I sure had fun in 2014 at Hotfire. The Outfitter/PH, Patrick Fletcher seems almost more excited than I am. He has become a good friend.

12 hunting days.

Primary is nyala, waterbuck, eland, bushbuck, fallow deer. Common duiker, Barbary sheep, red lecwhe are maybes.

Who knows? I guess the wallet and my mobility will determine exactly what is on the menu.

Airline tickets and overnight hotel in Johannesburg booked. Flying KLM to Joburg and SA to East London. Staying at City Lodge.

Rifle permits is next on the agenda. Canadian Export Permit, Netherland Transit Permit, SAPS.

I will use Air 2000/Hunters Support again for SAPS. They will also do the VIP Meet N Greet, and provide a driver on my return overlay in Joburg. Want to go to Cambanos and Son again. Best souvenir store I have ever seen.

When I was at Hotfire back in 2013 as a guest of a neighbouring outfitter I was fortunate to kill a very nice Kudu, and we saw a nyala that would make anyone very happy. Patrick seems like a nice guy, and his facilities top quality. I doubt you could do better anywhere else. Happy hunting!

I remember your post about your kudu hunt on Hotfire. Old Ray looked exhausted. Very nice kudu. Hotfire seems to grow them very well.

Good Luck, great times

Enjoy your hunt.

I applied for my permit to temporarily export my rifle from Canada. When I get that, I can apply for the transit permit through the Netherlands and SAPS in South Africa.

Two more sleeps. Just about everything is ready to pack up. Gear is all laid out.

Good luck and don't forget to post pictures!

Awesome! Enjoy the Eastern Cape. Looking forward to the photos.

I'm not sure about AB's travel arrangements, but he oughta be making it there today, maybe. I know it took me 2 days to get to the middle east, so I'm guessing it will take about that same time to get there.

Someone with more experience (and that is anyone that's been to Africa) sound out and explain to us novices the trials and tribulations of getting from this part of the world to the hunting area.

oldman3; my perspectives are biased towards travel from western Canada so there may be some stuff which is not relevant to you. I will address flying into RSA as that is where AB2506 is headed to.

Travel is easy. Calgary to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Johannesburg both flights are in the 8-9 hour range. A 3 hour layover in Amsterdam is just enough time to deplane, grab a sandwich, walk across the airport clear security and "replane". Overnight is Jberg and a short flight to the Eastern Cape the next day.

Without a shadow of a doubt use a meet and greet service in the Jberg airport. Money well spent. They will also deal with your permit for bringing a gun into RSA. They will make sure to get you to wherever you are staying before your flight out the next day (if you have one). There is a very nice hotel right in the JBerg airport.

There are a few travels agents who specialize in hunting travel, use one.

Read and fully understand the rules for flying wth gun and ammo it varies bit from airline to airline. Some airlines require a form be filled out prior to flying.

We need a Canadian export permit to get our guns into Africa, this doubles as our proof of ownership when returning to Canada, I'm sure y'all south of the 49th have a form with a similar function.

A form is need to transit the Netherlands with a firearm. Applied for via email or fax.

Germany is easy to transit with a firearm, England is a pain and expensive to transit with a firearm. Other countries I have no experience.

Carry multiple copies of all of your required forms. Nothing makes a nervous, inexperienced low level airline or government employee feel better about dealing with your guns than being able to have a handful of official looking papers. They may not need the documents but it is so much easier to pass them an envelope with your forms than to try and educate them on how things work. Your job is to get to Africa hunt and have a good time not educate the ignorant.

Book your flights early and look for the "good seats" KLM has several levels of upgraded coach, the window seat next to the emergency exit at the front of coach has enough leg room for an NBA player and more shoulder room than regular coach seats. On an 8-9 hour flight being jammed into a tiny seat is a guarantee of misery.

Wear compression socks and take a few baby aspirin before each flight. Walk as much as you can before each flight. Try to have one of your two flights be an overnight flight, on my return flights I like to leave africa in the late afternoon or evening so I am sleeping when my body wants me to. Talk to your doctor about using an anti anxiety drug as a sleep aid, if you need to wake up and function it is easier to do so from an anti-anxiety drug than a sleeping pill. If you are drugging for sleep no booze.

Using a method of a couple of hours walking around the airport and an anti-anxeity drug I was able to sleep 7 1/2 hurst's of the flight from Berg to Amsterdam.

Have your ammunition in a locked box which is strong enough to travel outside your suitcase as that is way it must travel in RSA and quite likely how it will leave RSA even though that is not the way it should leave RSA.

The "this is Africa" TIA is quite true, rules changes, people make up their own rules, they may not understand the rules. Stay calm, smile and trust in your meet and greet people to get you to and from.

Please let me know if you have questions not answered.

Final words; go to Africa hunt and enjoy. Lots of picture, skull mounts and tanned hides use the big money you would spend on shoulder mounts on more days hunting and trophy fees.

All the best.

GRF

GRF,
You've pretty much hit the nail on the head. The only change that I would recommend, is not to fly through Amsterdam.Rather stick to either London,Frankfurt or Munich. Amsterdam is not very firearm friendly, as well as that you can't fly through there with broad heads, should you be a bow hunter.Apart from that, I think you've nailed it.



Should you require any travel assistance, our Canadian Agents can help from the flights, right down to the firearm paperwork on the Canadian side. Please feel free to drop me a PM.

Thanks GRF, you pretty much nailed it.

Oldman, I did arrive in East London at noon on the 9th. After picking up a few things, including a lime milkshake ( don't knock it until you try it - delicious!) We were on our way to Hotfire which is close to Cathcart.

The journey is about 2 hrs. It is evident South Africa is changing. The differences are subtle, but noticeable. Much more beggars than 2014. Now before some of you start slagging the RSA, there are many more beggars in Calgary than 5 years ago and judging by postings on 24hrcampfire, it us not uncommon across North America. It safe to say that societies are degenerating around the world. There is evidence of land transfers, but at least in the Eastern Cape, it is not land seizures, but purchases. Personally, I don't get it, but I'm not from here.

The country is beautiful. At least in the circumstances I experience, i love this country, every Hunter should hunt in Africa and the RSA is most definitely Africa. Don't ever doubt that.

Upon arrival, I met the new staff, Lee the cook and her partner Ronald. They are good company and the food is good. I talked way too long, organized some gear, showered and finally tried to sleep at 2AM. I Skyped my eldest daughter and wife who had went to Coronation for Abby's first job interview as a registered nurse. It's a 3hr drive to Coronation, they were in Red Deer having supper on the way home. She's not sure she can live in Coronation, interview went well.

Other staff I had met before, Allman the tracker, Ayanda the camp maitre ( just an aside, Patrick hired Ayanda because any man whose cars transmission fails on a remote road, he drops the transmission, deduces what the problem is, hitchhikes to town, gets the parts, hitchhikes back, rebuilds the transmission, reinstalls it, all on the side of the road, no hoist, amazing. He is a jack of all trades.) Whake, general labourer.

Up at 6 for brekky. Rifle zero checked and right after I was almost shooting a very nice nyala. Patrick decided he needed another year or two to be Hotfire mature. He looked good to me! Right after a nice duiker ran in front of us. That's the first I have ever seen the whole animal, usually I just see their ass as they're diving back into cover, never to be seen again. This guy is in trouble if he stops. The nyala is held in reserve, JIC.

I saw everything this operation has to offer except zebra and mountain reedbuck and waterbuck.. Saw nyala, kudu, impala, blesbok, red hartebeest, blue wildebeest, common duiker. I may be missing something. Saw a tortoise!

Nyala and waterbuck are the current priorities.

It is about 10C warmer than when I visited in May last time. After the winter cold we had, it is borderline obnoxious. Taking a siesta right now, waiting for cooler temps.

These tents are wonderful, enjoying a nice breeze right now.

KMG, I have to respectively disagree about KLM. No one gets us here faster than KLM, 22hrs. I hate waiting in airports. The Dutch permit is free and easily done, just as the Canadian Export Permit. City Lodge meets my needs. Anne from Air 2000 Hunters Support is the ticket for meet and greet and SAPS preapproved permits. Aipero has been with the company over 12 years, he knows everyone at the airport, no hassle with their help. Also KLM has good aircraft, great entertainment, seriously professional staff, pretty good food.

We'll see what happens this afternoon, I'll keep you posted as I can. Will try to get some photos up. I think my camera can talk to my tablet.

Marius; very useful information about no broad heads when transmitting the Netherlands.

Thanks for the update AB2506, say hi to Patrick for me, looking forward to pictures.

[align:left][/align]Nothing of size presented itself until late when an old wide broomed impala presented itself at 180 yds. We were slIghtly above it. I was able to lay across a rock and use the bipod for a very steady rest. Those impala are high strung. I'm surprised he ran any distance before bleeding out.



Very hot this afternoon, humid too. 26C? Thankfully it clouded over and a breeze came up. A shower is going to feel great.

Great to hear there has been improvements. Keep posting the photos. My main season starts down that side next Sunday, all the way to end October. That part if the world got some good rain. It was getting desperate for a while. Very nice Impala, well done.

Finally, a nyala! This heat has been kicking our behind.

AB2506; dude no picture of Nyala? I hope you are too exhausted from successful hunts to have the energy to post

Camera is not talking to tablet. Makes photos difficult.

Have added: waterbuck, eland and red lecwhe, fallow deer.

Heat has broken, but it is pretty much full moon.

GRF, Patrick says you should come and make your own photos!

It has been a great time. I want a bushbuck and wouldn't mind a duiker if I could find one.

Dude!!! Sounds like an awesome time!! Do the bushbuck!! Don't buy another f#cking gun spend the $ on trophy fees and awesome memories.

Tell Patrick he makes a very good point. Thanks for the update brother, give me a holler when you are back.

GRF

GRF, will do.

I've had an awesome time. Can't believe it is only 3 days until I check in at KLM and fly home. I would love to stay longer, but I started a new job 2 weeks before leaving (boss is a hunter) and I miss my wife and kids. I'll be be pretty busy for the next 2 months, working at a camp west of Caroline. No, it's not a neo-Nazi camp! Let's say the camp teaches firearms, hunting, survival and bow hunting etc. Pretty much my dream retirement job. Will be based out of Calgary..

Awesome that the UCP won and kicked Notley's ass! Now if only the Flames could win the series?

Got a solid bushbuck last night just as the sun was setting.

Could hunt for duiker this afternoon, but the twice operated on back is causing spasms in the left leg and groin. I think I'm pulling the chute. I have a long journey home. Would be very uncomfortable if I don't get these spasms under control.

Congrats! Sounds like an awesome hunt. Safe travels.

Way to go. Safe trip home

Funny the internet at Hotfire was way more reliable than in Morgan Bay, East London or now Johannesburg, although now that I got it going, the signal is ok at my gate. I board the second leg home in one hour or so. About 11hrs to Amsterdam, 2 hrs there and then about 9 to Calgary.

I think the first thing I do is go to the accountants, the good news is that the tax return pretty much pays for my trip (hunt) .

Looking forward to getting home!

BTW, my driver took me for a 3hr tour of Soweto. Not what we have been led to believe. I've seen parts of Calgary that look more run down. Only 10% of the 4million souls in Soweto live in the Shanty towns the press shows us. The rest live in small brick houses or apartments. Lots of litter in spots though. No one tried to kill me or rob me. I ate at a restaurant near Mandela's first house. It's like any tourist trap. Most white South Africans do not want to leave and are positive about the future, they just want government corruption to end. Population growth needs to be curbed, that is the most crushing issue and 27% unemployment rate.

Ammunition is pretty expensive and some is unavailable in the Eastern Cape.

Hire a permit service and use their meet and greet, easy peasy. Hire driver if you have a long layover. I went to Safari Outdoors and some tourist shops. Lots of places and museums closed for Easter Monday. Soweto was a place I would never go myself. Air2000 Hunter's Support can do all this for you. Travelling with a firearm is extra work, but for me it is more satisfying to use my own rifle and handloads. A 300WSM can takedown an eland. 168gr Barnes TTSX.

That is a stud of an impala. Glad to hear the trip went well and look forward to more pictures.

I was VERY impressed to say the least of the Safari Outdoor store in Jo'burg.

Sorry for the delay in the write up. Read to the end and learn about the delay. 
I hadn’t even touched down in East London in May 2014 and I was already plotting how I might be able to hunt in Africa again. That 2014 hunt with Patrick Fletcher of Hotfire Safaris was a success and did not dissuade me from wanting to return again. Not only did I enjoy some fantastic hunting with Patrick, but my best friend, my wife enjoyed some fantastic times seeing local sights with Patrick’s wife, Jennifer. Although Patrick and Jennifer are 15-20 years younger than us, it was evident that everyone got along like peas and carrots or potatoes and gravy.
Life can get in the way. I soon had to have a second low back surgery. For the next 2 years, injury after injury set me back. Don’t ask me what the problem was, no one has explained it, but I’m glad my joints no longer swell up causing intense pain.
2018 was the year I had to make a life decision. Early in 2019 I would be turning 55, I had to decide if I was going to stay in the pension, or if I was quitting pre 55 and taking the commuted value of my pension. The main benefit of taking the commuted value was that my heirs would have 100% of the remaining value, that was not the case if staying in the pension. Quite a number of policy decisions at work helped me feel quite at peace to pull the plug after 28 years. December 6, 2018 was my final day as an enforcement officer with the City of Calgary. My plans were to hunt coyotes and get in better shape for my April 2019 return trip to Hotfire. If I could find a hunting related job, so much the better.
So much for plans. I had been walking around with a loonie sized hole in the side of my foot since mid-October. A follow-up visit to the Doc got me sent to the wound clinic (no diabetes, I walk on the outside of my foot due to the enervation in my left leg after the first back injury, I just built up a callous which eventually sloughed off). I was prescribed a soft cast with a relief molded in, and no weight bearing. 3-4 months to heal. Too bad I had just purchased airline tickets!
Healing was slow, mainly from me not keeping off it totally. I mostly wore the cast, but damned if I am using crutches for 3 steps to the toilet! I was a shut in to avoid un-necessary walking. Mid-March, a bossy nurse told a Doc to send me to an orthopedic surgeon. She believed that my foot would continue to deteriorate due to the uneven musculature and nerves. They also said they would not go to Africa, if they were me, as there was too much chance of getting an infection in the wound. I determined that I could manage that risk, game on!
Somehow I was able to see a surgeon. He wanted two surgeries, the first to fix the wound, and prevent a reoccurrence, the second to reroute ligaments to properly stabilize the foot. I also started a hunting related job within those 24hrs. Talk about a whirlwind!
April 7th I left Calgary and arrived in East London on April 9th. I picked up some supplies and Patrick and I headed for Hotfire. I noticed that there are more street beggars, but there are more street beggars in Calgary than 5 years ago. I’ll call it a wash.
Arriving at Hotfire was like visiting my second home. Totally at peace, the bird sounds were awesome. It was considerably hotter than I anticipated. Our late winter and early spring had been unseasonably cold. It was about a 20C difference in temp.

I really like the safari tents that Hotfire has. You can hear the critters grazing around your tent each night. It enhances your experience and the full feature bathrooms are only a few steps away.


Some random Hotfire scenes. If I understand correctly, it is categorized as “sweetveldt” and can be quite thick.

Late on the first day of hunting, as desired by the cook, I shot an impala for camp meat.

The next few days were quite hot. I was completely open to siestas after lunch.
My team at work. Chewy and Patrick.

Allman, Patrick and Chewy.

A tortoise we found.

Finally, on the morning of the 4th day, we (I) managed to spot a mature nyala bull. We tried a couple of attempts to spot him in the thicket he went into with no success. By crossing the river we were able to look back into the thicket and spot the bull. As with any nyala, it was difficult to find a shot into his vitals. Nyala are the masters at standing behind an obstruction. Finally, I could see his chest, although mostly quartering to us. At the shot there was a heavy thwack sound and the bull hopped a couple of steps and was out of sight. We waited and looked and waited some more, and more. The bull had to be dead? Then his head was seen to the right of a bush. It was moving, but on its side. No shot to the vitals. Then, he was up and across the opening. No shot. Then he was down again on his side. Vitals behind bush. Then he thrashed a bit and his chest is now visible, but hidden by his head and horns. Another thrash caused his chest to be clear of the head. A second shot finished it.



The next day and a half was very hot, couldn’t even sleep during the Sunday siesta. No breeze. Yuck!
That evening, we finally found a waterbuck bull, but Patrick deemed him too short. Apparently, waterbuck don’t respect fences especially if you are on a river, they come and go at will. It was good we didn’t shoot him as it began raining and rained hard from about 5pm to 930pm. That certainly broke the heat! Patrick said we wouldn’t have made it out of the draw after it started raining.
The next morning, with cooler temps, the wind was more stable and we were able to go into the “Nook”. How they spotted the waterbuck bull, I don’t know. How they got me on it, is even a bigger mystery. It certainly looked good to me. I had been warned that kob antelopes, like waterbuck, can take a lot of killing. Something about larger, sturdier bones for their body size. I think that, like nyala, in thick vegetation, you never get a totally clean look at their vitals. Never a broadside, but some variation of angling towards or facing you, with enough vegetation to cause you to question your idea of where to place your shot. The bull became deceased, but with way more lead in him than I would have liked. The center of the first photo shows where the bull was standing facing us. About 200yds.

Patrick was quite disappointed about the bull. It did look quite nice in the bush above us. Who hasn’t had ground shrinkage?
The next day found us heading to another farm where two Cape eland bulls had jumped into the paddock where they had started a herd of Livingstone eland. The farmhand that rode with us sure new the eland behaviour. They weren’t in the first location, but the second. We spotted the larger bull at 1100yds. The paddock is only about 7000acres. The farmhand predicted how the bull would react if disturbed, and with only a few fits and starts, that is exactly how and where the bull went.
I usually always have tape over the end of my barrel to avoid getting an unplanned obstruction. This roll of tape my wife bought at the dollar store. Whether it was the heat, or the tape quality, the tape kept sliding off to the side. I had looked at it and saw that the muzzle wasn’t covered, but a shot at the eland was imminent and I was sitting behind the sticks. No issues, right? Wrong! Somehow the rifle fell off the sticks and went muzzle first into the soft soil, maybe 2”? I quickly cut a small cedar branch and started clearing the soil out. A little judicial blowing and poking cleared out the soil, with only about 5 minutes before the eland appeared!
I couldn’t get a clean shot until he was only 80yds away and quartering towards me. At the shot, the bull was rocked hard, he almost went down and did some drunken sailor stumbling, but he stayed up. He had stepped into a dip. I held low, but did not clear the rock. Apparently I tried too hard to miss the rock, because I missed the eland with the next shot. I then had a great look at the neck broadside, the 4th shot took him down with no further fuss.
Look at the size of those hooves!

I’m about 280lbs. Eland are huge.

He definitely was right handed, way more rubbed on that side.


Now that is the way to retrieve an eland!

Making tripe!

I paid one of the staff to find the bullet that had penetrated 5ft of eland. The TTSX had lost all the petals but still weighed 114.2gr. That is 68% weight retention!
When the skinning was nearly finished, we headed off to find a red lechwe. We soon had a lot spotted at quite a distance. While we were strategizing how to approach them, we saw a bull move out of sight close in front of us. We drove ahead and hopped out. There were about 20 lechwe in front of us including 4-5 bulls. Two bulls were in a class of their own. One was more broomed, but I shot the one that was larger with a classic shape. What beautiful antelope!



What a great day and a great sunset.

The next morning we headed off to a third farm to locate a fallow deer. They soon had a chocolate buck spotted. Unable to shoot or stalk from our location, we drove around, then hiked in quite a distance, but found the buck sleeping. As with the nyala and waterbuck, the chocolate buck, lying in the deep shadows, was hard define angles etc. Finally he stood up, but behind a tree. When he took a step, I shot him in the chest. He acted like any chest hit deer and went on a run. We waited and Allman was assigned to check on him. The deer was not dead, I finally got another shot on him, but maybe more forward than I would have liked. One hop and he was out of sight. We found him barely able to stand, but trying to walk away. A final shot ended it. We found that he had broken several tines and part of one of paddles. He was in poor condition with a much rubbed hide. What an old warrior!

An old stock dipping tank.

The next few days we tried to find that 54” kudu we had seen, or a duiker or a larger waterbuck. While the heat had broken, we had the full moon to deal with. The animals did seem to hold very tight.

Our final morning at Hotfire had lots of low cloud. We used one of the new trails and found some kudu high up, but no shooters. Here is a neat shot of some trees in the clouds.

We headed for a couple of days near the coast to find a bushbuck. A major rain front was moving in, and we found few bushbuck where there are usually many. However, at sunset, Patrick found a nice buck. We were able to move in on him and shooting into the sun, I mitigated that by getting as low as I could with a bipod assisted prone shot. Even with the recoil, I was able to see him thrown back towards the side. He didn’t so much as twitch. That made me feel good that no one had to follow a wounded bushbuck at sunset.

The farmer was incensed that we hadn’t gotten a duiker. He took us jacklighting on his vegetable farm for duiker for about 3 hours. No success though. Our talks were great, so great that I guess we ignored a chance at some jackals.
This is my rifle: Kimber 8400 Montana 300WSM with a Leupold VX3 2.5-8x36 in Talley LW extra lows. I handload a Barnes 168gr TTSX using Federal cases, CCI250 and RL17. Three shots are close to 0.5 inch if I shoot well. 3100fps.

I have used Air 2000 Hunters Support twice. I can’t recommend them enough. They meet me at the gate, take me to SAPS where they have my preapproved rifle permit ready. Then they take me to the City Lodge hotel. Next morning, they pick me up and make sure I am checked in on the next leg. When I returned to Joburg, the driver met me and took me around town. Then we met Apero who made sure I was checked in with my rifle. What great service! Well worth it.
I had a lengthy layover in Johannesburg. I had hired a driver, Gavin Spowart. He is great company. I went to Safari Outdoors. Nice store with a lunch bar. Some touring and shopping at an African decorating store. Pretty cool. Gavin took me to Soweto for about 3hrs. Not what the press shows you. Small brick houses or apartments. Schools, hospitals, shopping malls, universities, just a regular city of 4million souls. Only the newest, poorest immigrants live in the tin shacks that the press likes to show of Soweto. The shanty towns are scattered and are less than 10% of Soweto.
The trip home was 22hours. Even wearing compression socks, my legs were very swollen. A rash was below my knees. Within 48hrs of arriving home, I had a bad cold, chills and heat flashes. I went to a couple of weekend seminars in the snow. I felt miserable and Friday night my left leg was sore at one spot. That spot continued to grow. Sunday morning I couldn’t keep awake. The left leg was reddening and swelling. I made an appointment for the doc, to check out the rash. By the appointment on Tuesday, I knew I was in trouble, lots of swelling. As I knew he would, the Doc wrote a letter and sent me directly to emergency. What a way to spend our 25th wedding anniversary!
No blood clot, but definitely a massive infection in my left leg. Four days of IV antibiotics, that pump went wherever I went. I finally feel good, but am still on oral antibiotics.

When is the next trip?

Enjoyed reading about your adventure. Sounds like a great trip. Congrats.

Nice pictures, bummer about the cellulitis

Thanks for the hunt report. I particularly appreciated the descriptions of each shot, the animals partly hidden behind vegetation, etc.

Congrats on a successful hunt, and best of luck with the medical issues.

Guy