Any Surprises While On Safari In Africa?

[BC.Pat]

Most have been said, but just about stepping on this guy ( puff adder) . Was very luck we were along long way from transport.

Pat

 

[Mort Hill]

Two things, well three, OK, four pop into my mind as I enjoy as cigar on my TN porch with 97 degree heat.
1. The food has been unbelievable on every African safari I have been on. 7 to date including three 21 day safaris in Tanzania. Not so much how incredible the food tastes, but how it is prepared from the most rudimentary of kitchens. Bread baked in the ground, soups made from fresh garden grown vegetables. Catch a voondoo(catfish), and shazam, southern fried catfish with homemade tarter sauce. Some of my wife's favorite pictures are those of the kitchens and kitchen staff. I always make it a point to visit the kitchen and hang out with the cooks.
2. The vast knowledge of the PH's. From flora and fauna, to geology, to human nature. They have all come their A-game when it comes to sharing interesting knowledge.
3. Getting to hold the mystic Pangolan while in the Selous. It is said to bring good luck. Not sure if it did or didn't, but I lived to tell about it so I am giving a thumbs up for good luck.
4. My PH's father had a heart attack in the middle of a 21 day Tanzania safari. I understood the situation, and even offered to fly my PH out of camp, but he would not wait and drove all the way to home in Zim. I planned for the worst, but his cousin showed up 2 days later to finish the safari. It was truly one of my most enjoyable safaris ever. Dylan and Deon are now life long friends with me, have stayed with us in the states, and I was invited to Deon's wedding. It does not get any better than that. And Dylan's father made a full recovery.

 

[Jfet]

Getting up in the morning from a king size bed and coming back at lunch to a twin size bed

 

[wesheltonj]

How fast I went thru my bribe, er, I mean tip money!

 

[G Skinner]

How fast I went thru my bribe, er, I mean tip money!

Ain't it the truth ! LOL !
Glen

 

[jpr792]

This thing trying to come into the blind with us ....... My PH said if it comes in here I'd have to shoot it ...... My response was Hell No ! you got the gun (I was bow hunting ! ) LOL ! Kid you not this thing was like 6 feet long !
GlenView attachment 196705

It is a monitor lizzard.

 

[Gsxrmike]

How great buffalo meat is when it is prepared by people who really know how to cook game. (I'm not on the list of people who really know how to properly cook game)

What a hyena really sounds like. Our first night in camp I was awakened at 1:00 am by one making their unearthly sounds and I had to ask the ph in the morning what created those sounds. Nothing like anything I had heard on National Greographic!

How elephant tracks, droppings and tree damage was everywhere but the animals that left the evidence behind could vanish so completely.

How I could be so hot without sweating a drop.

How I thought it would be a once in a lifetime trip but before we left Africa my wife and I were discussing what we wanted on the next Safari.

 

[Nosler guy]

I was surprised how tough and tenacious, and how much lead African Plains game can take compared to North American game

I was warned going in that African game are harder to put down than NA game - but until I actually witnessed it, I didn't fully appreciate the advice. Saw two or three really surprising examples - my first Gemsbok - big mature bull - stalked him to 80 yards bedded - plowed him perfectly with .300 Win Mag / 180 gr bullets and I couldn't believe it when he exploded out of his bed and tore off for another 200 yards like nothing had even happened. Similar incidents with both Red Hartebeest and Blue Wildebeest

 

[Ty Howard]

I was surprised how quickly I went over budget

 

[Ryan]

One of these guys surprised me the second time in Namibia.

Camel spider or sun spider to me from my time in the middlexeast and Arizona, haarskeerder in Afrikaans.

First time in Namibia all I saw were little ones. This big one came across the deck at dinner and got me and my hostcto lift our feet and my friend standing on a chair.

 

[G Skinner]

Oh ...ya ! Spiders too !
Glen

 

[LivingTheDream]

How diverse the terrian was, the Eastern cape was so green. How elephants love to climb hills. How much game there is. How amazing the services is. How good the trackers are. How depressed I was to come home. How quickly I went back.

 

[BWH]

Hmmmm.... really only snakes. Wasn't expecting them. Ran into a black mamba.... never saw. Cobra I couldn't shoot in fear of dogs & a 15+' rock python.... with a belly full..... could not shoot.... protected. Got within 5 feet of it.

 

[Tim Blackwell]

What surprised me:

- How clear the race divide is (I say this coming from Australia which is becoming more PC by the year.) It took some getting used to, as did being 'waited' on so well, as it doesn't happen in our culture.
-The sound of a rutting impala
-Just how switched on Zebra are to hunt
-How EVERYONE has a mobile phone
-The sheer size of and Eland on the deck
-Just how good the above animal tastes!
-How much my non-hunting wife would love everything about it
-Just how much it would get under my skin and how often I would think of my time in Africa. I could not have asked for a better first safari, and can't wait to return in 2018!
-Unfortunately I also found out the hard way how useless African taxidermists could be

 

[BWH]

Here is the Rock Python..... The hole/den he lived in was just beneath him..... near his tail. He eventually rolled of into it. The hole was about as big around as a 55 gallon drum/barrel

 

[Longwalker]

I made my first trip to Africa as a photo tourist in the famous national parks in Kenya and Tanzania. Aberdares, Amboseli, Masai Mara, Serenegti, Ngorogoro, etc. Wonderful introduction to some of the African wildlife and culture. But my hunting safari to the Eastern Cape South Africa was far more enjoyable.
I certainly noticed the big contrast between being a photographer / observer vs being a hunter /participant. Participating as a hunter is a far more complete and satisfying experience. It was better to be out walking among fewer animals that were acting like prey than to be riding in a van viewing huge herds of animals acting like zoo inmates.

I was also made very aware and somewhat dismayed at the magnitude of the cultural / tribal divides between almost everyone, and the racial divide between blacks and whites. Seems everyone is "tribal" to some extent. It was amusing to be advised by individuals of each tribe that you could trust them, but not to trust anyone of the other tribe / race / etc. That said, we never had a problem with anyone.