On the top forum there is a thread with basically just pictures. There are some quite interesting photos in there. I thought one here may be interesting. Does not need to be hunting just maybe Africana.

I do not know John well, we talk at the shows and he recognizes me when he sees me. The woman on the right is Martin Pieter's wife. I have hunted several times with Martin. Does anybody recognize the other girl. Jorge you cannot answer.

I won't answer, suffice to say, she is one of the most beautiful women I've ever met...

Ok I need some explanation as to what THAT is. It's either the biggest tree I've ever seen or they have some incredible man shrinking device over there!

If that's your daughter, I'm available.

If that's your wife you're a lucky man!!

The tree is a baobab on the Save Valley Conservancy. Some estimates place the tree in existence before the birth of Christ.

Not my daughter and yes she is taken

Feel free to post Africana pictures.....

This was definitely was not among the smartest things I have done.

In my adult life I have been to one musical in the US. Somehow I have attended three musicals and a ball, albeit a hunters ball, in Zimbabwe. Never thought I would go to Africa to receive a lesson in culture.

All dressed up for the ball.

I hoped the this thread would have generated a bit more interest with others posting pictures. I enjoy the non hunting side of safari as much as the actual hunting.

The young lady in the first picture was featured with John in the Courtney boot photo shoots quite a few years ago. I believe Courtney still uses those photos.

Enjoy

Vic Falls in April



Ume River late November after the rains have started.

Hey Mike, you clean up pretty well!

Biebs

Thanks for the pictures. I enjoyed a bit of taste of other aspects of Africa.

That was the thinnest I have been in years. Two weeks in November in the Omay chasing buffalo damn near killed me.

Love the pics Mike. Thanks for sharing. I can probably dig up a few interesting ones, but they are minor league stuff compared to yours.

JGRaider,

You seem to be passionate about hunting in Namibia, like I am about Zimbabwe. Hopefully you have a few camp/wildlife/human picture to share.

These are some interesting guys.

The red velvet mite comes out right after the rains begin(or at least I was told)

If you think your job is crappy, consider the dung beetle's plight.

Chasing Mtn zebra.....

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That is some nasty looking territory in the first picture.

In eight trips and countless miles on foot I have never had the privilege of seeing a pangolin.

Those Hartman zebras really presented a challenge. We got well within range several times in the morning, but they managed to stay covered up enough so that no shot was presented. Late that afternoon I finally connected. 8 miles or so in those thorn infested hills was a real adventure. Those zebra steaks were out of this world good too!

That pangolin encounter was on my first trip over. I took that pic and few more of him on my cell phone, and showed them to the landowner at lunch. He said in the 25 yrs he had owned the property, he had seen only two. It was a rare treat for sure. He took his merry time, probably 5 minutes anyway, eating the bugs off of our boots.

Ed,

That is a proper buffalo.

Ingwe,

Great picture of the elephant. One of these years I would love to hunt birds on Africa.

People of Africa

It has been a little quiet so I thought I would bore everybody with a few more pictures.

In 2012 we hunted the Omay and then spent a couple of weeks at the outfitters house. He and his family took K and I to their camp on Hwange. I am not sure what K and Martin's kids were doing in the waterhole, digging for something I guess. We looked over our should and the biggest herd of elephant I have ever seen sneaked up on us. We gave them the water hole and watched for quite a while. Hwange in November/December is a beautiful place.



This was a small part of the herd





I wish I had taken this picture, but it was taken by Martin's wife earlier in the year.

Wow, some great shots! Thank you for sharing!

Very nice photos, Mike. Have always been intrigued by Africa.

That split tusk, I dont think Ive ever seen one at the base like that.

Is that a source of trouble cause its split?

African Baobab trees are huge, beyond belief to us North Americans. In the photo below you can see a big green tree in the middle background. Using a laser rangefinder I measured that tree at greater than 1000 yards away.

Truly big bulls are massive. This waterhole is better than 25 feet in diameter, to give some scale:




One of the largest and healthiest black rhino populations in the world is in the Conservancy I hunted in Zimbabwe. The only reason these rhinos exist is because foreign hunters pay good money to hunt there. Not hunt rhinos, you understand. We've been paying for these rhinos with no expectation of hunting them. Ask your local anti-hunting group how much money they've spent in their lifetimes on rhino habitat and anti-poaching efforts.

Elephants are big. I wear a size 15 shoe. This was on Hwange where some of the biggest bulls live.

WillARights,

Not sure what caused the split, I just assumed old age.

A couple of more African portraits.






And my favorite time of the day, naptime!!

Thanks for sharing.

Only been once to Namibia...

Talk about a thorn between 2 roses!

John is looking a little weather-beaten. Many, many days in the sun. He remains a badass!

John and Dawna, 2005:





11 Sept, 2001 right about when the second plane hit..

Photos from a Jan 2010 trip to S Africa and Namibia. Rented a Land Cruiser and drove from Capetown to Ai Ais, Skeleton Coast, Estosha, Caprivi, Windhoek, Cape Agulhas and back to Capetown. Great trip.

Skeleton Coast




Welwitschia mirabilis. Studied this plant in college botany, so it was cool to see it in person. Long-lived plant, but only grows 2 leaves during its life.

more pics



Caprivi










Lighthouse at Cape Agulhas

salsola,

Great pictures, I like the birds. These are from Hwange.

Great pictures, makes your soul ache for the smell of a mopane fire.

(And I though I was the only elderly (hunting) man with hair down to his shoulders.)

Thanks,

BH63

George,

Your photos are professional quality. Very very nice.