NAMIBIA: Khomas Highland Hunting Safaris Followed By Self Drive

[Adrian]

Location: Khomas Hochland, Namibia, Farm Heusis.

Outfitter: Khomas Highland Hunting Safaris.

PH: Philip Hennings.

Tracker/Driver: Marius.

Owners: Dietmar and Philip Hennings.

Dates: 2nd to 8th August 2015, five hunting days.

Rifle: Blaser R93 synthetic stock in .300 Win Mag teamed with Zeiss Duralyt 2-8 x 42 and using home loaded 180gr Hornady ballistic tip bullets.


Here goes with my first hunting report on my first hunting trip to Africa. I know some prefer a long and detailed report and other like a short concise bullet point and photo type read so I apologise to those who fall into the latter category.

I will try to provide a day by day report on what experiences I had and accompany my writing with photos along the way. The report will also be for my benefit as I can use this small corner of the internet to look back upon and have it as my personal memory of my trip.

Ok.

We - myself, wife Sonia and daughter Ella flew from London Heathrow to Johannesburg and then on to Windhoek via SAA. We took off from Heathrow at 21:00 on the 1st August and ended up in Namibia just after lunchtime on the 2nd. Not a bad trip and couldn't fault the airline.

Our transition through Johannesburg was aided by some guy who selected us from the international transfers line and led us past the queues and fast tracked us through security. No idea why but we were very glad as our connection time was short and the line was long. At no point did we have to produce our daughter's birth certificate to prove she was ours or were we questioned. I was surprised as the new law requiring the above was quite new in effect.

One point to note, I tried to buy tobacco in Johannesburg to take onto Namibia but was refused because of some duty free laws.

Onto the short flight to Windhoek. I bagged the window seat and spent most of the flight with my nose pressed against the glass looking down onto the wonderful African landscape unfolding below me.

Ella's suitcase was not with us when we arrived but they already knew that because when we went to report it, a form was already filled out for us so a simple matter of providing our luggage barcode and it was promised to be with us the following day. No big deal, Ella had a change of clothes in her hand luggage and she can also wear Sonia's clothes if need be.

Philip was waiting for us as we went through the gates and we loaded up the old Toyota and set off. Saw a baboon and springbok on the drive.

About an hour later we arrived at Farm Heusis owned and managed by Philip's father Dietmar. We piled out and were introduced to Sam the cook and we were taken to our home for the week, a detached cottage with three bedrooms, one en-suite, another bathroom and a spacious and comfortable living/dining area and kitchen.

We arranged to meet for a coffee and some cake a short time later and then it was off to the range. Not too far as it was conveniently situated right outside the farm gates in the dry river bed.

Philip introduced me to the rifle, a Blaser R93 in .300 Win Mag. Never fired a Blaser, anything bigger than my .243 so I was eager to take a few shots.

At 100m my first shot was low, a few clicks of the scope brought it up and then I shot too high. Philip seemed content however and I tried a shot off the sticks and that was my most accurate shot.
I was slightly disappointed but Philip was happy with how I performed and that was good enough for me.

Please note, for Health and Safety reasons, Ella was not holding the target while I shot at it.

Everyone was happy so it was decided to go for a short drive to see what we could see and stop for a sundowner. Philip's friend Carsten was with us and we headed off in the hunting car.

We came across some black wildebeest under some trees and disturbed a jackal which ran off and in turn, it disturbed an aardwolf which chased it off in return.

Reaching a high spot we stopped and Philip mixed a gin and tonic and we washed down some truly superb home made biltong with it. As we stood there taking in the superb Namibian landscape, four red hartebeest appeared on a ridge. On the way back to the farm we also saw two kudu cows.
There is loads of bird life. Guinea fowl are abundant and around the farm the grey lourie 'go away bird' are ever present.

At 19:00 we made our way to the farmhouse for dinner. We were welcomed by Dietmar and we had a drink by the fire before Same served us dinner. Shrimp cocktail followed by hartebeest in mushroom and onion gravy with rice and a pea salad followed by cake and custard for dessert. Bloody lovely.

End of our first day in Namibia.

 

[Scott Slough]

Adrian,

As one of those who loves the more detailed hunt reports, I enjoyed your first post and look forward to sharing your entire journey as you share with us!

 

[Waterguy631]

Great start

 

[Adrian]

Day two.

We had arranged at dinner the previous night to meet for breakfast at the rather civilised time of 07:30. I was surprised as I had guessed we would be up and out at first light but I didn't argue, it had been a long journey and I had gotten very little sleep on the plane.

We arrived at the front door to the farm and were shown to the breakfast room. An open fire was burning in the corner and the table was laid up for us. We took some coffee and tea for Ella while Sam cooked us fried eggs to go with our toast, cheeses and salami. Perfect.

Philip warned me we would have to look and work hard for a kudu as they had dispersed into the higher areas of the farm but there was a good chance of finding one at some point. To be honest, I was genuinely not bothered. I was in Namibia and now I was there, the experience had taken over everything I had previously thought about.

I assured Philip that I was completely happy to go along with whatever he suggested. This was my first time and I knew nothing other than what I had read on the internet and in books and magazines. I was very content to go with the flow and take whatever chances came my way. Philip had an idea of the species I would like to hunt so I left it to him with (I hope) absolutely no pressure other than to have a good time.

Breakfast finished we were ready by about 08:00. We grabbed our stuff, water, cameras, rifle and bullets and headed back to the front of the farm and met Marius our driver who had brought the hunting car to the front and was waiting to go.

Loaded up, we were also accompanied by Voodoo, Philip's Rhodesian Ridgeback and we set off into the bush.

A quick note about the farm. It is a cattle farm and hunting is a secondary income and concern. The cattle raised there are sold for beef and Dietmar had told us that many of his animals end up in London and are sold to McDonalds. I have no qualms about eating there now as the beef is surely of the highest quality and free from the crap us Europeans and Americans pump into our meat.

Importantly there are no game fences. All wild game is free to move throughout the area and is not restricted in any way shape or form. The only fences on the property are low cattle fences to contain the herds.

All hunting is carried out on an ethical basis and by fair chase on foot. The hunting car is used to transport you to an area and then you are out on the hunt. Sometimes over the course of the next few days we would spot game from the car and then go stalking, other times it would drop us off and we would walk and spot and stalk. The only concession to this rule is for vermin such as jackals which can be shot from the car but I'm sure nobody can have a problem with that.

So, off we went. We drove out and not long after we came across vultures in the low acacia treetops, about 15-20 of them, there was likely to be something dead nearby. We saw many southern yellow billed hornbills which are very common and saw our first warthogs as we traversed a dry reservoir.

I have no idea how long we had been driving before Philip stopped the car with a tap on the cab roof.

He had seen some kudu.

We all looked and yep, I couldn't see them. I'm used to looking for roe deer, a nice red/brown colour against our lush and green English countryside. How on earth can I see rock and brush coloured animals against a rock and brush covered landscape?

Eventually I found them and there was a bull down there. I remember noting how the sunlight glinted off his horns, more so than I expected.

Philip decided we should get a closer look so suddenly here I was, stalking on foot in Africa. It was quite a moment for me.

I followed Philip and Sonia and Ella followed me. The ground underfoot is sandy but with many loose rocks and gravel. Low acacia scrub interspersed with dry grass grew on the surface. We followed a dry watercourse and went behind some larger rocks which sent the dassies scattering. We bumped some warthogs as we went along too.

Suddenly I found myself puffing and panting which was a little surprising, I hadn't actually done anything to exert myself and I'm reasonably fit, my job is mainly walking and I cycle 15 to 30 miles whenever I'm not at work.

I tried to disguise it in case Philip wondered what on earth he had got hunting with him but quickly gave up when trying to hide it made it worse. I reasoned it was the thin, dry air and the altitude, both of which I am unused to so I gave in and panted like a steam train. Better to take it easy and arrive on a possible shot in good shape to take it than try and be a hero and be fighting for breath as your dream animal jumps about in the crosshairs because you can't hold steady.

We finally came out onto a ridge behind some low bush and were much closer to the kudu herd. The bull was alert to us and was standing there watching with the sun shining off his horns which I noted were quite wide. Philip spotted another bull but I was unsighted at this point. This one hadn't seen us and was feeding slowly, going from left to right. While I tried to spot him my attention was drawn to a young bull with some cows and also a gemsbok and baboon at the base of a rocky outcrop.

After a short time, the second kudu came into my vision. Philip took a another look and confirmed this was a shooter. We slowly shuffled/crawled forward to a low rock while Sonia and Ella remained hidden in the bushes.

I assumed we would try and get closer so imagine my surprise when Philip handed me his rolled up jacket and put it on the rocks for me to rest the rifle.

Was he being serious? The kudu were closer to Angola than they were to me! Or so it seemed.

I casually enquired as to the range. "Oh, about 280m" came the reply.

My eyes widened and I thought he can't be freaking serious. 280m?
I wondered if I should mention I had never shot beyond 100m but decided against it.
Here I was, this is what I wanted to do so man up and do your bit.

The kudu bull stepped out of cover going left to right and Philip whispered to wait until he stopped moving.

He did and suddenly I found myself about to shoot at my first African animal which also happened to be a kudu.

For some reason I was completely steady. No buck fever, no wavering over the target. I moved the crosshairs up to just above the halfway line on the bull's body and squeezed the trigger.

The shot went off and in the ten minutes before the bullet hit I recovered the recoil and saw the kudu lurch forward, tail up and mane on end. He bolted forward about twenty or thirty metres and stood still, unsteady on his feet. I knew the shot had been good.

Philip said to shoot again and I duly obliged. This time the bull staggered forward, his back end went down and he rolled over onto his right side.

The next moments were a blur. I remember Philip shaking my hand, I took my jacket off because I realised I was actually bloody hot and Sonia and Ella emerged from the bushes asking if I had killed it. Bizarrely I was more concerned with picking up the empty cartridges and making sure I could return them to Philip.

Philip was on the radio to Marius, calling him and the vehicle in to recover the carcass and then we set off over the seemingly impossible distance I had covered with the shot. I zoomed in to take the photo below. The kudu is lying behind the small mushroom shaped bush in the centre of the photo.

I will never forget the moment I looked up and saw my kudu lying there.

As I walked closer it just got bigger and bigger. I had never shot anything as large as this before and although I had seen mounted kudu before I was genuinely stunned by the size of it. It had an injury to it's rear leg from a fence.

Philip was pleased, I was pleased and very relieved. Nothing like shooting a long distance animal for your first animal on the first morning of your hunt to settle the nerves, give confidence in a strange environment but also show the PH that you can do the job when you have to step up to it.

The ritual of the Last Bite was observed and Philip shook my hand as he presented me with a sprig of acacia to wear in my cap while he recounted the story of our morning so far with the traditional German 'Waidmannsheil' 'Waidmannsdank' exchange. Great stuff.

We set the bull up for some photos while Marius made his way to us with the truck. As we moved him I was very pleased to see both my shots had hit about two inches apart in the lower chest behind the front leg. Perfect.
The first shot would have killed the bull but I can definitely appreciate the second shot advice from Philip to end it quickly for this magnificent old bull.

We had a drink when Marius arrived and I could suddenly take in the fact that, after looking at my watch, two hours into my first hunt on my first day of my first safari, I had taken a superb kudu with ivory tipped horns.

Now the practicalities had to take over as we needed to get this big beast into the truck. Winches are very useful.

On the way back to the farm, we stopped so Philip could check a leopard bait and replenish the water that was also laid on for the elusive cat. Foot prints showed he had visited but not eaten.
We also saw springbok and steenbok on our journey.

Back at the farm, the kudu was winched up and off the truck and the skinners got to work. I was amazed how quickly and with great dexterity they worked. I wanted it caped and the back skin to be saved too, it was my first African animal after all!
After I had taken my gear back to the cottage I went back to take a few photos.
Philip was measuring the kudu for his records and I was shocked when he announced with a smile that the bull had made a gold medal. It genuinely never crossed my mind before to consider what it might measure because I was so pleased to have just hunted it. The horns taped out at 51 and 52 inches and the overall score was 322 cm points.

Lunch was quickly upon us and afterwards we had a couple of hours spare time so Ella and Sonia amused themselves while I jotted down some notes about the morning so I could remember them when it cam to writing this thread. As I wrote, a troop of baboons moved through the riverbank across from our cottage.
The grey lourie birds were flying between the trees overhead.

After our afternoon coffee and cake we headed out again to look for a gemsbok. Saw a kori bustard as we bounced along in the back of the truck.
Plenty more warthogs, springbok and steenbok.

Marius stopped as we drove up a rise in the ground as we pushed on into the hills. He has seen gemsbok ahead.

Philip and I got off and followed them as the gemsbok crested the ridge. We crept up and as we did so, a magnificent kudu bull appeared in the bush to our right. As we watched him, the gemsbok were feeding close by and then more kudu materialised from the bushes and the two species mingled together in the afternoon sunshine.

No shootable animals were present amongst the gemsbok, all were young and therefore not for shooting.

We stayed and watched the animals going about their business. The large kudu bull had made his way down the slope in front of us and down the valley. He noticed us and from a distance of about 80m started barking. It was a great sight. Unfortunately my camera was with Sonia who was some 40m behind Philip and myself and she couldn't see him but for the twenty or so minutes he stood there barking at us, his image will forever me imprinted on my mind. He really was a superb animal, big bodied and rippling with muscle around his front end. A kudu in his prime and definitely not a shooter at Khomas Highland.

Another kudu started barking too. The big bull moved off and alarmed the others in front of us who made off up the mountainside directly in front of us. All seemed to be immature bulls and one in particular had a strangely bald neck but appeared to otherwise be in good health.

The gemsbok were still around and I counted five but possibly more were still hidden from me which was correct as there were twelve when they eventually spooked.

On the ridge we had just climbed the was a tree so when all the animals had gone, Marius brought up the truck and we had a welcome drink. Casually glancing up I was surprised by the carcass of a steenbok. Dried out now but the remains of a leopard kill.

Not a bad place for a drink!

More warthog, springbok and steenbok were about as we returned to the farm. A jackal presented me with a shot but I made the rookie error of aiming dead on when I should've aimed underneath it at 50m and missed over the top. Annoyed with myself.

Kudu loin for dinner and it is probably the best meat I have ever tasted. Sam cooked it to perfection.

Second day over and looking forward to the next one!

 

[ROCKET]

Hey.....you are doing a real enjoyable hunting report......keep it coming.....!!!!

Congrats for your first hunting in Africa....!!!!

 

[Bivy]

Loving your report Adrian! I shared so many of the same experiences, thoughts, and emotions, and your writing is helping to rekindle the fresh memories of our own trip. I look forward to the remainder.

 

[bluey]

its obvious you are reliving your adventure in your writing , keep it up its like we walking right beside you .
nice kudu , hows that for a welcome to Africa
some great photos , the one with your rifle leaning up against your kudu with the lamdscape in the back , stands right out .
the ridge back ,is one fine looking dog

 

[Wheels]

Kind of envious of your short (relative) flight.

I like the long reports. Keep it coming.

Congrats on the kudu.

I too love the Hochlands!

 

[Adrian]

I'll resume on Sunday as I am away from home until then but thank you for your replies so far.

 

[Stefanus Prinsloo]

Well done and fantastic trophy!

 

[JGRaider]

Love the pics Adrian, and congrats on a great kudu bull. I'm loving it!

 

[huntermn15]

Adrian,

Great report, I look forward to the rest. Nice Kudu, I can't wait to see what the the next few days bring.

Regards,
Mike

 

[nchungryhunter]

Write up is great so far and the pictures are amazing!

 

[Muskox man]

Really enjoying the report. I look forward to more. Good job!

 

[dtarin09]

Keep it coming Adrian - awesome to see it is a family affair! Looking forward to the next chapter!

dt

 

[Hank2211]

Congratulations on the first animal - a great looking kudu! And to be able to do it with family just adds to the enjoyment.

Looking forward to the rest of the hunt!

 

[Albertaguy]

Very nice ! Looking forward to more!

 

[Adrian]

Ok, weekend wedding and birthday party commitments over with and on with the story.

The second hunting day dawned and we met again for breakfast at 07:30. When we had had our fill of coffee, eggs and toast we once more headed out.

We were bound for the mountains again and after our success the previous day, everyone seemed to be much more relaxed, we had gotten the most difficult quarry crossed off the virtual list.

On our way to the high ground we saw the usual springbok, steenbok and kudu. This morning we also came across a duiker. Guinea fowl, red billed fracolin and southern yellowbilled hornbills were again abundant.

Crossing a flatish area between the gently sloping valley sides we disturbed two jackals which ran off. Sonia managed to get a quick photo from inside the cab.

Philip was quick to get the padded rifle rest on the roof of the cab and I got the rifle up in case one of them offered a shot. One did, so remembering my miss of the night before I aimed low and duly dispatched the animal with a chest shot.

I always imagined a jackal to be larger than the foxes we get in the UK but was curious to see this one was about the same size. A young male. Philip offered to get it skinned but I declined, it had a bloody great hole in it (hidden for the photo) and I would prefer to hold out for a larger one if I got the opportunity.

This is Philip's truck, we don't find Toyota Land Cruisers in the UK very often and I had no idea what an awesome machine they are. We would test it's capabilities over the next couple of days.

After that brief deviation from our journey we continued on into the higher ground. I remember one particular area looked prime for leopard, steep sided valleys with rocky outcrops and acacia trees. Plenty of good territory for the elusive cat.

The track went on upwards and Marius suddenly stopped. He had seen a good warthog and I had also spotted it as it ran off over a ridge to our left. I can still see his grey shape and what looked like massive tusks curling over his snout as he disappeared. It was a good animal to take off after so we did.

The photo shows how steep the hunting can be in the Khomas Hochland. It's definitely not a place to go if you prefer flat easy strolls, although there are flat areas on the farm too but more of that later. You have to work to hunt your animals.

Mind you, the views from the top of these slopes are worth the effort.

We pursued the warthog for a time, I have no idea how long because once again time really didn't matter and it wasn't until afterwards that I understood just how little time means when you're in Africa hunting.
Occasionally it provided tantalizing glimpses through the long grass and rocks and we stopped frequently to try and figure out where he was going and if we could get a shot.

The warthog gave us the slip but it had been an enjoyable excursion and we used the opportunity of being on high ground to see what else we could see but our pursuit of the warthog had been fair warning to anything else in the area that something was not quite right.

From our high point, Marius was called to pick us up from a nearby track and our trip into the mountains continued.

We crept along the tracks looking out for game on the tops and ridges but it was Marius who spotted the zebras. He stopped and pointed and we all trained our binoculars in the direction he indicated.
As usual I couldn't see the bloody things and after Philip pointed them out to me I realised I had actually been looking at them without seeing them.

Holy crap! How well are they camouflaged? I had seen zebras before in Kenya and they were easy to spot, they were all over the place, just walking around in herds, black and white stripes shining in the sunshine.

But these were Hartmann's zebra or mountain zebra, indigenous to Namibia and the only place you can hunt them legally and truly wild, if I am remembering correctly from my reading.

Yes, they had black and white stripes but these animals blended perfectly into their environment. The kudu might otherwise be called 'the grey ghost' but the Hartmann's zebra surely can be named 'the black and white phantoms'.
Unbelievable how well their stripes offer such amazing camouflage.

While I was marvelling at them hiding in plain sight, Philip had been assessing the likelihood of a shootable animal from the small group high above us just under a ridge. We climbed a small hillock and Marius positioned the truck behind it keeping the higher ground between the truck and zebra.

Philip thought we should take a closer look at the group so we decided to descend our viewpoint, skirt around it and climb a fold in the ground which would keep us hidden from the zebra while also getting us closer to them all the time out of sight.

Sonia and Ella remained in the truck while Philip and I took off. We took our time and eventually reached a point from where we could get a decent view of the group. As we climbed, I idly noticed a white area in the rocks above us and being out of character with it's surroundings I glanced up.
The white area was actually a collection of bones in varying stages of decay, some bleached white by the strong African sun. As my eyes moved upwards to see where they had come from there was a dark hole in the rocks, a natural cave which had been excavated by something....... A leopard perhaps?
No time to discuss it now though, I had dropped behind Philip and needed to catch up.

We kept just out of sight below the crest but our heads could poke up and scan above, our profiles disguised by the lie of the land behind us and we looked at the zebra from our closer position.
There were some mares with foals moving about and a few others feeding but my eyes kept going back to one animal in particular. It seemed bigger than the others, stood quietly by itself, backside into a tree.
I looked and looked trying desperately to remember what I had read in 'The Perfect Shot' only a few days beforehand.
I knew it was hard to tell the difference between male and female zebra unless the genitals were visible. From the distance of about 120m it was impossible to see but this lone zebra had a thicker neck and noticeable dewlap and I decided it must be the stallion. I was pleased when Philip murmured to me that we had both been looking at the same animal and his view was the same as mine. He mentioned the thick neck too and also the fact there seemed to be no dependant youngsters and it was behaving as he would expect a stallion to be.

This was my animal.

I manoeuvred myself to a rock which up until now had been hiding us from the zebra. I became aware of being very exposed as I came into view of the herd. I could see the zebra I was to be shooting at but had no idea how many other eyes were up there on the lookout for danger.
Philip passed me my rucksack to rest the rifle on and I pushed it onto the rock and tried to get comfortable. No good, I had to shuffle the bag around and get it a bit higher.
I found the zebra through the scope and found the distinctive triangle pattern of stripes on the shoulder. I found myself panting but was steady on the shot so I flicked the safety off and squeezed the trigger.

Because Sonia and Ella had stayed in the truck there were no photos of all this happening but I hadn't realised that Philip was filming on his cellphone. Here is the clip he took, there is a large rock just to the right of the central horizon, the zebra is to the lower right of that:

I took the shot and heard the bullet strike, I saw the zebra fall and roll downhill kicking and looked round at Philip to see if he could confirm the shot had been good.

The zebra was down and we took off at fast pace to reach it. Voodoo got there first of course and because the animal was still clinging to life Philip wanted me to put another shot into it as insurance and to stop it kicking either the dog or us. I did so and it was over.

Upon inspection it was revealed I had shot a mare, not a stallion but as Philip and I had both agreed from our long look at it that as it was alone within the group and the thick neck made it look like a stallion it was all good, we couldn't see what sex it was so used other indicators to make an informed decision. She was an older girl, about thirteen, not pregnant and no dependant young so a good animal to take in the circumstances.

We set her up for some photos and I could take in the experience. Up here, just under 2000m above sea level in the mountains, I had taken an old mountain zebra. I could finally lay my hands on her and admire the fantastic markings, feel the short bristled hair on her body, examine her hooves, run my fingers over the scars on her hide and inhale that wonderful horsey smell.
I never stopped to wonder if a zebra actually smelled like a horse before and weirdly didn't expect it even though common sense says of course it would but then I don't get to see many zebra around where I live!
I also didn't understand just how big a zebra really is when you get up close to one. It was a big bodied mare and as a newbie to African hunting I was again in awe of the size of yet another animal.

Sonia and Ella arrived after hiking up the mountain to us, Marius had gone in the truck to find the best way around to reach our location.

Philip pointed out the features that separate the Hartmann's zebra from the Burchell's. The brown facial stripes, the plain belly, the leg stripes that go all the way down to the hooves, the wonderful back markings, the larger ears and smaller hooves.

We had a short break up there on the slopes before the sound of a Toyota disturbed the tranquility. Somehow Marius had worked his way around and had appeared over the top of the mountain we were sitting on.
Philip swapped places and drove into our position while Marius cleared a path and if he couldn't, the Toyota did.
It took some grunting and panting and a little sweat to load the zebra even with the aid of the winch, did I mention before how big these animals are???

I looked back to where I had taken the shot from. It was the rocks on the ridge that runs downhill from the right hand side of the photo roughly central in the image. The larger and steeper sided rocky area behind is where I saw the possible leopard den and if you zoom in, you can make out the lighter area where the bones are scattered just above the rock I shot from.

Anyway, job done and Philip drove out while the rest of us walked the slope to the summit where we could take a welcome drink. This was the highest point of Farm Heusis and what a view! Not content with being so high, I climbed the roof of the cab to take some photos. Stunning scenery and a beautiful landscape.

Voodoo was pleased with his morning's work too and took a nap in the back of the truck with a zebra as a headrest.

More beautiful scenery on the road back to the farm.

Back at the ranch the zebra was unloaded for the skinners to work their magic. I decided on a full skin. Up until the moment we got it back I was still undecided whether I was going to go for the flat skin or pedestal but Philip said the Hartmann's makes the best rug because of the unique back pattern and my mind was made up. I guess that means I need to hunt a Burchell's for a pedestal now but I won't tell the missus just yet......

Sam had lunch ready so after a quick wash to remove the blood and dust from my legs and to get my feet into some cooler footwear we sat down and ate. Afterwards we had a couple of hours spare in this hotter part of the day so I took my camera and finally caught up with a grey lourie 'go away' bird.

Coffee and biscuits were served at three o'clock again and we all met up on the veranda to refresh ourselves before the afternoon hunt.

This afternoon we went onto the plains, a flatter area of the farm with a gently undulating landscape where we would find some different species. We would also pass a dam which still held a little water and we could sit and wait to see what came out of the bush. Philip was hoping to see a big warthog.

On our afternoon jaunt, we came across a good sized blue wildebeest who looked at us from the relative sanctuary of the bush.

We came across a large herd of red hartebeest who all appeared to be heading in the direction of the water. Our arrival over the horizon sped them on their way, and they galloped off across the plains and then over the rise in the ground opposite us. I managed to get a quick shot with the camera as they ran.

Arriving at the dam, all was quiet but we sat and waited for a while, again I can't be specific with time because it didn't matter. Nothing appeared except a lone springbok ewe and a can of beer, the latter was the more welcome of the two. Deciding it wasn't going to improve before darkness arrived we set off back to the farm and arrived in good time for a quick shower before another of Sam's superb meals. I didn't note it down but I think it was springbok and again, very tasty.

So ended another day and it was back to our cottage. The fire had been lit and the aroma of camel thorn smoke filled the air. I stayed up for a short while to absorb the events of the day while sitting outside looking up at the Milky Way.

 

[stug]

Awesome report, looking forward to more.

 

[huntermn15]

Outstanding, love the Hartmann's!