Guns, Headless Snakes and Mr. T: A Trip to Kapeeka with Yaneta Safaris!

It turns out, the sound of a bullet is like the popping of a really fat balloon. Not at all like it sounds in movies. The further you get, the more flat it sounds; a bit like slapping a wooden board but really really loudly. There’s a smell too-metallic smoke.

If I am only making these observations now, then you can guess that I have never been that close to a firing gun. In fact, I don’t like guns. But the trip to the shooting range at Kapeeka with Yaneta safaris seemed like a good way to shake off the COVID blues and get back into travel mode.

One of the many effects of the pandemic is that traffic stops are not just about the condition of the car and driver anymore. They are also about the social distance and mandatory masks. Luckily, we were covered and our group trip was uninterrupted.

The road to the shooting range reveals a wide green expanse. Add to that a few ponds, the sun in the sky, the birds in the air and Kapeeka, just 1 and a half hours out of the city presents a decent way to end your weekend.

On arrival at the shooting range, we were briefed, and then the waiting game began. There was a group ahead of us and there was only one very patient soldier to guide all of us. Let’s call him Mr. T.

In the meantime, people took photos holding one of the guns (not loaded of course).
Me? A photo with the gun? No thanks. Just holding a gun, even an empty one, can make people feel and act twice as tall. One of the few people who seemed unchanged by the guns was Mr.T. He approached the process of cleaning and showing people what to do like one making many, many cups of tea. Used to it, patient.

More and more people stepped into the trench to shoot at the targets in the distance but I didn’t get used to the sound of the shots. They were always very loud. Even the sharp sound of the rain drops on the iron sheets did not mute them. Not one bit.

As I was awaiting my turn, Eddy from Yaneta safaris saved my life…from a blind snake that appeared in the rain. It had slithered onto the concrete platform we were all standing. He gingerly moved me out of the way before I could step on it. As if out of nowhere, another sure footed gentleman came and kicked what I learnt was the non-venomous snake back into the grass and that was that. Not more than 5 people witnessed the incident. If I was apprehensive before, this served to reassure me. Clearly the people who had brought us were alert to everything.

Finally, I was up. I got 2 bullets for an AK47. I was comfortable with 1. I thought I’d be safer if I got to know Mr. T as well as I could in the minutes I had with him.

“How are you sebbo?”
“Fine.”
Not rude but also not open to any unnecessary chit chat when I was probably the 50th person he had to work with that day.

Others had loaded their own magazine, I told him I knew nothing and would he just do it all for me? He did. But the process of shooting a gun is really a solo mission.

“Release the safety”.

I tried. It didn’t go all the way. I tried again, and this time I got it. Mr. T was patient. Even when the same thing happened when I was asked to cork the gun, he just told me to go again. When I told him I was scared, he said not to worry, “Esasi telida mabega”, a bullet doesn’t go backwards.

When told to pull the trigger, I asked, “A small squeeze or a big squeeze?”
“A small one.”

I had imagined that it would be like stepping on the accelerator pedal of a car, that the trigger would offer some resistance, that the pressure I applied would determine how hard the bullet would go, it was not like that at all. It was very easy.

I shot and felt a slight pressure in my upper arm.

That’s another thing! I had assumed the recoil would be enough to knock me off my feet, it was not.
I was done after my first bullet, but this is when one of the benefits of a group trip came in. Gift from Yaneta safaris said ‘You can do it.’ Others cheered me on. Go on! You can do it!

Mr. T said,

‘Finish it.’

Well he said, ‘Gamale mu’ but Finish it sounds more epic.

I squeezed the trigger, put the gun down and went to the bus. I didn’t feel like a different person. I was OK.

The reasons people went to Kapeeka? “It’s different”, “It’s fun”, “It’s good to face your fears.” “This is good birthday plot. People are tired of just sitting there and eating food.”

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