I have been meaning to write this for some time and have finally got around to putting something in writing.
After hunting in Mozambique in 2022, I was totally hooked and after some internet searching for a place that offered ethical fair chase hunting, mainly on foot, I found Kambaku. I really wanted to go back to Mozambique, however, I won't be able to afford that for some time!
I emailed Kambaku and from the start was very impressed by the speed of response from the owner and the amount of information that he passed on. It was very apparent that this is a well run operation with superb organisation.
The big advantage of Namibia for those who live in Europe is that it is very easy to get there. My wife and I flew from our local airport to Windhoek via Frankfurt on Lufthansa. As far as I am aware, we do not have specialist hunting travel agents in the UK, so i booked the flights online and then followed up with a telephone call to book the rifles and ammunition. All very straightforward, other than that I didn't realise that the firearms case has to be booked as an additional item of baggage, which was an expensive mistake when it came to amending this in the airport.
The flights were very straightforward and we were in Windhoek within about 18 hours of leaving home. The airport is an absolute pleasure to deal with, every official seems willing to help, good humoured and reasonable.
We picked up a hire car, stopped at the Klein Windhoek Checkers supermarket (seemed to be the closest) for some biltong, lunch and water and drove up to Otjiwarongo. The roads are outstanding, far better than the quality of the roads in the UK and fuel is very cheap.
Kambaku is a large former farm (I think 35,000 acres) with a very smart hotel and a hunting camp in the bush. It was fenced, which concerned me to start with, but in reality, we weren't really aware that the fences were there at all.
I was also concerned about the hotel but you don't really know it exists from the hunting camp. We drove out to the camp with our PH, met the cook, zeroed the rifles (I used a Blaser R8 .375 and my wife used a K95 7x57R, both with moderators) and set off.
Over the next week, we successfully hunted warthog, eland, oryx, impala and wildebeeste.
My stand out memories were my first wildebeeste on our first day and my first eland. The eland was outstanding to hunt, in thick thornveldt, with a careful stalk, a very long wait and a shot at about 50m. I can easily see what eland hunting is so highly thought of.
I was really impressed with the .375 H & H, just did everything I wanted without any fuss and my wife appreciated the light weight of her K95.
The camp was very comfortable and private, the food was outstanding, the PH and cook very good company, even if they did have to put up with my very poor attempts to speak Afrikaans.
It was not the true wilderness experience of Mozambique, but it was a quarter of the travel time and significantly less expensive. I really do not think I could have got good, ethical management hunting for any less, particularly not with such a comfortable camp and such a proficient PH.
For those of you who have not been to Namibia, I cannot recommend the country enough. From what we saw, it is clean, safe and well organised. It was far more like a European country than other parts of Africa I have visited but stuck a brilliant balance between areas of huge wilderness with sufficient development to make a short visit very easy. We were stopped by the police whilst driving twice, like every other official I met, they just wanted to do their job. Absolutely no suggestion of any bribes etc, as I have seen elsewhere in Africa.
We visited a couple of farms and everyone I met was open and friendly. It really struck me how little racial tension there was and how everyone seemed so relaxed and how modern everything seemed.
I appreciate this hasn't been a great write up but I wanted to share how impressed I was with Kambaku. It is well worth considering if you are thinking of travelling to Namibia. Whilst we were hunting management animals, there are some really good trophy animals there and it seems that the whole place is being managed for a sustainable long term future.
I enjoyed spending so much time in the bush on foot. I have no interest in hunting over waterholes etc or spending hours driving around and I found stalking through thorn really exiting.
After hunting in Mozambique in 2022, I was totally hooked and after some internet searching for a place that offered ethical fair chase hunting, mainly on foot, I found Kambaku. I really wanted to go back to Mozambique, however, I won't be able to afford that for some time!
I emailed Kambaku and from the start was very impressed by the speed of response from the owner and the amount of information that he passed on. It was very apparent that this is a well run operation with superb organisation.
The big advantage of Namibia for those who live in Europe is that it is very easy to get there. My wife and I flew from our local airport to Windhoek via Frankfurt on Lufthansa. As far as I am aware, we do not have specialist hunting travel agents in the UK, so i booked the flights online and then followed up with a telephone call to book the rifles and ammunition. All very straightforward, other than that I didn't realise that the firearms case has to be booked as an additional item of baggage, which was an expensive mistake when it came to amending this in the airport.
The flights were very straightforward and we were in Windhoek within about 18 hours of leaving home. The airport is an absolute pleasure to deal with, every official seems willing to help, good humoured and reasonable.
We picked up a hire car, stopped at the Klein Windhoek Checkers supermarket (seemed to be the closest) for some biltong, lunch and water and drove up to Otjiwarongo. The roads are outstanding, far better than the quality of the roads in the UK and fuel is very cheap.
Kambaku is a large former farm (I think 35,000 acres) with a very smart hotel and a hunting camp in the bush. It was fenced, which concerned me to start with, but in reality, we weren't really aware that the fences were there at all.
I was also concerned about the hotel but you don't really know it exists from the hunting camp. We drove out to the camp with our PH, met the cook, zeroed the rifles (I used a Blaser R8 .375 and my wife used a K95 7x57R, both with moderators) and set off.
Over the next week, we successfully hunted warthog, eland, oryx, impala and wildebeeste.
My stand out memories were my first wildebeeste on our first day and my first eland. The eland was outstanding to hunt, in thick thornveldt, with a careful stalk, a very long wait and a shot at about 50m. I can easily see what eland hunting is so highly thought of.
I was really impressed with the .375 H & H, just did everything I wanted without any fuss and my wife appreciated the light weight of her K95.
The camp was very comfortable and private, the food was outstanding, the PH and cook very good company, even if they did have to put up with my very poor attempts to speak Afrikaans.
It was not the true wilderness experience of Mozambique, but it was a quarter of the travel time and significantly less expensive. I really do not think I could have got good, ethical management hunting for any less, particularly not with such a comfortable camp and such a proficient PH.
For those of you who have not been to Namibia, I cannot recommend the country enough. From what we saw, it is clean, safe and well organised. It was far more like a European country than other parts of Africa I have visited but stuck a brilliant balance between areas of huge wilderness with sufficient development to make a short visit very easy. We were stopped by the police whilst driving twice, like every other official I met, they just wanted to do their job. Absolutely no suggestion of any bribes etc, as I have seen elsewhere in Africa.
We visited a couple of farms and everyone I met was open and friendly. It really struck me how little racial tension there was and how everyone seemed so relaxed and how modern everything seemed.
I appreciate this hasn't been a great write up but I wanted to share how impressed I was with Kambaku. It is well worth considering if you are thinking of travelling to Namibia. Whilst we were hunting management animals, there are some really good trophy animals there and it seems that the whole place is being managed for a sustainable long term future.
I enjoyed spending so much time in the bush on foot. I have no interest in hunting over waterholes etc or spending hours driving around and I found stalking through thorn really exiting.
