45 Days trip to Africa Part One: Bubye Valley Conservancy, Zimbabwe

[Doubleplay]

I'll be honest, I don't like writing hunting reports, I guess I'm too lazy.
But after being a member here for a while and reading so many, I felt like I should contribute and along the way hopefully help members who are planning similar hunts or trips.
This will be part about hunting and part about travel and because it will be long, I'll tell it in parts.
Some pics will be posted but it will not be pic heavy and mostly about story telling.
I'm no expert by any means but I made multiple trips to Africa since 1992 and I might also include some opinions on top of facts and some insights and I might omit some names or don't mention.
Also please excuse the grammar mistakes, like I said I'm lazy, not a good writer and "We" means wife and I.
Here we go..

Planning for this trip started a while back, actually right after we returned from Africa on August 2023 when we visited and hunted with family in Limpopo.
I'll tell more about the family living in Pretoria but for now let's look at the planning of the 2024 trip.
We had bunch of American airlines points and started looking at options of using them for the inbound flight to Johannesburg.
After some research and because we were very flexible with dates I was able to find a one way JFK-DOHA-JNB for 65000 points + $60 each business class for late June with Qatar Airlines and I jumped on it. This was around December 2023.
Qatar Airlines is a One World partner and that allows you to use American points with them.
Since we flew with them before trough Doha, we knew what to expect and how it'll work.
After securing the tickets, I started planning the hunting part. I know most people do this in the reverse order but like I said I was very flexible with dates.
Second day at the SCI Nashville a friend of my son who's also owner of a game farm in Limpopo where we hunted before introduced me to Pete Fick.
Pete was a friend of his father took him hunting when he was a teenager.
For those of you who don't know Pete he's a well know and very respected PH in Zimbabwe and also the author of book called "Cut to the Chase" and board member of Zimbabwe PH association. His nick name is "Gazi" among trackers meaning blood!
He operates Mazunga Safaris and his main operation takes place in Bubye Valley Conservancy in Southern Zimbabwe.
Unfortunately he was sold out in July and August but he told me he's waiting to hear back from a client who had a buffalo hunt booked for beginning July and he'll get back to me next day.
Well, he got back and we had a seven day buffalo hunt booked for beginning 1st of July, 2014.
To be continued...

 

[Doubleplay]

While we were at the SCI show I decided to book a hunt in East Cape, SA a place where I always wanted to visit and very different than Limpopo.
I'll come back to it but for now let's carry on with the first part.
I was hesitant to bring any firearms because like it or not there's always a hassle factor flying or generally traveling with guns and most PH and outfitters have reliable guns you can rent.
But at the end I decided to bring two rifles,
Merkel Safari double 375 H&H with a trijicon 1 moa sight
Christensen Arms Ridgeline .308 with a Leupold VX 5 3-15x44
both of them in one case to cut the luggage to a minimum with an Apple tag in it which enables you to track the movement of the case.
Because we live in Charlotte, NC area we had to buy separate tickets to JFK with enough time to spare in between to catch the Qatar flight.
Four-five days before our travel date we start seeing a lot cancellations/delays of flights because of afternoon thunderstorms and there was a looming flight attendant strike/slowdown.
At that point we decide to rent a car and drive to JFK.
Most rental cars reposition their cars to North during Summer so we were able to reserve a one way rental next to nothing.
After spending a night in Dulles VA area, we arrived at JFK with plenty of time to spare for our evening flight.
Qatar operates two flights out of JFK and we were on the later flight.
By the time we arrived they were still dealing with the first flight and we had to wait for a while for them to close it and open the counter back again.
Because I called and notified them about the firearms all I had to do is to fill out the paperwork and wait for the Port Authority show up.
Yes, Port Authority has to be present at any New-York state airport while you're checking in firearms(not transit) and they are the ones who call TSA for inspection and basically stay there till the firearms transferred to the airline.
They were all friendly but something to keep in mind is you can't spend couple days in New York state with your guns without registering them. You have something like 12 hours for transit and that's it!
After relaxing at the lounge and a mostly uneventful, comfortable trip to via Doha to
Johannesburg, where I used gun permits who's a sponsor here for a hassle free experience to clear the guns quickly.
I would not suggest anyone to walk out of the Tambo airport by yourself carrying firearm cases but since our son was waiting for us we quickly loaded his car parked right across at the short term and left the airport for Pretoria where they live.
To be continued...

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

At the end of your first post, assume you meant 2024, not 2014.

 

[Doubleplay]

At the end of your first post, assume you meant 2024, not 2014.

Yes, I told you I'm not a good writer and thanks...

 

[Doubleplay]

Here's the family part living in South Africa.
Our son is serving as the US Marine attache in South Africa since 2022 and will be there till 2025.
They are residents in Pretoria where our Embassy is located and where our two granddaughters go to school.
This whole trip is actually was a reason to visit them again after 2023 and spend time together as much as their work schedules allow.
Having said that I like to be independent and flexible and for that reason, next day we rented a car for our movements in Africa for the whole trip.
I drove in Africa and other places where traffic flows the wrong way before and I'm very comfortable with that situation. You might be different so it's up to you. I'm not advocating it but it's an option.
Also there are a lot less cars on the roads and generally speaking drivers are better educated because only a certain income class can afford to buy cars. Unfortunate yes, but it's a fact.
After couple days of spending time with family, shopping, eating, drinking etc... on the 30th of June we loaded our rental car and left Pretoria for Zim.
You can do the trip from Pretoria to Bubye Valley, Zim in one long day but because we didn't know what to expect at the border crossings we decided to do it in two days.
Also you don't want to drive in Africa at night . Never ever.
There are a lot reasons for that but mainly crime, stray animals and some secondary roads have big holes which you won't be able to see at night and if you hit it you'll be guaranteed to have a problem.
First night we found a nice place called "Anza" at Louis Trichardt (where there was a restaurant and good security) to stay approximately 1.5 hours away from the border at Baitbridge.
Next day we left for the border where thing really got interested....

 

[thi9elsp]

Great start and fun way to leave us hanging... and?