What made you choose the destination for your 2nd Safari?

[Mark458]

This has been really valuable to read. Having just finished my first safari less than two months ago and already thinking about where I want to go next, this has been great to work through the mental process and think through my priorities.

How did your first trip go?

 

[BryceM]

I’ve been to Africa 8 times. 7 times with the PH we started with, and he also accompanied me on the other trip to the Caprivi. They’re such great guys and we had so much fun, I’ve never felt a reason to try anything else. With the PH, I’ve hunted 8 different places in Namibia. Each trip has brought something new and something unexpected. The next trip is in the planning stages and will probably involve a trip up north for dikdik and some other critters.

I’m thinking about a Zim or Moz trip, as I think I would like to embark on a combo leopard/buffalo/hippo or croc hunt someday soon. Leopard will get me to 4 of the big 5 and I have no desire to mess with rhino. If I sub a hippo or croc (or both), that’s good enough for me.

 

[DryFly1995]

How did your first trip go?

It went awesome. No complaints. 10-day plains game hunt in central Namibia.Trip Report

 

[Rare Breed]

First safari was a PG hunt in Namibia. Second hunt was for a buffalo in Zim, hunting with John Sharp in the BVC. Didn't close the deal on a buff, but took some PG and had a memorable 10 days, hunting with a great PH.

@375 Ruger Fan was a huge help to me setting up my very first safari at Game4Africa for PG then encouraged me to experience an open range hunt with DG. He has been an excellent help to me, and I greatly respect and appreciate him!!!

 

[Belk]

First Safari was in RSA on two different concessions in Limpopo and then to the Free State.
I felt rushed and didn't really feel like I was in the wilds of Africa. Great hunt but wanted to be on a large concession for Buffalo and trophy Kudu. I found and personally connected with one particular PH at DSC when booking for the first safari, My second was with Mias at Limpopo safaris on their 110,000 acre concession in Limpopo and I truly felt like I was in "Wild Africa". So the PH and his hunting style was more of a deciding factor. Took the wife and friends for trip of a life time. I fell in love hunting the mopane thickets for buffalo.

 

[1LuckySOB]

In my opinion most of the plains game outfitters in SA offer a similar variety of animals with key differences, so the landscape change would be the difference.

My first hunt was in the Limpopo region with lots of nyala and impala, but few to no kudu or zebra. So finding someone that offered a good opportunity for what I wanted in another location was my goal.

For me, it helped to have 1 or 2 animals that I really wanted to hunt, then finding where the best opportunity and selection could be found.

 

[DLSJR]

My first safari was a bit unusual, as it was a 24-day full bag hunt on Zimbabwe’s Deka Safari Area with Roy Vincent of Rosslyn Safaris. The only thing not on license was lion, which I’d have had to make it a 28 day hunt to include. I should have as I’d have shot a fantastic lion as my first African animal. That led directly to where my second hunt took place, and why.

As it was I enjoyed an incredible first safari, taking a 58 lb. Elephant bull, a great leopard and 2 buffalo between 41-43” wide. The plains game was also fantastic, taking 16 animals in total ranging from Sharpe’s Grysbok to elephant. I saw all of the Big Five, including a Black Rhino bull at close range. But, no lion so it was an easy decision to focus my 2nd hunt on a good lion.

Roy Vincent & Peter Johnstone (Peter owned Rosslyn Safaris) took me to Charara, which is just west of the Zambezi Valley, not far from Mana Pools. It was very wild country, loaded with all of the Big Five. We had lions in camp one night, knocking stuff down in the kitchen, brushing up against my tent and creating a ruckus that had everyone wide awake inside their tents. The next morning Roy and I tracked the lions on foot right from camp. After walking all day we caught up to the 4, one of which was a good male but we couldn’t get a reasonable shot in the thick stuff. We saw 5 Black Rhinos, 3 of them inside 25 yards while we were on foot, hunting bushbuck. Tons of buffalo and we walked our butts off covering many miles in the heat. In the end, I shot a klipspringer, bushbuck, 2 buffalo and back at Matetsi 3 an elephant bull they had available. But no lion, even though we had some on bait but not what we were looking for. Charara was very wild country, we hunted hard and had a great time. I enjoyed that hunt very much.

I was fortunate to hunt with Roy & Peter, who were two of the best in Zimbabwe. Both have passed on to happier hunting grounds in the last 9 months.

 

[Chris Burger]

DLSJR, that's exactly the pattern I was reaching for — you'd answered your own second destination before you finished the sentence: the lion. A 58-pounder, a leopard and two old bulls in the low-40s on a first safari is a hunt most men build a lifetime around, and it makes sense the one animal that got away is the one that set the next trip. Sorry to read that Roy and Peter have both gone in the last while — the old Zimbabwe hands of that stamp are a vanishing breed, and the men who were lucky enough to hunt behind them carry a piece of it forward. Sounds like you do.

 

[janman24]

My first, second and third (scheduled) safaris were all in the same location with the same outfitter; Eastern Cape, SA with Nick Bowker. I cannot say enough about Nick Bowker and his crew. I also like glassing from high points, the stalk and the long shots. Something not available to me on the east coast USA. I also like the variety of the game. When I safari somewhere else it will be for game not available on the Eastern Cape and different terrain, not the PH.

Hunted Limpopo in 2025 and booked Nick for 2028. Would love to hear about your experience, what you hunted, and what the hunts were like.

 

[Osama Mahdi]

Different terrain, different animals, different PH, knowing new people. So many good PHs out there in Africa.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Botswana. I wanted an elephant and Kenya wasn’t issuing elephant hunting permits anymore.

 

[Betterinthebush]

Namibia in ‘25 for a short PG hunt and touring safari with my wife. I had an amazing time, but I wanted a more wild area and a leopard area for my second. So I went to Zim for leopard/buff this past May.

 

[RLP]

Hunted Limpopo in 2025 and booked Nick for 2028. Would love to hear about your experience, what you hunted, and what the hunts were like.

I have sent you a PM.