Your "second" once in a lifetime trip to Africa

My second hunt was a true adventure to Zimbabwe for Elephant and Buffalo. Last was to Tanzania for a full bag 21 day. My first was PH in the EC of South Africa. All were great and could be classified as "once in a lifetime" experiences and all in different countries with different outfitters. In between were several others including an adventure to Mozambique for leopard. The only repeat was with Bossie of @LIMPOPO BIG GAME SAFARIS as he is my go to for the many night critters and I did a white rhino hunt with him. I like to spread it around and experience different areas and cultures but I'd go back go back again with Bossie and a few of the others such as Sherdell in Tanzania, the elephanthunt in Zimbabwe and certainly with Crusader and Lalapa. I really enjoyed the friendly peope Tanzania. If we'd had the time, I'd have gone back this year!
 
Hard not to want to see it all, and my experience has been after 3 safaris that the list keeps getting longer after each one LOL. Variety is the spice of life,.....that being said I am hopelessly addicted to hunting buffalo.
 
We've been to Africa 3 times, getting more specific and exotic with each trip. Also, each trip to a different place, which I think we will continue- so much of Africa to see and explore!

1st trip: RSA (limpopo and NWP) for PG (kudu, waterbuck, blue wildebeest, zebra, impala, warthog, jackal). Added on a lion and sable at the last minute.

2nd trip: RSA (EC) looking for giraffe and the PG we missed out on during our first trip (nyala, gemsbok, black wildebeest, jackal, springhare)

3rd trip: wild africa! Zim. We're fully committed at this point! (Elephant, leopard, Hippo, bushbuck, impala)

Future trips?! Bongo in the Congo is #1 for me, would also love to see Namibia. After that, who knows!
 
My second hunt was a hunt I won through DSC with Michel Mantheakis--a great gentleman and icon in Tanzania. It was to the Kilombero region while it was still WILD. Two buffalo, one really nice, but the most thrilling part of the hunt was when a broken starter on the swamp buggy (brought over from Florida) stranded us on the far side of a large island late in the afternoon. The hippos were breeding, had already knocked the motor off one of the boats attacking it, and none of the fishermen wanted to give us a ride downriver which was infested with them. Finally two men agreed to paddle us down in their dugout for $20 and a toothbrush, and all we did was pass over or through pods of hippos and slide by some truly gargantuan crocs. Hippo heads would go down at the approach, with the dominant male usually charging toward us underwater, waves rippling over his wake, only to turn at the last moment and bust out through the mateti cane on the bank. The men would stop paddling and glide quietly through the area where the hippos were still submerged with fingers crossed. One croc came sliding out of a slough shielded by grass right on top of us so that it whacked the dugout we were in with its tail while trying to submerge. The game scout cried, "don't shoot, is not attacking, is just a collision! But man, what a croc--maybe 5 1/2 meters." The PH got worried after darkness fell because we kept hearing hippos behind us, meaning we had passed though them without knowing. Finally we heard the camp generators and made our way to camp, having traveled an estimated 15 miles.
As we were disembarking the dugout, the PH said, "Now, we didn't want to offend you, pastor, but the reason why they gave us a ride in the first place was because a witchdoctor had sacrificed a chicken in their boat and told them, "now the hippos will flee from you and not attack you."
Makes a nice bedtime story, don't you think?
A fellow later commented that it was the most dangerous thing I did during my safari...but he didn't know about me stepping literally on the backside of a hippo laying up in the grass that took off like a 5000 lb rabbit! Then again, two weeks after I left a western medical doctor was snatched right out of a dugout by a croc, and body never recovered...
 
My second hunt was a hunt I won through DSC with Michel Mantheakis--a great gentleman and icon in Tanzania. It was to the Kilombero region while it was still WILD. Two buffalo, one really nice, but the most thrilling part of the hunt was when a broken starter on the swamp buggy (brought over from Florida) stranded us on the far side of a large island late in the afternoon. The hippos were breeding, had already knocked the motor off one of the boats attacking it, and none of the fishermen wanted to give us a ride downriver which was infested with them. Finally two men agreed to paddle us down in their dugout for $20 and a toothbrush, and all we did was pass over or through pods of hippos and slide by some truly gargantuan crocs. Hippo heads would go down at the approach, with the dominant male usually charging toward us underwater, waves rippling over his wake, only to turn at the last moment and bust out through the mateti cane on the bank. The men would stop paddling and glide quietly through the area where the hippos were still submerged with fingers crossed. One croc came sliding out of a slough shielded by grass right on top of us so that it whacked the dugout we were in with its tail while trying to submerge. The game scout cried, "don't shoot, is not attacking, is just a collision! But man, what a croc--maybe 5 1/2 meters." The PH got worried after darkness fell because we kept hearing hippos behind us, meaning we had passed though them without knowing. Finally we heard the camp generators and made our way to camp, having traveled an estimated 15 miles.
As we were disembarking the dugout, the PH said, "Now, we didn't want to offend you, pastor, but the reason why they gave us a ride in the first place was because a witchdoctor had sacrificed a chicken in their boat and told them, "now the hippos will flee from you and not attack you."
Makes a nice bedtime story, don't you think?
A fellow later commented that it was the most dangerous thing I did during my safari...but he didn't know about me stepping literally on the backside of a hippo laying up in the grass that took off like a 5000 lb rabbit! Then again, two weeks after I left a western medical doctor was snatched right out of a dugout by a croc, and body never recovered...
What an adventure! Thanks for sharing
 
Then again, two weeks after I left a western medical doctor was snatched right out of a dugout by a croc, and body never recovered...
I remember that about 17 or 18 years ago.
 
I like the variety of areas and animals.

First trip was Zimbabwe in the Save Valley Conservancy with Zambezi Hunters for PG.

Second trip to the Niassa Reserve R3 area in Mozambique bordering Tanzania for leopard, buffalo, sable and PG.

Third trip to Mozambique with Safaris de Mocambique for buffalo, sable, croc and PG.

Fourth trip to Coutada 9 in Mozambique with Mokore Safaris for nyala and PG.

Fifth trip to CAR with Safari Bongo for bongo and PG.

Sixth trip to Massailand in Tanzania with Bullet Safaris for PG unique to Tanzania such as Grants gazelle, Gerenuk, lesser kudu, fringe-eared oryx, etc…

Seventh trip to Botswana with Johan Calitz Safaris for elephant.

Eighth trip to Kansonso Busanga, Lunda Busanga, Bangweulu Swamp and Kafue Flats for sitatunga, sable, the 3 lechwe antelope species and other PG with Ntengu Safaris.

Ninth trip next year to Maswa in Tanzania with Mike Fell of Bushman Hunting Safaris to split a full bag safari with a friend.
 
For my second trip, I wanted to experience a true wilderness hunt. I hunted in the Luangua Valley for Buffalo and plains game. It was simply incredible. A Safari in a wild area…sleeping in a thatch hut….being chased by Elephants….so many memories. That trip erased all doubt I may have had about future trips to Africa. I was, and I am, completely hooked!
 
I’ve been on 4 safaris with the same outfitter. However, we have hunted in 4 different areas in Namibia. The first was for plains game not far from Windhoek, kudu, oryx, mt. Zebra, springbok, waterbuck and impala. The second trip was in an area about 4 hours from Windhoek and the focus there was leopard I also got a nice eland on that trip. Third trip was for more plains game but was more of a sightseeing tour than a hunt. We went and spent 4 days at Etosha. My 4th trip was to the Caprivi to hunt buffalo. Also got bushbuck and lechwe up there and then went back to the place I originally hunted all those years ago and got a sable, nyala and baboon. I am now in the planning stages of trying to put together a hunt in RSA for buffalo and some other PG. This site has been a tremendous resource for looking at new areas with new outfitters/PHs. I’ve still got quite a few animals that I want to hunt that I haven’t yet.
 
Having been to Africa only 3 times, I'm definitely not ready to call anything a once in a lifetime hunt. Not sure I'll be satisfied with 20 trips, if finances and health permits. While I do enjoy shooting some of the PG animals, my main focus has always been Cape Buffalo. And now that I've shot an Elephant this year, it will probably be on my priority list on all of my hunts to come. I honestly don't see how I would ever want to book a trip without at least one of those on my list.
That said, once I went to Zimbabwe this year, it really turned out to be more than a hunting trip. Just seeing how the people live there, and getting to interact with them was a big part of the enjoyment.
Congratulations on your elephant! very jealous
 
So as it turns out the people you spoke too before your first trip were right ; you can't go and hunt Africa only one time. Was your second trip to get the trophies you did not get the first time or did you have a new list of things you wanted to hunt? Combination of the two? Did you go someplace new or return to the same area and outfitter you hunted with the first time?
I'm by no means super rich. I do very well and I just turned 50. I've been to Africa 3 times now thankfully. The first 2 times the world never heard of this Covid thing. Flights were cheap, hunting in S Africa was easy and very doable. My first time in 2014 me & dad flew over and did a father son hunt well under 10k with me doing most of the shooting. We harvested a ton of plains game. The usual stuff springbok, warthog, gemsbok, wildabeest impala.

I had the itch to go back for more & the accommodations were so nice my wife came. I went with the same folks but this time I wanted a taste of a little dangerous game a lioness. We hunted plains game, kudu, artabeest white blesbok, zebra and I got my lioness up in the Kalahari.

My thirst for dangerous game only grew after my lioness hunt. I booked a trip to "real wild Africa" in 21 to Zambia with a totally different group. Leopard, Croc, hippo and buffalo. I scored 50%. Clean kills on buff and hippo. Leopard didn't work out. Nor did it with the croc I wanted to shoot. It's real world hunting right? I did harvest an elephant by invitation of the game scout. It was a bull elephant with a right front broken leg. He asked if I wanted to shoot it for some meat for locals. I filled out the paper work and we eventually found him on a 3 hour stalk. 2 shots with my 375 and he was down. I wasn't allowed to take anything home.

I have 4 animals left on my African bucket list. Leopard, Sable and a croc over 13.5 feet & an eland I'm booking for 2024 with the same group in Zambia but we'll be hunting further south down the river. If I take these 4 animals my African dreams will be complete.
 
Last edited:
I am in the same thought process as many of you, first pg in 2007 Limpopo, EC this coming summer for sable/nyala, and after that it’s time for something deep in the bush for dg.
 
I've hunted Africa 16 times and the only place I ever went back to and hunted with the same outfitter was for bongo in Cameroon. Sure, there are 2 or 3 that I should go back with, and I probably will, but there is a part of me that always likes seeing new areas and new camps.
 
So as it turns out the people you spoke too before your first trip were right ; you can't go and hunt Africa only one time. Was your second trip to get the trophies you did not get the first time or did you have a new list of things you wanted to hunt? Combination of the two? Did you go someplace new or return to the same area and outfitter you hunted with the first time?
My second trip was a different outfitter for DG.
 
First trip was the low fence cattle country of Namibia which included a leopard. My second was to the Caprivi for my first and best buffalo. Like others, I like seeing new country. That said, I have hunted the Zambezi Delta in Mozambique twice with Mashambanzou Safaris and twice with Nick Nolte in Namibia.

I should note that I am not a "collector." For instance, I enjoy hunting the Namibian Oryx in his free range habitat. I have taken nearly a dozen. I have mounted one on a pedestal and one is a Euro. The remainder or memories and photos. All were appreciated by me and the good people who put them to use. Several other PG animals fit that profile. I hope I am never done with Africa as long as I am able.
 
Last edited:
My second is coming up next May with Limcroma. Taking my son along. Going for my holy grail, the elusive warthog. Also nyala and bushbuck. My son is undecided on what he wants to hunt. Cannot wait to go!
 
My second is coming up next May with Limcroma. Taking my son along. Going for my holy grail, the elusive warthog. Also nyala and bushbuck. My son is undecided on what he wants to hunt. Cannot wait to go!
Hunting bushbuck may as well be a drug, very addictive….
 
Plan for my second trip is different from my first. I want to experience wild Africa. However, I still haven’t narrowed the details much. Current options: Namibia for Leopard, Zim for Ele, or Moz for Buffalo or Leopard.

Time and budget will tell.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
57,895
Messages
1,242,479
Members
102,281
Latest member
chris Dube
 

 

 

Latest posts

Latest profile posts

Grz63 wrote on Werty's profile.
(cont'd)
Rockies museum,
CM Russel museum and lewis and Clark interpretative center
Horseback riding in Summer star ranch
Charlo bison range and Garnet ghost town
Flathead lake, road to the sun and hiking in Glacier NP
and back to SLC (via Ogden and Logan)
Grz63 wrote on Werty's profile.
Good Morning,
I plan to visit MT next Sept.
May I ask you to give me your comments; do I forget something ? are my choices worthy ? Thank you in advance
Philippe (France)

Start in Billings, Then visit little big horn battlefield,
MT grizzly encounter,
a hot springs (do you have good spots ?)
Looking to buy a 375 H&H or .416 Rem Mag if anyone has anything they want to let go of
Erling Søvik wrote on dankykang's profile.
Nice Z, 1975 ?
Tintin wrote on JNevada's profile.
Hi Jay,

Hope you're well.

I'm headed your way in January.

Attending SHOT Show has been a long time bucket list item for me.

Finally made it happen and I'm headed to Vegas.

I know you're some distance from Vegas - but would be keen to catch up if it works out.

Have a good one.

Mark
 
Top