Bimbi’s Letters

BIMBI’S LETTERS

In any military situation the Brass knows that letters from home are important for morale, so Executive Outcomes set up a similar system to what most of us had known in the SADF. Obviously without all the bullshit, like having to do push-ups if your letter smelt of perfume. Every plane that came in had some mail for us. We could get stamps at the canteen and our letters would be posted from “The House” in Pretoria. My mail was mainly from Charmaine; she even sent some drawings based on what I wrote about camp life.

We had been in Angola for a few months when I noticed that Bimbi never received any mail. So I watched to see if he ever sent any out; he did not. I knew he had a wife and kids living in Phalaborwa, although he was Congolese. At this stage the South African news was full of stories, some actually true, of a bunch of South African mercenaries in Angola. A few guys had been killed already and the newspapers were having a field day. Charmaine kept a photo of three bodies; dead and half-naked, that Savimbi had sent to the South African news services as a warning to keep South African soldiers out of his country. I’m sure all the wives and girlfriends were eagerly waiting for mail.

One day I asked Bimbi why he did not write, would his wife not be worrying about him? Now, Bimbi was a really black man, not some shade of brown. If he could have, he would have blushed. The story was, he and his wife had no common written language. Although he could speak five or six languages, he could only write in French. His wife, being from Venda, probably had never even heard French before she met Bimbi.

I offered to write on his behalf, and, after much cajoling, Bimbi arrived in my tent late one night. It was touching to see how embarrassed this hard-assed ex-5 Recce soldier was; so shy about his personal life. He told me to write that he was well and to ask how are the kids. That was it! When I asked if I should write that he missed his wife, he nearly crawled under the bed. I then teased him further. I asked if I should tell her how much he loved her, too. We eventually sent a letter off. His next embarrassment came when Goodness, his wife, replied. The poor bugger couldn’t read English either. So he snuck into my tent late one night again and very shamefacedly asked me if I would mind reading his letter. The cost to him must have been enormous. He was pleased that his family were all well. Bimbi was a truly brave man, in every respect, and I liked him all the more for it.

The Maya & Booze

The Maya have always interested me. One of the things I noticed is that they gave themselves alcohol enemas!

I was wondering about why they have little of the big troubles our modern society has that are alcohol related? For instance the domestic violence, 90% at least has alcohol in the equation. Looked up why…..

Firstly the enema story. Man I have sat in the Rooms of the AA many times, many years, and have heard things that most would not believe. But never ever heard of an Alky getting his “fix” like this. You would think someone would have tried it, even just to  not get “booze breath”.

Why they did it.

To avoid vomiting: The Maya brewed an alcoholic drink called balché or pulque and mixed it with wild tobacco, water lilies, or other hallucinogenic plants. Drinking large amounts of this toxic, bitter mixture caused immediate vomiting. Administering it rectally bypassed the stomach completely, allowing them to absorb the full payload without throwing up.

To reach rapid spiritual ecstasy: The Maya believed that extreme states of intoxication allowed them to commune with gods and ancestors. Rectal absorption enters the bloodstream rapidly, triggering an intense, rapid altered state of consciousness.

It was an elite social ritual: Far from being a hidden taboo, these events were sacred, communal, and political ceremonies. They were attended by royal family members, elites, and even families.

Ok. Now let’s look why the different results socially…. I found this:

In the ancient Maya civilization, alcohol was used very differently than it is in modern society, which drastically altered its social impact. While the Maya certainly experienced the universal physical and behavioral effects of alcohol, their strict social structures, deeply embedded religious frameworks, and economic limitations largely prevented the chronic, widespread social problems and domestic violence seen today.

1. Highly Controlled, Periodic Availability

Unlike modern society, where alcohol is mass-produced, heavily marketed, and readily available 24/7, Maya alcohol was a limited resource.

• Tied to the Seasons: Beverages like balché and chicha had a short shelf life and could not be preserved long-term.
• Event-Based Drinking: Drinking was strictly restricted to specific calendar dates, religious festivals, agricultural milestones, and state feasts. Because people could not drink casually or daily, chronic alcoholism was rare.

2. Deeply Taboo Outside Rituals

Drinking outside an approved sacred context was considered a severe violation of social norms. Because drunkenness was viewed as a literal tool for “divine communication,” recreational or solitary drinking was seen as a misuse of the sacred. The surrounding community held intense social pressure over individuals to keep intoxication confined strictly to public, holy spaces.

3. Communal and Public Settings

In modern times, alcohol-fueled domestic violence often occurs behind closed doors in private residences. For the Maya, drinking was almost exclusively a public, communal act. Ceremonies took place in open plazas or designated temples under the watchful eyes of community elders, priests, and local leaders. This highly public setting acted as a natural deterrent against erratic, anti-social, or violent behavior.

Well that is interesting, as some people are now saying that, and I agree, it is not the alcohol or even drugs that are the CAUSE of addiction, but our society.

Memes – One

The Mexican Chronicles – Six

Caba Ledo

After attending to the basics, the first thing I noticed was the heat. We had flown along a coastline for the past hour or more, so I knew that we were close to the sea. There was not another plane in sight. We had flown in at 32000 ft., which I believe is out of range for SAM 7s, and had dived to ground level at an alarming rate of descent for the same reason. The second thing I noticed was that the bush was not as thick as I would have expected. A white soldier in cammos climbed on the wing to refuel the Kingair, which took off as soon as possible, again for obvious reasons.

The guy that was refuelling the plane?

 His name was Michael da Silva, I never met him or spoke to him while in EO, so never knew his name then, you shall meet him later in the original story he was un-named, here we shall read a LOT more about him, apart from the food story, his linking me up with Jack Murphy, and having Eeben Barlow contact me about HIS revised version of his book Against All Odds. I nearly go a mistaking ID mention in it, lucky Eeben does his research! Ja. But that happened 20 years after EO was disbanded, plus a few …. discussions  with Sargeant Pelsur, not very pleasant ones! Asshole.

Back to Caba Ledo now

Yellow Bellied Sand Snake

This is a very fast snake! One must have very quick hands to catch one of them, that is for sure. This one was coming along, in the opposite direction, on a game path I was following. Usually they are gone in a flash, this guy seemed more curious than scared.

I took a few close up photos, from those took these below, and cut out the background. NOT AI!!!! GIMP.

Here are a few facts about this little animal taken from The African Snakebite Institute

Full Name: Western Yellow-bellied Sand Snake (Psammophis subtaeniatus)

Other Names: Stripe-bellied Sand Snake, Westelike Geelpenssandslang, Westelike Streeppenssandslang

Classification: MILDLY VENOMOUS

Map indicating the distribution of the Western Yellow-bellied Sand Snake in Southern Africa.

A fast-moving, slender snake that averages 50-80 cm. This snake is active during the day and is without doubt one of our fastest snakes. It is fond of basking but will move off rapidly if disturbed. It is comfortable in trees and shrubs.

Big Five Wars is my main mission for now and they also get updated regularly.

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The Mexican Chronicles – Five

, a civilian courier service that flew us in and out. We handed in our passports and Trevor and I made acquaintance with our first real live Selous Scout, Bruce. He was in his late forties or early fifties and rather outspoken. We eventually climbed aboard a Kingair, along with a bull terrier, which let off the most terrible farts for the next six hours. Apparently he belonged to RMS Reima at the training camp called Longa.  That dog did a bit worse than just fart a bit farting while at Rio Longa.

On this first trip no one had any booze, not even I, as we were clueless about the “security” at the airport.  Keep in mind that Lanseria at this time was a couple of small buildings, nothing like it looks now. Over the years since then I did notice that the airport was a hotspot for all kinds of illegal shit. Once it was upgraded the illegal shit was transferred to our military , the Air Force bases. When a tagged Rhino Horn left Hoedspruit at a few hundred kilometres an hour I wrote that it is the military and got shot down for that. But. The Gupta Business proved that I was on track. I slept on and off, and by the time we landed didn’t know if I wanted more desperately to piss or smoke. Did both simultaneously.

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The Mexican Chronicles – Four

………climbing into bed with me every morning after her mother had left for work, just in panties and a T-shirt! I had to go – anywhere! So far nothing too serious had happened, but it was coming. I went. Charmaine took us to the airport; that early in the morning, Lanseria is dead quiet. We looked around and saw a couple of other chaps standing around looking confused. You can’t really waltz up to someone and ask, ‘Where is the flight for the “gonnabe” mercenaries,’ can you? Besides, although we had a good idea that it was to Angola, we weren’t supposed to know where we were going anyway. We all stood around until some reasonably well-dressed guy came and asked us what we were looking for. We met the pilots from Capricorn Systems, a civilian courier service……..

to be continued

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The Mexican Chronicles – Three

……….fight. I didn’t care. We’d been told to bring a pair of shorts and some sandals, and that everything else would be provided. We were to be at Lanseria airport at 3 am that Wednesday.

Now we just had to wait, so we went drinking again, hitting Froggo’s for an afternoon session.  Froggo’s was my afternoon and evening pub, in the day it always had a few people I knew drinking, and at night the music was usually good. Mike became a big fan of Froggo’s and used to drive from Pretoria to come drinking with us. When I got home in the afternoon, Samantha was crying and saying how I was sure to be killed, how every man in her life left her: her father, her boyfriends. I should mention now that my life was getting complicated at this stage. Samantha had got into the habit of climbing into bed with me every morning…… to be continued.

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Executive Outcome seen by….

While looking for any photos of EO in Cabo Ledo found this blog and some info on the net that says:

Executive Outcomes (EO) operated a major training base at Cabo Ledo, Angola, starting in 1993 and into 1994, where they trained thousands of Angolan government (FAA) troops.

Photographs specifically isolated to the Cabo Ledo base camp itself are quite rare online, as most public imagery focuses on active combat zones or group portraits. However, historical documentation and photographic archives from the 1993–1994 Angola campaign show EO personnel, equipment, and the training operations they conducted during this exact period:

• Troop Training: Under the contract, EO built up an extensive infrastructure to train up to 5,000 FAA infantrymen and 30 combat pilots. Photos from this era typically depict South African advisors in distinctive brushstroke or DPM camouflage alongside Angolan recruits.
• Air Support: EO heavily relied on Soviet-era hardware integrated with their own tactics. Common images feature personnel deployed alongside Mi-17 and Mi-24 helicopters, which were heavily utilized out of
• coastal staging hubs like Cabo Ledo.

Post #10- Executive Outcome’s Role in Ending the Angolan Civil War through direct involvement

The Mexican Chronicles Two

……. The next morning, after my customary breakfast of a six-pack and a few shots of vodka, Trevor, Charmaine and I set off to find “The House”. There, in a normal street, in an ordinary suburb we found it. The only indication something was not kosher was huge satellite dishes in the back yard (this was back in the days before DSTV). We went in, met Sergeant Pelsur, got the pay structure and signed a minimum one-year contract. The contract was to train troops in a foreign country, with money paid into a bank account of our choice anywhere in the world, in Dollars. Full medical, transport to- and from the foreign country, as well as food and drink, would be provided. All clothing and equipment was to be issued on site and in the beginning we would have to live in tents. Talking to Charmaine and my close buddy Mike that night I told them I believed the training thing was bullshit. For the amount of money we’d been offered, we were off to fight. I didn’t care. We’d been told to bring……………………..

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