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George Ing
George Ing was an American fruit-grower. He died suddenly at his home, aged 69, on May 11th. He wrote about fruit production for the Good Fruit Grower magazine, and about important or interesting events in his own life. He was a great believer in the value of research, and over thirty years raised many millions of dollars to be spent on learning how better to grow fruit. While on a trip to South Africa, to visit fruit growers, he wrote the following piece about Kruger National Park.
As we rounded the bend, we saw a huge elephant surrounded by greenery, some being stuffed into its mouth. Soon we came upon a herd of giraffes eating tree tops. It was like a Disney movie.
We had earlier seen zebras, wildebeest, and hundreds of impalas, referred to locally as “lion lunch.” The elephant was the first sighting of one of the “Big Five” – elephant, giraffe, leopard, cape buffalo and lion.
Leader Piet Stassen, who had lived and worked in the area, and Wanda, his wife and “crisis control agent,” led us through Kruger Park, as well as plantations of bananas, mangos, macadamia nuts and citrus. He also exposed us to kiwi, avocadoes, sugar cane, maize, and pine and eucalyptus farms and nurseries.
Kruger Park, hot and humid in its summer, was a mixture of trees, shrubs, open areas, and water courses. Animals thrive. Crossroads about every five miles enhance viewing. Kruger’s animals preclude getting out and strolling around.
Zebras, horses with beautiful stripes, were so plentiful that after a time the bus did not slow down. Dangerous Cape buffalo are cows with head armour. Giraffes raise the question of why God made something so beautiful but ungainly. We saw hippos, rhinos, waterbuck, hyenas, and another of God’s weird creations, the extra ugly warthog.
Leopard sighting is difficult. We saw one in a tree with a dead impala. The park has 1500 lions, but they were invisible until we took a detour to get out of the park and found some sleeping by the road. Kruger has many large and small winged creatures, plus crawling types, including crocodiles. Tour director Piet noted that if bitten by a black mamba snake, we should find a shady place to be as comfortable as possible during our last 20 minutes on earth.
Snakes and lions actually trail hippos in the danger department. If a hippo believes you are between it and water or its young, you are a goner. We saw four hippos, and they move fast.
Fences have been partially removed between Kruger and Mozambique’s adjacent park so animals can roam more freely. The open fences have become a pathway for illegal immigrants from Mozambique and further north, seeking to live and work in South Africa.
They don’t all make it; some are eaten by hippos and lions. One account said 13 “travellers” had been eaten in the last year. But who knows, since a hippo can swallow people whole.
Kruger supplied a traumatic experience. After an evening tour, our safari-type vehicle unloaded about three blocks from the housing, turned off its lights, and we were in total darkness. We gingerly walked down the roadway. As we sought our cabin, I vividly recalled that the deadly puff-adder snake is known for lying in wait along paths at night to jump on passing prey.
When we found our cabin, Muriel could not find the big key in her big purse. In addition to malaria-type mosquitoes and other biting bugs, I was sure I could see eyes in the night, undoubtedly lions.
Muriel dug in the purse. Tony Webster, a long-time researcher friend from England, whose cabin was nearby, appeared with a small torch. Tony shone his light into Muriel’s purse, declared, “It’s dreadful down there,” did not see the key, and left to help others find their cabins.
It was a tense time in the 47-year old marriage as Muriel asked, “Are you going to divorce me?” After more scrambling that produced various interesting but useless items from the bowels of the purse, Tony Webster returned. He and Muriel went at it with vigour and eventually found the key. I can’t remember any time in my life when I was more relieved to get inside a house.
Interestingly, about a week after we were in Kruger, in the same lodging area, a worker was trapped in an out-building and eaten by a lion, “except for his head.” Thus the risk was real.
We survived, as did the marriage. And despite being forced to take photos only through the windows of an often-moving bus, we did get some memorable shots.
George will be missed by all his readers, and the fruit industry in general.
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