Has Africa changed?

JHT

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As I stated in my introduction, I have booked a DG safari in Zimbabwe for July 2022. I am very excited and don't really know what to expect. Is Africa still wild? I picked Zimbabwe because I wanted wild, free range animals. Is this even possible anymore? I have noticed a lot of wealthy sportsman have moved onto other places and it hit me that the Africa I've dreamed of might be largely gone. I hope I am wrong.
 
The wild places are still there. Zim has some wonderful places to hunt. Where are you hunting and who are you hunting with?
 
The wild places are still there. Zim has some wonderful places to hunt. Where are you hunting and who are you huntinMakuti Safari area with Mbalabala Safaris. I have full confidence in the outfit and PH because of who sent me there.
Makuti Safari Area with Mbalabala Safaris. I have full confidence in the outfit because of the gentleman who sent me there.
 
This title is really thought provoking to me. The wild places are definitely still there, but I think the presence of lions is the best indicator of true wilderness (followed by the rest of the dangerous 7). I have my first hunt in Zimbabwe scheduled in sept 2021 for buffalo, I have high expectations for the hunt and the experience. I hunted in Kaokoland in NW Namibia and that was true wilderness, vast areas (the 3 concessions were 1.5 million acres) with very few people, lions, leopards, elephant, even black rhino. I’m really glad areas like it still exist. One thing I think will surprise you though when you get to Africa is the human population, unfortunately it is just huge and growing fast, so Africa will continue to change.
 
This title is really thought provoking to me. The wild places are definitely still there, but I think the presence of lions is the best indicator of true wilderness (followed by the rest of the dangerous 7). I have my first hunt in Zimbabwe scheduled in sept 2021 for buffalo, I have high expectations for the hunt and the experience. I hunted in Kaokoland in NW Namibia and that was true wilderness, vast areas (the 3 concessions were 1.5 million acres) with very few people, lions, leopards, elephant, even black rhino. I’m really glad areas like it still exist. One thing I think will surprise you though when you get to Africa is the human population, unfortunately it is just huge and growing fast, so Africa will continue to change.
I suppose the fact that you are going back tells me everything I need to know.
 
I suppose the fact that you are going back tells me everything I need to know.
Will be trip number 10, can’t imagine not hunting in Africa . . . However, if I was given choice to hunt roe bucks during the rut in Europe or any other hunt, I would probably go roe buck hunting.
 
Well I think you picked a good, interesting area with lots of variety of game. My only suggestion is to go with an open mind, lots of patience and attempt to leave the pre-conceived notions behind. Guaranteed!... no matter how much you've read about or watched video of hunting Africa, it will be different. My suggestion is to go with the idea there may be lots of walking. So be in decent shape. If you have good trackers, they like nothing more than demonstrating their tracking ability on game!!! Let them show you that skill- you won't regret it. You can convey that to your PH in the beginning if that type hunting appeals to you. IMO, nothing beats tracking buffalo or eland!!! If interested and available, tracking other PG such as zebra can be extremely difficult and wildebeest are no pushovers if they've been hunted. The area you're going to I think has a good mixture of various habitat types with some forested riparian mixes that can be very thick- but no stereotypical vast open plains. You will likely enjoy it so much, you'll be planning the next trip before the safari is over... happens 99% of the time :)
 
The bottom line is mathematical...

Africa's population essentially doubles every 20 years. The estimated population in Africa in 1900 was 140 million. The current population in 2020 is 1.3 billion. This can only mean that wilderness is gradually disappearing into communal farmland and over-crowded townships.

Has Africa changed in term of wilderness? Heck yes! And for that matter, it continues to change at an ever increasing pace.

This simple ethnographic reality is THE challenge of African conservation, where every acre needs to contribute to economic viability, through either direct production of food (i.e. conversion of wild land into farm land) or production of cash (i.e. conservation of hunting leases - and photo safari parks - to attract foreign currency). Sadly, this is not a battle that the shrinking hunting community is currently winning...

The beautiful movie Out of Africa recalling the lives of Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke and Denys Finch Hatton depicts pre and immediately post World War I (1910’s) British East Africa (modern Kenya). This was more than a century ago... Ernest Hemingway’s Green Hills of Africa, published in 1935, is an account of a safari he took in 1933, which is 90 years ago!!! Robert Ruark’s Horn of the Hunter: The Story of an African Safari, published in 1953, describes his first safari in 1951, which is 70 years ago!!! And even Peter Hathaway Capstick’s series of Death in the Long Grass, Death in the Dark Continent, Death in the Silent Places, etc. dates back to the late 1970’s early 1980’s, which is 40 years ago!!!

Let us be frank: these eras are gone, and gone forever.

But can today’s hunter still hope to experience a safari that has some resemblance to Hemingway’s, Ruark’s or Capstick’s safaris? The answer is yes… somewhat... but the cost is frightening.

There are still a couple places where yesterday’s Africa can be experienced … somewhat. In Tanzania’s northern blocks or southern Selous Reserve, Mozambique’s Zambezi Delta, Botswana’s Okavango Delta, Namibia’s Caprivi strip, and a few other places, the modern hunter can still book a 21 day full bag safari (except black rhino); a few million-acre concessions still exist; and land and game (whatever is left from poaching) are still relatively wild - key operating word: relatively. But be prepared to pay for the privilege. By the time trophy fees are added to daily fees, you will be spending $40,000 to $70,000... or more...

Does this mean that an African safari is out of reach for us mere mortals? No! Africa’s conservation success stories and safari opportunities are now mostly based on communal land and game management, and private game ranching, and everyone heading to Africa today should know it, to avoid the disillusion of not being the next Ernest Hemingway, Robert Ruark or Peter Hathaway Capstick in the wild Africa of the 1950’s.

One can still have the hunt of a lifetime in Africa, but there should be great clarity that wilderness is now a luxury to be dearly paid for, and that $40,000 or $70,000 safari expectations in terms of wilderness (land and animals) cannot be realistically shoe-horned in a $10,000 or $20,000 package on communal lands, or a $5,000 or $10,000 package on private land.
 
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Excellent info, Pascal. Most people who have never been to Africa think that AFRICA is one place and that it is wild and full of animals. Most of sub-Sahara Africa's wildlife is managed to some degree. Still fascinating and exciting to visit or work in. Don't wait if you get an opportunity whether it be to hunt, get involved with conservation on a short time basis, or simply go on a photo safari.
 
Makuti Safari Area with Mbalabala Safaris. I have full confidence in the outfit because of the gentleman who sent me there.
Stop stressing you will have a ball of a time...as wild as you can get...will be you and the wilderness and the game...Makuti area is situated from the escarpment all the way down to the Zambezi river great area..with a very reputable outfitter....bordered by Hurungwe , Charara and Mana Pools...
 
Africa absolutely still has wild places. Most of it was destroyed due to colonialism and post-independence wars, unfortunately, but the few conservationists that stepped on the dark continent helped create vast reserves set aside specifically for the native wildlife. I really hope the notion that Africa only has high-fenced ranches would change, nothing wrong with high fences but there's plenty of free-roaming areas. Good luck on your hunt. :)
 
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Stop stressing you will have a ball of a time...as wild as you can get...will be you and the wilderness and the game...Makuti area is situated from the escarpment all the way down to the Zambezi river great area..with a very reputable outfitter....bordered by Hurungwe , Charara and Mana Pools...
Thank you. Not stressing - just excited. Almost giddy.
 
I know the feeling.....enjoy....
 
I have been in Zim 66 years so far and yes there have been changes, but there are still vast unfenced areas to hunt - you are going to one! Likely to be lions about too, especially if your range extends over the edge of the escarpment. If you are driving to camp from Harare be sure to stop in at Lion's Den butchery, they have a little restaurant there - best steak and egg rolls in the world. The Makuti hills are tough going, get fit and make sure your footwear is run in.
 
Zimbabwe definitely has wild areas, hence why I keep going back.
 
As I stated in my introduction, I have booked a DG safari in Zimbabwe for July 2022. I am very excited and don't really know what to expect. Is Africa still wild? I picked Zimbabwe because I wanted wild, free range animals. Is this even possible anymore? I have noticed a lot of wealthy sportsman have moved onto other places and it hit me that the Africa I've dreamed of might be largely gone. I hope I am wrong.
There are lots of wild areas in Africa and Zim is wild. What has changed is the population boom. People are everywhere and will be encountered on most hunts. You will have a good hunt I am sure.
Remember the wild free range areas are hard hunts.
Philip
 
@JHT I will be there God willing in 2021! I believe from what I have seen so far it’s about as wild it can be. I’ll let you know what I see!
 
You know when people talk about "the good old days"?
Like the good old days of hunting Africa...etc?

You are living your "good old days" right now!
Relax, take it in and enjoy the ride.
Each and every day...but especially the ones in Africa.
 
@JHT
The change is the fact. Which we have to accept.
Has America changed in last 100 years?
Has Europe changed in last 100 years?
Has Asia changed in last 100 years?

So, has Africa. One of most colorful posts on this topic is one of @One Day...
But, what a "wild place" means to you?

I hunted "tame" farm land of Namibia. To get to the camp, it took few hours by car on gravel road.
But, leopard is even there wild, and smart, and very much considered Dangerous game.
We met black mamba there, and I dont think, the snake is any more tame there, then anywhere else, or is anyones "pet".

But, yes, if you really want to get the taste of wilderness, first country to visit will be Zimbabwe, to my theoretical understandanding, and you have made a good choice in general terms. Zimbabwe is also on my long term list, for same reasons, and also to hunt buffalo. After Zimbabwe, true wilderness, in my theoretcial reasearch might still be found in Tanzania, and rain forests of central Africa, Caprivi, and number of other places. Zim, is however first, and most achiavable stop.
But modern safari in wilderness will be organised in different way, from how it was organised in golden era of safari, as One day has described.
 
Makuti Safari Area with Mbalabala Safaris. I have full confidence in the outfit because of the gentleman who sent me there.


You picked a good outfitter and area!
 
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