SOUTH AFRICA: 1st African Safari - Eastern Cape

[ILDRHNTR]

Tuesday, June 20th -

This morning it was nice to sleep in until the ripe ole time of 6:00. Breakfast was at 7:00 and we headed out at 7:30 to go after springbuck. After breakfast we stepped out to get our gear and was greeted by giraffes on the far hillside from camp (little white specks in the first pic - trust me they are there, LOL).

We loaded up in the HiLux and headed out for a 1 1/2 hr drive to a new farm. Did I ever say how much I love those HiLuxes? I sure wish Toyota offered a similar diesel truck here in the states, left side steering of course.

Some of the beautiful aloe vera plants we saw along the way:

We hit it right with most of them in full bloom during our trip. My son wanted to harvest some aloe to take home with us. We did some research and attempted to gather some in a spare shampoo bottle we had brought. It turned out to be a lot of work for very little and gave up after an hour or two.

You also do not see these here in the states:

On we went until we arrived at this farm in the middle of nowhere. It looked like the plains of Wyoming or Nebraska. Open flat land with little coulees scattered throughout. It sure did not look like much but boy the springbuck were thick. Today was also very very windy. Winds of 25+ mph with gusts over 40. Not the best for hunting but it did push a lot of game into those coulees out of the wind and allowed for some interesting (and close) stalks. Unfortunately, most of the larger males of each species stayed out in the open. We eventually found a single male feeding and we made a stalk on him but he knew we were there and get his distance to about 250-300 yds at all times. We finally got him in a position were he was upwind and no crosswind. My son got on the sticks and settled in. He took the shot and the thing dropped to the ground and was right back up in an instant. He took off at a slow trot, stopping occasionally, always with his head hanging. My son kept on him but now we had that terrible crosswind against us. Remember at the beginning when I said there would be more to the story with the springbuck? Well, too many shots later (we have very little experience shooting long distance with these types of winds - normally we simply do not go out if its this windy) and he finally connected once more and dropped him perfectly. The first shot had actually knocked a chunk out of the back of one horn and but a gash in his head. Nothing severe but enough to make him act a little goofy. The final shot was the only other one that hit him. Not what we had wanted but it was down for good. What a relief!

One thing that we had been told (thanks @Ridge Runner) was to be on the lookout for the back hair and scent gland release shortly after death. Luckily, we were able to get on the springbuck immediately and had the cameras ready. Sure enough, soon after the hair started raising up on the back end and we smelled the almost vanilla scent coming from the back gland. Just as quickly as it raised, it withdrew and was gone. It was very neat to witness.

A few pics of the raised hair and the pheromone release from the scent gland (yellowish coloration):

Now that my son had his springbuck (my they are beautiful animals as well), we headed out to look for a giant warthog that Pete had seen here recently. He said it was as big of one as he has seen in several years. Unfortunately, the wind and cooler weather did not allow for a sighting of the big guy. We did however spot a group of mountain reedbucks but they were all female. We spent most of the afternoon looking for the warthog with no luck. Right about the end of the day, we glassed one more area and spotted a good impala ram with a herd of females. I told Pete I would like to take an impala before we left and so we headed out for a stalk. We closed the distance and eventually I was presented with a beautiful quartering away shot at 214 yds. One shot and he ran about 30yds and piled up.

Once we got the impala loaded up we headed back towards camp. We felt very fortunate to have harvested two animals in the windy and cold conditions today. We made it back to camp and met up with the couple from Denmark for our last dinner together as they would be heading home on Wednesday. They had a very successful trip and I hope to meet them again one day, a very nice couple.

Tally to date: 7 animals in 3 days! Unbelievable in our minds. We had hoped we would average an animal a day. Remember, our package was for 6 animals and here we already had more. One simply cannot comprehend the amount of game without experiencing it first hand. Such an amazing opportunity. My son and I were just floating in the clouds for days. He went to bed every night saying it was his best day ever. Plus, he woke up every morning easier than ever, LOL!

 

[ILDRHNTR]

Day four to be continued.....

 

[Ridge Runner]

Did you by any chance take more photos of the lodge updates?

I was wondering how much the lodge has changed since my last trip.

By the one photo of the former dining room and gathering/ lounge area, looks like James has taken out the drink bar and cold drinks cooler, opening the area up.

 

[cpr0312]

Congrats and thanks for sharing!

 

[bo4elk]

Great write up, looks like fun! Keep the pictures coming!

 

[ILDRHNTR]

Did you by any chance take more photos of the lodge updates?

I was wondering how much the lodge has changed since my last trip.

By the one photo of the former dining room and gathering/ lounge area, looks like James has taken out the drink bar and cold drinks cooler, opening the area up.

No I did not have many inside pics. I will check with my son. They had the bar / social room off to the back of the image I showed. It was a different building. I was standing on the edge of the dining area when I took the photo shown above.

 

[ILDRHNTR]

My apologies for dragging this out but free time is difficult to come by these days. Guess that is part of what was so special with South Africa. We focused 99% on the trip/hunt/vacation/experience. I honestly cannot recall being able to do that with any "getaway" here in the States. We are just too "connected" close to home. I truly felt that I had an actual "vacation" when we were there. Something to keep in mind when you are planning a trip to get away from it all - South Africa is a place you truly can accomplish that.

Now back to the story...

Wednesday, June 21st -
Today we woke up again to a windy day, no rain luckily and not quite as windy as yesterday. We had a good breakfast and headed out to the sheep/goat farm in the mountains where we took our kudu. This is such a big property and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute there. There is so much game there. And the thick brush / trees allow everything to simply hide right in front of you. You truly never know what you might see. We went back to chase that red hartebeest that we saw the other day. To make a long story short, I originally went to South Africa with the dream of harvesting one of those beautiful golden wildebeests. When I saw pictures of some posted here on AH, I immediately fell in love with them. It was going to be my one add-on to the package (yeah right). I really had no interest at the time for a blue or black. Well, one evening when we were driving back to camp, we had a herd of goldens with a couple of blues mixed in step into the road in front of us. We stopped and admired them in the headlights. I was in awe and the excitement was coursing through my veins, UNTIL, the herd bull stepped out and swung his head to look directly at us. He was a big blue! I am not sure what happened but something about him just postponed my quest for that golden right then and there. I was simply awestruck. So, it was decided right then and there to make a change of plans and to pursue the big bull blue. Pete was perfectly fine with that plan as he also favored the blues over the goldens. My son was also perfectly fine with the plan as it allowed us to add another animal to our hunt and he wanted that red hartebeest.

So, back to the sheep/goat ranch. We arrived and headed to the area where the hills meet the flats as this is where Pete said the hartebeest herd liked to hang out. Easy to see in the open ground and even easier to escape into the brush and trees. We drove into the area and started glassing. We saw all types of game hanging close to cover with the winds but not hartebeest. Not long after, we came back through an area we had already glassed and we heard that familiar tap on the roof of the truck. We stopped as Loyd and the farmhand had spotted the herd as they took off for parts unknown. They were very skittish and kept their distance very well. We knew we could not get within reasonable shooting distance, especially with the winds. So we devised a plan to drop my son, Pete, and I off at this watering hole and Loyd and the farmhand would drive way around the herd and attempt to nudge them back to us. We got set up in the watering hole and it made a perfect hide with the dam walls all around it with good brush and trees for cover. It was located in the middle of a huge flat area that the hartebeest liked to use frequently. Our plan was to hide in the shadows of the brush and we had the flexibility to move around inside our "blind" as the dam walls provided excellent hiding. IF things worked out as planned, the hartebeest would head to the open flats to keep an eye on their pursuers. Well, about an hour and a half later, we saw the hartebeest moving our way, stopping on occasion to look back in the direction of the farmhand (Loyd stayed back with the truck). They had to go over a mile away before they could get into a position to nudge the herd back our way.

So, here the herd is moving in our direction and we notice they are working their way to the opposite side of the watering hole. We make our move to switch positions carefully staying in the shadows and get set up again. The herd keeps coming and moves again. We shift again. Now, it looks like we are lined up to make something happen. The herd moves closer and stops about 100yds away. The herd bull moves out from behind some brush and is perfectly broadside looking back behind him. It could not have happened any better. To make it perfect, my son proceeded to put a perfect shot on him and he dropped. The common theme for my son on this hunt was he liked to put his shots in the high lung spine area of the front shoulder, dropping almost all of his animals on the spot. I took the other route and almost all of mine were heart/lung shots. I tell this as it became a common joke amongst us all in the truck every day (it was something to help pass the long days). So, the red hartebeest male dropped and my son could not get over there quick enough. I must admit, I never realized how beautiful those animals were. It was stunning. I honestly am not sure if my son was more excited for his kudu (his #1 target animal when we arrived) or this red hartebeest.

Here is my son all set up and waiting on the herd:

Note the 4 Stable Sticks. We had originally been practicing off of a set of Primos Triggersticks (3 legs) at home until the guys from Iowa mentioned their experience with them and how solid the feel was. I must agree, the four legs make for any absolute stable platform. The only downside is it does make it difficult to move sideways in rocky terrain, flat ground not much of an issue. Practice makes perfect and practicing off of the sticks as so many here have mentioned is paramount.

Here is my son and his beautiful red hartebeest:

They are much larger than I expected. Here the team is getting ready to load it up:

Once we got him loaded, we headed back to the skinning shed to get him into the cooler asap. I tell you, it is amazing how those guys can skin out an animal and get it into the cooler so quickly. Practice makes perfect I suppose.

Once done, we headed back out to look for a warthog for me. I had offered my son the warthog on our package but he declined saying he was not that impressed with them. So, it was my turn to hunt now. We proceeded to glass many valleys and creek bottoms. We saw a ton of warthogs but nothing that got us excited. We went to another area of the ranch and the first stop we made, we had to park a ways away to keep from being spotted and slipped into a good vantage point to glass. We immediately spotted....... baboons! We had seen many baboons during the week but they always skedaddled way before we could ever even get the glasses on them. It is obvious that they do not like human interactions. Well, here we are with a small group of baboons carrying on with their daily activities of feeding and loafing without a care in the world. I asked if we could try for one and Pete did not hesitate. So, our goal was simply to get a clear shot at them without alerting them to our presence. We were successful in getting set up and my son ranged them at 292yds. I had a clear shot at a female who had her back to me feeding on something. I got locked into the sticks and took the shot and all hell broke loose. Baboons started running everywhere. I had never seen such a site. Baboons running this way and that, jumping into trees, jumping onto fence posts. Anything they could do to get off the ground. It was quite a sight. Luckily, there was one that did not move away and we worked our way over to her. As we worked down the steep embankment to cross the draw (it drained right into the river next to us), the farmhand pointed out hippo tracks in the sand. My they are huge!!!! Again, quite the experience as one just never knows what Africa will offer up.

Baboon (I edited out the gory part of the low exit hole):

I understand that the locals like to keep the population under control as the baboons are very destructive. So, I guess I did my part. Now, it was on to look for that warthog. We continued to cover ground and glass the valleys and coulees as it seemed all the warthogs we did see were hanging low out of the cool winds. We stopped on a ridge for a late lunch and as we were finishing up, the farmhand happened to walk over the far edge and glass a minute. He immediately came back excited and said there was a very good warthog feeding around. We dropped everything and grabbed the rifle, sneaking up to the edge. Looking over, we spotted three males feeding across the valley. We used the wind to cover our noise as we stalked closer on the rocky terrain. We dropped down to their level and directly across from them and got set up on the sticks. One shot at a little over 200yds and the old guy ran about 30yds and dropped. As we moved further down into the valley to cross, we ran a herd of females and little ones out as well. It was a good hide for the warthogs until we showed up. I was super excited as he was the largest we had seen this week. Not a giant but he will make a great euro mount. I teased my son in that I was going to save the hide and make him a pillow. He did not find that very funny as he kept telling me he was afraid it would tickly his nose too much to sleep. Kids, you simply cannot get anything past them, LOL.

Needless to say, we had another outstanding day! It just seemed so surreal to see so much and have so many opportunities. And this was only our 4th day of hunting!!

To be continued.......

 

[ILDRHNTR]

I forgot to mention, we headed back to camp for another wonderful dinner and to meet the new guests we would be sharing camp with after the departure of the Denmark couple. The two guys also came from the USA (Iowa in fact). They were both top notch guys who we would get to share several days with. I had actually met one of them online here on AH when I had posted some time ago of our safari dates. He had sent me a PM and we ended up talking on the phone for quite some time. Again, AH has been wonderful as I have made several new friends who have been more than grateful to share in their experiences and help us prepare. For any 1st timers, it is a blessing to have such support. I would recommend that anyone who has any questions, do their research and ask questions here. I have several of the members saved in my phone contact list. All A1 people.

 

[ILDRHNTR]

Finally, getting around to wrapping this up. It was such an event filled trip it is hard to put it into words to describe it accurately. As others have stated here - there is only one 1st trip to Africa! But, I hope there are many more to come.

Well, at this point in time, we have wrapped everything we came to Africa for, except the wildebeest (which started as a golden and switched mid trip to a blue). So, we planned to go after that big blue that caught my attention the other night in the headlights.

Thursday, June 22nd -

Since the big blue was living on the acreage around the camp, we took our time with the morning breakfast duties and spent some time glassing from the lodge. We didn't spot what we were after so we went out on the "roads / trails" to find more glassing spots. We drove up on the giraffes and was able to get a close look at them. Wow, they are such interesting creatures.

After watching the giraffes for a while, we moved on and came across a herd of wildebeests. Unfortunately, this herd had a smaller herd bull. After another couple of hours, we stopped on the backside of a hill and walked up to glass the valley on the other side. As we approached the crest, we immediately spotted a 2nd herd of wildebeests scattering upon our presence. They had been sunning themselves in the cool morning air and we happened right onto them. Luckily they only moved off a few yards into some brush to see what spooked them. We glassed numerous goldens and then we spotted the big blue hidden in the thick stuff. I got on the sticks and patiently waited for him to move. After what seemed an eternity (likely only a minute or so), he took two steps and exposed his right shoulder. A solid shot at 75yds caused an exodus of water from his hide. I had never experienced this before and it was quite a sight in the scope as the bullet hit home. Upon the shot, the herd took off and we eased up to where the bull was standing. We found blood within feet and went to get the dog for training practice. We turned Biggles (Pete's new tracking dog) loose on the trail and within seconds he found the bull 50 yds away. As we walked up to it, I was overwhelmed with emotions as my most memorable animal of the trip was on the ground and down for good. It was so surreal at the time.

Now, I have read that immature bulls have the brownish hair on their foreheads, whereas mature bulls are solid black. I am inexperienced on this but what I was told is that this guy has a lot of the golden genes in him (James has been breeding for goldens for several years on this farm with @90% of the herd fully golden) that you can see in the forehead, mane hairs, and body sheen. I love the colorations immensely and that is good enough for me. But, I would appreciate if anyone can confirm if he is fully mature or not.

Luckily, he dropped within easy access and we had him loaded in no time. We actually made it back to the lodge for lunch. It was bittersweet knowing we had come here to hunt 6 species and we accomplished much much more in only 4 1/2 days out of a planned 8 day hunt. We decided it best to pack up the guns and pursue other activities to see what the region had to offer. By pure coincidence, Grahamstown was just starting up their annual festival so we spent the afternoon exploring the vendor and food tents. I highly recommend this as it is a great place to try many new foods and treats along with seeing many local wares for sale. We picked up several souvenirs for family back home, had some kudu burgers, and treated ourselves to chocolate and strawberry milkshakes (not quite like DQ here in the states but still good nevertheless). We even picked up a very nice machete for our tracker Loyd as an additional gift for his efforts in the field, in which he was very appreciative.

We made it back to camp late in the afternoon and anxiously awaited the guys from Iowa to return from their hunt. It was very enjoyable to be able to spend a little time each evening hearing about the other's success as well. Off to bed after another delicious meal with many wonderful memories to dream about.

Friday, June 23rd -

We decided to partake in a Big 5 game tour today and visited the Pumba Wildlife Reserve. Now, I will say it was interesting, the lunch was 4 star, and seeing the Big 5 was cool. However, it was not like being out with rifle in hand - hunting. We had a good time but, looking back, we could have spent that money on one more animal.

3 of the Big 5:

We even witnessed one of the white tiger females chasing a herd of impala. Must have been just for fun though as she did not catch any.

Once we completed the tour and lunch, we headed back to the lodge to relax for the afternoon and wait for the others to return from hunting. It was eating at me not to be in the field. We made arrangements to go fishing in the Indian Ocean tomorrow. So, off to bed for an early rise.

Saturday, June 24th -
It was an early morning as we had a 2 hr drive to Port Alfred where we met up with BlackFish Charters for a great day of fishing. I will admit it was a boat full with 10 customers and 3 crew members (plus the dog). However, we all did well and it was enjoyable meeting others from the local area, Grahamstown, as well a couple from England. I would highly recommend BlackFish as they knew how to put us on fish and we all came back with enough to take home (my son and I brought back enough to feed camp on Sunday evening). It was an enjoyable adventure and I can mark one more ocean off my fishing list, LOL!

A few fishing pics (don't ask me the fish names, please):

A day on the water makes for a sound sleep and that's exactly what we did once we got our bellies full from another great dinner. We discussed briefly what we wished to do for our last full day and we decided to get the rifles back out once last time to go look for that jumbo warthog that eluded us as well as a possible mountain reedbuck.

Sunday, June 25th -

We woke up, had another good breakfast of fried eggs, bacon, and toast and then headed back to the windswept farm that looked like the western plains. We spent the day traipsing the ranch on foot looking for that elusive warthog. We saw plenty of good ones and several youngsters, but not the one we were after. We also saw the 3 mountain reedbuck from earlier but no male had joined them. By late afternoon, we decided we were tuckered out and headed back to camp. No animals in the back of the truck but plenty of fun and excitement nonetheless. Of course, on the drive back we saw more mature warthogs along the road than we had seen all week. Africa was simply teasing us to come back............. That's my excuse at least to book a return trip!!!

Monday, June 26th -

We simply took our time this morning to say our goodbyes and finish packing before heading back to Port Elizabeth in the rain. It was a perfect trip with many many memories made. We will surely never forget about it and already are planning a return in 2025 to chase that breeder bull Nyala and Kudu that we had to pass on this week.

Tuesday, June 27th -

We arrived back home with no issues whatsoever. British Airways delivered us and our gear back to O'Hare without a scratch on anything. Our only hang up was with customs in Chicago when we went to clear our guns. The customs officer noticed I was using an X-bolt and asked me how I liked it. Then we proceeded to discuss the entire trip and we finally made it out of there after an hour. He was a genuine guy and very pleasant to visit with, just like everyone we met along the way this week.

This pretty much wraps up my report. I apologize again for dragging it out but I wanted to do it right. Besides, it allowed me to document our entire trip so my son can go back and relive all the details in the future. Thank you for all who took the time to read my ramblings and especially thank you to all who participate on AH as you all provide helpful information in one way or another.

Best of luck to all future 1st time Africa Adventurers. May your experience be as good or better than ours! And, I look forward to reading of those adventures as well, so please share.

Best regards to all!

 

[cls]

Congratulations to you and your son on your first safari. Thanks for the report.

 

[Trogon]

Excellent report, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Congrats to you and your son! You took wonderful animals. Enjoyed all of the photos as well. You two had a very successful first trip.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

Excellent report and certainly great memories for you and your son.

Interesting and good news that you travelled with rifles on British Air without any issues. I think at one time, BA and their South African codeshare (ComAir) didn't allow guns.

 

[Justhunt]

Very nice you could take your son. Love that red hartebeest! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Hunting Hitman]

Excellent report and Safari. This brings back memories of my first safari bringing my family and I'm glad you had and incredible time. How was the check in on return from Johannesburg to London? I know you said it took an hour but my last experience was closer to 2 1/2 hours because they just couldn't charge me for the weapons. I'm hoping my next time with them is better.

HH

 

[7mmFan]

excellent report and congrats on a great trip with your son. I hope to do this with mine someday. thanks for taking us along for the ride.

 

[WMU05]

This was a great report on a fantastic hunt. As a fellow IL deer hunter, I can relate to so many of the experiences and emotions you had visiting Africa for the first time. It was almost a year ago when our family had our own first trip, and I've replayed it in my mind daily. Returning is a must!

Congratulations all around!

 

[ILDRHNTR]

Excellent report and Safari. This brings back memories of my first safari bringing my family and I'm glad you had and incredible time. How was the check in on return from Johannesburg to London? I know you said it took an hour but my last experience was closer to 2 1/2 hours because they just couldn't charge me for the weapons. I'm hoping my next time with them is better.

HH

The hour was just to check the guns as they still have an issue with charging the guns. Nobody seems to know how. The return was a carbon copy of what we experienced in Chicago as we left. Other than that one part, we had no complaints on British Airlines. They apologized up and down for the delay on the charging of gun fees. They truly felt bad on both sides. Absolutely took care of us all the way through. In London, my AirTags were showing the guns still not on board as we were preparing to board. I inquired at the front desk and they called over the radio to check. Said the guns would be coming through this point and would be last items to be loaded as they had to ensure the security of them. They even walked me over to the window and pointed out where I could watch them load them.

 

[ILDRHNTR]

excellent report and congrats on a great trip with your son. I hope to do this with mine someday. thanks for taking us along for the ride.

Very happy to do so. Best of luck and enjoy the time spent with your son. Mine is only 13 but he was involved with virtually every step of the process. Helped build his excitement as much as mine.

 

[Ridge Runner]

Congrats on being able to get all those animals.

Great report and I enjoyed reading about y'alls trip.

 

[ILDRHNTR]

Tha

Congrats on being able to get all those animals.

Great report and I enjoyed reading about y'alls trip.

Thank you sir. Especially for all your help pre-trip as well as the stories.