In memoriam - Alistair Gellatly Retired Zambian Professional Hunter Passes Away

[spike.t]

Alistair or gwat to some friends passed away last sunday morning (26/o4/15) he was a bit of a legend in zambia with his croc escapade on the zambezi amongst other things. the first time i met him was on the first hunt i did in africa, it was in the selous in 1989. it was a memorable 30 days with him and paddy "bloodnut" curtis as my friends ph. alistair moved back to zambia for 1990 and totally by coincidence at sci that year i booked to hunt with chibote safaris, and was told my ph would be alistair! hunted again in zambia with him the next year, and then spent time camp building/take down , anti poaching and qauffing a few beers with him over the next few years. he was a very good ph and a fount of great stories from when he managed camps in the luangwa to working his way to being a ph and hunting allover zambia and in tanzania. he hadnt hunted for quite awhile and hadnt been in the best of health. he is the reason i got involved in zambia firstly with kingfisher lodge ,and then he asked if i knew anyone who wanted to but some land he knew about......thats how i ended up with Takeri, and he was also finns african godfather. some of us told him to write his story but unfortunatly i dont think he did.................i will try and put some photos up when i get back to better internet.

ali hope they have some good scotch and port where you have gone.


here is one of PR`s favourites with Ali

 

[Wheels]

Sorry for the loss of your friend Mike.

Condolences to his family and friends.

 

[siml]

Mike, sorry to hear about your friend, at least you keeping his zambian dream alive at Takeri.

 

[spike.t]

Mike, sorry to hear about your friend, at least you keeping his zambian dream alive at Takeri.

yeah, but we had our ups and downs with that

 

[spike.t]

Sorry for the loss of your friend Mike.

Condolences to his family and friends.

thanks. he lived with his brother Rory who still hunts, and his other brother and family arrived in lusaka today i think.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Glad you had a good hunting mentor and he helped you in deep.

Condolences.


This may be the incident Mike was referring to.

Terror on the Zambezi
17. January 2015 by Hannes Wessels

Their trip had been a happy one and the sights they had come in search of had filled their cameras. The vista ahead offered more of the same. Waterbuck, impala and buffalo grazed peacefully on the riverine grasses while crocodile lay languidly on the sand- bars. Unmistakable brown blobs rippled the calm water as the hippo down river grunted and chortled.

The guide was tall, dark and handsome with the physique of an Olympian. He was not new to these waters and the Zambezi ran in his veins. With time to relax, he called the little flotilla together and organised a ‘leg-over’ whereby the canoes were held in parallel by the occupants placing their feet in the adjoining canoe. They relaxed and let the current take them slowly down while savouring the scene.

Suddenly, tranquility was shattered when an unseen hippo burst out of the reed-bank adjacent to them and crashed into the water. The guide barked the order to disengage and pushed a canoe away from him but as he retrieved his foot great gaping jaws burst out of the water below him and snapped closed on his leg. He struck out at the attacker with his paddle but was pulled into the water and dragged down while the hippo tore at his leg. Clients screamed and whipped the water with their paddles as Longden surfaced and was hoisted quickly aboard and taken to shore. What was left of a fine limb was a bloody, lacerated mess. The lower leg remained connected but tenuously. Then it was quiet again and he saw his blue paddle drifting away.

After unsuccessfully seeking help on the south side the shaken party returned to Zambia where they were discovered after dark and taken to a camp from which a casualty evacuation could be arranged but that night gangrene set in. When the surgeons went to work they amputated the leg below the knee. A long recovery road was about to begin.

Forty eight hours later and over a hundred miles downstream a fishing party consisting of, Alistair Gellatly, Arthur and Fay Taylor and Clive and Brenda Kelly, were aboard their power-boat in the middle of the river. Similarly unaware of the danger lurking below them they were stunned when the boat prow reared out of the water as a hippo pounded into it. All six of them went crashing into a corner creating a weight imbalance and setting the vessel at an angle. A second smack on the hull followed, the boat capsized and the occupants were dumped in the water.


Alistair Gellatly, Arthur and Fay Taylor

Arthur and Fay grabbed hold of Brenda who could not swim and helped her to the nearest sand bar. Alistair and Clive had managed to grab the trailing rope from the boat which had settled in the water with its nose still visible and manged to clamber atop the hull.

Summing up the options, Alistair decided that the best way to get help would be to swim to the bank and run to a nearby fishing camp, 5 kilometers away. In to the water he plunged and safely made the hundred meters to the bank but while looking for somewhere with even ground to climb out he saw a seven-foot crocodile swimming towards him. Believing attack to be the best defense he swam straight towards it but it came head on before suddenly submerging. Alistair followed and dived and was soon hit three times before he felt teeth sink in and his forearm was firmly clamped in the reptile’s mouth.

The fight for life had begun in earnest. Thrashing and turning, the crocodile dragged him down into the depths and he was amazed at the pulling power of a relatively small specimen. Battling back, Alistair managed to pull the croc towards him and get his legs around it in a ‘scissors grip’ so he rolled with him while attempting to gouge its eyes out with his thumbs. While bringing no relief this effort seemed to cause him more pain than the crocodile and he eventually managed to force his left hand down its throat, thereby opening a valve which prevents water entering the croc’s lungs. This worked and it let go and after what seemed an incredibly long time. Alistair, with lungs bursting, made the surface.

Broken, breathless and in pain he braced for another attack when he spotted a likely exit point which he hurried to and hauled himself from the water, staggered to relative safety and collapsed. His right arm was severely mutilated, the elbow was dislocated and several bones were broken. Blood pumped; he managed to move to a shallow part of the river, wash his wounds and bind and bandage his arm with strips from his shirt. Then he tried to make himself comfortable and hope for help.

The afternoon passed by, the sun set and no rescue came. The rest of the party remained abandoned on the sand-bar which was now a foot underwater. Arthur, being a seasoned hunter and outdoorsman well knew darkness would bring increased danger of attacks as the crocodiles became emboldened but he kept his thoughts to himself. At dusk, desperate for a weapon of sorts to use to defend them something blue floating towards them caught his eye and he watched it closely. Serendipity had struck; it was Phillip Longden’s paddle and he waded out to grab it with alacrity.

Alistair meanwhile had made a basic bed with leaves in a pile of rocks, and gathered together a bunch of stones with which to defend himself, realising that lions or hyenas may happen upon the scene during the night. Then his day darkened when a buffalo bull approached him and he expected the worst but relief followed when the animal stared, noted his presence and proceeded to graze quietly close by. As the light faded Alistair looked on in amazement as the big bull came in closer to where he lay but clearly bereft of any hostile intent. Then, astonishingly, he lay down within spitting distance and seemed to be assuming the role of protector. Lions roared and hyena, following his blood-trail, circled close throughout the night but the buffalo remained at his post bringing comfort to the wounded fisherman who slept fitfully as he fought off attacks by an army of red ants that came at him repeatedly.

For the marooned foursome it was a night of terror as Arthur flailed the water through the hours of darkness to keep the crocodiles at bay. Despite his best efforts some pressed home their assaults and had to be beaten off on land by hard blows to the head. All night the group watched reptilian eyes circling in the moonlight knowing that death would surely follow if Arthur relented for any reason but strength and fortitude prevailed and they survived to see the dawn.

On land, Alistair watched the scarred old bull rise with the sun, look at him as if to bid farewell and amble off into the trees. Feeling a little stronger he fashioned a sling for his arm and started walking to the camp to his east. Six hours later he spotted some Zimbabwean fishermen on the water. Too weak to shout for help he could only sit and wave until he caught their eye. Initially they waved back then realised something was amiss and came to investigate. Seeing his wounds they immediately boated him to their camp and then went off to collect the others off the sand bank.

First aid was applied and air rescue services were called in. However the first plane failed to start again and only that evening did another aircraft land to fly Alistair to Harare where he was operated on. Surgery and skin grafts followed which saved his arm, albeit with reduced flexibility and a full recovery was made.

(This incident took place in 1994)
http://africaunauthorised.com/?p=1812

 

[Velo Dog]

Rest in Peace.

 

[Buff-Buster]

So sorry for the loss of your friend Mike. Though I did not know him, I will raise a glass in his honor.......

There was a one hour show broadcast here in the states about the incident Wayne referred to. I believe the show was called "I Survived" and was on The Discovery Channel. (I'll look it up) The ordeal Alistair and his friends and family went through was terrifying to say the least. Alistair must have been one tough man.

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

Sorry to hear Mike, my sincere condolences to his family, loved ones and friends.

 

[bluey]

Sorry to read of the loss of your mate ,and finns god father, spikey
Im sure he was quite the character....

 

[Rob404]

Sounded like a Heck of a Guy,,Rest in Peace

 

[Big5]

My condolences to the family and may Alistair rest in peace.

 

[Brent in Az]

Sorry to hear about your friend. I like hearing about the adventures of yesteryear, from these good old boys. They have been there, and done that. Lots of great experiences along the way.

 

[Hank2211]

Sad to lose another "old timer". Condolences on the loss of your friend.

 

[Royal27]

Prayers and condolences Mike.

 

[spike.t]

yes wayne @BRICKBURN thats the croc incident and wes @Buff-Buster thats the programme they made about it. arthur was one of alistairs closest friends.
alistair ended up in the same hospital again in harare, when his elderly client shot a cow buffalo when he was told not to just as it was turning from alistair shouting at it. he asked the client if he hit it and he said no (he had). they were walking back in a detour around the area to get the cruiser to drive in and check just in case , when alistairs tracker who had been walking in front aways came running back staight at him with the wounded cow buff chasing him. because he was running straight at him ali couldnt get a shot until he was passed him where he managed to get one shot off, and then the buff hit the end of the rifle barrel and snapped the stock against his shoulder. he took the full impact from the boss but luckily the buff then went off. he had to walk back to the vehicle and drive to camp . by the time he got flown from the luangwa to lusaka and they sorted the hospital in harare for him to go to lusaka airport was shut, so they had to wait for presidential permission to open it. his spleen had been ruptured and one of his friends who was at the airport told me they thought he was going to burst open, his stomach area was that swollen and they never thought he would survive. they eventually got him to harare and operated and when i spoke to him he was enjoying the morphine!! just a shame he never got around to writing that book as there were plenty other tales .

 

[Pondoro]

So sorry for your loss....he was indeed a corageous man..

 

[Nyati]

Sorry for your loss Mike, seems he was a great man ! RIP

 

[siml]

Mike , I truly enjoyed the write up on Terror on the Zambezi, glad Brickburn posted it, if I was to go, I wish I could also have a friend be able to write an article, even a one line to say I did so....for AFRICA.

 

[spike.t]

Mike , I truly enjoyed the write up on Terror on the Zambezi, glad Brickburn posted it, if I was to go, I wish I could also have a friend be able to write an article, even a one line to say I did so....for AFRICA.

yup i tried to but had a technical so glad wayne put it on. hannes writes well, and he knew alistair very well also. i took Princess Rocky to zambia before we were married as i thought i had better see what she made of it........and zambia was a different place then to now. also her first meeting with ali and he had a sock type bandage over his arm to protect the new skin from the sun as this was only a few months after the attack. we took her to kingfisher which was only slightly built with a grass hut with 4 tree trunks as the bed legs and branches across and a mattress on top, with the bar area only the walls partly built, a long drop and grass walled shower . so not what she was even slightly used to . in those days it took nearly 8 hours from lusaka to kavalamanja where the boat was to get to kingfisher, so it was dark when we set off and the boat was a bannana boat which as some on here will know arent that stable and it was loaded. PR is now pooping herself as she was terrified of the dark back then, and all she knows is this is the river that alistairs boat got turned over by a hippo and he got nailed by a croc. every bit of weed that came past was a hippo, and alistair having no sympathy told her to turn her maglite off so he could see the outline of the hills to navigate and gave her a warm beer . she wasnt impressed and kept her swiss army knife open in her other hand. we got there safely and luckily PR didnt demand to be taken back to lusaka and put on a plane home, as ali and me would have missed some interesting/hilarious scenarios she provided. a couple of days later there were elephants on the river bank 100yards from the bar and ali said to PR would you like to go closer , she said yes . as ali and i turned to check them out we saw PR boldly heading down the bank towards the eles....ali said to me what the f--k is she doing and as we whistled and hissed at her she paid no attention, so we scooted down the bank to the rivers edge and managed to stop her . she then asked what the problem was as eles are nice and she has seen them playing football in thailand!!!!! they had got closer and one was known to be a bit cheeky and started a charge at which i looked at ali as he picked up a long stick and started to shout and wave the stick at the ele, i turned to look for PR who had vanished.......she had gone up the bank in 4 wheel drive mode in 2 seconds beating any olympic record , meanwhile ali had faced down the ele . another time after the electric fence was up she got very brave and would watch the eles quite close much to alistairs amusment, and when she asked him what was so funny he told her the fence wasnt working......we pissed ourselves at the shitfit she had. she forgave him and asked him to be an usher at our wedding....now to see ali in full morning suite with tails etc was interesting...... sorry if i rambled on a bit must be catching it off Mr VD @Velo Dog but just some of the few of many laughs we all had