Hi Josh. Good luck on your trip. By taking your wife, you have half the battle finished for a second safari. I bet she will want to go back as well. She also will love the taste of game meat in Africa much better than North American game. If you seriously will not go back, I suggest taking as many animals as you can (even if you have to get a small loan) because it is cheaper to do it while already there than to spend the time and airlines, etc... to go again. Interest rates are still low and you can probably easily get a home equity line of credit with a low rate. I am not advocating that you go tens of thousands in debt but one or two extra trophy fees would be a small loan and probably less than airline tickets on a second safari. Remember, you only live once and it only gets more expensive each year.
As for me, I am not a collector that needs one of everything. I like what I like. I like the big horns of the larger plains game. I have been lucky enough to take buffalo and leopard but I actually prefer the plains game - especially the spiral horned antelopes. I don't care for the tiny stuff and duikers. They just don't do it for me. I have taken a suni because my PH was flipping out and it was the biggest ever taken in the concession but I would have rather taken an eland. I like your selections and your wife's so far but I definitely would take a kudu, zebra, gemsbok, impala, blesbok, and waterbuck. If I were you, I would take a nyala if presented because they are only found in certain areas in Africa. I would drop the wildebeest if you had to skip something. Not that there is anything wrong with baboons and warthogs, but I am curious as to your fascination with them? Regards, Scott.
