. In saying this, the only animals we would have liked to have seen but did not see were wild dogs, seemingly decimated with rabies, and hyenas who were around in numbers. Their footprints could be seen in the camp sand surrounds in the morning. Farai was our guide while Edwin the lodge manager and his team looked after our comfort. Farai seemed to gauge the mood of the elephants when we were in their midst almost within touching reach
So in summary of our trip, our time at Inhassoro was fantastic, totally different and unfair to compare it with the inland destinations. We were sad to learn of Caron’s loss, our hostess married to Martin at Dugong Lodge. Her father died shortly after our departure. We had dinner with him every evening during our stay. Goodbye to another “olde Rhodie.” A bit of melancholy to add to our happy memories.
Mvuu Lodge in the Lower Zambezi in Zambia is always enjoyable and a super place for fishing, except for me. Great hospitality and shared friendship from Brett and Lynne Brannigan. The wildlife is great with many elephants and buck to be seen along the river. In the park, great game viewing although this time we did not see any big cats. For me, you visit this lodge to enjoy the Zambezi and fishing, the wildlife is a bonus.
Kavinga was luxurious, with great food, great service. It has plenty of elephants and I would say the place to go to see leopards. We saw three in the few days we were there. There is also plenty of game, the birdlife is second to none, with the African Pitta being present. Heard but not seen by me. Their concession is a limited area although it is crowded with game.
Nyanga was a disappointment, scenery great, but service at Troutbeck Inn, purported to be the best remaining hotel, was not what it used to be. I can say, a disappointment. National park fees are becoming prohibitive, you even have to pay to visit World View which we did not.
Lake Kyle was great, our accommodation excellent on the banks of the now Lake Mutirikwi hosted by David and Lisa. There is plenty of bass despite us only catching small ones, here we were fortunate enough to walk with rhinos and visited Great Zimbabwe. It is a beautiful lake once again teeming with birdlife.
The Victoria Falls are wonderful, but you do not get the feeling you are in the wild. Why do tourists have a penchant to avoid other tourists? We do. The small town I remember is now a large commercial tourist destination, be it without many tourists, due to Covid-19 once again. Definitely, a place for young people to visit with all sorts of death-defying activities to raise the adrenaline. Not for an old fart like me although the actual ‘falls’ are justly one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.
Little Makalolo offered us the feeling of space, up close to many animals, vast herds of elephants and buffalo. As I said roan antelope, for me, they are worth the visit alone. Finally, plenty of lions. Why do the lions south of the Zambezi seem so much larger than those north?
We, of course, met so many old friends, most I have mentioned in earlier blogs. Friends and familiarity always add a very personal touch to each place you visit, you remember them as much as the place. Zimbabwean hospitality is second to none.
We not only had a trip of a lifetime, but we also gathered memories to stay with us for the rest of our lives.
In one single trip, who would forget the feel of a marlin at the end of your line, the amber burning eyes of a male lion staring at you from a few metres away or the trumpet of an elephant in its mock charge towards you. All remain so vivid to be treasured more than material things.
In saying that, Zimbabwe is no longer what it was. A place of informal business with the oily always open palms of the corrupt bureaucrat to make things work. And poverty. I think the biggest change can be said by the old local saying, “we will make a plan”, said with hope in the past, to, “it is what it is”, said resignedly now.
4th Independent Company
After joining the rest of intake 132 at Llewellin, we met the regular officers and NCO’s who were going to ensure us youthful territorials would carry out our duties in the prescribed military manner now we were an operational unit. Of course, we were all green, which at the time we were reluctant to accept. There is nothing more arrogant than a fit young youth who has undergone military basic training. He flaunts like a seasoned warrior.
Our commanding officer (CO) was Major Peter Gilchrest, an ex-territorial who had become a regular hailing from Manicaland. It was said, he still lived with his mother, turned to the army for a career after going broke farming, a hard feat to accomplish in Rhodesia, and that he liked the booze this being the reason for his ruddy complexion. Of course, this was all barrack-room rumour although, he did prove to us he enjoyed his drink. Our 2IC was Lieutenant Minx Hill, never to be seen without a cigarette or a sense of his own importance. As time went on, we were to find this was about all he did; smoke, preen and criticise, getting involved in very little else unless he managed to hide it from us.
The guy who held it all together was our Company Sergeant Major (CSM) van Driel, ex RLI (Rhodesian Light Infantry). He proved to be strict but fair, you cannot ask more in the army. Our quartermaster was Joe van Vuuren, ex SAS and a great guy who knew how to run a good store by delegation. He recruited Corporal Colin Gershman as his storeman and clerk. Joe was to be killed by dissidents on his brother’s farm after the war. Joe had combat experience having served on secondment to the SAS in Aden with the British Army.
The guy in charge of fixing vehicles was a sergeant Gillespie, a rotund jovial likeable Scot who somehow must have got into the army without seeing a drill square or an inspection. I am sure he was given his rank on joining, due to his expertise in vehicle repair, not his military prowess or adherence to discipline. In charge of transport was Bez Bezuidenhout, with Cpl Max Culverhouse his right-hand man to keep the records straight. You could not ask Bez to read or write anything as it was beyond him. Then there was an administration sergeant Skully who remained mostly back at headquarters organising our operational stores, we saw little of him. Finally, but not least, was our medic, Sergeant Sammy Moll also RLI, a great guy and a very good medic although most of the time our main ailments were malaria or putzis. Putzis were maggots of a fly that laid their eggs in damp clothing which then, in turn, burrowed into one's flesh, growing to nearly an inch long. Veld sores were open ulcers formed following a scratch or grass seed skin penetration, which was the second most common ailment exacerbated by extended periods eating low nutritional value Rat* packs. Each pack contained vitamin pills discarded by all when packing for patrol.
Both Corporal Max Culverhouse and Colin Gershman were members of Intake 132, not regulars.
That is an introduction to our bosses along with the three newly commissioned lieutenants. For the next nine months as sergeants, we would eat with them when in our company camp which thankfully was not too often as we spent most of our time deployed as platoons in our own areas. The war was hotting up, we would learn we had much to grasp about being operational in the bush where sun, thirst and exhaustion were the main enemies for much of the time.
The Challenges of Investing in African Agriculture Part IV - Low returns
One of the problems of investing in primary agriculture is the low returns against high capital outlay. If you see an IRR over 10% in a primary production unit, it should immediately raise a flag on the business plans credibility. Before you put a seed or seedling in the ground you have to do a lot of capital investment. This can include the land, its improvements including clearing, the equipment hire or purchase to do this, this being your groundbreaking equipment, your farming equipment which is endless from chisel ploughs to combine harvesters and everything in between, crop driers, storage sheds both for inputs and crop, housing for self and labour the list is endless. On top of that, to operate and equally to access funds you need all the environmental studies and licences in place. Further capital costs may include liming, dam building and irrigation installation. The list appears endless, most laymen, and bankers have no idea what is required. In Africa, costs can be saved by importing second-hand combines and tractors, although I would say this is not ideal. You may in fact be buying someone else's problems. So it is very easy to overcapitalize a farming business, equally, it is extremely dangerous to under capitalize. In farming the season, weather and markets wait for no man. You have to do all the operations within the set farming calendar. Irrigation can spread this, allowing for out of season planting and double cropping. The use of irrigation to allow double or multiple cropping in a year is the best way to reduce capital costs on a per hectare basis. An example is a combine harvester used in both the soya harvest in summer and wheat harvest in winter. A rainfed crop such as maize has to support the cost of the combine through one crop. Interest alone on such large capital items may be prohibitive. Hire may be an option, which I do not recommend in most parts of Africa. Due to logistics and availability, these service providers can be very unreliable. Only where there is an economy of scale can they function viably.
Equally, many farming companies start undercapitalised with their cash flows relying on inflated returns to bridge the funding gaps. A fatal error. From experience, you cannot rely on capitalizing a farming operation, let alone its expansion, from cash flow within the first five years. Overambitious time and yield targets are the prime cause of many failures. It takes time to clear new land, it takes time to improve the fertility of your soil, it takes time to understand the growing season, especially with a new crop in a new area. Even a few miles may require a change to practice and timings. I can safely say that viable yields can only be guaranteed after five years which means the operation may suffer losses over that period or at very best just break even. I have seen so many hockey stick cash flows in my life to confidently say they bring the whole business model into question. More about funding farms in the new year, I will give investing in Africa a break for Christmas next week.
Meanwhile to everyone a very Merry Christmas from a peaceful Portugal.
Disclaimer: Copyright Peter McSporran. The content in this blog represents my personal views and does not reflect corporate entities.
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