The Last Ivory Hunter: The Saga of Wally Johnson

Peter Hathaway Capstick

Jul 1988 · Sold by St. Martin's Press

About this ebook

A chance meeting around a safari campfire on the banks of the Mupamadazi River leads to The Last Ivory Hunter: The Saga of Wally Johnson, a grand tale of African adventure by renowned hunting author Peter Hathaway Capstick.

Wally Johnson spent half a century in Mozambique hunting white gold—ivory. Most men died at this hazardous trade. He’s the last one able to tell his story.

In hours of conversations by mopane fired in the African bush, Wally described his career—how he survived the massive bite of a Gaboon viper, buffalo gorings, floods, disease, and most dangerous of all, gold fever. He bluffed down 200 armed poachers almost single-handedly, and survived rocket attacks from communist revolutionaries during Mozambique’s plunge into chaos in 1975.

In Botswana, at age 63, Wally continued his career. Though the great tuskers have largely gone and most of Wally’s colleagues are dead, Wally has survived. His words are rugged testimony to an Africa that is now a distant dream.

Ratings and reviews

The book starts off slow and the initial dialogue is somewhat unbelievable, However the book really comes into it's own about 1/5th of the way through. Very sad to see at the end his fate dealing with Communism, like hundreds of millions of others, had his life turned upside down. Would recommend this book 10/10.

He truly is the the example of the old saying: "Necessity is the Mother of all invention." Hunting was his profession; Surviving was his goal, and; Africa was a MOTHER! It is amazing what a man can do with so little, when he absolutley has to. HE WAS INGENIOUS!!!!

Another great read!

About the author

Peter Hathaway Capstick (1940-1996), a former Wall Street stockbroker turned professional adventurer, was critically acclaimed as the successor to Hemingway and Ruark in African hunting literature. After giving up his career, the New Jersey native hunted in Central and South America before going to Africa in 1968, where he held professional hunting licenses in Ethiopia, Zambia, Botswana, and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Capstick also served in that most perilous of trades—Elephant and Buffalo Cropping Officer. In addition to writing about hunting, he was also featured in an award-winning safari video and audio tapes.

Captstick settled in Pretoria, South Africa with his wife Fiona until his death at age 56.