Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Today is the day. Finally.

A week ago, I was considering canceling. We've had lots of snow this year and snowmelt was over flowing the eavestrough at the front door. Considerable ice had built up on the sidewalk and on March 30th when I came home from doing some errands, I walked to the front of the house. The Ice had overwhelmed the salt I had put down.

Inspection complete, I turned around to go get a chipper and the City road mix of salt, sand and gravel. I'd taken about 2 steps and my weak, surgically repaired left foot slipped unexpectedly and next thing I knew I was going down. I toppled forward like a tree and slammed my right knee into the concrete, hard. Somehow the left knee was fine, ditto the wrists, elbows and shoulders. I felt some jamming above my hip at the level of my twice repaired spine.

I weaseled my way into a physio appointment on the 31st, as I had a family Easter gathering on April 1st in Red Deer. I saw my aging parents and a grand niece and newborn grand nephew. Glad they're not mine. I'm too old for that baby crap. Knee was tender and swollen.

April 2nd, my knee got hot, really sore and swollen, the pain intensified and I could hardly bend my knee. There was a cancelation on April 4th, so I had another treatment. Torturous. Not looking good. We figure the damage from falling has caused my arthritis (what a doctor a few years ago said, "a man my age can expect"). Hate that doctor, if I hadn't been in so much pain and could walk, I would've considered kicking him. Now 7 years later, a month from the big 59, the knee is swollen 2-3 times it's normal size. Ice, heat, exercises pain medication and anti inflammatory meds.

Things are looking better at final physio on April 6th. Today, April 10th, knee is almost normal sized, although it gets a little sore if I walk or drive too much.

We fly from Calgary on KLM at 1515 MDT. Short layover in Amsterdam, then on to Johannesburg, total elapsed time, about 22.5 hours. We are booked at the City Lodge. Get a shower and a few hours rest, before flying on AirLink to East London. We fly home on April 30th (our 29th anniversary). Our time is almost equally split between sightseeing and hunting.

As we are sightseeing for several days first, I hope the knee gets better yet. Walking on the plane is a must.

What am I hunting? Good question. Plans have changed due to quotas being filled. I love it when you're told that you are in for the last Barbary sheep quota for the year, only for the manager to say that he allowed someone else in and the quota is now filled. (This free range Barbary sheep area has been over hunted to the point there was only one mature ram left in the herd.) There are no free range sheep available unless we drive to the Northern province. I guess I could slum it at HuntersHill and shoot a put and take specimen in the pasture. NOT!

We're currently through security. KLM is now charging $74CAD for firearms. That's new since 2019. Checking the rifle in was super easy.

AirLink will charge $65USD (I believe).

Getting to the point that renting/borrowing a rifle makes economic sense.

Have a great trip. I’ve heard nothing but great things about KLM. I enjoy gun collecting and you can’t put a price on bringing your own IMO, but I’m a gun guy that also likes to hunt.

My wife and I are headed over to SA May of 2024 for our first trip.

Enjoy your safari. Africa is contagious!!

I love taking my own rifle, but with all the fees, I could shoot extra animals like impala, blesbok etc.

BTW, the rifle is a Kimber 8400 Montana in 300WSM. Scope is a Leupold VX 3 2,5x8x36 in Talley Extra low LW rings. Ammo is once fired Federal cases, CCI 250 primers, 64gr of RL17 and a Barnes 168gr TTSX. On a good day, 3 shots at 100yds cluster in a half inch. In Africa, I've used it on everything from mountain reedbuck/springbock to eland. According to Barnes, this bullet was the first LRX, they just didn't label it as an LRX.

We're now in Amsterdam at our next gate. Layover is only 2hr 20min.

Next leg is about 11.5hrs to Johannesburg.

Enjoy!!

Take lots of photos abs post them here 😃

Have a great time.

On your way home back thru AMS, IF you have time and plan your carry-on packing, you can get a shower at the Yotel Hotel inside the secure part of the terminal.

https://www.yotel.com/en/hotels/yotelair-amsterdam-schiphol


https://www.yotel.com/en/hotels/yotelair-amsterdam-schiphol

Scroll down to "Shower Cabins". They don't list the current rate for the shower cabins, but last time we went thru a few years ago, it was something like $15-$18 US total for 45 min for my wife and I. Cabin was large enough to accommodate us at the same time They provide soap, shampoo, towels etc. You just need to plan a change of clothes.

We've stayed in there rooms several times when we've had a 8-12 hr layover either way. Second floor, center of the duty-free area, next to Mickey D's.

Reading about your trip has me excited for mine.

I’m bringing a Sako 85 Classic chambered in .308 Win but am on the fence for the second rifle. I thought that I had it figured out but recently bought a CZ 550 Safari Classic action that had some work done by Wayne at AHR. It’s going to be chambered for 404 Jeffery and if it’s finished in time I’m sure that I’ll be bringing that even though overkill for plains game. I haven’t been over once and am already thinking about a second trip for cape buffalo.

Africa definitely bites you.

The first time I was on approach to East London and I was already thinking about next time.

We're in our room at City Lodge adjacent to the airport. I don't think I've ever slept on a plane as much I did on this last leg.

The Amsterdam to Johannesburg flight is always packed. I don't think this flight was much more than half full. People at the rear were stretched out across 4 seats. We were in Economy Comfort. Seats weren't much wider, if any but the legroom! Wow!

O man, have a good time!
Bfly

We're in Jeffrey's Bay. Here for a couple of days. Seeing a few sights. Hunting with hounds for Caracas starts next week.

A black teenager looked left, instead of right, when she suddenly decided to walk/run across the road in front of us (we were coming from her right at 120kph). She had some good moves, most of which kept putting her in harm's way. Fortunately, we slowed down enough and there was no oncoming traffic, that her imminent death was successfully avoided. She may need clean underwear though. The look of sheer terror on her face will stick with me a while.

As it was happening, I was thinking, "Nooo, we just got here, I don't want to be writing police reports".

TIA

I'm currently sitting in the dark at 0130, questioning which hurts worse, my still recovering right knee that I've walked many miles on in the last two days, or my surgically repaired left foot which is highly irritated on the outside left heel adjacent to surgical scars. Sleep is elusive.

Yikes. Rest up and enjoy the adventure. Hope you're doing great.

Through the years here I’ve gone from feeling like I wanted to hunt certain species here before I’d ever consider going to Africa to now thinking that Africa is on my shortlist of trips in the not too distant future…..all thanks to you enabling hoodlums. 😀.

I’ve enjoyed all the tales of hunts on the Dark Continent by our members here and I can’t recall anyone that said it sucked and they’d never go back. Maybe they had a bad experience with airlines or outfitters but they always closed their rant with “next time”….

I hope you have an incredible adventure and I look forward to seeing your trip through your eyes.

Best of luck and a safe trip…

Have fun. I tore up an ankle a week before leaving for RSA once. Babied it a bit but it all worked out. Glad that the Mt. Reedbuck hunt was towards the end of the trip, though!

Two nights of not sleeping very well caught up with me on the 14th. I slept all the back from our drive in the mountains south of Jeffery's Bay. The wife was bragging that she saw a zebra and several other species while I slept. BTW, massive orange and apple orchards in that area. Quite impressive.

Just a hint, if you should ever be looking for lunch, never overlook a "farm stall". These rural vendors are owned and operated by a farmer(s). They often have a store which sells local fruits and vegetables, crafts jams etc. The heart though is the breakfast and lunch Cafe. Today I had a wonderful butternut squash soup and ciabatta bread. And they had a proper lime milkshake in a glass with a plastic straw. Glorious!

It is probably best I was asleep on the way back.. On the 13th, we saw herds of blesbok, hordes of springbok (you have to know that with that many springbok, there has to be a nice ram or two), and then I spotted a nice bushbuck on the far fence line, just above the creek bottom thicket. I overlooked the ewe lying down in front of me in the disced field. All this game sighting has me wishing my rifle was here and not locked up in the safe at Hotfire!

Saturday April 15th

We're in the Western Cape today at a town called Oudtshroorn. The resort is Buffelsdrift. Luxury tented accommodations, restaurant, pool, game drives, the whole shebang.

Nyala are over the place. Ewes and their babies mainly. Three hippos in the pond. Three elephants. Somewhere there are lions and cheetahs.

The Campfire will not let me post because the IP address is banned.

Sunday April 16th

Spotted some game from the tent, but by the time I got my binoculars, I couldn't spot them. I did spot a good sized herd of springbok.

Toured the Cango Caves. Drove over the Swartberg Pass into the Karoo. Lunched at Prince Albert.

Buffelsdrift is a very nice resort.

We've moved to Port Alfred.

Tomorrow we try hunting caracal by hounds.

It's gotten very hot, so this may be very hard. Will be looking for common duiker and a bigger bushbuck.

Awesome!!

Please keep the reports coming!

Tuesday the 18th, the best and worst day

I was prepared for the worst, the heat with little moisture may cause the hounds great difficulty. By 9am we were in the field with Jeff from Lynx Safaris. He had two packs out and one handler reported his hounds were on a cat. Fortunately, a sea mist had settled in and scent conditions were good.

We exited the trucks and learned a cat was treed. The country here is rugged. This cripple is using trekking poles to maintain balance on the steep terrain. I learned of several new thorny bushes and vines. Even in long shirt and pants, I was donating blood.

We got to where the cat was treed, but struggled to see it in the tall tree. It jumped out and the chase was on again. This pack of hounds quickly treed the lynx again. I took too much time getting there and it jumped again. This happened 4 times. On the fifth time, we were in the very bottom of the ravine following the creek bed which was intermittent pools. I was climbing down a 4ft dry waterfall. I went to put my left hand on a rock. The rock I was standing on shifted violently, virtually throwing me upside down. My left hip hit a rock and the left hand plunged into the pool below. I pulled it out of the water and it was covered in muck and blood. The tip of my little finger was cut off, the flap of skin mostly remained attached.

We could not see the cat, the trees are taller than you expect and the forest is very dense. While I'm maneuvering to get a look it takes off for a sixth time.

The cat has to be killed, but it will not likely be my me. I'm too slow. Lynx Safaris is contracted to eliminate Lynx by landowners. The dog man wants my PH to kill it while he handles the dogs.

I'm fine with this, I even suggested this. I've tried. I'm days away from 59, 40-50 lbs overweight, the left leg hasn't worked right since early July 2005. With all my limitations, I haven't given up. I'm being reasonable and realistic.

The cat is treed again and the PH shoots it. It is a large male. It took me at least 1.5hrs to climb out of that canyon.

Later that afternoon, we're taken to a property covered in duiker and bushbuck. It's amazing.

We find a good duiker, it's in the deep shade of a thicket. I have trouble picking it out due to the contrast of high sun and deep shade and waving grass just in front of the rifle. I finally pick it out and squeeze off a shot. The duiker jumps high in the air and kicks its hind legs, then sprints 20yds into the bush. We head down to where the duiker was standing, found no blood or hair, but a furough in the ground. The PH heads into the bush and finds minute quantities of blood. It soon runs out, no duiker.

While he's doing that, I'm glassing, watching bushbuck, no rams better the one I already have. I notice some gray critters about 150yds in front of me. Warthog. How they got there without being seen, I have no idea. The largest hog lifts his head and I see he has huge tusks. I'm not going to pretend I'm Joe Warthog Killer, as I have only shot one, but the only warthog that I have seen that may be bigger, is one I saw in Addo Elephant National Park. Because the Eastern Cape is so rocky, the tusks just get worn down. This is an Eastern Cape monster. I decide to shoot it. I wait for a broadside shot and make sure I'm on the boar. At the shot there was a meaty thawap as the bullet hit the hog. All I see is that the hog is kicking a bit.

The PH gets back from his tracking. A bushbuck is spotted, we stock closer but it doesn't better mine. The PH checks the warthog and is impressed. The skinners are also impressed later.

We spend the rest of daylight looking for common reedbuck or a big bushbuck. We spot one, but he outsmarted us on the stock.

The day that ends, was a good day and a bad day.

Wednesday the 19th.

We go back to that property. Nothing much is happening. Nothing shootable. Back to Salty Creek for lunch.

We head out at 2PM. By 230PM we are in the shade glassing as the thermometer reaches its predicted high of 37Celcius.

Bushbuck and duiker spotted. Something is scaring them back into the bush. Finally a good duiker is spotted. We stock in and I finally get one.

*This report is edited for brevity and to protect those who struggle to hit and kill a duiker in one shot.^

Thanks for the updates. Looking forward to the next instalment

Thursday April 20th

We transferred to Hotfire today. Arrived late afternoon, just in time for the 1700-2100 load shedding. What a giant PITA!

It's good to be back and see the changes to the camp. The main house layout is completely changed for greater efficiency.

Friday, April 21

I've been a little evasive about what my "target" list is with people, especially non-hunters. I have had a list, but I've also been prepared to take what the bush provides. So far I shot an awesome warthog, and today a beautiful Eastern Cape kudu that is pushing 50".

We drove up a ridge towards the cell repeater. The PH went over to the edge and was signaling kudu before I even left the side of the truck. Through the spotter, it was a beautifully shaped bull. It wasn't hard to justify shooting it. It was as if God willed it.

I had a quartering to shot from the ridge. At the shot, he collapsed and only moved his head a bit. It took 8 men to bring it down off the mountain. An old bull in prime health.

Looking forward to pictures when you’re able to post

Thanks for the updates

Saturday, April 22

We headed out for a conservancy renowned for fallow deer. We saw a hind and a fawn on our way in, but that was it, likely due to a high of 12C with low scudding clouds, high wind and scattered showers.

The tracker pushed a thicket of wattle and five fallow, including 2 3-4yr old stags, ran by. The stags were not mature and were unimpressive. The PH advised not to shoot.

The late afternoon was much nicer, but no fallow came out.

A frustrating day.

Sunday, April 23

A bright, blue sky day. Animals everywhere on Hotfire. Zebra, impala, warthog, kudu, blesbok, blue wildebeest.

Located a superb impala, found a way to get set for a 316yd downhill shot. The impala dropped at the shot (high shoulder).

A real beauty. .

Monday, April 24

27C today. Went to the property where they had a sweet deal on Buffalo and free range Sable.

Condition on the Buffalo, they had to be ON the property. They have been breaking the fence and coming and going freely. Neighboring property doesn't want them and the owner is tired of fence repair. They are aggressive and routinely chase staff.

This very rough terrain with dense bush on the slopes. The tops are clear and resemble countries further north.

We searched all day, no Buffalo. Owner confirmed they were off the property.

We found Sable, just not the bull we were allowed to shoot. He lives alone on the densely forested slopes.

Disappointing day in that the targeted species were not found, but that is hunting.

I did dust a very old blesbuck with a 300yd shot on the plains. His coat was Grey and he has very thick, broomed horns.

Tuesday, April 25

Looked around Hotfire for a hartebeest bull this morning with no luck.

Headed over to a different property for Cape mountain zebra and Sable.

Shot a nice stallion. Absolutely beautiful! Beautiful scenery.

No Sable found.

Wednesday, April 26

Long drive to a conservancy reputed to host tons of common reedbuck.

The morning yielded next to no sightings of reedbuck or Steenbuck.

Moved to another section in the afternoon. Almost too many sightings.

Chose the one I wanted and managed to get it when it looked like no chance. Over 15.5". Very nice.

Thursday, April 27

Last day of hunting, last chance to get a Sable. Went to the property where we got the mountain zebra.

We managed to find four bulls. Two were immature, the wide one was off limits, so that left the second mature bull. I was happy to get the 38.5" bull.

The end of the safari.

Why no pictures? I forgot a card reader or a cable to mate the camera with the tablet. Also, between long hunting days and load shedding (scheduled power outages), there is almost no opportunity to post photos.

Thanks for the updates !

Looking to forward to pictures when you’re back home.

Friday, Saturday April 28 - 29

Ever see the movie “ Dirty Dancing “? We spent the last 2 days of our trip at a resort called Trennary’s Hotel and Camping on the “Wild Coast” in the Trans Kei (think a poor western Indian Reserve). That’s the best I can describe the Trans Kei.

Trennarys’ has a clean aged vibe, with nightly fire dancing (very good), trivia hours etc.. it just reminds me of the resort from Dirty Dancing. It’s right on the coast, with decent breaking waves. However, it took 20 minutes for hot water to reach our cabin. On Sunday, April 30 (our 29th anniversary), the day we were heading home, I was up at five and turned the hot water and we had hot water at 520. I went back to bed for more sleep. The wife was up at 6 and there was no hot water and no pressure. She was pissed! She threw on some clothes and protested at the office. We showered in a trickle of cold water. Hey, Africa, even South Africa, is an adventure. Wi-Fi, but no Internet, no phones. TIA.

Our journey home began at 8AM. First, we had to drive to East London. Fly to Johannesburg for a 2pm arrival. Our KLM flight to Amsterdam left at 1115PM. We had time to pick up some nice souvenirs from stores in the Johannesburg airport. A final lime milkshake. Couldn’t sleep on the flight which seemed hot. Drank over 3L. Leg bothered me some.

Amsterdam and home to Calgary May 1.

Welcome back!