Post 1: The Lead Up
I have been back almost four weeks now from my first African safari and it is time to try and share my trip with you. This first post will be mostly background and the lead-up to the actual hunting, but there will be plenty of hunting in the follow-on posts!
I grew up hunting on the east coast of the US, mostly deer and smaller game as well as dove. I loved it and would hunt any time I got the chance. As I got into my late teens my outdoor passion turned more towards offshore fishing than hunting thanks to the influence of two uncles. I had one uncle that fished out of NC and was a bottom fisherman for grouper, snapper, and the like. My other uncle fished out of Freeport, TX and was a troller for king fish, mahi/dolphin, wahoo, etc.. My love of fishing was so strong that it influenced my choice of profession and I went into a field that I knew would always keep me near the ocean.
Eight years into my career and five years into my marriage I would buy my first boat. We were still DINK (dual-income, no kids) so time and money were not in too short a supply. Two years later we would make a good bit of cash on a home sale (2006) and it was time to trade in boat #1 for larger boat #2. Then about three years further on we had our first child. It wasn't long before time management became a much bigger issue. I felt guilty if I wasn't taking the boat out fishing on nice weekends, but I also felt guilty if I was. It didn't help that fuel was about $4 a gallon (much higher if you got it at a marina), so a $1000 weekend was easy to achieve unless you had plenty of fishing buddies willing to share the cost. With our second child on the way I got out of the boat business around 2008/2009. The next decade would be the most demanding portion of my career as well as the most demanding portion of our child raising years.
In the late 2000-teens I started getting back into firearms. First mainly early S&W revolvers and AR rifles (how's that for a combination), and eventually back into proper hunting rifles. Then came 2020 and COVID. Just something about that time really got me interested in hunting again. I started back deer hunting, this time in the mid-west, with an eye towards working up to hunting out west for pronghorn, elk, and mule deer. The thought of an African safari had never really appealed to me. I can't tell you exactly why. Perhaps it was the amount of travel, or the perceived high cost, or the inability to bring home the meat that resulted from your harvest. But the more I listened to podcasts like The Backcountry Hunting Podcast, The Big Game Hunting Podcast, and Ron Spomer Outdoors, all of which I started listening to for the western US hunting content, the more the fire got stoked to try an African safari. The opportunity (guarantee) for a large variety of game for the same price, or less, that it would cost to do a guided elk hunt (no guarantee of success or drawing a tag) was probably the biggest selling point.
So it came to pass that my friend, his son, and I booked our first safari in the spring of 2023 for May of 2024. Based on Joseph Von Benedikt's outstanding experience with @Kowas Adventure Safaris that is who we booked with. Thirteen days, including travel, for a total of nine hunting days in Namibia hunting plains game. My list at booking included kudu, impala, springbuck, and oryx, along with red hartebeest and warthog if the opportunity presented itself. (spoiler, the final tally would include all these and more).
The year from spring of 2023 to May of 2024 was spent settling on which rifles to take, what airline/route to take, what clothes to buy/take, how to transport my firearms, and consuming tons of Africahunting.com and YouTube safari content. We also made our way down to Dallas for DSC 2024 to meet the Kowas crew in person, which was terrific and only solidified that we had picked a first class outfit.
For rifles I settled on taking two, a Winchester Super Grade in 6.8 Western and a Sako in 9.3x62, carried in a Tuffpak 1050 case. We didn't want to go all the way to Qatar and back to Namibia, nor did we want to stay overnight in Johannesburg, so we settled on the US - Frankfurt - Windhoek route. My hunting mates would be on Lufthansa from the US to Germany, and I was on United. I will tell you that of the two, United was much easier to work with and they did not charge an extra fee (several hundred dollars) to handle firearms like Lufthansa does.
I departed from Columbus, Ohio and I will tell you that I knew much more about traveling to Namibia with firearms than the United ticket agent. She was super friendly and we got through it without a problem, but it was obviously a first for her.
The first thing she told me was that I needed a visa for Namibia. I assured her this was not the case and she eventually found the part where it said this was only the case if I were planning on staying greater than 90 days. Hurdle #1 cleared. It should be noted that I was plenty early for my flights and there were no other people waiting, so stress level was pretty low at this point. Next she read that she had to verify that the firearms were empty. She had me take one out of the Tuffpak and soft case. I showed her that the bolt was stored separately from the gun and that the magazine was empty. She was satisfied with that and didn't even ask me to take out the second rifle. I was also re-packed the Tuffpak myself, which is different than a lot of people's experiences, particularly with TSA. I signed the "this gun is not loaded" card that went inside the Tuffpak with the rifles and locked it up then she sent it back. I stayed outside the security area for about another 30 minutes anticipating that I might get a call from TSA wanting to look in the case. I never did get a call. I should note that I had AirTags in my rifle case, ammo case, and suitcase (which contained the ammo case). This is a must in my opinion as it gave me comfort that everything made each flight. My bags were checked all the way to Windhoek. I did not have to pick them up in either Dulles or Frankfurt. The next time I would handle them would be at destination.
I met up with my hunting buddies in Frankfurt after an overnight flight from Dulles for me and an overnight flight from St Louis for them. We spent all day in the Lufthansa lounge, where we were able to relax, eat, and take showers while waiting for our final overnight flight to Windhoek. That shower alone was worth $100 and made two days of travel much more comfortable.
We landed in Windhoek on Tuesday morning at around 8:30 am local. Jacques from Kowas was waiting for us outside of customs. All bags and firearms arrived without issue. The firearms registration with the Namibian police was pretty quick and easy, and of course Jacques was there to help with the process which was basically verifying serial numbers. After that it was a short 1.5 hour ride to the Kowas farm. After getting settled and a bite to eat, we verified our rifles were still zeroed and did a sunset game drive (non-hunting) to wrap up the first day in country.
In the next entry the hunting begins!
Tuffpak loaded with two rifles in waterproof soft cases, surrounded by two more soft cases that I would actually use in Namibia, and a tripod.
My seat mates for the overnight flight to Germany!
Discover airlines departing Frankfurt for Windhoek.
Debarking in Windhoek.
Arrived at Kowas!
I have been back almost four weeks now from my first African safari and it is time to try and share my trip with you. This first post will be mostly background and the lead-up to the actual hunting, but there will be plenty of hunting in the follow-on posts!
I grew up hunting on the east coast of the US, mostly deer and smaller game as well as dove. I loved it and would hunt any time I got the chance. As I got into my late teens my outdoor passion turned more towards offshore fishing than hunting thanks to the influence of two uncles. I had one uncle that fished out of NC and was a bottom fisherman for grouper, snapper, and the like. My other uncle fished out of Freeport, TX and was a troller for king fish, mahi/dolphin, wahoo, etc.. My love of fishing was so strong that it influenced my choice of profession and I went into a field that I knew would always keep me near the ocean.
Eight years into my career and five years into my marriage I would buy my first boat. We were still DINK (dual-income, no kids) so time and money were not in too short a supply. Two years later we would make a good bit of cash on a home sale (2006) and it was time to trade in boat #1 for larger boat #2. Then about three years further on we had our first child. It wasn't long before time management became a much bigger issue. I felt guilty if I wasn't taking the boat out fishing on nice weekends, but I also felt guilty if I was. It didn't help that fuel was about $4 a gallon (much higher if you got it at a marina), so a $1000 weekend was easy to achieve unless you had plenty of fishing buddies willing to share the cost. With our second child on the way I got out of the boat business around 2008/2009. The next decade would be the most demanding portion of my career as well as the most demanding portion of our child raising years.
In the late 2000-teens I started getting back into firearms. First mainly early S&W revolvers and AR rifles (how's that for a combination), and eventually back into proper hunting rifles. Then came 2020 and COVID. Just something about that time really got me interested in hunting again. I started back deer hunting, this time in the mid-west, with an eye towards working up to hunting out west for pronghorn, elk, and mule deer. The thought of an African safari had never really appealed to me. I can't tell you exactly why. Perhaps it was the amount of travel, or the perceived high cost, or the inability to bring home the meat that resulted from your harvest. But the more I listened to podcasts like The Backcountry Hunting Podcast, The Big Game Hunting Podcast, and Ron Spomer Outdoors, all of which I started listening to for the western US hunting content, the more the fire got stoked to try an African safari. The opportunity (guarantee) for a large variety of game for the same price, or less, that it would cost to do a guided elk hunt (no guarantee of success or drawing a tag) was probably the biggest selling point.
So it came to pass that my friend, his son, and I booked our first safari in the spring of 2023 for May of 2024. Based on Joseph Von Benedikt's outstanding experience with @Kowas Adventure Safaris that is who we booked with. Thirteen days, including travel, for a total of nine hunting days in Namibia hunting plains game. My list at booking included kudu, impala, springbuck, and oryx, along with red hartebeest and warthog if the opportunity presented itself. (spoiler, the final tally would include all these and more).
The year from spring of 2023 to May of 2024 was spent settling on which rifles to take, what airline/route to take, what clothes to buy/take, how to transport my firearms, and consuming tons of Africahunting.com and YouTube safari content. We also made our way down to Dallas for DSC 2024 to meet the Kowas crew in person, which was terrific and only solidified that we had picked a first class outfit.
For rifles I settled on taking two, a Winchester Super Grade in 6.8 Western and a Sako in 9.3x62, carried in a Tuffpak 1050 case. We didn't want to go all the way to Qatar and back to Namibia, nor did we want to stay overnight in Johannesburg, so we settled on the US - Frankfurt - Windhoek route. My hunting mates would be on Lufthansa from the US to Germany, and I was on United. I will tell you that of the two, United was much easier to work with and they did not charge an extra fee (several hundred dollars) to handle firearms like Lufthansa does.
I departed from Columbus, Ohio and I will tell you that I knew much more about traveling to Namibia with firearms than the United ticket agent. She was super friendly and we got through it without a problem, but it was obviously a first for her.
The first thing she told me was that I needed a visa for Namibia. I assured her this was not the case and she eventually found the part where it said this was only the case if I were planning on staying greater than 90 days. Hurdle #1 cleared. It should be noted that I was plenty early for my flights and there were no other people waiting, so stress level was pretty low at this point. Next she read that she had to verify that the firearms were empty. She had me take one out of the Tuffpak and soft case. I showed her that the bolt was stored separately from the gun and that the magazine was empty. She was satisfied with that and didn't even ask me to take out the second rifle. I was also re-packed the Tuffpak myself, which is different than a lot of people's experiences, particularly with TSA. I signed the "this gun is not loaded" card that went inside the Tuffpak with the rifles and locked it up then she sent it back. I stayed outside the security area for about another 30 minutes anticipating that I might get a call from TSA wanting to look in the case. I never did get a call. I should note that I had AirTags in my rifle case, ammo case, and suitcase (which contained the ammo case). This is a must in my opinion as it gave me comfort that everything made each flight. My bags were checked all the way to Windhoek. I did not have to pick them up in either Dulles or Frankfurt. The next time I would handle them would be at destination.I met up with my hunting buddies in Frankfurt after an overnight flight from Dulles for me and an overnight flight from St Louis for them. We spent all day in the Lufthansa lounge, where we were able to relax, eat, and take showers while waiting for our final overnight flight to Windhoek. That shower alone was worth $100 and made two days of travel much more comfortable.
We landed in Windhoek on Tuesday morning at around 8:30 am local. Jacques from Kowas was waiting for us outside of customs. All bags and firearms arrived without issue. The firearms registration with the Namibian police was pretty quick and easy, and of course Jacques was there to help with the process which was basically verifying serial numbers. After that it was a short 1.5 hour ride to the Kowas farm. After getting settled and a bite to eat, we verified our rifles were still zeroed and did a sunset game drive (non-hunting) to wrap up the first day in country.
In the next entry the hunting begins!
Tuffpak loaded with two rifles in waterproof soft cases, surrounded by two more soft cases that I would actually use in Namibia, and a tripod.
My seat mates for the overnight flight to Germany!
Discover airlines departing Frankfurt for Windhoek.
Debarking in Windhoek.
Arrived at Kowas!
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This is my happy face. The cell phone makes this scene look much lighter than it was!
