SOUTH AFRICA: First Time To The Eastern Cape!

[McKenzie Sims]

Was very fun reading your report on the hunt. I love the Eastern Cape a beautiful place. Enjoyed the humor in your stories no kill no bourbon lol That looks like a very big Caracal congrats on him. Nice waterbuck as well but really enjoyed the Nyala part of the story it’s nice to know someone’s else misses on some easy shot have pulled some serious chip shots before my worst was in the eastern cape as a matter of fact. Great animals all in all, thanks for sharing the story with all of us.

 

[Spearhead]

Great report @kevin masters thanks for sharing it and posting great photos too! Much appreciated.

 

[AZDAVE]

Nice report! The Eastern cape is a beautiful place to hunt. @kevin masters Marius @KMG Hunting Safaris has an amazing gift to be able to find a couple SMALL hills to climb. And yes they take their Rugby very seriously. marius and I had an opportunity to discuss rugby on my hunts with him. Congratz on a nice successful hunt.

 

[kevin masters]

Alright so our second day in Victoria falls is the day we visit the Falls! early morning for the girls trip to the angels pool. This is the top of the falls experience when the water levels are to high for the devils pool. We leave Zimbabwe for the Zambian side of the falls. Border crossings are such a joy
We arrive at the location and go over the safety briefing. We sign a bunch of forms that say if we die its not their fault, if we stub our toe it is not their fault ect ect...... Then we jump in a john boat and race towards the top of the falls, what. The little guy was weaving all over the place because the water is very shallow here. We land at Livingstone island and that was pretty cool. we had breakfast under a tent because it is always raining that close to the falls. From the spray actually. We walk to a historical marker and take some pictures. one of the guides explained that Livingstone's heart was buried there but his body was embalmed and taken back to London for burial, that is some faithful servants!!!
The girls get in the water and have four hundred pictures taken, lol! it was cold but a very cool experience!

 

[kevin masters]

We leave Zambia and head back to the Zimbabwe side. next order of business was a helicopter ride!
It was expensive but really cool and since this will probably be my only time at the falls I think it was worth it. This was kind of funny my wife was a little unsure and my daughter's friend had never been on a plane before this trip. Short ride back and forth over the falls then back to earth and lunch time!

 

[kevin masters]

after lunch we went and toured the falls from the Zimbabwe side. it is an incredible sight and
just another example of God's Awesome creation! which we got to see a lot of on this trip!
After we toured the falls our driver Fanwell took us for a behind the scenes tour of Livingstone!
Fanwell was our driver the entire time while we were there and that was very nice! We head back to the lodge and I find my spot at the bar overlooking the pan for a little relaxation. That evening we have Dinner at the historic Livingstone Hotel and are entertained by locals dancing and singing. The hotel was beautiful and nostalgic.

 

[AlDahas]

Great report, thnx for sharing
Ahmad

 

[Ridge Runner]

Now that makes the hunting trip much more awesome.

 

[kevin masters]

The next excursion was Chobe game park in Botswana. Fanwell drove us about an hour to the border where we crossed and were met by another driver. another twenty minute ride and we were dropped off at a little restaurant that was beside the Chobe river. We had a light breakfast and got on a double decker boat. The girls went upstairs and Janey and I elected to stay on the bottom. This was a very relaxing way to view all kinds of animal and bird life. We saw hundreds of elephant and lots of crocks and hippo and buffalo! The boat ride was about three hours and very enjoyable.

 

[kevin masters]

Here are some pics, sorry I'm not much of a photographer.

 

[PARA45]

Wow, what an amazing trip. Congrats and thank you for taking us along and sharing your experience.

 

[kevin masters]

When we went back to the dock most of the other people at at the little cafe. We were whisked down the road to a lodge for a four star lunch at an incredible buffet! Again thanks to T&C safari everything was first class!!! In the afternoon we did a game drive through the park and saw tons of animals.
We even got to watch a pair of Lions stalk a sable. They didn't get him but it was cool. I have another Lion story that is way cool but that's for later. Overall Chobe was a great experience! A little commercialized but still very cool! We left the park and went back to Zimbabwe Where I had to buy
four more visa's because I only got a double instead of a multiple. This mistake cost me a 120 dollars but I did get to have a really nice conversation with the border agent,
They are all so friendly, LMAO.
We get back in Zim and back to Victoria falls for dinner at the boma. This was very enjoyable it is an incredible buffet with game roasting on a spit and all kinds of other delicious food. There is an interactive drum show after Dinner. I would highly recommend it was a lot of fun. They even had mopani worms, lol.

 

[enysse]

Congratulations, great memories, nice animals!

 

[kevin masters]

That was our last night in Victoria falls. The next morning Fanwell picks us up early at the lodge and we head to the airport. From here we take a charter to Hwange national airport. We were in a little single engine Cessna twelve seat I believe I think a caravan? great flight for me at least I think the girls were nervous! When we landed there was no one there to pick us up and this tiny little airport was really hilarious. The pilot made a few calls and tells me there was a mix up our driver should be here in an hour. We are going to a camp called The Hide. The girls were very nervous because the airport employees just kept kinda staring at us, lol. There was a security Guard carrying what looked to be a 40's AK or something. I told them to sit down and relax we'd be gone before you know it.
About an hour later our driver shows up apologizing profusely and we are off to The Hide for a couple of days. So some of you may be wondering but my parents visited Zimbabwe in the 90's right before it went to sh*t . They visited Hwange park and I have always romanticized going and seeing what they saw! we stopped around halfway in the park for snacks and to visit a water hole. We arrived at the camp in the open safari vehicle to warm greeting from all the camp staff and cold drinks! My kinda people!!!
We walked up to the central area and received a briefing then were shown to our tents. hour or so to decompress and then we are off on a game drive. The wildlife was abundant , it was like driving through a zoo that's not a zoo, lol. We stopped and had sundowner at dusk and it was beautiful!
We head back to camp for dinner and meet some very nice people, I believe there was some European's and we ate with a lovely couple from Australia! There is a pan about 60 or 70 yard's from the deck of the central area and there is constant animal activity. They also have a resident hippo named motto motto! There is a tunnel that leaves the lodge and goes about 50 yards with a lookout of the pan!

 

[kevin masters]

Alright guys this has gotten lengthy so I will wrap it up. We only spent one full Day at The Hide but our time there was incredible and I will remember forever. The first night we had buffalo within 400 yards of camp. To close for Motto Motto so he exited the pan and scattered the herd. My wife woke me up in the middle of the night frightened by noises, I listened and could not tell what but something was running around outside I told her it was fine and I went back to sleep lol.
When we went down for breakfast the staff explained that lions had taken down a buffalo and the herd or some part of it had run through camp between the pan and our tents. they have logs all around the camp as a perimeter, would this stop animals from crossing, I don't know but I don't think so.
after breakfast we head out for a drive and our driver spots the lions about five hundred yards on the other side of the pan. We drive over literally to within about forty yards and watch the lions eat the buffalo! really cool to see and know we were within sight of where we slept. This pride of lions had twelve lions in total with several of them being cubs. No dominant male.
We dove all day just taking in the beauty of the scenery and wild life which was abundant!
We had lunch at a spot in the park that had individual gazebos each with their own braai.
We spent all day driving and saw everything from elephants and giraffe to wildebeest, zebra tons of impala even a couple of Steenbock.
That evening we had a wonderful dinner with the other guests and enjoyed some time around the fire.
I went back to our tent ( with a few Zambezi ) and sat on the front porch and listened to lions roar.
My wife came out and said are you okay? I said absolutely why? She said you look a little misty eyed
I laughed and told her I felt like I was having a beer with Roosevelt or Hemingway. She laughed and agreed it was indeed incredible! All the rest except for a cool ride out of the park in the morning is us getting home and nobody wants to read that,lol. Great hunt I highly Recommend @ KMG Hunting Safaris , Also really enjoyed Victoria falls thanks to T&C safari co. The hide was just an unbelievable experience just to short! Thank you Marius! and Belinda @T&C and I forgot to mention that Jennifer @ Travel express put this all together. It was seamless and she was a pleasure to deal with. She also hooked me up with T&C. Thanks to all you guys for the advise over the last seven years!!!!

 

[Firebird]

Fun report and love the pix, glad you had a good time, thank you for sharing!

 

[kevin masters]

Update! My crate hit Atlanta this morning

 

[PARA45]

Congratulations. Now, stay on top of your broker to clear this quickly and not incur excessive warehouse storage fees. If your crate flew on Turkish (like most do), they are excessively expensive when it comes to warehouse storage fees.

 

[kevin masters]

using coppersmith and it came in on delta 201

 

[PARA45]

WHAT???? Wait, delta is flying "trophies" again? Wow, those are some wonderful news, and this is definitely new.