gillettehunter
AH legend
I have been slow at posting much about my hunt last year in RSA. Several things have factored into it. In lieu of nothing my notes home to family are better than nothing. You will also get a few pics.... I'll try to excise the family references.
My wife MaryAnn and Kirsten a friend and client accompanied me on this trip. Kirsten used her camera a lot and hunted some. She is the age of my children a a lot of fun to have in camp. Her first trip to Africa. MaryAnn uses her camera...
Arrived safely in Jo-berg yesterday. Almost 15 hours from Atlanta. 2
meals and a snack on board. I slept some. MaryAnn and Kirsten both
watched movies almost non-stop. Good flight and lost no baggage. Customs
went smoothly
Had a great meal and nice accommodations at the African sky guest
house. Left rifles with African Shy for a small fee. Flew via British air into Victoria Falls today. Had to check a
couple of small roll ons as they only allow 1 per client in economy.
Dead last off plane and a 40 min wait in line for visas. Driver
waiting and took us straight to the lodge. Monkeys and Impala seen on
the way.
We stayed at Victoria Falls Safari Lodge. This place is rather nice. About 12-15 min from the falls via car. We
are in the national park. Water hole about 300 yds below the lodge. This
aftn there was a bull elephant there ! Got MaryAnn and Kirsten rather
excited. Also some warthogs and storks there.
On the way to walk around the falls we got a very good look at some
Impala. Have seen some monkeys several times. The falls are at high
water. More impressive, but harder to see due all the mist. Spent about
1.5 hrs at the falls as the sun went down. Clear day. Had a good
rainbow. Have to use a raincoat at parts because the rain and mist from
the falls gets rather heavy at times depending on the wind.
Then went to see the grounds of a 5 star hotel while the full moon came
out. Lots of mounts... Some very good ones too. Kirsten may of added
blue wildebeest to her animal list.....
Then back to Vic falls to see the elusive "moonbow". Very few places in
the world have enough mist to get a "rainbow" caused by the moon.
Maryann got some good pics.
Got back to lodge for,dinner at 8:45 or so. Rather late. They have a
spotlight on the waterhole. 6 elephants there for 45 min. While we had
dinner. Then a rather good looking kudu snuck thru. Heard a hyena
"barking". Rather odd sound. Busy day today.
Day 2
Sometimes you get lucky and have one of those magical days. Maybe you
only get one every few years. Today was one of those. Got up early for
breakfast. Watching the waterhole while eating was cool. We saw
3 Impala Rams, 7 crocodiles, a warthog and lots of storks and egrets.
Plus a big flock of guinea fowl.
Went to visit a local village with no
electricity.
Floors are made of compacted cow dung......... They burn elephant turds
at night inside their boma as a mosquito repellant. Rely on mostly
grown crops for food. No real sugar. Makes one grateful.
Weight bench
Then on to the village school. About 300 kids. 2 semesters. Costs $10
/ child per semester. Today was the first day of school. Only 2 had
paid. Everyone sent home to get the $$. Average worker in this part
of Zim earns $400/ month. Small regular houses in town cost $450/
month to rent. So often 3 families in each.
On the way to the village we bought some groceries to give for thanks
for showing us their home. Everything is in U.S. Dollars. Their
currency is so bad as to be basically worthless. So they use the dollars
for most purchases. Interesting to see 1kilo bars of wash soap for
clothes.
Then went on a lunch cruise on the Zambesi river. We went to an island
for lunch. Saw a pod of hippos on the way there. The captain made a
nice pass as close as he dared. About 80 feet. Then we got a great
look at a egret on the river irredescent green on it . Lunch was ok.
Had a 8 ft termite mound next to it.
After lunch we went down the river. Found a pair of fish Eagles. Got to
watch them mate. Great pics in the tree. Then I spotted another, bigger
pod if hippos. Got some more good pics. Saw a croc, but no pics of him.
Back to the lodge. They had just fed the vultures and storks the scraps
next to the lodge. Good close pics of the storks and vultures. MaryAnn
and I went to the room for 40 min. Went to check and see if there was
anything at the waterhole. Just outside the room was a troupe of
monkeys. We spent over 45 min playing with them. Kirsten got to barely
touch one. One stole her cell phone!!! Only got about 15 feet and we
got it back. Had one nursing at 20 feet. Sat down and had pics as close
as 3 feet..... Lots of fun. The old male was a little grouchy. Then a
young "teenage " one was acting aggressively with Kirstien. She named
him Ralph.
The monkeys were for the most part a lot of fun except the teenager that
was somewhat aggressive w/ Kirsten. Kirsten had seen a couple of
bushbuck females and a herd of warthogs. So we went to see if we could
find them. Found the boar warthog on the grass. Interesting critter.
Down on their front knees to feed.... Closer to the ground. Younger boar.
Got to 30 yds or so before he spooked.
Then we Didn't get 250 yds from the front of the lodge and there were
2 Chobe Bushbucks. One ram and one female. Absolutely beautiful. Could
approach to about 10 yards..... The ram was a "shooter" with horns
about 14-15 inches long. Great coat on him. The female was sleek and
good looking. Spent 1/2 hour with them. Really a great photo shoot. They
posed nicely for us. My camera batteries died. Have to see if I can get a pic from MaryAnn to show.
Then spotted a bunch of warthogs on the grass another 150 yds from the
Bushbucks. Their were 2 families on pigs there one boar that
we had seen earlier. Then 2 females with piglets. We focused on the
closer group. The far group had perhaps 6 pigs. The closer group had a
sow and 7 half grown piglets. We got close to them and then they fed
right up to us 10 feet or so. Too close for Maryann's big lens! Then
the boar thought maybe the sow was in season. He started to sound like a
old tractor.... Onk, oink every second or two with his nose right up
the sows exhaust system. She kept walking and the boar just followed. She
probably went 200 yds before he decided that maybe she was rights and
wasn't ready yet. Funny as could be. All across the lawn oink oink......
Then back to our rooms to get ready for dinner. Kirsten opened the
sliding door on her balcony while getting ready. Came out of the
bathroom to find a monkey had came in to see what she could take. Then
didn't want to leave.... We knocked and she left the room.
Dinner included a drum show. Buffet style meal. The crocodile was very
good. The impala was gamey. The pork was quite good. Lots of desserts to
choose from. The evening was marred somewhat by a group of rude Russian
tourists. They wanted our front row table. We didn't give it up......
Then they dropped a glass and broke it. Loud mouthed. Still a nice
meal with interesting food.
Think I'll post this and then next segment with animal pics from Chobe.
My wife MaryAnn and Kirsten a friend and client accompanied me on this trip. Kirsten used her camera a lot and hunted some. She is the age of my children a a lot of fun to have in camp. Her first trip to Africa. MaryAnn uses her camera...
Arrived safely in Jo-berg yesterday. Almost 15 hours from Atlanta. 2
meals and a snack on board. I slept some. MaryAnn and Kirsten both
watched movies almost non-stop. Good flight and lost no baggage. Customs
went smoothly
Had a great meal and nice accommodations at the African sky guest
house. Left rifles with African Shy for a small fee. Flew via British air into Victoria Falls today. Had to check a
couple of small roll ons as they only allow 1 per client in economy.
Dead last off plane and a 40 min wait in line for visas. Driver
waiting and took us straight to the lodge. Monkeys and Impala seen on
the way.
We stayed at Victoria Falls Safari Lodge. This place is rather nice. About 12-15 min from the falls via car. We
are in the national park. Water hole about 300 yds below the lodge. This
aftn there was a bull elephant there ! Got MaryAnn and Kirsten rather
excited. Also some warthogs and storks there.
On the way to walk around the falls we got a very good look at some
Impala. Have seen some monkeys several times. The falls are at high
water. More impressive, but harder to see due all the mist. Spent about
1.5 hrs at the falls as the sun went down. Clear day. Had a good
rainbow. Have to use a raincoat at parts because the rain and mist from
the falls gets rather heavy at times depending on the wind.
Then went to see the grounds of a 5 star hotel while the full moon came
out. Lots of mounts... Some very good ones too. Kirsten may of added
blue wildebeest to her animal list.....
Then back to Vic falls to see the elusive "moonbow". Very few places in
the world have enough mist to get a "rainbow" caused by the moon.
Maryann got some good pics.
Got back to lodge for,dinner at 8:45 or so. Rather late. They have a
spotlight on the waterhole. 6 elephants there for 45 min. While we had
dinner. Then a rather good looking kudu snuck thru. Heard a hyena
"barking". Rather odd sound. Busy day today.
Day 2
Sometimes you get lucky and have one of those magical days. Maybe you
only get one every few years. Today was one of those. Got up early for
breakfast. Watching the waterhole while eating was cool. We saw
3 Impala Rams, 7 crocodiles, a warthog and lots of storks and egrets.
Plus a big flock of guinea fowl.
Went to visit a local village with no
electricity.
Floors are made of compacted cow dung......... They burn elephant turds
at night inside their boma as a mosquito repellant. Rely on mostly
grown crops for food. No real sugar. Makes one grateful.
Weight bench
Then on to the village school. About 300 kids. 2 semesters. Costs $10
/ child per semester. Today was the first day of school. Only 2 had
paid. Everyone sent home to get the $$. Average worker in this part
of Zim earns $400/ month. Small regular houses in town cost $450/
month to rent. So often 3 families in each.
On the way to the village we bought some groceries to give for thanks
for showing us their home. Everything is in U.S. Dollars. Their
currency is so bad as to be basically worthless. So they use the dollars
for most purchases. Interesting to see 1kilo bars of wash soap for
clothes.
Then went on a lunch cruise on the Zambesi river. We went to an island
for lunch. Saw a pod of hippos on the way there. The captain made a
nice pass as close as he dared. About 80 feet. Then we got a great
look at a egret on the river irredescent green on it . Lunch was ok.
Had a 8 ft termite mound next to it.
After lunch we went down the river. Found a pair of fish Eagles. Got to
watch them mate. Great pics in the tree. Then I spotted another, bigger
pod if hippos. Got some more good pics. Saw a croc, but no pics of him.
Back to the lodge. They had just fed the vultures and storks the scraps
next to the lodge. Good close pics of the storks and vultures. MaryAnn
and I went to the room for 40 min. Went to check and see if there was
anything at the waterhole. Just outside the room was a troupe of
monkeys. We spent over 45 min playing with them. Kirsten got to barely
touch one. One stole her cell phone!!! Only got about 15 feet and we
got it back. Had one nursing at 20 feet. Sat down and had pics as close
as 3 feet..... Lots of fun. The old male was a little grouchy. Then a
young "teenage " one was acting aggressively with Kirstien. She named
him Ralph.
The monkeys were for the most part a lot of fun except the teenager that
was somewhat aggressive w/ Kirsten. Kirsten had seen a couple of
bushbuck females and a herd of warthogs. So we went to see if we could
find them. Found the boar warthog on the grass. Interesting critter.
Down on their front knees to feed.... Closer to the ground. Younger boar.
Got to 30 yds or so before he spooked.
Then we Didn't get 250 yds from the front of the lodge and there were
2 Chobe Bushbucks. One ram and one female. Absolutely beautiful. Could
approach to about 10 yards..... The ram was a "shooter" with horns
about 14-15 inches long. Great coat on him. The female was sleek and
good looking. Spent 1/2 hour with them. Really a great photo shoot. They
posed nicely for us. My camera batteries died. Have to see if I can get a pic from MaryAnn to show.
Then spotted a bunch of warthogs on the grass another 150 yds from the
Bushbucks. Their were 2 families on pigs there one boar that
we had seen earlier. Then 2 females with piglets. We focused on the
closer group. The far group had perhaps 6 pigs. The closer group had a
sow and 7 half grown piglets. We got close to them and then they fed
right up to us 10 feet or so. Too close for Maryann's big lens! Then
the boar thought maybe the sow was in season. He started to sound like a
old tractor.... Onk, oink every second or two with his nose right up
the sows exhaust system. She kept walking and the boar just followed. She
probably went 200 yds before he decided that maybe she was rights and
wasn't ready yet. Funny as could be. All across the lawn oink oink......
Then back to our rooms to get ready for dinner. Kirsten opened the
sliding door on her balcony while getting ready. Came out of the
bathroom to find a monkey had came in to see what she could take. Then
didn't want to leave.... We knocked and she left the room.
Dinner included a drum show. Buffet style meal. The crocodile was very
good. The impala was gamey. The pork was quite good. Lots of desserts to
choose from. The evening was marred somewhat by a group of rude Russian
tourists. They wanted our front row table. We didn't give it up......
Then they dropped a glass and broke it. Loud mouthed. Still a nice
meal with interesting food.
Think I'll post this and then next segment with animal pics from Chobe.
