Vanderlaan, the first thing you did right is not wait until you are 63 years old for your first trip to Africa. Second, you are doing the research necessary to get the best trip possible. My first suggestion is that you try to do the 10 days if possible. I did a 14 day trip and my hunting buddy who accompanied me did a 10 day trip. The look on his face when he was packing to return to the U.S. and I was packing to shift hunting to Eastern Cape for bush buck and geese was very sad to see.
The only country in Africa I've visited is the RSA, first Northern Cape and then Eastern Cape, both areas are very different but really neat to see. My goal was to see South Africa, not just hunt it, and I got to see a good bit. About the hunting, I always identified myself as a bird hunter and had planned to shoot three big game animals and a lot of pigeons. I ended up with seven big game animals, one day of pigeon shooting and a couple hours of goose hunting (shot ten Egyptian geese). I did not score on my primary three desired PG animals but I couldn't care less. I am now an African big game hunter who likes to shoot birds, too. I've already booked to return next year and will focus on getting my bush buck, impala, and warthog.
I was asked by a 14 year old hunting buddy what the best part of my hunting trip was. I loved meeting the people, I loved seeing the country. The best part of the hunting was how hard I worked to get shots at my animals. The ranches I hunted on were huge and the animals were very wild, none were interested in committing suicide. My hunting partner had the same experience. So, my last suggestion for you is that you get into shape, be ready to hunt, listen to your PH, and be flexible on your list of animals to shoot. And be aware, you will want to go back again. The people on this forum talk about how addictive it is, they are not kidding.
Good luck and post your report with photos.
