spotnspook
AH senior member
Ah where to begin...beforehand I want to apologize for any typos and omissions as I am sure there will be some. I've been back for 2 days now but have had to work both days and just got off of work and am going to have a few drinks while I type this, but want to write my report while it is still fresh in my head even though it's all already a blur.
It probably began after I'd found the forum and before I went on my first trip to the Eastern Cape of RSA for plainsgame when I saw the hunts Lon and Liesl @Tokoloshe Safaris were advertising on here and realized that hunting an elephant some day could be within my reach. Elephant hunting wasn't something I thought I could ever do financially and therefore wasn't something I thought about doing, but the more I learned the more it became something I wanted to try. So the hamster was already running on its wheel in my head and I was making plans and after my 2024 hunt set them in motion.
I reached out and made the plan after some behind the scenes scheduling work and whatapping with Liesl was booked up. I flew United, Denver to Newark, Newark to Joberg, overnighted at City Lodge, and then Airlink Joberg to Vic falls where Liesl and Sara picked me up, flew the same order in reverse going home minus the overnight at City Lodge all cattleclass, and then we set off.
First day was just to get to Mlibizi (which is funny because its actually pronounced Milibizi) where they have a nice lodge on the shore of Lake Kariba. Settled in and unpacked as little as possible, there were a handful of PHs sitting in the center area so I had a seat and mostly listened to them and their (absolutely crazy to me) stories and razz each other and had quite a few drinks. Two other clients were in the lodge there at the time so conversed with them a bit too, and met my PH Tim. The next morning we all kind of went our separate ways with Tim and I setting off up to the Mucheni tent camp. A bit of a fiasco leaving camp and loaded with supplies we set off and made it in about 3pm. Very rural, very remote ,no useful cell signal since Vic Falls and even at that Zim is still using SMS protocol with limited 3G I was never able to get my Esim to utilize any data connection. The tented camp sits beneath the Zambezi escarpment near Chizarira National Park with a view of the Mucheni Gorge and is quite nice, especially considering just how remote and underdeveloped the area is. Clean wall tents, manicured lawn, center eating tent, and Wifi via Starlink, in room fans, all powered by solar. Sean who is the operations manager is also on his way up to the camp with more supplies and meets us there. Instead of spinning our wheels hunting we went for a short cruise to an outlook and to what they call elephant rock, a rock eroded by eons of elephant traffic over a pass, and enjoy the sunset.
Unfortunately it was very windy the first few nights due to some strong weather they were having further south, I guess it was 2 degrees in Joburg and snowed over much of RSA. I was dumb and left the rifle I had rented/loaned from Liesl leaned in the corner of the tent and it had blown down in the night, it was in its soft case but still felt bad about it, I wasn't observant enough to notice that there was a proper rifle rack on the side of the dresser. We had checked its zero on the way to camp and it was good and I was hoping that it still was but would nag in the back of my head a bit. The rifle was very nice and Liesl's personal CZ550 chambered in 404 Jeffery with a Swaro Z6i, and a clean single stage trigger of no more than 2lbs. 404 Jeff ammo is expensive in the states let alone with the ammo situation in Zim so I didn't want to shoot any more than I had to and was outfitted with 2 boxes of Hornady solids and 1 box of DGX, quite generous I thought.
We set off about hunting the next day with Sean accompanying and check the trails and make our tracks, mostly in the concession but also into some communal lands and have a Zim Parks ranger as well as a communal observer along with us as well as our trackers. I don't think we found anything worth following that day. Also came upon a troop of baboons but I was too slow to get on the rifle and my terrible game eye didn't do me any favors. You'll have to forgive me as well because when I'm in the southern hemisphere my direction intuition goes to pots, don't think I ever knew which way we were actually going, but did have ONx running trails some of the time. That evening there was a bit of an issue at the lodge that Sean needed to sort so he went back to Mlibizi the next morning while we kept hunting.
We expanded our range further into the communal/tribal lands the next day and cut a track worth following pretty early in the morning and followed it all day across trails, rocks, grass, and scrub. The trackers putting in some serious effort when we would hit a rocky patch and circling out from the last track until they found it. About 3pm or so (gets dark at 6) we decide we need to call it quits and try to cut a direct as possible path back to the motor. We were following a lone goodsized bull but he had joined with some others. We end up bumping them on the way back to the car which was my first experience with wild elephants while on foot. It happened to be a very big bull with little to no tusks with two cows and a calf. I'm not sure if they winded us or heard us because we really weren't being noise disciplined when it happened but anyway my first go with them got to be a pissed off cow at 25 yards growling at us. Which needless to say got my attention and woke me up pretty damn fast about the nature of this business we were doing and it was no longer a lollygagging type lackadaisical game or adventure. I knew that going in but obviously didn't have my serious face on. I also didn't realize that when they growl at you, you not only hear it, but feel it through the soles of your boots and up through your legs. It's something I don't think I can describe to someone who hasn't been there. We eventually back off and make it out of that scrape.
We hunt the next days both near and far and racked up quite the miles doing so. Day 3 or 4 we are radioed of some elephant crop raiding by a very good sized bull. Even my dumb ass can see that his track is huge. Figure he's a big boy who has wandered up from Hwange. A side note, the Zambezi valley herd are genetically some of the smallest bodied and smallest tusked bush elephants as far as I know, so this guy appears to not be one of them. We get on him and we follow him but he isn't meandering and eventually he crosses into a forestry area were not allowed to follow him into. The local who alerted us is pretty certain he will return and says he is not only big bodied but heavy tusked for the area. That night I express to Tim that I would be amenable to shooting him at night if he is that exceptional for the area. The next day we check other areas for sign and tracks while waiting for word if the big boy has returned without much event.
Day 6 we end up ranging the furthest we went, I haven't measured it but I'd estimate 60-80 miles from camp on word that elephants had been in the area the night before. We check, it was a pretty pleasant a scenic area and all things considered had a nice time and chats but the boys don't turn up anything worth following or anything very fresh. It's already mid day and we head back to camp. When back in radio range were informed one of the camp staff, Nicholas, on his motorbike had cut some fresh sign so we proceed towards the concession area to check it but encounter a troop of baboons. There's a bit of tension amongst us as this has all gone on for a few days now without any blood in the car. I get out and we make a try at one of these baboons. Those of you who have hunted them know how they are, flighty, observant, and not easy to get a clear line on the leadership. We actually do get a shot on one of the big boys, there's an opening in the brush and im on the sticks in it and two of the privates run through it and I'm lined up waiting. Big fellow steps out, moving, I have the crosshair in front of him and press the trigger just as the edge of his chest passes it at about 100 yards. I shoot right in front of him. I know I have and saw by his reaction when he did a fast 180 and ran the other way that a bullet just cracked by his nose and I heard no impact sound. I'm about in the dirt as much as possible but we go through the motions and go look for blood which I know there won't be any, and there isn't. So we head back to the car and Tim has a stick that I've killed the hell out of with a 404 Jeff solid and asks me if I want to mount it. I feel a bit better but am still mad at myself because in my eyes I had scanned the field of view and it was clear. A good shooter should always have a good excuse anyway I suppose. So we pick ourselves up and move on. Ironically we cross the same troop of baboons as before a few hundred yards later who apparently haven't learned their lesson, I think maybe they were trying to regroup. Anyway I get out again, find a big boy being cheeky behind a bush and let one rip at 130 or so and hear a good slap. We follow. There's blood smears on the brush and drips and all is looking good. We follow a bit more and find a place where he stopped and there's not but a little L shaped blood spot and I think I've done it again maybe hit this thing in the arm or something and were going to waste all day following a damned wounded baboon. Not back into the dirt but down low I go again and we continue down that hill and across a dry creekbed and there he is dead. Shot was good, upper chest, just a solid. We take a few photos and quit screwing around wasting time with baboons but everyone's lifted a bit, we've finally got something.
We get further into the concession and kick the boys out to meet us at the pan and they go cross country to look at sign, at the pan the scouts that remained with us are a bit excited about the sign and I'm oblivious and it's getting late. We all regather and the two head trackers want to go, it's two bull tracks. Tim says half and hour and we come back, it was probably pushing 530 by then. We follow and at a fairly fast pace, but we've worked out how to move together by now so its not a big issue. Even my untrained eye can see that the scat or spoor whatever you want to call it, shit as we say back home, is getting hotter and hotter and everyone's a bit excited. The last pile we cross is so fresh its still yellow, and they're meandering.I know we are close and as were closing this distance I am getting more and more worried about catching up with them and then them being not shooters or not even catching up with them but having to walk out of here in the dark without lights in close proximity to them, and I know we are close, and we have left most of our gear at the car for this 30 minute romp. We hit them at about 50-60 yards and Tim's having a good look. The odd thing about all of this to me is that you spend all day following them, and then when you do catch up to them my first instinct in every fiber of my body is to get the hell away. He looks. I can see them too but I'm mostly focused on the guy on the left who is bigger bodied but shorter tusked and broomed on one side. Tim says we should thing about shooting the bull on the right, I nod.I had already told Tim that if he said I should shoot that elephant there wouldn't be any arguing about it and that I'd trust his opinion. We move a bit to get a clear lane. Tim asks me if I can see his tusks (I think maybe it had turned, not sure all a blur) and I say no, Tim says FFS and something about 10x Swarovskis and mind you we are 40-50 yards now. We move a bit closer and I get my first (handicap as I am) first look and I nod to Tim. The sticks go up and I get on them, scope is on 3x and I do a bit of adjusting much to Tim's disapproval but I can't clearly define the earhole because unbeknownst to me the ear when laid back is so non descript I can't see much contrast or definition (it is also getting rather late, maybe 6:05, and past sunset). I find the line I am looking for and pick and spot (ear hole, one hand width towards the eye) and let it rip....I didn't get to see any of this because I was too busy reloading the rifle and shitting my pants (figuratively not literally). I unshoulder and slap the bolt open, pull it all the way to the rear, forward home and down, back up on the sticks. All I see is grey. Tim says shoot again, I hesitate afraid I will shoot the other one, a moment or two passes and this grey thing isn't moving and I can't see a leg to shoot it running, so I pick the center of the grey and let another rip. Unshoulder and firmly reload again meanwhile we hear all the brush break as it rolls over. It is done. Tim says lets approach, I say let me top up. I fat finger the shit out of it and eject a live round onto the dirt, no worry, load 3 fresh ones and approach. Tim has me shoot it in the chest again point blank and then he checks it's eye, it's dead. We shake hands, all of us. Everyone's happy, especially the trackers and scouts, Tim and me, and I am most happy I haven't cocked it up. It's getting dark fast, we take a few quick photos, and in the first one I am ghostly white and serious stone faced. I cut the tail. And we get out of there with what little to no light we have left...I'm swinging the tail in front of me to check for sticks and thorns. Back to camp, I think we flew. We have several drinks, I am over the moon, tell a few family that it is done. Have a bit of a cry at dinner. Drink a bit more and off to bed. No early wake up at 530.and I am most happy I haven't cocked it up. It's getting dark fast, we take a few quick photos, and in the first one I am ghostly white and serious stone faced. I cut the tail. And we get out of there with what little to no light we have left...I'm swinging the tail in front of me to check for sticks and thorns. Back to camp, I think we flew. We have several drinks, I am over the moon, tell a few family that it is done. Have a bit of a cry at dinner. Drink a bit more and off to bed. No early wake up at 530.and I am most happy I haven't cocked it up. It's getting dark fast, we take a few quick photos, and in the first one I am ghostly white and serious stone faced. I cut the tail. And we get out of there with what little to no light we have left...I'm swinging the tail in front of me to check for sticks and thorns. Back to camp, I think we flew. We have several drinks, I am over the moon, tell a few family that it is done. Have a bit of a cry at dinner. Drink a bit more and off to bed. No early wake up at 530.I think we flew. We have several drinks, I am over the moon, tell a few family that it is done. Have a bit of a cry at dinner. Drink a bit more and off to bed. No early wake up at 530.
The next day around 700 or so we press on and gather the skilled locals and go to cut him up. Finish all of that about 4pm back to camp after the days events and photos and some excellent elephant kabobs. Elephant actually has really good flavor but is rather chewy. Everyone's happy, us, the trackers, the staff, the skinners, and the help we picked up. Eddy the head tracker is sent to distribute the meat to the locals as well as another PHs rig that was in camp and we go on slowish mode. Unsure how long or how far that took them. Then next two days we not very seriously pursue plainsgame especially bushbuck. Much like eating, after shooting an elephant my appetite for shooting was greatly diminished. So if we saw a bushbuck wonderful and if not that was just fine too. Mostly just going through the motions now.
A side note I have heard there is no plainsgame in the area, that is not true, it is just not like you will see in South Africa. I saw three herds of impala one with a shootable ram but I was happier seeing him on the landscape rather than shot. I saw lots kudu sign tracks and shit, abundant bushbuck sign especially near water, 2 duiker, 1 steenbok, and 1 grysbok, as well as numerous hyena tracks and more baboon than is worth counting. It is very hungry country that likely never held great numbers of plainsgame in the first place and has also experienced significant adversity.
Day 9 and 10 we decide to head back towards Mlibizi, we do late of day 9 and have a great time doing so. Tim's an older fellow with a much storied life having lived most of it in Zim and I poke and prod and get all the stories out of him I can, and really enjoy them. We eventually make it to Mlibizi and have some proper debauchery and then off to fish Kariba in the morning with Sean and a few others who won't be named to protect the innocent. Everyone at camp was absolutely wonderful and enlightening and it was a first hand experience that just can't be had from a book. We fished day 10 and didn't catch much but had a wonderful time just hanging out talking and goofing around with the boys. Day 12? I guess, Andy one of the Mlibizi trackers gave me a ride to Vic Falls and I'm off for my 44hr punishment trip back home. All in all it was an absolutely wonderful experience, Liesl was honest and upfront about everything going in beforehand and I couldn't recommend them enough. Food was good, accommodations were good, hunting was real no fences and no BS albeit hard, and we were ultimately successful and I got everything I wanted out of it and more. Even if we had not been successful I would have been happy with the trip and the people I met, and I apologize to those people for having to deal with me.
Cheers everyone, and thank you to the forum for if not for you guys I would have never found or went on this adventure. 3hrs later typing this and the keyboards getting a bit bumpy. I've also somehow bumped something with the formatting with shift-entering which has messed things up and inserted repeats ill have to fix, hopefully it didn't delete anything. Having a few struggles with the images too, hope it all comes out ok. Cheers.
a few images
It probably began after I'd found the forum and before I went on my first trip to the Eastern Cape of RSA for plainsgame when I saw the hunts Lon and Liesl @Tokoloshe Safaris were advertising on here and realized that hunting an elephant some day could be within my reach. Elephant hunting wasn't something I thought I could ever do financially and therefore wasn't something I thought about doing, but the more I learned the more it became something I wanted to try. So the hamster was already running on its wheel in my head and I was making plans and after my 2024 hunt set them in motion.
I reached out and made the plan after some behind the scenes scheduling work and whatapping with Liesl was booked up. I flew United, Denver to Newark, Newark to Joberg, overnighted at City Lodge, and then Airlink Joberg to Vic falls where Liesl and Sara picked me up, flew the same order in reverse going home minus the overnight at City Lodge all cattleclass, and then we set off.
First day was just to get to Mlibizi (which is funny because its actually pronounced Milibizi) where they have a nice lodge on the shore of Lake Kariba. Settled in and unpacked as little as possible, there were a handful of PHs sitting in the center area so I had a seat and mostly listened to them and their (absolutely crazy to me) stories and razz each other and had quite a few drinks. Two other clients were in the lodge there at the time so conversed with them a bit too, and met my PH Tim. The next morning we all kind of went our separate ways with Tim and I setting off up to the Mucheni tent camp. A bit of a fiasco leaving camp and loaded with supplies we set off and made it in about 3pm. Very rural, very remote ,no useful cell signal since Vic Falls and even at that Zim is still using SMS protocol with limited 3G I was never able to get my Esim to utilize any data connection. The tented camp sits beneath the Zambezi escarpment near Chizarira National Park with a view of the Mucheni Gorge and is quite nice, especially considering just how remote and underdeveloped the area is. Clean wall tents, manicured lawn, center eating tent, and Wifi via Starlink, in room fans, all powered by solar. Sean who is the operations manager is also on his way up to the camp with more supplies and meets us there. Instead of spinning our wheels hunting we went for a short cruise to an outlook and to what they call elephant rock, a rock eroded by eons of elephant traffic over a pass, and enjoy the sunset.
Unfortunately it was very windy the first few nights due to some strong weather they were having further south, I guess it was 2 degrees in Joburg and snowed over much of RSA. I was dumb and left the rifle I had rented/loaned from Liesl leaned in the corner of the tent and it had blown down in the night, it was in its soft case but still felt bad about it, I wasn't observant enough to notice that there was a proper rifle rack on the side of the dresser. We had checked its zero on the way to camp and it was good and I was hoping that it still was but would nag in the back of my head a bit. The rifle was very nice and Liesl's personal CZ550 chambered in 404 Jeffery with a Swaro Z6i, and a clean single stage trigger of no more than 2lbs. 404 Jeff ammo is expensive in the states let alone with the ammo situation in Zim so I didn't want to shoot any more than I had to and was outfitted with 2 boxes of Hornady solids and 1 box of DGX, quite generous I thought.
We set off about hunting the next day with Sean accompanying and check the trails and make our tracks, mostly in the concession but also into some communal lands and have a Zim Parks ranger as well as a communal observer along with us as well as our trackers. I don't think we found anything worth following that day. Also came upon a troop of baboons but I was too slow to get on the rifle and my terrible game eye didn't do me any favors. You'll have to forgive me as well because when I'm in the southern hemisphere my direction intuition goes to pots, don't think I ever knew which way we were actually going, but did have ONx running trails some of the time. That evening there was a bit of an issue at the lodge that Sean needed to sort so he went back to Mlibizi the next morning while we kept hunting.
We expanded our range further into the communal/tribal lands the next day and cut a track worth following pretty early in the morning and followed it all day across trails, rocks, grass, and scrub. The trackers putting in some serious effort when we would hit a rocky patch and circling out from the last track until they found it. About 3pm or so (gets dark at 6) we decide we need to call it quits and try to cut a direct as possible path back to the motor. We were following a lone goodsized bull but he had joined with some others. We end up bumping them on the way back to the car which was my first experience with wild elephants while on foot. It happened to be a very big bull with little to no tusks with two cows and a calf. I'm not sure if they winded us or heard us because we really weren't being noise disciplined when it happened but anyway my first go with them got to be a pissed off cow at 25 yards growling at us. Which needless to say got my attention and woke me up pretty damn fast about the nature of this business we were doing and it was no longer a lollygagging type lackadaisical game or adventure. I knew that going in but obviously didn't have my serious face on. I also didn't realize that when they growl at you, you not only hear it, but feel it through the soles of your boots and up through your legs. It's something I don't think I can describe to someone who hasn't been there. We eventually back off and make it out of that scrape.
We hunt the next days both near and far and racked up quite the miles doing so. Day 3 or 4 we are radioed of some elephant crop raiding by a very good sized bull. Even my dumb ass can see that his track is huge. Figure he's a big boy who has wandered up from Hwange. A side note, the Zambezi valley herd are genetically some of the smallest bodied and smallest tusked bush elephants as far as I know, so this guy appears to not be one of them. We get on him and we follow him but he isn't meandering and eventually he crosses into a forestry area were not allowed to follow him into. The local who alerted us is pretty certain he will return and says he is not only big bodied but heavy tusked for the area. That night I express to Tim that I would be amenable to shooting him at night if he is that exceptional for the area. The next day we check other areas for sign and tracks while waiting for word if the big boy has returned without much event.
Day 6 we end up ranging the furthest we went, I haven't measured it but I'd estimate 60-80 miles from camp on word that elephants had been in the area the night before. We check, it was a pretty pleasant a scenic area and all things considered had a nice time and chats but the boys don't turn up anything worth following or anything very fresh. It's already mid day and we head back to camp. When back in radio range were informed one of the camp staff, Nicholas, on his motorbike had cut some fresh sign so we proceed towards the concession area to check it but encounter a troop of baboons. There's a bit of tension amongst us as this has all gone on for a few days now without any blood in the car. I get out and we make a try at one of these baboons. Those of you who have hunted them know how they are, flighty, observant, and not easy to get a clear line on the leadership. We actually do get a shot on one of the big boys, there's an opening in the brush and im on the sticks in it and two of the privates run through it and I'm lined up waiting. Big fellow steps out, moving, I have the crosshair in front of him and press the trigger just as the edge of his chest passes it at about 100 yards. I shoot right in front of him. I know I have and saw by his reaction when he did a fast 180 and ran the other way that a bullet just cracked by his nose and I heard no impact sound. I'm about in the dirt as much as possible but we go through the motions and go look for blood which I know there won't be any, and there isn't. So we head back to the car and Tim has a stick that I've killed the hell out of with a 404 Jeff solid and asks me if I want to mount it. I feel a bit better but am still mad at myself because in my eyes I had scanned the field of view and it was clear. A good shooter should always have a good excuse anyway I suppose. So we pick ourselves up and move on. Ironically we cross the same troop of baboons as before a few hundred yards later who apparently haven't learned their lesson, I think maybe they were trying to regroup. Anyway I get out again, find a big boy being cheeky behind a bush and let one rip at 130 or so and hear a good slap. We follow. There's blood smears on the brush and drips and all is looking good. We follow a bit more and find a place where he stopped and there's not but a little L shaped blood spot and I think I've done it again maybe hit this thing in the arm or something and were going to waste all day following a damned wounded baboon. Not back into the dirt but down low I go again and we continue down that hill and across a dry creekbed and there he is dead. Shot was good, upper chest, just a solid. We take a few photos and quit screwing around wasting time with baboons but everyone's lifted a bit, we've finally got something.
We get further into the concession and kick the boys out to meet us at the pan and they go cross country to look at sign, at the pan the scouts that remained with us are a bit excited about the sign and I'm oblivious and it's getting late. We all regather and the two head trackers want to go, it's two bull tracks. Tim says half and hour and we come back, it was probably pushing 530 by then. We follow and at a fairly fast pace, but we've worked out how to move together by now so its not a big issue. Even my untrained eye can see that the scat or spoor whatever you want to call it, shit as we say back home, is getting hotter and hotter and everyone's a bit excited. The last pile we cross is so fresh its still yellow, and they're meandering.I know we are close and as were closing this distance I am getting more and more worried about catching up with them and then them being not shooters or not even catching up with them but having to walk out of here in the dark without lights in close proximity to them, and I know we are close, and we have left most of our gear at the car for this 30 minute romp. We hit them at about 50-60 yards and Tim's having a good look. The odd thing about all of this to me is that you spend all day following them, and then when you do catch up to them my first instinct in every fiber of my body is to get the hell away. He looks. I can see them too but I'm mostly focused on the guy on the left who is bigger bodied but shorter tusked and broomed on one side. Tim says we should thing about shooting the bull on the right, I nod.I had already told Tim that if he said I should shoot that elephant there wouldn't be any arguing about it and that I'd trust his opinion. We move a bit to get a clear lane. Tim asks me if I can see his tusks (I think maybe it had turned, not sure all a blur) and I say no, Tim says FFS and something about 10x Swarovskis and mind you we are 40-50 yards now. We move a bit closer and I get my first (handicap as I am) first look and I nod to Tim. The sticks go up and I get on them, scope is on 3x and I do a bit of adjusting much to Tim's disapproval but I can't clearly define the earhole because unbeknownst to me the ear when laid back is so non descript I can't see much contrast or definition (it is also getting rather late, maybe 6:05, and past sunset). I find the line I am looking for and pick and spot (ear hole, one hand width towards the eye) and let it rip....I didn't get to see any of this because I was too busy reloading the rifle and shitting my pants (figuratively not literally). I unshoulder and slap the bolt open, pull it all the way to the rear, forward home and down, back up on the sticks. All I see is grey. Tim says shoot again, I hesitate afraid I will shoot the other one, a moment or two passes and this grey thing isn't moving and I can't see a leg to shoot it running, so I pick the center of the grey and let another rip. Unshoulder and firmly reload again meanwhile we hear all the brush break as it rolls over. It is done. Tim says lets approach, I say let me top up. I fat finger the shit out of it and eject a live round onto the dirt, no worry, load 3 fresh ones and approach. Tim has me shoot it in the chest again point blank and then he checks it's eye, it's dead. We shake hands, all of us. Everyone's happy, especially the trackers and scouts, Tim and me, and I am most happy I haven't cocked it up. It's getting dark fast, we take a few quick photos, and in the first one I am ghostly white and serious stone faced. I cut the tail. And we get out of there with what little to no light we have left...I'm swinging the tail in front of me to check for sticks and thorns. Back to camp, I think we flew. We have several drinks, I am over the moon, tell a few family that it is done. Have a bit of a cry at dinner. Drink a bit more and off to bed. No early wake up at 530.and I am most happy I haven't cocked it up. It's getting dark fast, we take a few quick photos, and in the first one I am ghostly white and serious stone faced. I cut the tail. And we get out of there with what little to no light we have left...I'm swinging the tail in front of me to check for sticks and thorns. Back to camp, I think we flew. We have several drinks, I am over the moon, tell a few family that it is done. Have a bit of a cry at dinner. Drink a bit more and off to bed. No early wake up at 530.and I am most happy I haven't cocked it up. It's getting dark fast, we take a few quick photos, and in the first one I am ghostly white and serious stone faced. I cut the tail. And we get out of there with what little to no light we have left...I'm swinging the tail in front of me to check for sticks and thorns. Back to camp, I think we flew. We have several drinks, I am over the moon, tell a few family that it is done. Have a bit of a cry at dinner. Drink a bit more and off to bed. No early wake up at 530.I think we flew. We have several drinks, I am over the moon, tell a few family that it is done. Have a bit of a cry at dinner. Drink a bit more and off to bed. No early wake up at 530.
The next day around 700 or so we press on and gather the skilled locals and go to cut him up. Finish all of that about 4pm back to camp after the days events and photos and some excellent elephant kabobs. Elephant actually has really good flavor but is rather chewy. Everyone's happy, us, the trackers, the staff, the skinners, and the help we picked up. Eddy the head tracker is sent to distribute the meat to the locals as well as another PHs rig that was in camp and we go on slowish mode. Unsure how long or how far that took them. Then next two days we not very seriously pursue plainsgame especially bushbuck. Much like eating, after shooting an elephant my appetite for shooting was greatly diminished. So if we saw a bushbuck wonderful and if not that was just fine too. Mostly just going through the motions now.
A side note I have heard there is no plainsgame in the area, that is not true, it is just not like you will see in South Africa. I saw three herds of impala one with a shootable ram but I was happier seeing him on the landscape rather than shot. I saw lots kudu sign tracks and shit, abundant bushbuck sign especially near water, 2 duiker, 1 steenbok, and 1 grysbok, as well as numerous hyena tracks and more baboon than is worth counting. It is very hungry country that likely never held great numbers of plainsgame in the first place and has also experienced significant adversity.
Day 9 and 10 we decide to head back towards Mlibizi, we do late of day 9 and have a great time doing so. Tim's an older fellow with a much storied life having lived most of it in Zim and I poke and prod and get all the stories out of him I can, and really enjoy them. We eventually make it to Mlibizi and have some proper debauchery and then off to fish Kariba in the morning with Sean and a few others who won't be named to protect the innocent. Everyone at camp was absolutely wonderful and enlightening and it was a first hand experience that just can't be had from a book. We fished day 10 and didn't catch much but had a wonderful time just hanging out talking and goofing around with the boys. Day 12? I guess, Andy one of the Mlibizi trackers gave me a ride to Vic Falls and I'm off for my 44hr punishment trip back home. All in all it was an absolutely wonderful experience, Liesl was honest and upfront about everything going in beforehand and I couldn't recommend them enough. Food was good, accommodations were good, hunting was real no fences and no BS albeit hard, and we were ultimately successful and I got everything I wanted out of it and more. Even if we had not been successful I would have been happy with the trip and the people I met, and I apologize to those people for having to deal with me.
Cheers everyone, and thank you to the forum for if not for you guys I would have never found or went on this adventure. 3hrs later typing this and the keyboards getting a bit bumpy. I've also somehow bumped something with the formatting with shift-entering which has messed things up and inserted repeats ill have to fix, hopefully it didn't delete anything. Having a few struggles with the images too, hope it all comes out ok. Cheers.
a few images
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