Tracking buffaloes in Africa is always a challenge but when the temperature rises to 45 degrees Celsius, the challenge is doubled. Follow us on a hunt for the Western savanna buffalo through the scorching heat of Burkina Faso.

The print of a lion foot in the red sand of the track is not particularly clear. But although we pass it at a relatively high speed, 45-year-old tracker Omaru Peka sees it several meters before the four-wheeler reaches it. Omaru is sitting on the front bumper while driving. From here he sees everything. He is an eminent tracker, yet extremely humble about his own skills.

With an easy jump, Omaru lands in front of the vehicle, draws a circle around the print and climbs up on the bumper again. Now the other PH of the concession cannot miss seeing the track if he gets past with his client, who is on the lion hunt. We continue about a mile ahead of the track before Omaru sees print of the game we ​​are after. The tracks tell him that two old buffalo bulls have crossed the track – now the hard work begins.

A rise of dust

Quickly we get our rifles and camera ready. Then we pack water in bags - plenty of water. The first hour the tracks are easy to follow... for the tracker. If you’re lucky enough to spot a buffalo foot print in the hard soil, it's a big success, but for the trackers a broken straw, a microscopic break in the hard surface or a worn twig is an easily legible and perfectly clear track. They instantly know which way the buffalos have gone.

The bush gets thicker, the grass becomes higher, the tracks seem harder to follow. The pace is slower and soon we completely lose the track. Omaru, the PH Francois Guillet and the two assistant trackers scan the terrain in front of them. An oribi antelope suddenly runs in the high grass. The little antelope creates such a big disturbance that thundering cloves from something big 10 seconds later are heard in the bush, quite close. We see glimpses of two black shadows as they slide through the area while dust rises behind them. Damn! Francois hand signals to Omaru with a quick move. It's unmistakable: forward, find the track, continue the pursuit – now!

Even from the earliest morning the temperature was completely unbearable, but after the sunrise it has just gotten warmer and warmer. Sweat appears on our hands, while salty drops with close intervals drops from chins and nose tips. The backing sun is indeed a challenge and we all drink about one liter of water per hour. It may sound like a lot, but it's not even close to being enough.

Tracking the buffaloes

Wild buffaloes, living in wild nature and being managed in reasonable numbers, won’t grass a given area aggressively. They are on a constant move during grazing. The West African savannah buffalo shares this behavior and can continue for several hours moving forward in a row. Omaru finds the track of the two bulls and follows them at a fairly high pace. Nevertheless, we do not get close to them as they move as fast as we do. They constantly walk with the wind in their back, and that’s why they catch our smell as we trace them. We do not even see them for the next three hours. We can only hope they turn a little off for the wind direction, giving us an opportunity.

The shadows have become very short, being almost non-existent. At the same time, the temperature has reached almost 45 degrees Celsius. It is almost intolerable, a challenge of dimensions.

Shortly after, Omaru discovers buffalo dung. With his right boot he steps into the soft mass in the attempt to assess the freshness. He finds that it is a few minutes old, and we continue at a pace that sometimes resembles running. Suddenly the tracker stops, lifts his right arm and points with a lazy finger forward in the terrain. He has half-closed eyes and an expression that in no way reflects the intensity that has gripped the rest of us. He just stands there and points, while the PH whispers to the hunter that he needs to prepare himself for the shot. One of the two buffaloes is standing in the shadows behind a termite hill that rises more than two meters up the trunk of a broad-crowned tree.

A black contrast is distinguished within the vegetation. Some of the bushes are fresh and green, while others have faded leaves and look completely dry. The bull rises – it has noticed us, or at least sensed our presence. It is well covered by the bush and the hunter does not have time to judge the trophy and place a shot before the animal thunders through the bush and disappears.

Burning sun

It's frustrating. We have tracked the buffaloes for four hours, across many kilometers, and we are running out of water. After a short break, where we quickly discuss our possibilities and distribute our last water – half a liter to each – we get up again. It is so hot now that we consider giving up, but in this heat even the buffaloes have to stop and find shadow soon again, a fact we are going to take advantage of. Although pressed and disillusioned, we continue on.

For each step dust rises from the ground and mixes with sunscreen into cakes of dirt on our lower legs. The rigid grass and thorny bushes leave scratches on the skin.

We have run out of water and it will take an hour to reach the closest track from where we can call the four-wheeler to pick us up. The situation is getting critical as the tracker suddenly kneels down and asks us to stop. He has a feeling that we are close to the animals. Immediately the ground is burning on the bare skin. All the shooters carry their gun with a firm grip on the barrel and the rifle resting on the shoulder. It is impossible for them to change their grip on the barrel as the sunrays have warmed the barrel up to an extent that it feels as if the gun had just fired 10 shots in a quick order.

Contact

We continue for another fifty meters, before Omaru heads off a little to the right and Francois to the left. There are 10 meters between them, when Francois suddenly sees a bull in the dense bush. The tracker carries the shooting stick, which quickly changes hands. The stick is set up in three seconds, and the hunter fires the first shot. The buffalo reacts perfectly and thunders away, followed closely by his mate who apparently has been close by, through the bush. We all run after them.

The hunter fires another shot five seconds later, and the animal runs out into the open. The third bullet finishes it. In a cloud of dust, the bull falls to the ground. The last shot still echoes while we approach cautiously. A couple of minutes later, Francois touches the eyeball of the animal with his rifle to make sure it’s dead. The bull is exactly the right one to take. Francois does not shoot strong, point-giving and reproducing buffalo that runs with the heard. He would rather shoot old bulls that have some patina on the horns.

The hunter feels dizzy while we enjoy the sight of the animal. It is not out of happiness, but because his body is overheating. We have all started to get a little headache, which, like the hunter’s dizziness, is a bad sign. This hunt has been one of the greatest challenges in terms of hunting under extreme temperatures. We have been following the tracker's work through five hours and it’s been one of the most impressive tracking performances a lot of us has ever seen.

Here were the results