Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa The CAR!

Let me add that the food in a French Safari camp is often unbelievable. Having French friends that hunt and my time in France has revealed that the Frogs experience the World through gastronomy.

With regards to Safari, it's all about the food. They could take the Big Five, but if you feed them basic Safari fare, they would rate the experience as negative.

Feed them like Louis IX, and it matters not what game is seen.

This leads most the French outfitters to make the cuisine of paramount importance. One year hunting in Northern Cameroon, I scarcely had room on the charter for my gear because to the lobsters and cases of champagne flown into camp for New Years Eve. No joke. The next safari to the rain forest for bongos was champagne and frogs legs.

I have more than one good story from those two trip, to be sure.

Who did you hunt with in Cameroon? What a great combo; serious hunting and serious eating! The hunting style in central africa is what appeals to me the most. I imagine creeping quietly along following pygmy trackers on fresh bongo tracks and having your heart leap into your throat as you hear a old black bull tugging at a creeper feeding mere feet away. Seems like a 416 Rigby would be the caliber of choice for the forest.

Hunting in the forest is fantastic. I have had the pleasure of hunting 61 days in SE Cameroon. Truly a wonderful experience. I used a 450 Ackley.

Africam Safaris. This was more than 10 years ago, so I know nothing of their current situation. Florent Matthieu was my PH both times and is outstanding! I hunted with Florent in Tanzania too. I'm not sure where he is currently hunting, but if his name comes up, he is excellent.

Camerron offered two completely different expereinces.

Northern Cameroon is savannah, much like Tanzania. Great populations of NW buffalo, kob, waterbuck, and has Lord Derby eland, which are a prize. I took my elephant there.

The second trip was to the rainforest for bongo along the Sanga River. Couldn't have been more different. The rainforest was undergoing regrowth from logging, and was thick! Bongo hunting involved cruising the logging roads for tracks in the morning, and upon finding fresh tracks following the pygmy trackers. Outstanding skills! Working with the pygmies is worth the entire trip. Stuff of stories and books written long ago.

Afternoons were spent still hunting and calling duikers. Pygmies make a sound through their nose that resembles a Siamese Cat in heat. The duikers run up through the brush to investigate, and your job is to blast them with a shotgun before they take off. Not easy.

It was a thrill to walk up on lowland gorillas feeding, or having a big male grunt and amble off when you walk up to within 10 feet of him sleeping. that will get your heart working!

Central African hunting is an incredible experience. The countries have some really wild areas, and the government organization is incomprehensible. I can't emphasize enough that you need somebody who really knows the ropes.

That's down in the corner of the country where the Sanga flows into the Congo. 61 days? If it was 61 days straight, you qualify for the Joseph Conrad award. After 18 days I was ready to speak English and sleep in air conditioning.

It was not 61 days straight. 1st trip 31 the 2 more at 15 days. I live in Louisiana and I found the forest very comfortable and not as tough as working at my deer lease during the summer.

61 days!!! I nearly went ferrel after 21 in Zambia can't imagine two months of hunting in the heart of darkness.

He's from the bayou. Never knew he'd left home!

i love africa but that much time in rain forest ... just the idea it s scratching everywhere ....

Hatari, you are absolutely right. I became good friends with Geoffroy De Gentille and was able to spend alot of time in the forest. Of the 61 days I hunted probably over 30 I hunted alone with the pygmies.

On my very first day we struck a large single track and followed for about 5 hours. The pygmies then told Geoffroy that we would not catch up before dark. We sat down and Geoffroy lit a cigarette and asked "Well what do you think of the forest?' I replied "You do not have very many snakes and very few insects" In Louisiana if I walk for 5 hours during the summer on my deer lease I will easily see 3-5 snakes a couple of them poisonous and the bugs will be a constant aggrevation. During my time in the forest the only snake I saw crossed in front of the vehicle and under the trees the bugs were not a problem.

There is an article in the current SCI Safari magazine penned by Mel Toponce describing his CAR hunt in the N'Goumbiri concession with Christophe Lemee. Phil do you know Christophe personally?

Christophe Lemee is not the one i know it s Morio.
both are Christophe maybe a confusion here ...
but i ve heard great words on Lemee too.

I too was amazed at the lack of bugs in the rain forest. Very unlike the tsetse hells I found in Zambia, Tanzania, and Northern Cameroon. A very pleasant surprise. I went in April, so that may have helped? Don't know.

I did come across a black forest cobra that got my attention! The rain forest was not nearly as nasty as I had expected. Seeing gorillas was outstanding, and bagging a bongo didn't hurt either.

Nothing like a big mamba or cobra to stir the instincts! I got a large knot on my head when hunting the Selous in 2002. We we tooling along in the toyota going from cat bait to cat bait when there was a yell of fright from the cab and a very abrupt complete stop that caught me daydreaming. I wacked my forehead on the rack. Wide awake after seeing the large mamba that caused the stop.

stayed 3 times 8 nights (transfer and else) in Bangui mostly in june and april and the mosquitoes were really nasty on me ...
but that s true that in the bush less only for me but in the forest i cant tell like you maybe my blood was better for the little lovely ones ...

but cigarette is a good answer but sorry i dont smoke ....