Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Trip Report - Botswana Jun 2021 with Koch Safaris

If you challenge a ticket agent or a customs agent, very rarely (actually i can't think of a single time) will they change their mind regardless what regulations you quote or provide written copies of. They are right and I'm wrong. End of discussion.

What gets me is when they won't call the supervisor "because it's Sunday night and I don't want to call him at home".

In my experience, it's always a woman. Why?

Great story. Nice job keeping up with the details and explaining it all.

Pawn shop and local gun shop “used gun racks” can sure lead to some good finds. I went into our LGS looking for a rifle for bad weather or as a loaner. I found a Rem 700 ADL, 30/06 that had a pretty rough stock and as I was about to put it back noticed it had a four digit serial number, 21XX for around $300. I did some steaming of dents, sanding, etc and refinished it. It’s one of my favorites for use in a box blind with its 20” barrel. 700 ‘s started at 1100 IIRC so it was in about the first 1000 made.

Great read! I lived in Gabarone in 1994. It made me miss my nandos peri peri chicken sandwiches. When I was back in South Africa in 1998 I got mugged, more of an attempted mugging, coming out of a nandos in Pretoria one night. A local asked if the chicken was worth it and I said it was.

Bb

Burleyboy - Nando's Chicken is as iconic to Southern Africa as KFC is in the US....only BETTER. Hard to describe it other than pre-marinated in something and then on a flame grill to order with a crazy selection of sauce and heat ranges. It's not "fast food" but it's "damn good food". Another seriously good chain of fried chicken take-a-way places in Bots is called "Chicken Licken".

Thanks for your report and congrats on what sounds like a corker of a trip. I'd love to hear more details RE: self-guided driving side trips while in between hunts. Wife and I are fairly well-travelled and sounds like something we'd very much enjoy.

Wife and I hunted Botswana in '18 with Tholo for PG out of Maun and had the time of our lives. Little correction, however, if I may: you may be 'pretty sure' about what Boston's Logan handles annually as far as firearms, but you'd be way, way off base. On just one of many traveling hunting trips flying out of Boston, I've both checked firearms and witnessed several others doing same for the same flights (to AZ, AK, WA, ID, FL, OR, WY, SD, etc. Lots of guns getting on planes @ BOS.

I realize that this liberally dominated cesspool is not generally known for anything resembling conservative in nature and being hunter friendly, but it's a mistake to assume that the predominant political affiliations here can be equated with a distinct and absolute lack of hunters/shooters. We exist, and we travel, and we hunt.

Cheers,

KG (Boston born and raised and current MA North Shore resident)

P.S. Ha, ha! Apologies, mate. I posted my previous response before reading your post in its entirety. Very much appreciate the great attention to detail you took the time to bang out RE: the road tripping. Best, and ta again for sharing your adventure.

KG

KG - no worries. I guess I could have been a bit clearer in the phrasing. I was thinking/referring along the lines of firearms thru BOS with Qatar Air.

Once the Qatar Air agents got us sorted out upstairs, we did have to go down into the bowels of the terminal to get to the TSA screening room to check our rifle cases and checked bags with the ammo boxes inside. The QR agent that escorted us down as required had to call ahead to expect us. Then when we got to the locked security door, he knocked several times and had to call again to get a US Customs Agent to open the door and take the cases/bags. Took more then 15-min for him to come back and give us the all clear.

Then had to go back upstairs and go thru the regular TSA security line. Just struck me as not a very quick/efficient system. Don't know if that is normal or just a result of things just getting going again.