Royal27
AH ambassador
Well, my tablet died on me a couple of days into the safari. So let’s see how long it takes for me to get this typed up.
The last safari was all about me, all about hunting, and about fulfilling a lifelong dream. This time though, I brought my wife Nancy along. That definitely changes things, but is also part of the fun, doing things with my wife and having different experiences. I’m very blessed to have a wife that puts up with me and wants me to do what I love. That was the real excitement about this trip. To get to share Africa with her and hope that she ends up loving Africa like I do. So the hunting will get done, but this trip included so much more.
For any of you out there trying to talk your wife into the trip perhaps this report will help. J
The original plan was to wait at least two years before going back (Zim was only last August). After meeting Loodt though Nancy and I decided to go ahead and do the trip now. You just never know what will happen and I knew that I wouldn’t regret it, nor did I believe Nancy would. I know that if something happens and I lose my job and things go south I won’t regret Africa, ever. What I would regret would be NOT going and then having something happen that would prevent another trip!
So now time to start the story!
Arrival Day:
My PH, Lammie, and tracker, Attie, came to meet us at the airport. Loodt was there too, but had to leave as his father (Carel) had shoulder surgery that morning as well. Carel is well though and we did get to see much of him in the evenings.
After arrival to camp we went to check the zero on the rifles, while Nancy played with Loodt’s dogs Nikki and Tessa. Nancy loves dogs and was already missing ours, so this was nice for Nancy and helped her to feel right at home. The rifles were on and we made a short drive to see what we could see as well. Man does Loodt have a lot of warthogs on his place…. Nothing worth pulling the trigger was seen though and we went back to camp. Nancy was actually a little disappointed that she hadn’t gone as she didn’t realize we might see animals. She definitely wanted to go out that evening.
That evening was a little walk and stalk with Lammie and Nancy. Before long we saw two pigs in the tall grass. The wind was right and they were close. I’m guessing right around 50 yards. Problem was that we couldn’t see tusks due to the grass, we just knew it was a big bodied boar (other parts could be clearly seen!). Finally, he raised his head and he was a good one. I was already on the sticks so the perfect opportunity to impress both my wife and PH with my shooting ability. Easy shot after all. So yeah, I missed… In hindsight I made two silly mistakes. 1. I let the grass affect where I aimed. 2. I didn’t get the sticks adjusted properly and they were too tall, also causing me to pull high. It was rather embarrassing, but at least it was a clean miss….
So we kept walking and saw plenty of animals. The highlight though was an impala ram on the skyline within 75 yards, or so. Nancy had never seen one. I pointed to it, but she couldn’t see it as a bush was blocking. I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her forward not wanting her to miss it. When she finally saw the ram she literally gasped out loud. She was stunned by the beauty of the moment I think. It was definitely the highlight of the day for me. Within about 30 minutes Nancy had seen baboon, warthog, kudu, impala, gemsbok, and common duiker. Nice start….
Oh, and for those of you who are into the color variants you might want to give Loodt a call. He also has stripeless zebra on his place, which he tells me are quite rare. I can’t afford the $10K trophy fee, but I did get pictures of them.
The last safari was all about me, all about hunting, and about fulfilling a lifelong dream. This time though, I brought my wife Nancy along. That definitely changes things, but is also part of the fun, doing things with my wife and having different experiences. I’m very blessed to have a wife that puts up with me and wants me to do what I love. That was the real excitement about this trip. To get to share Africa with her and hope that she ends up loving Africa like I do. So the hunting will get done, but this trip included so much more.
For any of you out there trying to talk your wife into the trip perhaps this report will help. J
The original plan was to wait at least two years before going back (Zim was only last August). After meeting Loodt though Nancy and I decided to go ahead and do the trip now. You just never know what will happen and I knew that I wouldn’t regret it, nor did I believe Nancy would. I know that if something happens and I lose my job and things go south I won’t regret Africa, ever. What I would regret would be NOT going and then having something happen that would prevent another trip!
So now time to start the story!
Arrival Day:
My PH, Lammie, and tracker, Attie, came to meet us at the airport. Loodt was there too, but had to leave as his father (Carel) had shoulder surgery that morning as well. Carel is well though and we did get to see much of him in the evenings.
After arrival to camp we went to check the zero on the rifles, while Nancy played with Loodt’s dogs Nikki and Tessa. Nancy loves dogs and was already missing ours, so this was nice for Nancy and helped her to feel right at home. The rifles were on and we made a short drive to see what we could see as well. Man does Loodt have a lot of warthogs on his place…. Nothing worth pulling the trigger was seen though and we went back to camp. Nancy was actually a little disappointed that she hadn’t gone as she didn’t realize we might see animals. She definitely wanted to go out that evening.
That evening was a little walk and stalk with Lammie and Nancy. Before long we saw two pigs in the tall grass. The wind was right and they were close. I’m guessing right around 50 yards. Problem was that we couldn’t see tusks due to the grass, we just knew it was a big bodied boar (other parts could be clearly seen!). Finally, he raised his head and he was a good one. I was already on the sticks so the perfect opportunity to impress both my wife and PH with my shooting ability. Easy shot after all. So yeah, I missed… In hindsight I made two silly mistakes. 1. I let the grass affect where I aimed. 2. I didn’t get the sticks adjusted properly and they were too tall, also causing me to pull high. It was rather embarrassing, but at least it was a clean miss….
So we kept walking and saw plenty of animals. The highlight though was an impala ram on the skyline within 75 yards, or so. Nancy had never seen one. I pointed to it, but she couldn’t see it as a bush was blocking. I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her forward not wanting her to miss it. When she finally saw the ram she literally gasped out loud. She was stunned by the beauty of the moment I think. It was definitely the highlight of the day for me. Within about 30 minutes Nancy had seen baboon, warthog, kudu, impala, gemsbok, and common duiker. Nice start….
Oh, and for those of you who are into the color variants you might want to give Loodt a call. He also has stripeless zebra on his place, which he tells me are quite rare. I can’t afford the $10K trophy fee, but I did get pictures of them.
Attachments
Last edited by a moderator: