Author: Peter Riva

This story begins in Lake Rudolf, which is located in Northwestern Kenya, with one of the main characters, Mbuno from the Liangulu tribe and his friend Pero Baltazar on a photo shoot. They are not the only two main characters of this thriller. There is also Susanna the wife to Pero, Heep Heeper and his wife Mary, and two assistants. They have been bumping around in a Land Rover looking for spots to film the wild of Africa.

Pero is the producer for these films. They have come upon a father and son about to embark on a spearfishing trip of sorts. Mbuno thinks this might be a good segment to film. The car stops. They begin to take their gear out to ready for the shoot. Susanna readies the microphone that she devised for such outback films. Mary is their narrator and star for most of their documentaries. She is also known as the “Crocodile Lady” so they search a bit for reptiles to make filming more interesting while she gets into her wetsuit. Mbuno asks the father and son if he can film them. They negotiate a price for doing so. All is set.

The young boy spears a fish way to large for him to control. He begins to get dragged by the fish down the lake causing everyone to fret. He finally manages to stop the progress of the fish by digging his heals into the mud long enough to catch his breath. The fish is not done with the young boy and pulls with renewed force. The son is propelled behind the fish as he makes his way into deeper water. The father gives chase and is eventually able to grab his son and cut the fish in its stomach to stop its forward progression. At the end of the day they managed to get the fish, save the boy, and have an enthralling snippet of the wild.  

They head back to the hotel and discuss that day and the remainder of their time there for filming. The next thing they want to shoot is the Nile Crocodile. They begin to make plans for the following day to how and where to do this. It is decided that they will head off to what is known as Crocodile island by boat.

The following day begins without a hitch. They arrive at the Island, Mary is ready, and filming begins. There are many juveniles and some eggs that are about to hatch. The mother comes to protect her young and for a brief moment they are concerned about an encounter they cannot control. They get some great footage. The winds picked up, the heat increased and the water became choppy. They head for shore and safety. 

The next day they want to try to get some film of hippos. Later on they will add wild dogs, snakes, camels, and birds.

Before they leave for their hippo shoot the next morning they get an SOS call of sorts. Ube is missing. He was on safari with clients when they encountered a problem of some sort. The clients made it out ok, but Ube was nowhere in sight. Ube is the nephew of Mbuno. Mbuno must locate him.  

They scramble to formulate a plan to find out what happened to Ube. He is known as one of the best guides in the region with oodles of experience even in tight situations. They speak to those who took the report initially and call in as many favors as possible to try to locate where Ube may have been lost and what occurred. As they unravel the where they begin to figure out the what and who. This leads them to a big-time drug smuggling operation and more.

Will they find Ube? Is he dead or alive?

Read it. Enjoy it. I did.