Dr. Joe Greenfield, a quail-hunter-at-heart, was enticed to Africa by his longtime friend and hunting buddy, professional hunter Joey O’Bannon. What Joey couldn’t change was his quirky attitude toward becoming a big-game hunter. While Bwana Babu (Master Grandfather) eventually became very excited about hunting Cape buffalo—he even proclaimed himself to be an “Africa nut”—he never became interested in anything other than the Big Five. In fact, this enthusiastic quail hunter has killed both record-book-size hartebeest and wildebeest for lion bait, but then showed no interest in even having a picture taken to document these kills. In this regard, he is quite different from most gung-ho hunters to the Dark Continent who want their every kill measured, re-measured, and entered into competition for every “slam” imaginable.

During these safaris, Bwana Babu developed a keen insight into the workings and abilities of a number of native trackers. From his perspective, watching pointers perform is the essence of quail hunting. In a similar fashion, observing the trackers skillfully follow spoor is more exciting than the actual killing of dangerous game. Bwana Babu has developed a close friendship with a number of these individuals, especially a man named Makanyanga.

Dr. Greenfield has killed two elephants, two lions, over a dozen trophy-size Cape buffaloes, and a couple of leopards. On three occasions, his encounters with Cape buffaloes have been hair-raising, documenting their well-deserved reputation as dangerous game. All of these adventures have been meticulously (and frequently humorously) described in this expanded version of his original hunting memoirs.

Using his Holland & Holland double rifle on most of his twelve safaris, Bwana Babu recently completed his quest for the Big Five. That is quite an accomplishment for that reluctant and eccentric big-game hunter nicknamed “Master Grandfather.”