One of the pieces-AFRICA

Having gone to Africa for eight times now, I discover something magical about the primitive, yet connectivity of the people of the desert. They are reddish brown, with dark hair and perfect white teeth.

These people are the color of the Kalahari sands. 
Our mode of travel on most of these journies has been on the train.  The Rovos Rail to be exact.  On these travels we learned of the balance of nature.  The role of the hunter and the prey.  One of the most interesting of balances is the sole, lonesome, end of a career breeding bull of the antelope species.
Once his duties have been fulfilled in making the future generations of a particular species secure, and with the advent of a younger, stronger, more agile and cunning opponent, the bull go to a life of solitude.  Once these bulls are isolated from the herd, they then become desired prey; for the meat is delicious. 
Into the picture now comes the educated and trained Professional Hunter (PH) who identifies the most vulnerable who happen to also have the most prized set of horns.  On the balance of the equation comes the hunter who pays tremendous fees just to enter the arena of stalking, plus the trophy fees if one is secured. The real bonus is that the  local people have a dance of joy and thanksgiving for the harvest of fresh meat, delectable organs and casings for presevering. They have employment for their skills at tracking, skinning, and preserving the mount. The women-folk have employment as laundress, cook, houskeeper for the Great White Hunter.
I explain all of this for I had a previous misconception of what happens on a hunt in Africa.  I summarily obtained the knowledge that the hunter is one step ahead of the cheetah or the hyena, who sometimes take a prey just for the devil of it. The end of life is much more tranquil having a choice made for them.
The hunter becomes part of the balance of nature.  My favorite part of the study of the antelope species is that veterianrians are somewhere in the mix.  The measuring of horns, the girth, estimated weight and general conformation is necessary information for a country to know who well its natural inhabitants are doing.  These trophies are examined for parasites, stomach content and evidence of scarring from battles of yesterday.  I appreciated the ritual that the PH does with chosen trophy.  Prayers are offered up for his past life of fulfillment; grasses and water are place in his mouth for food for his journey and always respect for photography that yields only the  best poses.  This is not taken lightly.  This is one big piece of my mosaic in life's lessons learned in a far away place.

Next piece: "Kaput"