The Last Ivory Hunter: The Saga of Wally Johnson

by Peter Hathaway Capstick

A chance meeting around a safari campfire on the banks of the Mupamadazi River leads to The Last Ivory 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.

Genres: Africa, Adventure, Biography, Nonfiction

240 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 15, 1988

About the author

Peter Hathaway Capstick was an American hunter and author. Born in New Jersey and educated at (although did not graduate from) the University of Virginia, he walked away from a successful Wall Street career shortly before his thirtieth birthday to become a professional hunter, first in Central and South America and later (and most famously) in Africa. Capstick spent much of his life in Africa, a land he called his "source of inspiration." A chain smoker and heavy drinker, he died at age 56 from complications following heart surgery.

Reviews

[Faith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was super interesting and has some crazy stories!

*I would have given it 4 stars, but the language is pretty bad all throughout the book.

[Matthew Hurley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Africa in the mid-20th century was such a different world, and not always pretty. The Communist takeover of Mozambique was especially tragic. But for Wally Johnson, it was home, and his stories are just incredible.

[emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone who hunts should read this book. It's a poignant first-hand telling of times long gone. Definitely in my top 5.

[Drew Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Last Ivory Hunter is the products of hours of interviews that Capstick conducted with the aged Wally Johnson. As such, is has a conversational tone to it as Capstick produced this book out of quotations from their interviews with his own commentary added in to stitch the interviews into a narrative.

This books lacks an overarching story. Despite its eclectic nature, I enjoyed it. It explores Johnson’s hunting, guiding, and other economic pursuits. It also describes his first hand experience with the rise of communism in Mozambique and concludes with an examination of that country under FRELIMO rule in the late ‘80s.

All in all an interesting read, though certainly unlike any other book I have read.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much better than "A man called Lion" by the same author. Truly a saga of one man's life and moreover a tale of the downfall of Mozambique. Sadly, too many tales start with "we were following a wounded..." or "we lost that one..". Sad stories but it seems that there was a greater lack of respect for game in those days.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great fun to read.

[Craig Schlossin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting life.

[Sam Kautzmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining, embellished hunting stories. Quick read, somewhat poorly written as most are just word for word stories from Wally Johnson.

[Robert W Waterman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful story

I really like novels like this that depict reality in parts of the world I probably will never get to visit.

[Mike Mathews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even my 9 year old grand daughter was captivated as I read to her by the raw adventure, but I had to delete or replace some adjectives.

This book is giving me a picture of the Africa of the early 20th millennium. Maybe we need to go back to understand the present.

[David Melcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book by Capstick.

[Bruce Diephouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book on the hunting and culture of Mozambique

[Mike Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love all of Capstick's work.....although Bulpin(TheHunteris death) is the original ivory hunter

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last two chapters should be required reading in US schools.

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good. Wally Johnson lived a remarkable life, and Capstick tells his story well.