The crackle of the campfire on the African safari . a drum beating steadily in the distance - warding off elephants and gazelle from crops . the distant cough of a leopard and roar of a lion interrupt the calm as a baboon shrieks to warn of the prowling leopard . then, the clank of fine china is heard, as it is gently placed on white linen, reminding the hunters of the oncoming meal.
A scene from The Ghost in the Darkness? Hardly. But it is a description of new FHS social science teacher John Fuller's life between 1987 and 1992.
"A few lies are told, some boasting done and a song or two sung, then it's off to bed early," said Fuller of his time as a hunting camp manger in Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
"After you are relaxed and fed - and have possibly showered - they (night sounds) all fade away as you sleep soundly, as usual."
In 1986, Fuller went on a safari in Africa and "decided I had to do this again."
The following year he received the opportunity to go to Zimbabwe and become camp manager and booking agent for a hunting company in Africa.
"It was a dream come true," said Fuller. "Ever since I could read I've wanted to go to Africa. I used to read all the great African hunters."
"I highly recommend The Man-eaters of Tsavo, the true story on which the movie (The Ghost in the Darkness) is based," said Fuller. "I also recommend any of Robert Raurk's books."
During his five-year stay, Fuller got into a few close situations.
" I was with a client who shot a Cape buffalo while it was standing in the middle of a herd of elephants," said Fuller. "The elephants went into a stampede when he fired the shot. They were stampeding all around us."
Another situation arose one night while leopard hunting.
"I spent the night in a tree stand leopard hunting and an elephant slept right below me - I could have reached down and touched him if I had wanted to," said Fuller. "If he have caught our scent he would have killed us - he even rubbed up against the tree at one point, but he never knew we were there."
Fuller has even looked into the eyes of a lioness.
"I was in a leopard blind when I heard a noise and looked," said Fuller. " I saw a lioness looking in the blind, but she just walked away."
The "scrapes" Fuller was in were nothing compared to the movie or the book, and after seeing The Ghost in the Darkness Fuller said. "It was a wonderful film. But, those lions in the movie killed and ate many more people in real-life (before they were shot and killed) than the movie said they did."