This Is Why I Want To Hunt Botswana

[skydiver386]

This article originally appeared in Outdoor Life magazine in 1949. No, I wasn't around in 1949, but stories of wild Africa and the "Great Swamp" always intrigued me more than those centered on Kenya and places further north.

Back then it was known as Bechuanaland, and getting around the almost roadless country was not as easy as it is today.

'No Place for Cowardice.' Hunting Dangerous Game in Old Botswana

The author and his comrades took a month-long safari in the African wilderness — and had several close calls.

www.outdoorlife.com

 

[JerBear8]

Thanks for sharing. I love reading anything about the "golden age"!

 

[Piet Brood]

If you haven’t yet find a copy of The Hunting Blackbeards of Botswana.

 

[Charlie64]

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Botswana has a fascinating history & post 1966 independence & the discovery of diamonds it has become one of Africa's better success stories. Also a great country to hunt !!

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[bakerb]

I enjoyed hunting Botswana although I didn’t hunt close to the Delta. My PH Riaan’s family were trekkers that settled there in the late 1800s using oxcarts.

I have looked and looked for history books or stories about the settlement and early hunting. Can’t seem to find a whole lot. I do have the Hunting Blackbeards of Botswana.

Really interesting place for sure

 

[John Telford]

I enjoyed hunting Botswana although I didn’t hunt close to the Delta. My PH Riaan’s family were trekkers that settled there in the late 1800s using oxcarts.

I have looked and looked for history books or stories about the settlement and early hunting. Can’t seem to find a whole lot. I do have the Hunting Blackbeards of Botswana.

Really interesting place for sure

Prof Jeff Ramsay is the authority on Botswana History you can find him on FB.

 

[skydiver386]

One of the things I like best about the old books and magazine articles are the illustrations instead of photographs.

The vehicles in this one are left over Jeeps from the war and 1/2 ton pickup trucks. With all the Camel Thorns, I can't imagine the constant problems keeping tires on a vehicle. If you've ever had to work on a tube tire or a split rim that a lot of those old vehicles had, you know what I mean. You also had the problem of crossing sandy and swampy areas with the old generation surplus tires.

 

[fourfive8]

I understand the power of the lore and the imagery. Hemingway was a talented master at it and did the same thing through Green Hills/Mt Lossimingor in Tanzania as did Capstick in Zambia. The Delta is unique but no more or less so than the distinctively different sand habitats of the Central Kalahari of Botswana. Selous and Bell also created mental paintings and imagery through their works.