Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Namibia - Sebra Hunting Safaris.

I've been messaging with my friend Jan du Plessis, owner of Sebra Hunting Safaris in NW Namibia. I've posted some pics last year of some leopards he had on baits. He's hopeful, like most all of us, that 2021 will be better. He's asked me to post this info below for him. His prices are the same as they were for 2019. It's a great place and I love he and his wife Mariesje like brother and sister and normally get to see them at least once a year.

But, I have to be honest, this entire NW region of Namibia would be a really tuff place to go for a "first time" safari. The main reason is the PG numbers are still down due to the prolonged drought. There is still free range native game species there but, most of few the high-fence places in the area either had huge die offs due to lack of forage or they just cut fences to let the game try to survive on their own.

I would highly recommend this region, and Jan of course, for maybe second time or more safari trip and target specific native species in the region. Like: mountain zebra, kudu, gemsbok, stienbok, duiker, klipspringer, brown and spotted hyena, damara land dik-dik, springbok and jackal. The one client he did have at the very end of the season last year (2020) did get a 41" gemsbok bull, a nice mountain zebra and a cull (broken horn) kudu who's unbroken horn went 57". He was a repeat client and not interested in other species. The hunting was tough and the game was still pretty scattered. Those native species have survived better than the others. Anyway.....

2020 DAILY RATES AND TROPHY FEES:

* All prices are in U.S. Dollars
1 Hunter / 1 Guide (1 x 1) $350.00 per person per day
2 Hunters / 1 Guide (2 x 1) $275.00 per person per day
Observer $150.00 per person per day
Daytrip to Etosha $400.00 per person per day
*Arrival and departure days will count as transport days and will be charged at the observer rate and no road transfer fee from the airport to Sebra.

2020 TROPHY FEES:

Giraffe $2000.00 Duiker $550.00 Eland $2750.00
Klipspringer $1750.00 Kudu $1750.00 Steenbok $500.00
Gemsbok $850.00 Damara dik-dik $2500.00 Springbok $650.00
Baboon $200.00 Blue W/B $1650.00 Cheetah $3000.00 (can not be imported to US)
Black W/B $1650.00 Spotted Hyena $1750.00 Red H/B $900.00
Brown Hyena $1750.00 Mountain Zebra $1350.00 Caracal $650.00
Warthog $650.00 Impala $850.00 Jackal $50.00
Sable (Price on Request) Waterbuck (Price on Request)

**Other species available on request**

Leopard package: (contact us for details)
14 days: $17,500.00
21 days: $21,500.00

GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS:
•Full room and board accommodation. •Issuing of permits for some species is subjected to changing quotas. •Lost, wounded game considered “taken” and charged at full price. • Daytrip fee replaces normal daily rates. • The issuing of permits for some species is subjected to quotas additional limited government imposed quotas. •No hidden costs!

PRICES INCLUDE:
•Hunting permit. •PH services. •Use of hunting vehicles. •Initial preparation of trophies – skinning, salting/drying and delivery to local taxidermist. •Accommodation. •All meals, soft drinks, wine and beer. •Daily laundry and maid service •Government mandated 15% VAT on daily rates. •There are no hidden fees!

PRICES EXCLUDE:
•Any and all taxidermist fees. •Dipping, packing and shipping of trophies. •International phone calls. •Insurance and medical expenses. •Tips and Gratuities. •Hard alcohol/liquor

TERMS OF BUSINESS:
• Confirmation of a plains game hunt booking will require a deposit of $1500.00. • Confirmation of a leopard hunt booking will require a deposit of $3000.00. • The balance of the total daily rate is due 60-days prior to the start of your safari. •Trophy fees and any safari extras, are due and payable at the completion of your safari. • Payment must be paid in cash or wire transfer before leaving Namibia. Namibian banks do not accept non-Namibian based bank issued personal checks, travelers checks, cashiers checks, certified checks or money orders.

CANCELLATION POLICY:
• Safaris cancelled more than 180-days prior to scheduled safari date - 50% of the deposit will be refunded. • Safaris cancelled between 180-days and 60-days prior to scheduled safari date - no deposit will be refunded. • Safaris cancelled less than 60-days prior to scheduled safari date - total daily rate will be forfeited unless the client finds a replacement. • Rescheduling, instead of refunding, is possible on a case by case and open date available basis.

I have to respectfully disagree with M3Taco’s assessment that Sebra is a”really tuff place for a first time safari.” I have hunted FIVE times with Sebra, most recently in May 2019. I have been able to bag 95% of my target animals during my five hunts, with the only unsuccessful hunts being for Eland and Impala in May 2019, due primarily to high daytime temperatures limiting daytime movements and my inability to walk extended distances in said heat. I’m 73 years old so I can’t walk extremely long distances when the temps are mid to high 90’s. Even in the high heat, we came within seconds of bagging trophy Eland. One stalk was foiled when a male Lion decided to stalk the same Eland, and another was foiled when the wind shifted seconds before I was ready to shoot. I was able to shoot a 55 1/2” Kudu, a 30” Waterbuck, a 16” Springbok, a ration Gemsbok, a trophy Warthog and an ancient male Baboon. I passed on many trophy animals including a 43” female Gemsbok and a 40” Sable. For a first time African hunter, Sebra would be the ideal place to go after your typical plains game like Kudu, Gemsbok, Zebra, Springbok, Baboons, Jackals or Waterbucks. Eland are a bit more challenging, but if you’re under 60 and in decent shape, they’re attainable.
I’ve corresponded with Michael (M3Taco) for a number of years and find his assessment of a “tuff hunt” contrary to my personal experience. I respect his opinion but disagree on the suitability of Sebra for a first timer.

Bud – If I remember correctly, you and I started going to Jan’s about the same time, 2007/2008. You’ve made five trips there, and I’ve been going there every year, some years two and three trips, taking first timers as well as experienced African hunters. The only year I didn’t make at least one trip was 2018 when we went to Australia for a month sightseeing and a week of culling water buffalo in the NWT and of course this past year (2020).

Our first three trips there, the grass was waist tall and thick, even up in the hillsides. It was so tall and thick you couldn’t see the warthogs. All you could see is the grass moving aside as they ran thru it. The fourth/fifth year is when rabies hit the kudu populations all over Namibia but NW region seemed to get hit the worst. It was heartbreaking to drive and see literally 25-30 kudu bull carcasses laying about the property that were well in the mid to high 50’s range. The cows were unaffected and young bulls (under maybe 5-6yrs) weren’t affected. Seemed to hit them when they got to that mid 50” range.

On any normal day, you’d see dozens of steenbok and duiker. Literally dozens of small family group/herds of mountain zebra. HUNDREDS of gemsbok, dozens of kudu and low/mid 50’s bulls. We’d see a mid 50’s bull and we pass it up because Jan knew there were better ones to be found. This one’s for you Bud because I know you know the area, the dry riverbed between Jan’s and his father’s farmstead, in Aug 2009, we had taken over a military buddy and his wife. In a gap between the mountains, north of Jan’s father’s house, the five of us sat (pinned down) between some large boulders while a single herd of several hundred gemsbok crossed the dry river bed between the mountains. We literally sat there for nearly an hour while they passed by. The papyrus reeds were so tall along the river banks, you couldn’t see over them while standing in the back of the Unimog.

The drought started about 5-years ago and effected most all of Namibia but has been arguably the worst in the NW. That region of Namibia normally gets about 400mm (15in) of rain during the entire rainy season. The last few years he’s only recorded half to a quarter of that. The first year, it didn’t really have any effect on the free range or high fence game populations. Drinking water for both is provided, for the most part, via bore holes (wells). There was enough residual forage for the game. The second year of the drought started to have some impact. You could see the overall numbers start to fall a bit. Fourth year of the drought, I wanted to get there during the “rainy season” and went early for a couple of weeks to clear roads and help them get set up for the upcoming season. They hadn’t had any appreciable rate yet. The game was visibly stressed. Gemsbok were thin, hair was very course, zebra were thin and could see rib and backbones. Kudu were still in good shape as there were still adequate amounts of forbs (various acacia and mopane trees) for them to eat. His beef cows were down to skin and bones – literally. The end of the first week there, rains started and went on in varying intensity for a week. The normally dry Hoab river was running full force as well as all the dry creek beds on the property feeding the Hoab. Also by the end of the week the grasses had started sprouting and the entire place had this bright green velvety fuzz appearance. The game and the cattle started feeding absolutely non-stop 24/7. In two weeks the grass had grown to nearly a little over ankle high. The cattle and game hides became glossy and smooth. I was surprised at how quickly the cattle put on weight (even for a farm boy growing up on a beef farm). They did get a bit more rain that year but, still well below average.

When we were there in 2017, we spend a few nights in a blind (for you Bud – Ganadawater). We were after jackals and hyena. Lots of game coming all night. We stopped counting when zebra and gemsbok passed 100 each 30+ kudu and dozens of warthog by around 11pm. We could tell the daytime numbers were down from previous years. Presumably because they were well dispersed during the day foraging and coming to water at night. The night counts were still pretty good. As I said, in 2018 we went to Australia instead and like you we went back in Aug 2019. Again, we could tell the game numbers were down from 2017. Spent two nights a Ganadawater again, and the game count was very low. I will attribute at least some of it that year to a pack of hyena that had moved into a neighboring valley/mountain side that was also wrecking havoc on the game in a very large area. Bud, since you and I have been going there for about the same period of time, can you honestly say you have not seen a decline in the overall game populations since the drought started about 5-years ago?

The primary reason I recommend this more for someone who’s hunted Africa before is “expectations”. What I mean by that is the only point of reference a first time safari hunter likely has are from watching paid sponsorship hunting shows or NatGeo shows and clips of the Sarangette and the great blue wildebeest migrations and the 1000 head herds of impala etc., or maybe Busch Gardens. If they decide to spend their hard earned money on maybe a once in a lifetime trip and decide go to any operation in NW Namibia, not just Jan’s, with those kind of NatGeo type expectations right now, they could be disappointed.

To Jan’s great credit, his entire life on the property, he has had an absolutely outstanding management program. Even though all the game on his property is free range, all game tends to stay in a home range area referenced/anchored to a permanent water supply, as long forage also exists. Jan’s management/culling program has ended up up with absolutely superior trophy gemsbok. I’ve never seen straighter more uniform horn formation anywhere. Since he books only 6-10 or so clients a year, the game has very, very low hunting pressure. The result of that is he always has several gemsbok bulls around that will go well above 40”, even now, same with kudu. They are there, but you’re really going to have to work for them and that means lots of time on the back of the bakkie riding the two-tack and a lot of time on foot back up in the mountains and kopjies.

The other reason I recommend this to someone who wants those specific species that are endemic/native to the region, like: eland, gemsbok, kudu, steenbok, springbok, duiker, klipspringer, dik-dik etc., is they have been less effected by the drought than those species that were bought/brought into the high fence areas like: sable, blue and black w/b, hartebeest, impala and waterbuck etc. Those few high fence areas where seriously hurt. Not only by the drought, but the Covid lockdown really killed them. No income from hunting. They couldn't even get permits from the govt to cull for meat sales because the farmer will flooding the market with cattle and the game meat would drive the beef "give away" prices even lower. So, no income to buy game food for those few species that would even eat it. No income to replace the dead or released game and very little live game for sale to replace it even if they had money to buy back while still having the same lack of forage for them to eat.

There are two species that have been doing well – leopard and hyena. The reduced level of game has made both MUCH more willing to come to baits. That’s why I posted photos last year of the two really nice toms that Jan had hitting baits. The leopard hunter that was there in Sept (2020) right after the county opened back up, actually had two shot opportunities on two separate cats and decided not to pull the trigger. IF anyone is interested in either of these, I would say absolutely go without any hesitation or reservations!! Not only are your chances of connecting with both very, very good, Jan’s pricing on them is some of the best/fairest on offer anywhere.

As I said in my OP, I think of Jan & Mariesje as extended family. They run a terrific operation. The area is some of the most picturesque in the entire country and we’ve traveled all over Namibia. As I, have stated, I don’t take a fee or a commission or a kick back for posting adds or helping anyone get there or even going with them if they ask me to travel with them – I pay my own way, all the way. That way I can give an honest assessment. By all means, if you’re a first timer or a seasoned safari hunter give Jan a shot. Call or email him directly. His mobile phone is: +264 81 325 2372. If you have Whatsapp, you can message or call him directly via that app or you can email him directly at: sebra264gmail.com.

Tell him what species your interested in and your expectations (sizes) and he will tell you straight up what species are available on his or adjacent free range and high fence properties. More importantly, what is not. He'll also tell you if your expectations are realistic or not. He’ll give you a straight answer, even if it may not be what you want to hear. Like me, he’s not going to promise you your pick of 60+” kudu or 45+” gemsbok or hot and cold running sprinkbok everywhere just to get you there. I’m just saying, have realistic expectations on the game available, both in quantity and more importantly the QUALITY. If someone goes with the idea of targeting several specific native PG species to the region and/or leopard and hyena, and are willing to work for them, it could be a very and rewarding trip.

M3Taco: Thanks for the detailed response to my earlier post. I didn’t start hunting at Sebra until 2012, not 2007. While I’ve never seen the sheer numbers you describe in 2009, I’ve seen Gemsbok herds of 30-40, and in 2019, a single herd of Springbok numbering at least 90-100. In May 2019 I saw a single herd of Kudu that had SIX bulls together, all over 50”. The following day, from the same blind (“Alex”) I shot a 55 1/2” bull Kudu. I also shot the biggest Waterbuck I’ve ever seen in 2019. My point being, if a 73 year old retiree who packs a few extra pounds can bag these kind of trophies, a first timer certainly can too. An added benefit of hunting at Sebra is the gourmet quality of food served by Jan’s wife Mariesje. Jan is the exact same age as my younger son and Mariesje closely resembles my daughter-in-law Natalie.

M3, I enjoy your posts. I’ve never been to Africa but it’s definitely on my short list. Maybe in a few years when our daughter graduates we’ll take a family safari since I’d like them to have the chance to hunt the Dark Continent before that’s gone too. Until then I’ll continue to enjoy your posts and live vicariously through you.....for now. 😉

Here's a bit more info....

The farm has been in Jan's family since just after 1900. Jan got the farm when his grandfather, the original owner, passed away. Jan’s father got the farm to the north and still lives there. Jan grew up on the property and his grandparents and other relatives are buried near the original home sight.

One of his father’s workers was an old Himba bushman. Jan spent a lot of time with him growing up and I think he even speaks a bit of their native language – little clicks and all. That is where Jan learned the land and his SERIOUS field craft and deep knowledge of the game behaviors and seasonal movements. He’s literally had his feet on every hector of ground in that region for several thousand square kilometers.

If the springbok you took was on Jan’s property, I’m willing to bet it was down on the far west end near a bore hole called Verpos. That particular herd down at Verpos actually has a bit of a unique history. As I have previously mentioned, springbok are one of the endemic species of the Kalahari and Namibia’s springbok are known for their generally larger body size than those found in RSA.

As long as the property has been in Jan’s families name, the only springbok on the property, was a small herd of 12-15 that stayed around that waterhole just south of the main house. If you wanted to hunt springbok you had to go to either a high fence property or a neighboring free range farm about 45min E. They never had sufficient numbers to get over that size as the jackals would take their toll on the young. In 2010, I gave Jan enough money for “future hunts” for the purpose of buying in extra head. I think he bought 45-50 late that year and turned them out with the ones already there. That gave them enough population to stay ahead of the jackals and the herd multiplied very quickly. They eventually out grew that valley south of the main house and ended up all the way down at Verpos. It was perfect for them. Not only did they have access to permanent water, that is a HUGE valley and opens out farther west onto the neighbors valley. There are enough mopane treed to proved shade/cover but they are not big enough for leopard to climb up in to ambush them from. At it’s peak, that herd got to over 300 head. My wife was able to shoot the first one out of that herd, an old satellite ram from the original bought in group, a few years later.

The waterbuck you took was a good one. I’m thinking it came from one of two places. You were either hunting Jan’s Uncle’s high fence property to the south of Jan’s or it was from Jan’s low fence property to the east of the gravel road that runs between Outjo and Kamanjob. If it was from the group on Jan's, they were originally bought/brought in to a high fence operation and escaped from there 6-8 years ago when some elephant passing thru broke down the high fence. That herd has been hanging around from where the road bridge crosses the seasonal Hoab river and to the south and east of there on Jan’s and Jan’s father’s land. Again, waterbuck are not endemic to the Kalahari, they are normally found in savannah areas with access to lots of permanent water – ergo, their name. There was also a big eland that escaped with them and was on Jan’s place. Was never actually seen, just huge tracks occasionally. I don’t know if they survived 2020 of not. I know Jan’s uncle has suffered huge losses. I'm thinking that you were probably hunting eland on Jan's uncle's place as well.

That bore hole called “Alex” has been a pretty good place for kudu. That water point is at the very base of several mountains and the valleys all come together and the valleys open out onto open flatlands with good forage for kudu of mopane and acacia trees. That valley is where Anila and I took ours. If you follow one valley about 1000m to the NE, where it forms a tight pinch point, you can find some petroglyphs carved by the san bushman that have been dated back 12-15 thousand years ago. And from those, if you go about 600-700m to the NW you can find some old stone ruins where they had a village that has been dated back about the same time. There are actually a couple of places on his property that have bushman petroglyphs as well.

There are also several places where German troops from WWI timeframe has artillery emplacements and camps. Many of the old two-track roads up thru the mountains were cut by the Germans and there were several battles between the Germans and Brits on surrounding farms. Jan actually helped the German Historical Society find a couple of “lost” German soldier graves from that time as well.

All that said, I think everyone can tell that I do LOVE the area. I’ve been fortunate enough to have either hunted or at least my eyes on several hundred thousand acres in that area. While I do love it, and think of Jan and Mariesje as extended family, I still have to be objective as to what the current conditions are.
The crazy thing is, the past couple of weeks has seen huge rains in other parts of Namibia, mostly N, S and E of Windhoek and N along the Namibia/Angola boarder. Even Windhoek has had flooding inside the city! It’s still the middle or so of the “rainy season” so there is still hope for the NW region.

I just got some pictures of the floods from a hunting lodge about 2hrs S of Windhoek. I know Jan and the other landowners in the NW will give both their nuts to have this problem. I'll try to post some pics.

Again, this is a lodge/game farm called Red Dune Lodge. It's about 2hrs drive due S of Windhoek, just a few days ago.

M3Taco: Interesting history on Jan’s ranch. Your guess on where I shot my Eland and Waterbuck is off by about 60 miles. I shot both at Otjitambi Farm, owned by Jan’s friend Juergen. It’s located about 30 miles east of Kamanjab, just off C40, heading toward Outjo. In addition to lots of Eland and Waterbuck, Juergen has some premium plains game like Sable and Nyala on his property. Juergen is a genuine character, and his brother Callie is the Treasury Minister for Namibia. I had a beer and a chat with Callie last trip.

Actually, Otjiambi Farm is only about 30 kilometers NE as the crow flies from Jan's. What makes it seem so far when you drive to it is you have to go 45 kilometers W to Kamanjab on the gravel road in front of Jan's (C35) and then back E for 60 or so kilometers on C40 to get to Juergen's. When "farms" are in 20-40 thousand US acres in size, Jan's and Juergens aren't that far apart. I met Juergen once at Jan's and had a few "sundowners". He is a character for sure, but I haven't hunted Juergen's farm. That is one of the two places that have had waterbuck in the area that escaped due to elephants breaking down the the high fences.

There are about 250 or so, elephant in the region, broken up into small family groups of 6-10, a few solitary bulls that may have an "askari" (younger guard bulls) or two with him, that free roam over about a million hectors in that region. While they are fun to see, they are the bane of the farmers/ranchers. They breakdown both low and high fences, tear out waterlines from the bore holes to the water points (one bore hole/well can feed more than one waterpoint), tip over windmills, rip out pump heads, breakdown concrete water holding tanks and sometimes chase/harass workers.

I have hunted on the farms that run from near Juergen's (one farm W) all the way back to Kamanjab on both sides of C40. One farm, Beulah, is about 1/2 way between Jan's and Kamanjab, goes all the was W to Kamanjab and N all the way to C40 and has extends N of C40 for another 20k acres or so. There is actually a Namibian National Heritage Park on that northern part of Beulah called "Peet Albert's Koppie". There are hundreds of petroglyphs on top that again date back nearly 20k years. They chronical all the native game that used to inhabit the area. The land up there are a bit more open/less mountains but still enough kopje's to climb up and glass large areas to save a LOT of walking.

On a positive note, they have gotten a bit of rain in the past couple of days, around 40mm so far. Has been slow and that is good as it gives it time to soak in instead of so much running off. That brings Jan's area total up to around 100mm so far for the season. Still well short of a "normal" year but every drop helps and there are still 6-8 weeks of rainy season left.

This is from two days ago, from the second story balcony of the main house looking to the S.



And this one is looking to the SE

M3Taco: I’m real familiar with Farm Beulah- I shot a Red
Hartebeest there in 2013 and a nice Kudu and Warthog in 2015. Hunted there in 2017, but found TONS of skeletons from the prolonged drought. Jan and I spent a couple of hours at Peet Alberts Koppie, and I posted a few pictures from there in my Hunt Report on AR. I’ve also hunted 3 times at Farm Orpheus, owned by PH Danie Jansen Van Vuuren. Shot a Black Wildebeest, a Springbok and a Blue Wildebeest there in 2012 and 2013. I also met Danie’s parents a few years back. “Big Danie” passed away last year. Danie’s brother L’Wyk is also a PH and his ranch is located just north of Jan’s off C35. L’Wyk shares a dirt road entrance off C35 with Johann, who runs Shona Hunting Adventures. I met Johann in 2019, and shot several bait animals for a Leopard hunter from Malta he was guiding. Those Namibian PH’s cooperate with each other quite a bit, especially when it comes to hunting Leopards.

Beulah was a great place. We and the friends I've taken over took a LOT of game off that place. Trouble was it's so close to town the owner (Helmke Von Bach) started having a huge poaching problem. He tried a lot of nighttime anti-poaching patrols etc. They did catch a couple of guys and shot a few dogs (legal to shoot the dogs but not the poachers), but he local police/courts just gave them wrist slaps or dropped the charges. So, about 2016/2017 he started culling everything starting on the areas closet to Kamanjab. When my wife and I took our personal trip to Nam in 2017, he had organized cull permits for I don't know how many head of black w/b, red h/b, zebra and gemsbok and since he "knew" us, he asked us if we'd come and shoot "all you can shoot - everything. And we spent two weeks doing just that. Jan, my wife and I were in one truck and Helmke had organized his workers to be in another one picking them up and hauling back to the skinning shed for processing.

Bud, if you hunted his property on the N side of C40, you likely sat in the blind next to the big boulder at the main water hole. Just to give an idea of the numbers game we culled during that time, in just one morning and just one herd of red h/b that came to drink, with the three of us shooting, we dropped an entire small herd of 9 red h/b right there in under 60 sec., literally. Wife and I were in the blind and Jan was sitting behind some bushes maybe 20m to our right. With the shots echoing off the rocks from different directions, when the first shots went off, they had no idea which way to run and just kind of milled about. Jan was trying to get the workers on the phone as they were late and I had 7 of the 9 field dressed before they finally showed up.

One of the coolest things I've seen is during that trip, Helmke had organized a live game capture and sold a LOT of zebra, gemsbok and blue w/b. The crew came in and located a natural choke point between two large kopjes. They ran heavy cables about 10-12 ft high for over nearly a kilometer or more thru the mopane trees and hung heavy canvas on the cables and created this huge funnel. Then, every couple of hundred meters they hung more cables across the "funnel" with sliding canvas hung from these cables. As the game was driven into the funnel, as the passed these cross cabled areas, workers would close the curtains behind them. The wide open end of the funnel was nearly half to three quarters of a kilometer across. The end with the loading shoot didn't really have a holding pen. The narrowing funnel with the sequentially closing curtains behind the entering game was intended to keep them moving. The chute was camouflaged over so that to the game, it looked like an avenue for escape that ended up in the semi-truck. It took them several days to get the entire thing set up. In the mean time, we were busy "making meat".

The day they started capturing game the capture company owner flies in with a souped up Robinson R22 helicopter. We talk to him for a bit and then we head for a kopje outside the funnel and about halfway between the opening and the loading chute. From that vantage point we could see the entire valley. For the next several hours I witnessed the most amazing flying I have ever seen. He'd circle way out to one side of the valley on the other side of the kopjes, just high enough above to see over them and spot a small herd of whatever. He'd then continue well out past them and would start zig zagging back and forth driving them into the funnel. A LOT of this time was at or sometimes even BELOW the treetops. What he could get that little chopper to do was absolutely astonishing. I almost thought he could actually try to fly it inverted. When he made a fuel stop, I mentioned that to him. He, said that was how he ended up with this new one! (LOL)

The "trick" was not to get too large of a group. If the plan was for a load of gemsbok, he would only try to get maybe a 15-20 at a time so they wouldn't over crowd the loading shoot and the key was to keep them moving toward it but not so fast they were in panic mode. When they were getting a truck load of gemsbok, as they went up the chute, workers would shove lengths of rubber tubing over their horns to keep them from spearing/injuring themselves and each other fighting the truck. This would repeat itself until the truck was full of one specific species and off it would go immediately to the buyers farm, wherever, and up would pull another truck. This went on for nearly two full days. We only watched for that one morning, but could hear the chopper working most of the time. I think Helmke said they took a total of 5-6 semi loads of zebra, gemsbok and blue w/b. He said that red h/b have a very low survival rate due primarily to the stress and weren't worth the time/expense to sell/move. This was in 2017 and he did this several more times in different areas of his property over the next two years.

When he found out we were coming back in 2019, he asked if we'd come and cull some more. We could "shoot everything we see" and he'd just have to organize the culling permit from the govt. In Namibia, the land owners own all the game that is on their property. They can shoot all the game they want for personal consumption for themselves and their workers, BUT they can't transport it, sell it live or as meat to the butchery without a govt permit. Unfortunately, in 2019 the drought was at it's worst pretty much nation wide. The farmers were dumping any and all of their barely surviving cattle. Even the couple of dairy operations up in the NE near the Caprivi Strip were selling dairy cows as there was just nothing for them to eat and the cost of buying in feed from other countries was just too expensive. So, the govt was limited/restricting the number of culled game that could be allowed to market for meat as it would drive down the already tanked beef prices. So, in the end, he was only able to get a permit for six zebra.

As it turned out, between the drought, Helmke's live game sales and the previous several years of culling, it took us two full days on his property to get just those six. I think in those two full days, we maybe saw half a dozen gemsbok, a couple of steinbok and maybe a dozen zebra and not even many fresh game tracks.

In one way, Helmke's experience kind of proves the old African saying, "If it pays, it stays".

The other farm "Orpheus" was hit hard too. Nice property and Danie and his family run a great operation too. Like Beulah, Orpheus is all high fence and like all high and low fence places, had water for the animals to drink, just not enough rain to provide forage to eat.

While all this info I've posted on NW Namibia may sound like all doom and gloom it isn't. The endemic/native game species to the western and north western Kalahari desert are still there and they are available but you will have to work for them. Most of the farms all over the NW region that operate as some or entirely high fence and buy in non-native species have been hit hardest while those low fence/free range farms, like Jan's and others, were impacted, they still do have native/endemic western Kalahari species. I'm simply trying to prove a fare and accurate assessment. I'm not going to tell prospective clients to go and have an expectation of taking 10 trophy species in 10-days if any of those species are only found on bought in (put and take) high fence farms RIGHT NOW.

Again, as I've said, multiple times. I LOVE Namibia and especially those mountains in the NW. Jan and Mariesje are like extended family to me, but I'm not going to paint a rosier picture than reality has on the ground right now. Even the warthog and baboon have just about vanished. If someone goes with the idea of targeting specific regional/endemic/native species, like leopard, spotted hyena, mountain zebra, gemsbok, steinbok, duiker, damara dik-dik, klipspringer and maybe even a cheetah (shootable but not exportable/importable), they will have a good, hard hunt with a very reasonable expectation of success.

I'm very hopeful the recent rains will help turn the corner. Jan said that after that rain came thru in the pics above the temps have been low enough to require a coat which is very unusual for "mid summer". Could mean more rain on the way. I'm keeping everything crossable crossed and even some things not normally crossable.

M3Taco: I didn’t realize that Beulah had the culling/ live capture activity done there in 2017. I too have spent a lot of time in that blind overlooking the main waterhole. I have a picture taken in 2015 of 29 Blue Wildebeests along with 9 Gemsbok all wading in that waterhole at the same time. After the bad draught of 2017, that waterhole was almost completely dried up and the bush nearby had lots of skeletons scattered about. I’m surprised Jan never told me about the culling operation- we stay in touch via WhatsApp quite frequently.

I’ve never questioned the accuracy of your depiction of Jan’s operation, I just think we differ on the suitability of Sebra for a first time African hunter. It may not be as good overall for raw numbers of game as it was in 2012 when I first hunted there, but for some species like Kudu, Springbok and Waterbuck, I shot my best trophies ever in 2019. A first timer would have an excellent chance of quality trophies in 2021, since there was almost zero offtake in 2020 due to COVID. I would encourage potential first timers to read my Hunting Reports found on the AR website to get an accurate picture of hunting at Sebra. I’ve done five separate reports for 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019, so a reader can get a picture of hunting at Sebra at different times of year and under different conditions.

I predict another very, very tough, confusing, and unstable year of international travel. I don't see how a guy can plan anything certain in such an unstable environment. Hope I'm wrong.

Agree on the travel complications. Covid and the lockdowns have changed a lot of airlines available as well as routing options.

As far as I know, as of today, you can still get to Namibia and Botswana without going thru RSA via Emirates, Ethiopian and Qatar Airways. Still not all daily flights, but several days a week.

Don't know yet what impact if any ol' Beijing Joe's "xenophobic" and "racist" travel restriction on RSA will have on US travelers just transiting over/back thru J'berg and not actually leaving the transit area off the airport.

From what I am gathering for information, most all airports are now offer some sort of rapid Rona test before you check in at the ticket counters for your flight.

I'm still planning on going to Bots (3x) and maybe a late season trip to Nam. I "normally" ask my Doc to give me an Rx for a 90-day supply of doxycycline as a malaria/tick bite fever preventative. I never actually take it because neither place is a malaria area during the dry hunting season. Just have it more "in case" for tick bite fever. This year, I plan to ask him for a 90-day supply of hydroxychloroquine for use as a "malaria" preventative and start taking it the week before I leave and for a week after. Maybe even take a little tube of Ivermectin for my friends' horses.

While things will be more difficult than before, I still think do-able, just have to make a few adjustments.

Just received a video clip from Jan a minute ago. The Huab river, that is normally dry, is running full bank to bank. First time in a couple years. Can also see some pretty good grass growth from the rain a few weeks ago.

If someone would PM me their email address, I'll send them the video clip to attach here.

M3....What airlines do you fly and what class? You go to Africa a lot and probably have tried them all. What should one expect to pay for R/T air?

I've taken a LOT of different routes in the past but I don't know and haven't taken them all. I'm not "wealthy" but, I don't live paycheck to paycheck either. I'm a bit of a proponent of Ben Franklin's philosophy "frugality in all things". Frugality does not mean "cheap" it means looking for good value. As I've mentioned in all my posts, all though I've been offered "commissions", I don't take them, so I'm not a compensated booking agent and the products I use or recommend are what I've found to be of good value and they work for me, I'm not a paid "endorser" or given stuff to try and write about. I'm leading with that up front so everyone knows where I'm coming from on all this.

I'm based out of Tampa and generally fly economy class and maybe seat upgrades for the long legs. Once on the plane and meal service is done, I'll take a couple of Nyquil and a couple of drinks and it's "wake me when we get there". I have not taken all the possible combinations but, here's the routes and airlines we've taken in the past. Some routes just once, some multiple times. These are obviously all pre-Rona lockdowns.

1. Delta: Tampa to Atlanta - Jberg and Air Namibia or SAA to Windhoek or Air Bots to Gaborone, multiple times.
2. Lufthansa: Tampa - Frankfurt - Jberg and Air Namibia or SAA to Windhoek, multiple times
3. Lufthansa: Tampa - Frankfurt - Air Namibia direct to Windhoek, twice
4. Swiss Air: Tampa - Zurich - Jberg and Air Namibia or SAA to Windhoek, multiple times and once SAA from Jberg to Port Elizabeth RSA
5. SAA; Jet Blue to JFK and SAA to Jberg - Air Namibia or SAA to Windhoek, multiple times
6. SAA: Jet Blue to Dulles - SAA to Jberg and into Windhoek, multiple times
7. Delta: Tampa to Amsterdam - KLM to Windhoek, once

I haven't personally flown Ethiopian Airlines yet but, the guy going to Jan's last Aug/Sep for a leopard hunt just after Namibia opened it's boarders did and said it was a really good flight and he'd do it again.

Obviously, there are, or at least we're a LOT of other options pre-Rona. What I always try to do is work out with the people I'm taking over, what routes/airlines works for all going. If someone has made the trip before and a bit familiar with navigating the firearms/ammo check-ins and Jberg transit vs someone who's never done it before is a significant consideration and I try to at least meet them before the transatlantic leg over so they don't have to deal with all the things associated with a Jberg transit.

Last year, before the Rona lockdowns, I had booked the June and Aug 2020 tickets on Qatar Air. Decided to try them because a lot of other guys had used that route and and said the airline was terrific and the ticket prices were much better than the old Delta route thru Jberg. Lots of guys have gone via London. I would have tried it except for us out of Tampa would have required an airport change in London between Gatwick and Heathrow and with firearms it was not practical.

We like doing the European routes because they are all overnight flights for us with a full day layover and another overnight flt into RSA. We book a dayroom at the airport, can grab a shower and stretch out in bed for a couple of hours and spend some time shopping in the city. Even if it's only a short 4-6 hr layover, all the European international airports have showers available for $6-$8. We always carry a full change of cloths and always grab a shower in one of them or in one of the "lounges".

You asked about prices. A couple of things with that and can really only address pre-Rona. What I tell prospective clients is to budget about $2500 r/t from the US east coast to Windhoek, RSA or now Bots for economy class. Time of year used to be a factor also. If you started travel over before 15 May or after 15 Aug, you were flying on the "shoulder" season and could save 25-30% on a ticket. Last year, the tickets I had in hand from Qatar Air to Bots were under $1K r/t with seat upgrades included but didn't include the cost of connecting flts. In Jun we were picking up the Qatar flt out of Miami and the Aug trip was out of Chicago.

I've posted over on the Botswana thread, I'm looking now for a flt to Bots to help out with a triple ele hunt as soon as the season opens 1 Apr. I can book tickets direct on the Qatar Air website r/t from Houston for under $1k and just have to add flts from Tampa to Houston and then a one way from Maun back to Gaborone so, with seat upgrades and all, just a bit under $1500 r/t.

In my military career, I've flown to/been TDY or vacationed in stationed in, 68 countries - most of central western Europe a LOT of eastern Europe, Columbia, Panama, Bosnia, Italy, Sardinia, if it has a "stan" at the end, Australia, Mongolia, Saudi, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, Tonga, Fiji, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Kenya, RSA. In all that, if flying commercial, I do have one "rule of thumb", anytime I have a change of carrier or aircraft at an International airport I want a MINIMUM of 4 hours. I've found that for me personally, any time shorter than that the chances of luggage/firearms not making the transfer increase exponentially. It also provides a little buffer for flt delays.

While in the military, if we weren't flying military transport, the bases have a SATO (Scheduled Airline Travel Office), govt contracted travel agency. You'd just call them give your point A to B and any stops in between and a copy of your orders and they did the rest. After I retired, I tried to use a few travel agents and found that I could do just as well or better booking myself either direct with the airlines or on-line booking sites. I still have a couple of agents that I sometime use if I find the flights I need, but can't get them to pull up on-line. I can give them the routes, and flight numbers I need and they can get them booked on the same tickets...usually.

I have had bags/firearms "lost in the system" a few times and I've found that I can sort out the problem just as fast, on the ground, in the airport directly with the airline as trying to make a call back to the US and trying to have a travel agent sort it out over the phone from thousands of miles away. The other thing with travel agencies is they are bound by the same refund/flt CNX policies of the airlines. So, just because you book via an agent and have to change or CNX a flt doesn't necessarily mean you'll get a full refund or not charged extra change fees.

I will say this again and keep saying it....If you've ever wanted to or dreamed of going to Africa, GO NOW or as soon as you can. Even with all the travel unknows right now, Africa is changing FAST! Some for the better and some, not so much. As long as you "make a plan", can be a bit flexible things just seem to work out. Maybe not the way you initially envisioned, but quite likely better than you imagined. Keep an open mind, and take each days sights, sounds and smells as it comes and enjoy life and all it's experiences. Toss in a little good Scotch and maybe a cigar....life is good.

Side note - just exchanged some messaged with Jan and another video clip. They received another 40+mm of slow drizzling rain in the last two days that is mostly sinking in and not running off. He's got several retaining dam ponds that are full and over flowing. Is cold and still drizzling so maybe things this year will be the turning point.

M3Taco: Your travel tips mentioning Air Namibia are invalid- they went bankrupt and ceased operation today (2/11/21)

You are correct Bud and so is SAA. Delta and Continental have CNX's all flights to Jberg as of a few days ago too along with several other airlines that USED TO fly into Windhoek. I thought I was pretty clear that what I posted are routes and airlines I've personally flown in the PAST PRE RONA LOCKDOWNS.

Partly because as of NOW, I'm still hoping to get to Namibia in this Sep so, I haven't dug too deep into to what airlines are CURRENTLY offering service in to Windhoek other than Ethiopian Air, and I dug that up to help get the leopard hunter in just after the lockdown in Nam opened up. I don't know about British Airways and their subsidiary into Windhoek and not even sure London can or can not be transited anyway. I do know that you can take Qatar, Emirates, Lufthansa, Swiss, Turkish, Ethiopian and probably one or two others to get to Jberg and then SA Airlink from Jberg to Windhoek.

Again, do not know the details as far as days of the week, time tables and flt numbers because I haven't needed to dig into it...yet.

Edited to add: If some decides to book a trip with Jan this year, I'll be more that happy to help the sort out routes and airlines from wherever in the US to Windhoek and back and the gun permits and any lodging they might need along the way.

Bud, I know you've used BA via London a trip or two and familiar with the ropes there and having to change between Gatwick and Heathrow and what happens if you miss a connection. How about hopping on-line and searching out routes and flts on your frequent carrier and post up for folks.

M3Taco: I’ve used British Airways my last three trips to Namibia. On the plus side, the fares can be dirt cheap when booked direct with BA. I paid $982 all in roundtrip from ORD to LHR to Joberg to WDH. I’ve never had to travel through Gatwick. On the negative side, there’s an 8 or 9 hour layover at LHR. I always take the tubes into Piccadilly Circus, sightsee and grab a good meal. Prior to boarding the Tubes, I stop at the Duty Free Shop for Cuban Montecristos. The BA subsidiary flight from Joberg to WDH does NOT carry firearms, so I use Jan’s camp rifles: a suppressed .308 and a 8mm X 68 for Eland and Waterbuck. I don’t check any luggage- I carry on a single Red Oxx bag with 3 pairs of pants, socks, 3 Cabellas Safari shirts, underwear, meds and binos. I never have to waste time at baggage claim coming or going, and don’t have to worry about baggage theft. I use my I Phone for trophy pictures, and as you know Jan is an expert at posing trophy pictures. Having filled our condo with trophies from five African trips, I email my JPEG images to Costco, where they enlarge them and mount them on lucite backing. I save thousands on taxidermy and shipping charges, and my trophy pictures are ready within a week after arriving back home.

Bud - I did a little keyboard work and looks like your BA route is as you say "invalid" now too. Only way to get to Namibia from London is via some other carrier to Frankfurt, Zurich or the middle east, into Jberg and in on SA Airlink.

Bottom line is - yes, you can get to Namibia. Will CURRENTLY require going some route either thru Europe like Frankfurt/Zurich or the middle east, UAE, Qatar, or Turkey and into Jberg and SA Airlink to Windhoek. Only Ethiopian Air offers the direct flt from Addis to Windhoek but not daily. As I mentioned, Jan's Sept 2020 leopard hunter did the Ethiopian route and said it was just fine. The service on Emirates and Qatar Air is reportedly so good, lots of guys say it's the only way they go to Africa anymore. They can fly business or 1st for just a bit more than the upgraded economy comfort Delta used to offer. On a positive note, all the carries are firearm friendly and just have to give them a heads up a week or two in advance that you'll be traveling with firearms and maybe fill out a simple form and email in. Inconvenient but not rocket science.

Jan does have a number of clients who want to go over this year, but still nervous about the Rona situation. Fully understandable of the trepidation regarding the Rona uncertainties. For me, I'll do the PCR tests, I'll wear the face diaper etc, and still go. I've already got an RX for hydroxychloroquine and will start that the week before I depart on each trip, an RX for doxycycline just in case, and some ivermectin I'll take once a week while there. After 28 yrs in the military and should have been dead a couple of times, I refuse to live my life cowering in fear of something that is 99.67% curable/treatable. At this point, the only way I'll not go, is IF proof of having the Rona vaccination is required. I personally will not take either of the mRNA gene therapies offered by Pfizer and Moderna. I will CONCIDER the actual traditional vaccine Johnson & Johnson is finishing trials on - maybe. Again, fully understandable if other's have a different opinion. It's an assessment that everyone needs to make for themselves - no harm, no foul in my view no matter what choices each person makes.

Yep, agree, Jan has some good quality and very accurate rental rifles and he is pretty meticulous about doing the photo set-ups and photos.

Thank you for your detailed response to my question as well as all of your posts, experiences and write ups about Africa. You’ve definitely given me a lot to think about and with every one of your write ups you stoke the fire inside of me. Keep up the good work Sir.

Thanks again. 👍

No worries.

I repeatedly say, if anyone has a desire to go anywhere in Africa, go now or as soon as you can. The countries are changing SO FAST. In some ways for the better and in other ways not so much.

I my personal view/opinion the biggest influence effecting most countries on the continent is CHINA and their seemingly free money they offer up to the various govts under their "One belt, One Road" programs is incredibly destructive. The destruction is not just limited to the environments and ecosystems from their mining and timber operations but also culturally and economically.

While I would hope those interested would go and support my friends' operations in Namibia and Botswana, I would still encourage anyone with an interest in an African safari to "make a plan" and make it happen, no matter where you decide to go.

China is absolutely the greatest threat to African wild places and wildlife. They are simply vampires sucking the life blood out of Africa. Of course, when I posted that sentiment on Facebook, I was banned for a week for being xenophobic, even though it’s true.

In 2014 my wife and I did a self guided, self driven safari. We went camping. . I [picked up a English language newspaper, In it it had a article about the building of the capital buildings. A Chinese contactor got the contract and they were bringing their full crew over. I was a carpenter, so I have a fair bit of expertise in heavy construction. The way to do it would be bring in skilled trade men but put a couple of helpers with each tradesman. Then by end of the job you would have skilled construction crew. Instead the Chinese brought over a full crew. sad

Since this thread is about Namibia, I'll keep the examples of China's infiltration to Africa, limited to Namibia but what they do under their "One Belt, One Road" initiative is the same wherever they go.

1. The first wave hit in 2009-10 or so. The Chinese offered to build a cement factory N. of Windhoek. They "loaned" the Namibian govt the money with the stipulation that the govt would hire a Chinese contractor to build it, AND they had to allow 25k Chinese workers in to build the plant and operate it. In exchange, the Chinese would "train" the locals how to build it, operate it, eventually manage it and the Chinese would leave. Prior to this, there was not a single Chinese shop, store, restaurant or even an Asian face to be found in Windhoek.

Plant gets built, but now some 10-years on, the Chinese still own the cement factory, they still do all the management and the vast majority of the workers are still from China. Can't swing a dead cat now in Windhoek or most any other city, without hitting a Chinese shop, restaurant, market etc. The Chinese population has grown to over 250k in a total population of only 2.5m

2. Next project was the Namibian govt decided to build a new National Museum in Windhoek. It's now on top of the hill near the first church in Namibia. They hired a North Korean company to build it despite UN restrictions on NORK's doing international business.

3. The city of Walvis Bay on the Coast is a major seaport for container shipping as well as seafood. Mid 2010's, the Chinese offered to "loan" big bucks, a few hundred million US, to the govt to expand, improve and modernize the port facilities. The catch was, they had to add a military wharf and docking facilities etc and now the Chinese keep a frigate and crew based there 24/7/365.

4. One of the oldest, longest running and largest uranium mines in the world,, Rossing Uranium. was purchased a couple of years ago by the Chinese. It's located just E, of Swakopmund and Walvis Bay.

5. The latest "project" the Chinese did was renovate the Namibian Presidential house and grounds in Windhoek and the vacation home and grounds in Swakopmund.

6, It's also an interesting situation in there seems to be a direct correlation between the increase in Chinese in a given country (especially African countries) and the increase in poaching with nearly all of the animal remains ending up in China. Wonder why that is?


I have a small bank account in Namibia, it's easier to just wire some money over to my account and draw it out as needed instead of carrying cash. One day I was in the branch in downtown Windhoek waiting for a teller and a couple of Chinese guy come in with a briefcase between them. They walk straight up to an empty teller window and set the briefcase up and a teller magically appears. She asked them "how much today". The open the briefcase and say 2.38 million. IT WAS US DOLLARS!! I [bleep] you not!! The teller starts running it thru the bill counter like it was just another day.

This same/similar scenario is being played out in virtually every country the Chinese are doing their "One Belt, One Road" infiltration initiative. In Kenya for example, they "loaned" big bucks to the Kenyan govt to expand, improve, modernize the port in Mombasa and the rail line from there to Nairobi. A few years later, they Kenyan govt couldn't make their first "payment" so the Chinese said no problem, just turn the port and rail line over to us, we'll run it and give you a token percentage of the profit.

The "One Belt, One Road" [bleep] is not just limited to the African continent. They've done the same thing all over the world One Belt, One Road and the results are always the same. My one hope is that these countries would make a stand and tell the Chinese that because of what they did with the Rona and the economic damage its done to their individual countries, they tell the Chinese they intend to "nationalize" those projects (something communists understand) as reoperations for the economic damage they caused, and kick they all out of their countries. Unfortunately, it's not likely to happen as the payoffs to the various political leaders will just increase and the status quo will remain and Africa will continue it slow spiral down the drain.

I'm sure everyone who's been there a few times, has friends their have similar stories, regarding mines/mining, logging etc. That's why I say, if you can go, go now or as soon as you can. There are still beautiful and "wild" places to see and explore and hunt but, make no misstate, they are disappearing so "make a plan".

Was messaging with Jan earlier this morning. They've been out and around the properties the last few days and he was very optimistic. He said the game counts are increasing and the game (and few remaining cows) are fat and slick. Still a few weeks left of the normal "rainy season" and as always, even in a good year, could use more rain.

He stopped maintain leopard bait sights at the end of the formal hunting season but is seeing good big tracks. He's got a few people interested in going for PG this year but the unstable airline situation is holding them back. Said as soon as he got a commitment on a leopard hunter, he'd start baiting again.

As of now, it looks like you can still get there via Ethiopian Air and several carriers/routes into Jberg and then SA Airlink into Windhoek. Delta is supposed to reopen their daily fts between Atlanta and Jberg starting 1 Jun. The upside is, it arrives Jberg around 2:45pm and that now gives you time to maybe make more connections out the same day instead of having to overnight. Downside the return flt makes a 2hr food/fuel stop in Capetown and then to Atlanta but still arrives before 7am so still pretty easy to clear Immigration/Customs and get decent connections home.

At the end of January, I posted a couple of pics taken from the balcony of Jan's house, of the rain in the valley.

It's amazing what some decent rains over a few weeks time can change things so much.


Sebra Hunts 3/19/2021

In another thread on this forum, I had posted some pics of two leopard Jan had routinely hitting on baits last year (2020). He did have a client that came in in Sept (2020) just after the travel restrictions were lifted. Client was a repeat client who'd hunted PG with Jan several year earlier. This trip, he booked the 21-day leopard hunt.

He actually got two separate shot opportunities. The first one is this cat below. Photo is zoomed in a bit. Estimated distance was 200-220yds.



Just a few days into his hunt, they were out early checking baits and they saw this guy out in broad daylight, albeit early morning, up on a kopje. You can see the cat was actually pretty relaxed. They stopped and watched each other for over 10-min. Client was using a 300 Win Mag and had ample opportunity to take a shot but declined.

Second opportunity came a few days later in a blind. A different tom was on the bait and they watched him for several minutes but again, the client didn't feel confident in the shot (75yds) and declined the shot. No pic of this cat but Jan was confident it was one of the two he had pics of on the baits a few weeks earlier.

Still has the tag for this year available if anyone is interested.

M3Taco: Love the picture of the greenery just downhill from Jan’s ranch house. A few years ago Jan and I were loading up in his Toyota to start he mornings hunt. Jan told me to grab my .300 WSM and hurry to the patio where we eat dinners. There was an ancient male baboon drinking at the waterhole 273 yards downhill. I clicked 2 MOA on my Leupold scope, plopped on my belly and dropped him in the center of his chest. He dropped right into the waterhole itself. Jan urged me to hop in the truck ASAP as he didn’t want the water tainted by too much baboon blood. The baboon was so old he had virtually no canine teeth left, just nubs. He became Hyena bait that weekend.

I leave July 17th for my sixth hunt with Sebra. When exploring airfare options British Airlines had more than tripled their fares compared to 2019 when I paid $982 all in round trip. Instead, I booked flights with Ethiopian Airlines for $1800 all in. The flight goes non-stop from ORD to Addis Ababas and after a brief refueling goes directly to WDH. Instead of 32+ hours flying through LHR, it’s 20+ hours gate to gate. Since I use camp rifles I don’t have to worry about the circle jerk checking rifles through Addis and I carryon my clothes and meds. No lost luggage concerns and first in line to go through Immigration and Customs in WDH.

Jan’s hunter bagged a BIG Tom Leopard today.