2013 Safari with Hartzview

It's a happy day, finalized dates with Jacques today and just confirmed flight reservations using FF miles to get to Kimberly. For some strange reason, I couldn't get out of Phoenix on the dates I wanted, so we're going to have to leave out of LAX. It's all good though, a quick drive over to L.A. is worth it to get the tix with FF miles.

Now for the animal list:

Austin: Kudu, Springbok, Impala and he wants an Ostrich, we'll see about this last one.

Phil: Gemsbok, Black Wildebeest, Mountain Reedbuck and if the purse strings allow perhaps an Eland.

......for now the long wait and anticipation until next May!

Can you give some info on what airline and how many points it took for the ticket? Thanks

Phil

sound like you and your son will have a great time.

what rifles have you decided to take.

Question...would it not have made sense to purchase tickets from Phoenix to LA instead of driving and parking.

Phil,
sounds like a great trip, I'm envious, your gettin out of the desert at a great time Best of luck to you and your son!

Phil,

Congratulations. Y'all will have a great time. Just 10 months to go!!!

Phil, old buddy ...old pal

You're taking your son instead of me?

I'm crushed . . . .nay, devastated!

So, while you are out having the time of your lives, I will be sitting by the fire with a cold bowl of porridge cleaning my rifle
and thinking about all the fun your guys are having

All kidding aside, I know you two will have a time you both will always remember and at the end of the day, that's what is important

Congrats I am sure you guys will gave a great time.

Why no Ostrich though? Are you afraid to let him tackle dangerous game?

Attachment 12390

Originally Posted by Cgswimmer25

Can you give some info on what airline and how many points it took for the ticket? Thanks

My FF miles are with U.S. Airways. They're HQ'd here in Tempe and shy of Southwest, the easiest to get a direct flight to most major cities in the U.S. U.S. Airways is a part of Star Alliance and so I was able to use these miles with Lufthansa and South Africa Airways.

I included Lufthansa because we weren't able to get either the JFK or Dulles to Jo'burg on SAA. We will fly to Frankfurt from LAX, have a 10 hour layover then fly to JNB and arrive there in the morning. With a rougly 7 hour layover there before hopping the short flight to Kimberly. Roundtrip in sardine class ran 70K miles. Frankly I think that's a bargain. I'd have preferred the JFK to JNB flight as we lose a day in traveling, but the 10 hour layover in Frankfurt will give us the opportunity to take in a little bit of Germany for the day.

This part of the planning was difficult with the rather horrid service by U.S. Airways. I started calling them last week when we were approaching the window where we could book. I ended up picking up the tip to try leaving out of other cities and fortunately that worked out, but that tip did not come from them. I was fortunate to talk to one very interested woman who gave me another tip. If using Star Alliance miles you can do the flight research at the link below and figure what seats are available. And trust me, it changes daily. If you're using FF miles you need to be prepared and on your game.

www.aeroplan.com

EDIT: BTW, in working out the flights I did need to call Lufthansa a few times. I hope that experience is a reflection of what to expect flying them, their service was fantastic.

Originally Posted by James.Grage

Phil

sound like you and your son will have a great time.

what rifles have you decided to take.

Question...would it not have made sense to purchase tickets from Phoenix to LA instead of driving and parking.

My son will be carrying his Tikka in .308 for sure. I on the other hand have a choice to make. The choice will be be either the M70 in .300WM or the .375HH. The latter would certainly be more advantageous for Eland.

We may yet purchase tickets and fly to LA. For whatever reason the airlines would not let me do a FF mile purchase out of Phx. It will be cheaper to drive and I've already looked it up, it's only $6/day for covered and secured parking at LAX. Flying would also mean one more check-in and then pick up of bags and rifle case in LA.

Congrats, now for the anticipation. Watching the clock.

I'll look forward to your report on Frankfurt and the hunt.

Originally Posted by PHOENIX PHIL

My FF miles are with U.S. Airways. They're HQ'd here in Tempe and shy of Southwest, the easiest to get a direct flight to most major cities in the U.S. U.S. Airways is a part of Star Alliance and so I was able to use these miles with Lufthansa and South Africa Airways.

I included Lufthansa because we weren't able to get either the JFK or Dulles to Jo'burg on SAA. We will fly to Frankfurt from LAX, have a 10 hour layover then fly to JNB and arrive there in the morning. With a rougly 7 hour layover there before hopping the short flight to Kimberly. Roundtrip in sardine class ran 70K miles. Frankly I think that's a bargain. I'd have preferred the JFK to JNB flight as we lose a day in traveling, but the 10 hour layover in Frankfurt will give us the opportunity to take in a little bit of Germany for the day.

This part of the planning was difficult with the rather horrid service by U.S. Airways. I started calling them last week when we were approaching the window where we could book. I ended up picking up the tip to try leaving out of other cities and fortunately that worked out, but that tip did not come from them. I was fortunate to talk to one very interested woman who gave me another tip. If using Star Alliance miles you can do the flight research at the link below and figure what seats are available. And trust me, it changes daily. If you're using FF miles you need to be prepared and on your game.

www.aeroplan.com

EDIT: BTW, in working out the flights I did need to call Lufthansa a few times. I hope that experience is a reflection of what to expect flying them, their service was fantastic.

Thanks for the details, sounds like you've got a good trip ahead of you. I'm thinking about booking with Jacques in the future so I'll look forward to hearing about how your hunt went if you choose to post a report here afterwards. Good luck on the adventure!

Originally Posted by Diamondhitch

Congrats I am sure you guys will gave a great time.

Why no Ostrich though? Are you afraid to let him tackle dangerous game?

Attachment 12390

Damm things are ugly to me Diamond. The feathers are very pretty to be certain, but that ugly neck and even uglier face just ruin it for me.

Originally Posted by PHOENIX PHIL

Damm things are ugly to me Diamond. The feathers are very pretty to be certain, but that ugly neck and even uglier face just ruin it for me.

I always wondered why anyone would want to shoot one, then I saw a mount of one running and although it has not rocketed to the top of my list it has at least made the bottom of it (the very bottom). I was actually trying to find a pic of that mount when I came across that goofy one.

Originally Posted by PHOENIX PHIL

Damm things are ugly to me Diamond. The feathers are very pretty to be certain, but that ugly neck and even uglier face just ruin it for me.

An Ostrich would be great to shoot for Thanksgiving

I am sure you and your son will have a great time.
Looking forward to read the report from your great trip!

Congrats on the upcoming trip. I hope to take my son to Africa.

For some reason I have always wanted to shoot an Ostrich. Might just be that I am primarily a bird hunter. Saw a shoulder mount on a taxi's gallery page the other day with the wings spread out and it was pretty impressive. My dogs are pretty tough, do you think I could get one to hold for a point and then flush it? LOL!

Congrats Phil, I hope everything goes as planned!

Congrats and best wishes, Phil !

Hey buddy,

We are all looking forward on having you and your son in camp! Be sure that it will be a great hunt and we will defnitely have some fun! I will see you guys in January again.....

Looking forward on hunting with you guys soon!

Best regards,

Jacques