Day 17
The charter pilot met us at the airport, and we cleared customs and were headed for Namibia in less than a half hour.
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For this chapter of the Safari, we will be hunting with Peter Thormahlen of Thormahlen and Cochran Safaris in their Bushmanland concession. Our history with Peter goes back seventeen years when I completed my Big 5 with him taking a rhino in the Songimvelo Game Reserve in South Africa.
My eldest daughter first hunted with Peter when she was seven years old and she said, “if I ever go on my own Safari, I want to hunt a leopard with Uncle Peter”.
Bushmanland will be quite a contrast to the densely forested Mbizi Game Reserve, and I can’t wait to see it.
The first leg of the flight was a short hop and we landed in Katima Mulilo to clear Namibian Customs.
As typical whenever I have come to Namibia, the customs officer was very friendly and turned us around in about 30 minutes.
Airborne again, it took about 15 minutes into the flight to reach cruising altitude and smooth air. We had a one hour forty-minute flight to the airstrip near camp.
We touched down at the Mangetti Dune strip Abiliu Huelepo, one of the PH’s was there to pick us up. The drive to camp was just under an hour and once there, we were met with cold wash cloths and a welcome cool drink.
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The camp Manager Duki remembered us from our time spent at the Mahango camp in 2016 and we greeted each other with a big hug. She showed us to our tents, and we got settled.
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Once unpacked we sat at the dining room patio, then by the fire when the sun had set. It is noticeably cooler here and I grabbed a light jacket for the evening.
Peter arrived just after sunset, and we had a good visit catching up. After dinner everyone seemed tired, so we called it an early night.
You are a blessed man.
