Guys, I apologize for being so tardy in getting an account of our Zim safari up here... I can only plead business, which is a damn poor excuse, so feel free to pelt me with rotten fruit!!!
As you may recall, I took my first safari in 2015 with John Sharp in the Bubye Valley Conservancy (BVC), and took two of my three desired species: kudu, and the Big One, cape buffalo. I did not take an eland, although I tried hard. I flew back home and figured I had shot my Africa wad, and that would be that. However: my wife, Cate, had other ideas.
I introduced Cate (a.k.a. The Redhead) to the Dallas Safari Club show in January of '15, and she has become as addicted to the event as I have. As it happened, between the '15 safari and January of '18, Cate and I tied the knot and became man & wife, but because both of us have busy businesses to run, there was no time for a honeymoon. Until we were walking in to the DSC show in '18, at which point she announced to me and Tiny (her growth-stunted 19-year-old son): "I hope you brought your checkbook, darlin."
"Why, what's on your mind, babe?" I replied, visions of a fine English hammer double gun dancing in my head.
"John will need a deposit for our honeymoon trip to Africa next year, Sugarbritches," she announced. (Yes, she really calls me that. Texas gal, born & bred.) So the deed was done. We marched straight to John Sharp's booth, established the dates of our 10-day safari, fixed a price, and I wrote him a rather large check for 50% of the total. Our very own Tarbe was there to witness me being browbeaten and henpecked into the whole thing. Ask him, if you don't believe me.
Fast forward to the last day of this past July. Cate and I were on a Delta flight to Johannesburg. We had clothes (her hunting clothes were all brand spanking new, and stylish as heck, of course), boots, guns, ammo, and sundry other articles stuffed down in the hold, and I was literally giddy with excitement. Well, excitement and trepidation, that is.
You see, Cate was and is an old school Austin, Texas gal. She grew up in a Texas that doesn't exist any more. As the daughter of a prominent Austin internist, she was raised pretty much as a princess... which means that while she did spend most weekends at the summer house on the ranch just east of Junction, TX, she never wore jeans in Town, and although her dad and brothers hunted everything on four legs, she had never actually shot a living critter in her life. That is not to say she didn't know her way around a rifle... she was and is a damn good rifle and pistol shot, she'd just never had opportunity to kill anything with a firearm.
So I was bringing a hunting virgin to Africa for her very first real hunting experience. I could see it going well, but I had a few anxious thoughts I kept stuffing back down about the myriad ways things could go wrong.
But the flights were fine, the overnight stay in Joburg at Africa Sky Guest House was delightful, and after all was said and done, we arrived in the BVC on August 1 in fine form, with all our gear intact, and the hunting party formed up. Here's a list of the characters:
DocRocket: needs no introduction. Nuff said.
Cate: Texas gal, 5'7" and 130 pounds of sugar & spice, mesquite thorns, and Austin attitude (not modern Austin, the old school Austin). A dead shot with rifle or pistol, but new to the hunting game. Which proved to be a key detail to some of our safari adventures, as you will find later on.
John Sharp: Professional Hunter in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique and other countries for damn near 40 years. The guy who has stood down more DG charges than any man alive (which he claims were nearly all bluff charges, and as such no big deal), and quite possibly Africa's foremost authority on hunting buffalo and lion. Formerly an enlisted man in the Rhodesian Army and a veteran of the Bush War, he hasn't just seen the elephant in all its forms, he's killed and eaten the mofo. A devout Christian and a true gentleman. I once called him the real life 21st century Alan Quatermain, and the more I know him, the more I believe it's true.
Rayno Egner: Owner and operator of Dark Continent Video Productions, out of the Northern Cape of South Africa. Farmer, rugby player, lifelong hunter and professional hunter, Rayno and his wife operate one of the top hunting photo/video companies in the world. Rayno had booked one of his employees to video our hunt, but circumstances changed and we were stuck with him instead. I'm not complaining, believe me... Rayno is a great guy, always upbeat, intelligent, humorous, and very, very skilled at his craft (Ivan Carter insists on Rayno being his cameraman on all of his TV shows). Rayno looks like a younger and skinnier Brett Favre, and shares my passion for ice hockey. Cate and John were bemused by the way Rayno and I were constantly talking about Wayne Gretzky, and how much The Great One would have enjoyed being on our hunt. Goofy, like me.
I'll stop here and continue in a fresh post shortly.
