SkullKeeper
AH elite
To start off, I can’t express how delightful and helpful Dawna was with the organization of this safari. If a asked about it then she made it happen. We all know the time and effort via emails, texts, and phone calls that it takes to make things run like clockwork, and this is really what can make or break a safari off the get-go.
My flight path went from Dulles (D.C.) to Ethiopia to Victoria Falls via Ethiopian Airlines. This was a little bit of a double edged sword for reasons as follows:
I will avoid travel through South Africa if at all possible. In order to do that I had to shorten my original 10 day hunt to 9 days to coincide with the airline schedule as they don’t fly into/out of Vic Falls daily. Not a real big issue for me honestly since my license was a short one.
All flights went well and I commend Ethiopian for the exemplary attention they gave me on my short layover to ensure my firearms made it to Vic Falls when I did. That’s where I met my PH Stu Taylor face to face for the first time. We loaded up the Hi-Lux with my bags and headed off. The Matetsi Safari area is only 2.5 hours from the Vic Falls airport- a nice perk! About 2/3’s the way there we wheeled into a small scout camp to pick up Billion, our game scout. While waiting for him to gather his things I decided it was a good time to distribute the tennis balls and candy to the camps children - after the word got out (in short order) we were descended up from every direction! Smiles filled the faces as the goodies were passed out ! I had obtained a fan base for sure. We loaded Billion and kit and headed towards camp. As we pulled up, the camp staff was there ready to greet me. With the safari luggage in the rondavel, a hands-n-face wash, and a change out of 24 hour old clothes I headed to the dining and lounging hut all of 15 feet away. Stu was waiting and informed me that lunch was almost ready. Our chef, Lovemore, had an agenda off the bat - to fatten me up, so if a lion got me at least it wouldn’t have felt like it wasted its’ time. An impressive lunch was presented and pounced on properly then off to qualify the rifles and take a little sight-seeing tour of Matetsi 2. Of course we saw some game especially elephants... when did we not see elephants?! Upon returning to camp we were met by Nelson, our waiter, with the traditional shot glass of Port at sunset... and what a fantastic sunset it was ...as always in Africa. After a drink, we sat down to a wonderful dinner and dessert and Stu talked about our game plan for the first day of hunting. It’s the anticipation that’s the best!!
Photos to follow soon !
My flight path went from Dulles (D.C.) to Ethiopia to Victoria Falls via Ethiopian Airlines. This was a little bit of a double edged sword for reasons as follows:
I will avoid travel through South Africa if at all possible. In order to do that I had to shorten my original 10 day hunt to 9 days to coincide with the airline schedule as they don’t fly into/out of Vic Falls daily. Not a real big issue for me honestly since my license was a short one.
All flights went well and I commend Ethiopian for the exemplary attention they gave me on my short layover to ensure my firearms made it to Vic Falls when I did. That’s where I met my PH Stu Taylor face to face for the first time. We loaded up the Hi-Lux with my bags and headed off. The Matetsi Safari area is only 2.5 hours from the Vic Falls airport- a nice perk! About 2/3’s the way there we wheeled into a small scout camp to pick up Billion, our game scout. While waiting for him to gather his things I decided it was a good time to distribute the tennis balls and candy to the camps children - after the word got out (in short order) we were descended up from every direction! Smiles filled the faces as the goodies were passed out ! I had obtained a fan base for sure. We loaded Billion and kit and headed towards camp. As we pulled up, the camp staff was there ready to greet me. With the safari luggage in the rondavel, a hands-n-face wash, and a change out of 24 hour old clothes I headed to the dining and lounging hut all of 15 feet away. Stu was waiting and informed me that lunch was almost ready. Our chef, Lovemore, had an agenda off the bat - to fatten me up, so if a lion got me at least it wouldn’t have felt like it wasted its’ time. An impressive lunch was presented and pounced on properly then off to qualify the rifles and take a little sight-seeing tour of Matetsi 2. Of course we saw some game especially elephants... when did we not see elephants?! Upon returning to camp we were met by Nelson, our waiter, with the traditional shot glass of Port at sunset... and what a fantastic sunset it was ...as always in Africa. After a drink, we sat down to a wonderful dinner and dessert and Stu talked about our game plan for the first day of hunting. It’s the anticipation that’s the best!!
Photos to follow soon !
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