Only You

[NottinghamWhite]

We spent a couple of days camping at Awash National Park in Ethiopia at Christmas in 2000. We marvelled at the waterfalls there & apart from our small group there was no one else there. We did a couple of game drives & sat around the fire on an evening drinking & chatting both nights enjoying good company. After a couple of days we continued our journey down the beautiful Rift Valley.
Several months later we were channel hopping & stumbled upon a programme Danger Man & low & behold he was stood in the very campsite we had been at. He explains that he will be making the exact same journey as us but he couldn't leave until his friends arrived soon after a open truck arrives & 4 heavily armed guys jump out carrying Kalashnikov rifles. Danger Man goes on to explain that the journey ahead was a highly dangerous & these guys were necessary to continue his journey. Us we were armed with just rucksacks

[PockWhite]

Enjoyed a genuine Singapore Sling in the Long Bar at Raffles.

[johnh]

When I was in Singapore (1955/57) There was a Forces club (Britannia Club) opposite the Raffles. We never even thought about going in the Raffles, would have been arrested!

[zigzag]

1) Ive driven Flying Scotsman
2) I bribed my way onto a Russian Troop train when they were withdrawing from the unified Germany
3) I've outrun the police - I was driving on my own in South Africa about 25 years ago, it was basically in the middle of nowhere and I was cruising along at about 60, I come round a corner and see I bloke stood at the side of the road waving a red hanky/scarf. Having heard tales of car jacking and had been warned by the car rental company not to stop or pick up strangers/hitchhikers I had it in my mind not to stop and carried on driving, bear in mind this all happend in the space of 2 or 3 seconds. Well as I got right upto him I saw the uniform, then I saw the police car tucked away behind a bush at the side of the road, split second decision on my part, I could either jam on the brakes and stop about 100 yards down the road and try to explain why I had driven past him, or I could floor it and drive away hoping that by the time he had decided to give chase, get to his car, and follow I would have enough distance between us to make him think it wasnt worth his while. I chose the second option and drove like a madman for a few miles, nervously looking in the mirror. Thankfully he didnt follow.

[NottinghamWhite]

I ran a castle, Kinloch Castle on the Isle of Rum 20+ years ago. We were constantly bothered by yachtsmen who wanted to use the castles baths but this wasn't allowed instead they could use the facilities in the hostel & hire a towel for £3. The Inner Herbidies were very popular with yachties & on one particular night there was a knock on the door & it was a yet another yachtsman wanting to use the castle facilities any ways I can hear one of my staff telling him he would need to go around the back & ' hire a towel ' I shouted down I'd sort him out. I made my way to the back door to see a really tall gentleman who tells me his wife isn't far behind him. To my amazement the wife appears & is none other than Princess Anne who is on her honeymoon with Tim Lawerence on board their brand new yacht, a wedding present from The Queen that's was called Doublet after the horse Anne won Olympic gold on.
I took them to the main castle & gave them a bedroom to use the bath/shower facilities. When they came down they asked if they could eat. The main dining room was full so they ate in the bistro. After dinner they came back into the main castle area & ordered a bottle of Petit Chablis & 3 glasses which I served to them on which Anne said the 3rd glass was for me & would I join them. I can honestly say they were fantastic company & so normal. I enjoyed around an hour in their company & Anne put me at ease instantly. The one thing I'll never forget is how tiny she was.

[NottinghamWhite]

Staying on Rum an old gilly who did a lot of work at Balmoral came over to the island employed by the Red Deer Commison, Rum had approximately 1800 Red Deer on the island. The RDC had hired a bothy for Tommy not far from the castle. I bumped into Tommy early the next morning & he invited me to join him for the day as he was going looking for fawns to tag. The object of this was we crept like commandos to a hillock & he removed a brass telescope from his rucksack & checked out the herd below. What followed then seems surreal now we ran down the hill screaming like banshees at which point the female would pick up the fawn & place it in a ridge. Tommy was an old hand at this & had incredible eyesight. We found the fawn my job was to make notes so it began.

Number 1985
Sex female
Weight 6lb

So it continued over the next couple of hours Tommy & myself scaring varying herds & me logging the fawns. To my amazement & delight Tommy pulls this fawn out of the rough & I start to log.

Number 1992
Sex male
Weight 6:5ib
Name Phil B*****

The pride I instantly received was unreal there was a future Monarch of Glen that had my name. Many years later Lucinda Lampton did a documentary on Rum & several stags appeared in clips & one particular handsome individual stood out & I swear I was looking at a grown up Phil

[rigger]

Haha !



This is a great thread - keep 'em coming, folks !

[NottinghamWhite]

To finish my story as we are walking back across Rums rugged landscape Tommy asked if we could stop at a rather large inland loch. When we arrived back into his rucksack & produced a fishing rod which was in 3 pieces which he put together. From memory I can't remember how long we were there but it was just so peaceful as we sat there having a smoke & taking in the stunning vista. Eventually Tommy caught 4 rather sizeable brown trout, he wasn't a Royal gilly for nothing & reluctantly we set off back to the castle. When we arrived at Tommys bothy we went inside & carried out the small table & chairs Tommy then started to gut & clean the trout & I went off to the castle & had the chef prepare 2 jacket potatoes, microwaved sadly & mixed dressed salad. Whilst he was doing this I went off & grabbed 2 bottles of white wine. By the time I returned to the bothy with the potatoes, salad, salad dressing, crusty bread & butter the trout were cooked. We sat outside & had this veritable feast & swear to god I was eating the best meal I've ever had. What a fantastic day in fantastic company. I'll look later & dig out the photo of me & little Phil

[NottinghamWhite]

One last one, please let me indulge myself one last time
We are touring Nepal our next destination Koshi Camp, everyone bar me chose to get to the camp by riding elephants but I learned you could easily jar your back on these magnificent creatures, & me having a delicate back opted on a journey that involved a jeep, a motorised canoe & a further jeep, however the last mile or so was by Shanks pony. It was a very hot evening & very humid & it was quiet a climb up a hill before we descended down to the camp. I arrived at this tented village seriously feeling knackered & very sweaty. I instantly saw the tent that doubled up as the restaurant, lounge & more importantly the bar to which I entered at speed, as you do. Straight to the bar & the Nepalese barman puts his hands together & starts repeating Svagata, welcome to which I rather grumpily said just get me a cold beer please. As this delicious liquid was going down my throat this voice behind me went it's you Phil isn't it ? I turned around & there was this absolutely stunning woman with blond hair. I sort of mumbled yes that's my name. It turned out years ago as an out of control teenager she had worked for me as a waitress. I eventually had to sack her down to her time keeping. She went onto tell me that get tithe sack was the best thing that had happened to her & she cleaned up her act & had gone to university & met her husband there who had become a leading zoologist who was at Koshi working with the elephants for a week. We sat & chatted for some time & arranged to meet prior to dinner & continue our conversation. I found our tent by which time Sue had arrived feeling a bit sore around the bottom area & I told her what had happened. I quickly showered & changed & returned to the bar where Pauline was already there armed with a bottle of wine & 2 glasses. As we sat there laughing & gossiping she would fling her arms around me & kiss my cheek. After awhile our party started arriving in the bar & seeing this beautiful young woman wrapped around me, they didn't know what to say or do & you could see they couldn't wait for Sue to arrive & then it would be a case of light the blue paper & stand back. I never did tell the rest of the party who this beautiful blond lady was.

[NottinghamWhite]

Looking down on mother & child.