SOUTH AFRICA: First Time Safari with KMG Hunting Safaris

When my wife first asked if I would like to go hunting in Africa, I really had never considered it before. As a family we do a lot of fishing and some hunting here in our home state of Alaska. I grew up in northern Minnesota and hunted deer as a teenager, so we watched and read everything we could find on this site that interested us. We appreciated the reports/reviews and photos everyone has posted. Started with talking to Marius from @KMG Hunting Safaris and appreciated his honesty and quick thoughtful responses. We did a few phone calls and lots of emails. We could not find any bad reviews or unhappy former clients from KMG. We picked our dates and started really planning. The whole family went, myself, my wife, daughter age 12 and son age 14. We used Darren from Travel Express out of Montana to help us book the tickets, and he connected us with AfricaSky. We did take our own rifles. That added a few more logistics to the trip. But AfricaSky helped us plan storage for the time we were in Zimbabwe and Botswana. Early morning saw us leave Anchorage for Seattle, then Atlanta. We had a fairly long layover in Atlanta, but that gave us time to have the kids do some homework, changes clothes, eat a good meal and play some games. My best friend from high school met up with us in Atlanta and we boarded the plane for Johannesburg. We flew with Delta and it was worth the extra money to sit in Comfort Plus. They quickly served us dinner and everyone settled in for the 15.5 flight over the Atlantic. We all got some sleep, but not nearly enough.
Dozed on and off and woke up to a quick breakfast and landing. We got through customers and passport control fairly quickly. Some of the baggage was missing but that is another story. Gilbert from AfricaSky met us and walked us through the process of picking up our firearms. Then we loaded the vans for a quick trip over to their Boutique Hotel. Had the best dinner upon arrival and settled in for a short sleep before an early morning departure to Zimbabwe.

Looking forward to the rest of the adventures

Our first full day in Africa we had a wonderful breakfast at AfricaSky and headed to the Johannesburg Airport. AfricaSky had a “Triple Room” (King bed and connected room with 2 twin beds) that we stayed in. AfricaSky was also able to store our firearms during our trip.

We caught Airlink to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. We got the KAZA visa which is good for Zimbabwe/Botswana and Zambia. We got our rental car at the airport and headed to Victoria Falls. Driving on the left side of the road was a bit daunting at first, but with a calm co-pilot we were able to do it. The waterfalls were more than impressive, the sheer volume of water coming over the falls was unbelievable. We got soaking wet, but that was fine because it was incredibly warm out (well at least for us Alaskans).

Then we headed over to our Air B&B. We stopped at the local Pick-N-Pay grocery store for some water/soda/snacks and breakfast food. We used American cash everywhere in Zimbabwe and Botswana. In fact our credit cards would not even work.

We decided to stay at an Air B&B to have a little bit more room to spread out and my wife was more comfortable with the kids being in a house with us and not in a separate hotel room. It was also about ½ the price for 5 of us to stay there than at any of the local lodges we investigated. It was a bit out of town, but very secure in a fenced community with a 24/7 security guard.

The next morning about 7 am we were picked up by PUKU Tours & Transfers for our trip to Botswana and Chobe National Park. The road was in horrible condition and took a long time to go a short distance. We did need the kid’s birth certificates, all our passports and our visa to enter Botswana.

The Park was an unforgettable adventure. We saw elephants, giraffes, impala, lions, crocodiles, water monitors, baboons, monkeys, sable, hippos, chameleons, warthogs, tons of different birds and more elephants and giraffes. Some of the animals were so close it was surprising.
It was worth the trip and travel time.
Thanks for reading about our Adventure.

Keep em coming nice photos and kudos for you to take a deep dive to go to Vic Falls and run it yourself driving and staying over etc.

Excellent writing. Following with interest.

KMG and Marius was a great choice

Marius and his team will give you trip to remember and have you planning a return trip. Enjoy!

You went that far and it looks like you planned to make the best of it. Thanks for sharing your adventure.

Great start. Can’t wait to hear about the hunting with Marius.

Excellent! Looking forward to the rest

Morning found us heading to the airport again, this time to fly from Victoria Falls back to Johannesburg. Gilbert from AfricaSky met us and took us to pick up our firearms and luggage that they stored for us. It was a smooth transition, and we cannot say enough good things about service we received from AfricaSky and Gilbert. He really went above and beyond to make sure we were well taken care of. We then headed to East London. Again, using Airlink for in country travel.

Just as the sun was setting we landed in East London. There we met Nick who was our PH and Richard who was Dave’s, PH. We loaded up in the bakkies. (In South African English and Afrikaans, bakkie refers to a small pickup truck or light utility vehicle with an open cargo area at the back.) We had to look up the word because we originally heard it as buggy.

It was just over an hour’s drive to Outspan Lodge-our home for the next 8 days. During the ride we talked about the animals on my list and we knew he was going to be a great fit, because he listened to the same type of country music we like.
We arrived to the pleasant surprise of a hot cooked meal. It was in impala dish that was excellent. Wendy took safe care of us and made sure that we ate well at every meal and was super careful about an allergy our group had and my wife’s vegetarian preferences.
After a good nights sleep we headed out. We all went to the shooting range to make sure that the rifles were in undamaged shape after the trip.

I was shooting a Weatherby Mark V® Backcountry™ Ti 2.0, 280 Ackley Improved with a Leupold VX 3HD 4.5-14 x 50 with a Silencer Co. Scythe-Ti suppressor. Shooting Nosler 150g ABLR.
I picked this gun to take because it’s a flat shooting rifle and a kind of cool cartridge. Both my son and I had practiced with it at the range leading up to selecting which firearm we were taking and were extremely comfortable shooting it to 300 yards. I could do 400 yards but really was more confident in the 300 yard range. I really wish I would have bought a pair of the shooting sticks we used in Africa to practice on. I practiced with a bipod, but the sticks just were a different feel.
We then hunted near the lodge on their property. We saw Blesbok, and Impala. Both which were on my list, but Nick said that they needed a little more time to get bigger.
We then found a small Blue Wildebeest, but again it was to small. We watched Kudu for a while, but again too small. Nick kept telling me we could do better. We also saw a Waterbuck but he was not on my list. (I should have looked more into a Waterbuck because they are a beautiful animal.)
No animals were taken today, but it was an exciting time starting to see the land and animals around us. The food was fantastic and my family felt wonderfully comfortable and safe at the lodge.

Sunday, we decided to go out as a family. We all piled into Nick’s bakkie and off we went. Had to stop and sanitize the tires and our shoes at the first farm we went to. This is to help contain and isolate the foot-and-mouth disease that is spreading between the wild animals and domestic livestock in South Africa.

We were looking for Kudu and saw one that had potential. It vanished and we decided to follow and see if would pop out again. As we walked about 300 yards from the truck, Nick spotted a Bushbuck and asked if I was ready and interested. I said yes. It was an older ram. Nick set me up on the sticks and we watched it for about 30 minutes. It would look at us head on and then duck behind brush. It felt like an eternity, The ram finally turned broadside and gave me a shot at about 240 yards. First animal was in the salt. Nick was incredibly encouraging and supportive. My first shot placement was not great, but the good news is that I later redeemed myself.

Nick and the tracker went back to the bakkie and got what we needed to get it out the bush. They set us all up and took lots of photos and they pointed out things about the animal and area that really showed how knowledgeable they were on the locality.

We got the Bushbuck to the skinning shed and watched the tracker/skinner in training work on the animal. It was fun to meet the farmer of the farm we were hunting on, and his family and we got talk and learn a lot about the area and history from them.

Back to the lodge for lunch and then we headed out to a new farm. There we picked up the farm manager and went looking for Impala. Blesbok, or Kudu.

We followed a really tight spiraled Kudu into the brush and came out with a Blesbok. The Kudu vanished again and there was the Blesbok in its place it seemed like. It was an old male that had a hurt leg that would not survive the upcoming winter. It was a good shot at about 125 yards.

On the way to the skinning shed we saw a great Impala that we got about 100 yards away from and I was nervous/tired/overwhelmed with the days greatness already and just chose not to take the shot. Of course, Nick told me later it was one of the largest Impalas he had ever seen. But that’s ok, we still had 5 more days of hunting to go.

Monday morning, we got up early, had a quick breakfast and headed out. We drove about 1.5 hours to a different farm from the day prior. Our main goal was a Kudu, a Blue Wildebeest and an Impala.

At the farm we were a little nervous because the wind had started to pick up. We drove up to the top of a ridge and glassed for 30 minutes or so. We saw several Kudu and Blue Wildebeest and a few Warthogs.

Driving to the other side of the farm we immediately saw a nice Kudu bull. Nick said we should go for it; this is the one for you. We stalked it for about ½ mile down the valley. He was walking towards us and got about 47 yards from us. He was standing straight on when I shot him in the chest cavity and he took off. I was scared that I screwed up the shot again. He stopped at 150 yards, and I place a second shot in the front right shoulder and down he went. It was a beautiful animal. I did not realize how big of an animal he was until it took 6 of us to load him into the truck.

Took the Kudu to the skinning shed and went out again. Our goal was a Blue Wildebeest and Impala. We saw several nice Impala, but nothing great. Got to see a “wobble” of Ostriches. My wife enjoys obscure facts-can you tell? Up at the next glassing point we could see a “confusion” of Wildebeest. Nick got out and glassed and pointed out a nice bull. We got the sticks out and I shot him at 150 yards. What a great morning!

Took the Blue Wildebeest to the skinning shed and decided to see if we could find a Warthog for our son’s first animal.

We stopped at a known Warthog spot, and Nick took our son and stalked to about 100 yards. Our son took the shot and had his first animal. It was such an amazing, blessed feeling as his dad being there with him in such an incredible place. Nick was so supportive and gave him great advice on how to take the shot and what to do.

It was a full amazing day that ended with a steak dinner back at the lodge visiting families of the PH’s and some of the lodge staff.

The weather decided not to cooperate today. We woke up high winds and rain. So it was a lodge day. The kids worked on homework, snuggled with the hunting dogs and we just hung out as a family. After lunch we decided to do one of our favorite activities. Nick set us up with some simple fishing equipment and we headed to the bass pond up behind the lodge. It was fun and we all caught fish. It was a bummer we could not hunt, but it was cold and miserable. Plus we still had a few more days.

Love it keep it coming cracker of an Eastern Cape kudu!!!

Frederik said:

Love it keep it coming cracker of an Eastern Cape kudu!!!

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Thank you
It was an amazing trip.

sproutp2003 said:

Monday morning, we got up early, had a quick breakfast and headed out. We drove about 1.5 hours to a different farm from the day prior. Our main goal was a Kudu, a Blue Wildebeest and an Impala.

At the farm we were a little nervous because the wind had started to pick up. We drove up to the top of a ridge and glassed for 30 minutes or so. We saw several Kudu and Blue Wildebeest and a few Warthogs.

Driving to the other side of the farm we immediately saw a nice Kudu bull. Nick said we should go for it; this is the one for you. We stalked it for about ½ mile down the valley. He was walking towards us and got about 47 yards from us. He was standing straight on when I shot him in the chest cavity and he took off. I was scared that I screwed up the shot again. He stopped at 150 yards, and I place a second shot in the front right shoulder and down he went. It was a beautiful animal. I did not realize how big of an animal he was until it took 6 of us to load him into the truck.View attachment 768698View attachment 768699View attachment 768700

Took the Kudu to the skinning shed and went out again. Our goal was a Blue Wildebeest and Impala. We saw several nice Impala, but nothing great. Got to see a “wobble” of Ostriches.View attachment 768701 My wife enjoys obscure facts-can you tell? Up at the next glassing point we could see a “confusion” of Wildebeest. Nick got out and glassed and pointed out a nice bull. We got the sticks out and I shot him at 150 yards. What a great morning!
View attachment 768706View attachment 768707
Took the Blue Wildebeest to the skinning shed and decided to see if we could find a Warthog for our son’s first animal.

We stopped at a known Warthog spot, and Nick took our son and stalked to about 100 yards. View attachment 768704View attachment 768705Our son took the shot and had his first animal. It was such an amazing, blessed feeling as his dad being there with him in such an incredible place. Nick was so supportive and gave him great advice on how to take the shot and what to do.View attachment 768703View attachment 768708

It was a full amazing day that ended with a steak dinner back at the lodge visiting families of the PH’s and some of the lodge staff.

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Awesome Warthog!

That is a wonderful bushbuck and big eastern cape kudu, congrats on a great hunt!

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Great write up & solid kudu bull. You cannot go wrong with KMG & Marius & Nick. A great outfit! I actually helped stock that bass pond some years ago with Nick & I doing a bit of a relocation plan from another dam to stock that pond. Great to see that guests are catching bass there now! Look forward to the rest of the report!

Charlie

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Very nice writing.