Africa At Last

[Datchew]

Sounds like you started off with a visit to some nice places. and are now in Africa-at-last. It's a tough job but somebody has to do it. Now if you PH showed up in a mini with a small trailer

So about that trailer.

While the guys were packing 50 lbs of crap into a 30 lb land cruiser, the parking lot guard came by and suggested they buy a trailer.

My outfitter found that suggestion... Distasteful. Lol.

Later, on the way out to the site, we saw another type of trailer.

 

[PARA45]

You found the Kalahari Ferrari.

 

[AZDAVE]

Thank you for the laugh.

 

[AZDAVE]

 

[Firebird]

I feel inspired as to which books to take in my upcoming trip-mine have spent lots of time in a treestand hunting deer and elk. Looking forward to the rest of your stories!

 

[PARA45]

It's been at least 24 hrs since your last post. We are patiently (not really) and anxiously waiting your next post.

 

[Ridge Runner]

Great report so far......now quit dangling and give us some African touristy stuff.

Happy Hunting.

 

[VertigoBE]

You write in a very entertaining style. Keep it up! We are all awaiting the next instalment

 

[Datchew]

I'll try to keep up. Got a lunch break today. I am taking notes, but Wi-Fi is only at camp and my typical priority in camp at the end of the day is a gin, a shower, a note to wifey, vittles, and bed. Now that you lot know where you are on the pecking order... . I will start on the hunt.

Day 1:
Up but not conscious at 5.
Coffee slowly bringing the brain from base level life support to functional.

It's cold but I'm loving it. Such a break from Texas heat.
My ph has signs of being a fellow ginger and is of Teutonic stock but he's lacking the internal rage to keep him warm. I start to suspect he's perhaps one of the lizard people. He's got 3 layers on and shivering! I'll keep my thoughts on this matter to myself and monitor him closely this week.

The coffee successfully shakes things loose inside and I send a care package to Mugabe and then we set off.

We roll around in the bakkie (which I now know is pronounced Bucky) scouting with thermals where the known water is to hopefully find a region where they are. Got to see my first hyena. Poor things. Someone got around them with the ugly stick.

Once it's light, we found fresh tracks and mud wallows and our tracker is on the hunt so off we go.
After that, if I didn't know better I'd say it was a long game of follow the leader with rifles with stretches of standing still and watching the tracker having a zen like moment to himself.

Lots of the buffalo stalk reminds me of elk and pig hunting. Closely monitoring assorted fecal matter for temperature and freshness. Also mud and hair and scrapes and tracks. But it's a gorgeous morning and we're on it.

My PH cusses about why these damn buffalo crawl into this thick thorny mess. I posit that maybe they are like women and enjoy exfoliating things. Like a buffalo spa. Then I rip a hole in my sleeve on a prickly plant of some sort and join him on cussing the buffalo.

A long couple stalks later, it's dark. Everybody is tired. The beast eluded us.

Back to camp we go and I become civilized once more after a shower and a drink. Dinner was lovely and I start to hear a strange call in the distance that turns out to be the bed. I begin to succumb when suddenly there's another noise and the dog gets excited.

We sneak out of the dining hall and shine a light down at the watering hole and there the bastard is that we chased all day.

I wasn't prepared for the bulk. Vast and hulking. Crusty all over and with the executioner look in his eye like the real pipe hitters.

This buffalo bull is staring at us with absolutely zero concern and almost a bemused "you guys suck" expression.

What a dick.

Threats and boasts about tomorrow are delivered and ignored.
On he drinks, unperturbed.

To the bed.
The plan is to start 30 mins earlier tomorrow.

Quote of the day:
No matter how tempting, shooting from the dining hall is not permitted.

 

[Philip Glass]

You guys are too kind .

This is my first thank you to all of the folks here that give copious amounts of knowledge and advice on the travel process.

I used Gracy travel as my trip was interwoven with a few other countries for my day job and they've been great.

But also the guidance on packing ammo separately, types of locks, paperwork and rules and regs. Also very nice to have the confidence pills known as tiles that let you track your bag locations. Excellent bit of kit.

Too many of you to list but I'll call out @Philip Glass who made a video covering the pelican case types for rifle and ammo, basic gear shakedown, and the whole thing. Thank you all.

My goodies all got here and customs stuff was easy peasey mac n cheesey but after 3 countries and a couple suits plus Africa gear, that's 2 full suitcases and a rifle case. Not as light as I prefer but there it is.

I WhatsApp'd my outfitter and told him I had enough luggage and gear to challenge a diva so don't bring the Prius to pick me up!!
He laughed and said "but I just washed it! Ok, I guess I'll bring the land cruiser."

After loading my junk, I watched the guys tetris about 200lbs of groceries into the truck and then wiggle their way into the back somehow for a 3 hour ride out to the site.

Dinner was lovely. Had a good shower to recover my humanity, and then a good chat with a couple gin n tonics by the fire under a gorgeous sky.

Quote of the day "Rifles are appropriate and welcome in the dining hall."


View attachment 696059

Thanks

 

[Philip Glass]

I promise this isn't a Rick Steve's thread. I'm finally flying out of CDG tomorrow evening to JNB. Starting to get excited.

But permit me one last plug for a favorite place and local food.

Dropped over to Vilnius Lithuania to see some dear old friends.
A great low-key old Eastern Europe city.
Beautiful architecture that reminds me of Budapest. Amazing summer weather if you're grateful to escape the Texas hear.
Lots of old old churches and Soviet architecture and even some Soviet era art.

You have to be a bit of a history bug and maybe a little romantic to like it. It's got a mix of old, run-down, and new.
A bit of classic herring and vodka for a starter then my favorite cold beet soup. (It's not for everyone.)

View attachment 695456

Gorgeous weather.
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We found my favorite old bakery.
I'm going to be too fat to hunt at this rate.
View attachment 695459

Awesome! I didn't know you were going to the air show, London, then Lithuania! What a way to start the trip. You might have to tell us more about the air show some time.

 

[Red Leg]

I promise this isn't a Rick Steve's thread. I'm finally flying out of CDG tomorrow evening to JNB. Starting to get excited.

But permit me one last plug for a favorite place and local food.

Dropped over to Vilnius Lithuania to see some dear old friends.
A great low-key old Eastern Europe city.
Beautiful architecture that reminds me of Budapest. Amazing summer weather if you're grateful to escape the Texas hear.
Lots of old old churches and Soviet architecture and even some Soviet era art.

You have to be a bit of a history bug and maybe a little romantic to like it. It's got a mix of old, run-down, and new.
A bit of classic herring and vodka for a starter then my favorite cold beet soup. (It's not for everyone.)

View attachment 695456

Gorgeous weather.
View attachment 695458

We found my favorite old bakery.
I'm going to be too fat to hunt at this rate.
View attachment 695459

So how are you managing that rifle in all this hopping from country to country?

 

[VertigoBE]

So how are you managing that rifle in all this hopping from country to country?

Yes I was also wondering how that was sorted out, but perhaps the response is better in a DM….?

 

[Datchew]

Short note tonight. As The Band said in "The Weight," my bag is sinkin low and I do believe it's time.

Gear wrangling - good question!
At customs at CDG, you can check your weapon, ammo, and gear for up to 14 days in their arms locker. It's treated as "still in checked bag status" or something in French that I couldn't understand.
Again, props to Gracy Travel for helping with this. I was able to dump a pelican case and a full suitcase of hunting gear, clothes, and the baby pelican with ammo.
No way in hell do I go near UK with anything that makes anyone think of weapons.
The downside is... I have no pocket knife for 2 weeks. It's like one of those dreams when you're in school but you're nekkid.

Initially I was gonna go through Frankfurt. I wanted a direct from middle EU to Joberg but there were no locker/storage options at Frankfurt.
The Paris police were actually very cool about it and easy to deal with. For retrieval, after copious use of google translate, they showed sincere appreciation that I made the attempt to par le vous but in truth, I butchered their language. Still, they wished me a successful safari and wanted to talk guns and gave me a bon voyage.

We're eating impala for dinner. No buffalo yet. More later.

I realize I'm not getting many pics. Tough to upload here

But here's a quick kit pic:
Blaser 375h&h with dope taped on.
Quick release generic reinforced belt.
My daughter bought me this cartridge slide for Father's Day when I was in the planning stage. Had to stretch the loops a bit and oil it. Working adequately.
Streamlight torch in an Amazon special cheapo pouch and my old flight gear kabar for sentiment and cutting cheese and in case we need to drive nails or chop wood.

Land cruiser not included

 

[Datchew]

 

[Slickshooter]

Keep the report coming!!

 

[Datchew]

Gear minute:

Tracker - plum colored "4 stable sticks" which is great because I've trained with those.

Ph has a cz 550 in 458wm with PMP solids in 475 grains

 

[Datchew]

Day 2 - Turd Testing Tuesday



Today we left 30 mins earlier. PH says we may need to do it again tomorrow. If this continues I guess we'll just stay up all night.

Once again, the morning ritual must be observed. Stumble to coffee, talk through the plan, weapons and gear shakedown, regards to Mugabe, and off into the dark.

To the casual observer, the tracking and stalking appears to be a game of follow the leader with rifles. The rules in this game state that every turd we come across must be tested. There are several methods to this involving kicking, dragging a foot across, touching with the back of the hand (like when you check a child for fever,) and even sticking your finger inside to see if it’s still warm.

Now I grew up in Kansas and spent summers working the farm. I’ve seen my share of cow and buffalo patties and I assure you, nobody took any interest in them except to avoid stepping in them.

However here, hunting cape buffalo, we are VERY interested in things that came out of the south end of a north bound buffalo.

We follow tracks (and the patties) into some very thick thorns. These are not Bob Ross happy little trees. These trees grow barbed wire and plenty of it. In this particular section, the PH is NOT happy and at one point, literally gets stuck and cannot move forward as if he’s in a giant spider web. It was in these cozy places that we found several spots where the buffalo bedded down before the tracks led out to the open again. I got scratched up a bit and on we went. Unfortunately, we were too far behind and never caught up with them.

Scratched, sweaty, and generally displeased, we lost track of him for the day and headed back toward camp. On the way we saw some impala that looked too delicious to pass up so we had a short stalk with a bunch of obnoxious tsessebe that kept roaming around trying bust us and finally dropped a nice impala buck.

This was when things turned a bit odd. The PH was shaking my hand, congratulating me on the impala when suddenly he asked me “Would you mind if took your impala’s scrotum?”

I struggled internally for a second on this one and the look on my face must have betrayed as much because he said “it’s the perfect size to fit over the gear shift knob in my land cruiser. My last one is torn and falling apart.” So I gave my first tip in the form of an Impala scrotum.

I feel compelled to explain a little about our tracker. He’s as extroverted as the anchor on a Navy destroyer and typically answers questions with shrugs, hand waves, or when he’s really enthusiastic, monosyllable responses. A nickname has been assigned – Chatty Cathy.

At random intervals during follow the leader with rifles, he stops and seems to go into a trance. I watch the eyes and the face to see what he’s looking at but he just seems to be far away. Maybe in the spirit world. (Did you see the size that chicken?)
Is he smelling for something? Perhaps he heard something. Maybe he’s having a stroke.
I start wondering what’s going on in that head when suddenly he makes a tomahawk chop hand gesture, breaking me from my reverie, and we continue.

Had my first biltong by the campfire that evening with a side of nacho cheese doritos and a gin.
I had expected biltong to be more like beef jerkey. It is not. Enjoyable nonetheless.

I'm having trouble adding pictures with the bandwidth so they may end up in subsequent posts.

Quote of the day: “Mmmmm… no.” – Chatty Cathy

 

[Ravensview]

Enjoying your write up, your writing style is great, thank you for sharing it

 

[Zinz]

Very funny stuff. I look forward to the next installment of Follow the Leader with Rifles

Ed Z