DREAMLAND

Gather round the campfire gentle readers and I will tell you a tale.

From time to time I gather with my local compatriots,

assorted miscreants and villains though they may be;

And we talk;

and often times enjoy an adult beverage to ward off the chill;

Tonight I posit to you this evening's topic and solicit your comment;

Comes a time in every man's life where retirement looms, either selected or forced;

One can fish, hunt, golf or whatever but, if your design was the dark Continent how would it be?

I submit that transiting for the "Safari Season" say May through September would relieve one of
the heat of Summer locally and easily best the "condo in 'Boca"

Imagine with me for a moment a cozy bungalow or condo where the hunting camps of six or seven African nations were but a short charter flight away

Surely a 4-5 month "safari season" would allow time for 5 - 6 good hunts

and without the inconvenience of the 36 hour flight from Houston

So then, here is the question...predicated on the above and foregoing, where would you make your camp
for such a Summer?

Botswana? Harare? Maun? Windhoek? certainly not Pretoria but where then?

And that gentle readers is your quandary....you are going to somewhere in Southern Africa for the :safari Season: where will you base your operation.

Please remember, this is only a drill opinions and suggestions are all that count

I would be in Maun, Botswana having the occaisonal lunch with Harry Selby and enjoying the easy access to southern africa. Moz, zim, namibia, and zambia all a short flight away.

Maun certainly has appeal....kind of a wild west town with a hint of British culture

fine selection, I commend you on your selection

I hear you old timer, hopefully still a couple of years away from my retirement, "selected or forced".

Botswana is a good call - arguably the better one of the lot - but given a choice i will make my camp in the Namibian Caprivi - hunting opportunities / outfitters to choose from, short inland trip to Tsumeb / Otjiwarongo areas - excellent hunting all over Namibia, Okavango Swamps on your doorstep, Vic Falls around the corner - with Zim / Botswana / RSA bordering all around you and but 1 - 3 hours flight away.

That will be my choice.

Originally Posted by fhm3006

I hear you old timer, hopefully still a couple of years away from my retirement, "selected or forced".

Botswana is a good call - arguably the better one of the lot - but given a choice i will make my camp in the Namibian Caprivi - hunting opportunities / outfitters to choose from, short inland trip to Tsumeb / Otjiwarongo areas - excellent hunting all over Namibia, Okavango Swamps on your doorstep, Vic Falls around the corner - with Zim / Botswana / RSA bordering all around you and but 1 - 3 hours flight away.

That will be my choice.

Fhm like your choice and reasons. also not too far from katima mulilo bridge to zambia. really liked that country up there when i drove through to zambia. stayed at a lodge on the okavango river for the night, stunning area. also if people want to do a few hunts in their 5 or 6 months namibia seems to offer some very good pricing.

Second Wind

The grey season is nearing...

I looked at the SA air routes. As i know you would like to have access to an airport and not have your vehicle borrowed (stolen)...

If your intent is to take a sojourn out of a designated setting you have but a few choices really to consider.

Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban in South Africa.. With Cape Town & Joberg with international routes. Great sea fishing in April & May

Windhoek in Namibia.. with Windhoek having international connections.

Victoria Falls and Livingstone on the Great river of life...

Nairobi in Kenya

Dar es Saalom in Tanzania

Beria in Mozambique

Bulawayo and Harare in Zimbabwe...connections out of Joberg

Gaborone in Botswana...connections out of Joberg

I would opt for Cape Town or Durban Both have great air service, medical and Hy-way system plus hunting would be close by. You would be able to get buy with English in these cities/towns.

Now if you would like to try another area out i would suggest George, Port Elizabeth, East London and Richards Bay on in South Africa and a fairly safe place to stay.

If you would like to live a little less fashonable try Victoria Falls, Nelspruit or Windhoek out.

Have fun...

Safe and quiet...Port Elizabeth and East London...great choices. Durban sounds good. Windhoek in Namibia sounds fine too. Depends on how much money you have to burn?

Perhaps a little interjection to the original concept,

And btw I am still a ways from retirement of any fashion

I guess JG makes a good point in that mobility would be a key concern, reasonable close to air service, good local roads, reasonably safe environs. Perhaps a truck available, either leased or owned, health care might be a consideration as well

The next thought is that where you were would kind of dictate as to what you might be doing while you weren't hunting
so that bears consideration I suppose.

But, and this is something I thought about this morning while trying to get yet another stuck dozer out of a river bottom,

Sitting there in your little casa suerte, dialed into AH on the internet, just think of all the opportunities you would have.
cancellations, unfilled bookings etc. Might be a little different situation when you could say "Yeah, I can be there tomorrow"

and enyesse "money to burn?" not to worry, that's why the thread is called DREAMLAND

Giving this some consideration, taking into account several good points.

I can get away with anything, IF I got a retirement spot on the water.
With those waves crashing on a daily basis I can do anything!

So, Salt Rock would have to be it.


This is also on the back yard. Hluhluwe.


It leaves me close to all the amenities and it is way closer to Fishing and Hunting Southern Africa than where I am now.
I'll live with the travel times (in my small plane) to Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, Zambia, CAR.

Breathtaking!

And of course this answers the nagging question about "whose going to mow the back yard"

Originally Posted by Second Wind

Breathtaking!

And of course this answers the nagging question about "whose going to mow the back yard"

That is the good part about Salt Rock, there is no back yard. It's that picture!