Thoughts on type of camps

[MarkB]

Who said anything about not liking anything I haven't tried - or virginity for that matter?

I obviously wasn't clear. I have tried foods all over the world - I haven't counted the countries but I am sure it is at least 55. Many of them were wonderful, others were charitably edible, and yet others were disgusting. There are people in your trade who are artists and others who should be brick layers rather than cooks or chefs.

I have had Haggis several times and could not abide it. Like all food questions, it is an issue of taste - literally and figuratively. The fact that you have never found anything you couldn't or wouldn't eat again is irrelevant with respect to those things another would just as soon not be required to taste again. Being handed a goats eyeball at an Arab feast as we sat around a mound of rice with a goat carcass draped across it is another experience I can pass up in the future - though kabsa itself (fowl, goat, camel, or sheep) and the Bedouin eating tradition are something I enjoy.

I think we can find complete agreement in having little patience with those who refuse to try something at all.

@Red Leg my post was not directed at you, in fact I started para two as I did because I was not accusing you or including you in those who would not eating or try a food before you developed a like or dislike on its taste. I do not know you so cannot and would not specifically say you were one way or the other. I was speaking broadly across my trade as I did (before retirement) experience this behavior most often.

I also agree with your statement that some cooks/chefs should not be in the trade, that is the same in all trades, some brick layers should not be that either. To be in my trade to be good one must have passion, work ethics and thick skin to name a few. Not all have and demonstrate those requirements.

My post was directed at those who we both agree on in your last sentence. Will not or have not tried the item but have a voiced opinion on its taste.

MB

 

[ActionBob]

To be in my trade to be good one must have passion, work ethics and thick skin to name a few. Not all have and demonstrate those requirements.

Pretty good universal quote accross any trade, job, career, hobby, ... marriage

 

[ActionBob]

My post was directed at those who we both agree on in your last sentence. Will not or have not tried the item but have a voiced opinion on its taste.

Kind of like having strong opinions on military and government financial issues without any basis of factual knowledge

Or any topic, drives me nuts on Agriculture stuff because it's what I know.

And if you want to get @Just Gina ramped up, just tell her your uninformed medical advice or how the medically impossible can work

 

[Doug3006]

I’m late to this thread, and I’ve enjoyed reading everyone’s responses. The ambiance of a camp is a big part of the whole safari experience. I’ve stayed in grass huts, mudcovered cinder block huts and 3 to 4 star lodges. I’ve enjoyed all of them and I’m sure I’d enjoy tents, corrugated tin huts, whatever was the case.

I’ve noticed that the biggest driver of my satisfaction hasn’t been where and how I slept and ate, but who I was with. I have been fortunate to safari exclusively with my friend @Jeff505 so I know going into it that he’ll keep me laughing. The wild card is the PH and staff.

I don’t need to be pampered nor entertained by the PH. Everyone has a different personality. That said, it’s great to share a camp with someone who “clicks” to some degree. Sullen folks and introverts do not a good PH make.
So I think the old adage applies….it’s not what you do but who you do it with that matters.

 

[Rickmt]

For me the camp is really secondary to the property and game quality. I look long and hard at size of property, self sustaining animals, and quality of game to be hunted .

 

[jey3122]

Guys thanks for all the feedback some good points to take note of.

 

[Hunting Hitman]

good day sir, i have to agree and disagree vehemently with you here
i am as south african, if not more than most with very dark pigmented skin, i think about 5 generations or more.
so are you referring to "local" cuisine how we usually eat, or how my staff eats, and what they eat daily, bacause belive me, you dont want that, on most days, some of the meals they have sure are nice, but some not so much!!!

you moan about hard rusks, that is about as, local, south african as you get, everybody in south africa has hard rusks with their coffee in the morning, and usually thats all we have

real coffee i agree wholeheartedly, warm mugs, how do you do this???

eat what you shoot, yes for sure, how would us locals eat it, probably grill on the Braai, thats local, what would be on the side, probably "pap" and sauce (tomato and onion) and if you are lucky a veg or possibly a salad.

packed lunch, i hear you, school days are long gone, keep your juice in a bag thx or packet of sweet, braai a boerewors and have a few bread rolls, thats local

so while i think you have different views of what locals eat here, i think some of your ideas are good, somewhat fussy, but good

at tallyho we give you local cuisine, but better, with some flair!!!
and we cook what you shoot...most days

I have a funny side story about eating with the locals...It was in Tanzania and around my 7th or 8th day of Safari I would notice that the trackers, game scouts and support staff would move about 50 yards away during lunch time, start a fire, and get after a pot of stew as I would have a picnic with my PH. Well being super conscious of not wanting to offend anyone I asked the PH if we could eat together as I did not want to have them feel that I was superior to them in any way and we were all the same in my opinion.
Well my PH tried to talk me out of it because of the cuisine they were used to eating but I persisted and a few days later we joined them fireside for a true TEAM Lunch.
This consisted of a dough like bread that was heated and a stew of mystery origins that you dip the bread in and we all had a good time huddled around the fire enjoying our meal. At approximately 2AM the next day I was awoken my a mild "stomach contraction" and I gingerly made my way to the ensuite toilet facilities. I was fortunate to make an additional 4 visits to those same facilities before breakfast In which I informed my PH of what was happening.
He asked if I wanted to take the day off and I said no as I'm a tough hunter and no little upset stomach was going to stop me from hunting...but please bring extra TP.
About once and hour was my going rate for stopping to relieve the "pressure" that would build and needed to be released. Every time I tapped the hood of the land cruiser and sprinted for a termite mound the entire truck would explode in good natured laughter. It finally subsided around lunch and I was asked if I wanted to sit with the team again and I politely declined.
Take your PH's advice and eat the food that's prepared for you and save yourself some embarrassment...

HH

 

[Doug3006]

I have a funny side story about eating with the locals...It was in Tanzania and around my 7th or 8th day of Safari I would notice that the trackers, game scouts and support staff would move about 50 yards away during lunch time, start a fire, and get after a pot of stew as I would have a picnic with my PH. Well being super conscious of not wanting to offend anyone I asked the PH if we could eat together as I did not want to have them feel that I was superior to them in any way and we were all the same in my opinion.
Well my PH tried to talk me out of it because of the cuisine they were used to eating but I persisted and a few days later we joined them fireside for a true TEAM Lunch.
This consisted of a dough like bread that was heated and a stew of mystery origins that you dip the bread in and we all had a good time huddled around the fire enjoying our meal. At approximately 2AM the next day I was awoken my a mild "stomach contraction" and I gingerly made my way to the ensuite toilet facilities. I was fortunate to make an additional 4 visits to those same facilities before breakfast In which I informed my PH of what was happening.
He asked if I wanted to take the day off and I said no as I'm a tough hunter and no little upset stomach was going to stop me from hunting...but please bring extra TP.
About once and hour was my going rate for stopping to relieve the "pressure" that would build and needed to be released. Every time I tapped the hood of the land cruiser and sprinted for a termite mound the entire truck would explode in good natured laughter. It finally subsided around lunch and I was asked if I wanted to sit with the team again and I politely declined.
Take your PH's advice and eat the food that's prepared for you and save yourself some embarrassment...

HH

Great story! There are good lessons to be learned in the Bush. I noticed the same thing in Zim….trackers, driver and scout would eat by themselves. I asked the PH why we didn’t all eat together. I didn’t feel comfortable with a caste system. He politely explained that they ate by themselves because they enjoy a break from the boss and the client! Now THAT I got!

 

[Mark A Ouellette]

After 10 miles tracking in 105-degree Fahrenheit (40 Celsius) heat we were all beat. Our quarry turned out to be a half dozen teenage Zimbabwe elephants with no more than 25 pounds ivory. A face-to-face standoff in the bush was all I got!

We stopped to fuel up on our return to camp. There I gave the trackers and game scout each $2 USD to buy a couple drinks. To my surprise they returned without any drinks but with two loaves of bread each. WTF? I was hot, hot, hot! They had to be at least hot. The next day when away from the PH, I asked them if they were getting enough to eat. They responded yes, but I was looking into their eyes. Knowing the cheap food my wife and I were eating; I figured the guys were getting much less. I asked the trackers how much money was required to buy ALL the staff a good meal. I ended up giving them $40.

The next day on the return to camp we stopped and the guys bought a live goat. I think they polished off the meat that evening and surely consumed everything even remotely edible over the next day or two. Accomplish the mission and take care of your men…

 

[buck wild]

Guys thanks for all the feedback some good points to take note of.

After all the input, what are you going to do?

 

[Nevada Mike]

I much prefer a comfortable tent camp over any type of lodge or permanent camp.

 

[Tally-Ho HUNTING SAFARIS]

After all the input, what are you going to do?

never start another thread

 

[buck wild]

Yes sir, I understand the guide/PH is required by law and there’s no getting around that. I guess what I was trying to say is that I think there’s a fair amount of people that would like the most stripped down self sufficient African experience they can legally get. Myself included. As long as the price was fairly adjusted for it.

Here ya go....... I don't think it'll be cheaper though

Fly Camp In Central African Republic

Hello everyone, We have a very big area 1.4 million acres with the main camp in quiet in the middle so we are using fly camp to hunt some place of the area. Some of them are just for couple days but sometimes for more than 10 days of course the set up and the 2 fly camps will be very...

www.africahunting.com

 

[CRowe]

Yeah if less service isn’t cheaper, I’ll probably just sleep in a good bed. But I’ll check it out. Thanks

 

[Nyati]

Last year I spent a few days in this lodge in Mpumalanga, called NKwali Eco, located in the Krokodilpoort Nature Reserve, near the town of Matsulu which borders the Kruger.

It is the oldest lodge I have visited, I asked but nobody could tell me when it was built.

As you can see, the chalet is large and very well appointed, but... it has a thatched roof, and these roofs attract all kind of bugs and bug chasers.

I could not find a single bug, as there was an abundance of reptiles, salamanders, geckos ? who took care of the bug population, and they were quite discreet about it, the only evidence was their droppings all over the floor and furniture.

 

[Mekaniks]

Guys thanks for all the feedback some good points to take note of.

Thanks for starting this thread @Lex Strauss SAFARIS .

With over 6K views and 215 replies so far (and counting) the types of hunting camps is clearly something that folks believe are important and need more attention. All good stuff for sure.

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

No offense taken Sir. As a Canadian chef by trade I do agree with you. Yes appreciated by all when done and presented well. Food is also most certainly an art, but one cannot say a specific art is beautiful or they like it if they have never seen it, same in my mind for food, one should not dislike a taste or item without ever tasting, or even be willing to taste if they have an opinion on its taste.

Not you specifically as I do not know, however in my trade I hear, eew, yuk, that's discussing or I could/would never eat "that", or that comes from an animals ?? body part, and those type of comments, when the person saying has formed that opinion not based on a their experienced taste but a look, belief or mystical thing that forms their thoughts.

That is why in my 55 countries visited and consuming every item I could, I have not eaten anything I would not eat again, and am saddened by those who refuse to try a food/dish or item but say they dislike it. I would never force, pressure or expect someone to eat what they do not want, but I also would not respect that persons opinion on its taste.

The world of food is an exciting, varied and amazing thing.

BTW Robbie Burns day and haggis is a very delightful meal, as was the garlic pan fried flour dredged moose brain we enjoyed annually the morning after someone in camp shot one, it was a breakfast tradition all enjoyed. Not todays world as we now have some new diseases that preclude touching and consuming cerebral fluids.

I often say for comparison, its like the virgin who says they hate sex.

MB

Tripe and onions, curried trotters, yum!

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

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Last year I spent a few days in this lodge in Mpumalanga, called NKwali Eco, located in the Krokodilpoort Nature Reserve, near the town of Matsulu which borders the Kruger.

It is the oldest lodge I have visited, I asked but nobody could tell me when it was built.

As you can see, the chalet is large and very well appointed, but... it has a thatched roof, and these roofs attract all kind of bugs and bug chasers.

I could not find a single bug, as there was an abundance of reptiles, salamanders, geckos ? who took care of the bug population, and they were quite discreet about it, the only evidence was their droppings all over the floor and furniture.

I have lived under a thatched roof for the past 33 years and in all that time have only been stung by one scorpion, it fell from the ceiling and I rolled on him in bed - mistake! Thereafter fitted flat frame mosquito nets, problem solved. Bring on the geccos, pleasant little creatures that keep all the rest in check.

 

[FlyGuy]

Rustic camp over 5 star any day!!!
I’m very much of the same opinion as Rickmt and Nevada Mike.

 

[Flipper Dude]