Where to next????

[steve ahrenberg]

@sestoppelman yeah BF took a turn quick. I have heard things about Benin and it appears that it isn't looking good. Cameroon in the Savannah areas seems ok, it was bad but it is improving. And I shouldn't say the hunting areas were bad but the areas and roads around some of the areas. The forest areas for Bongo doesn't sound great but seems more like local skirmishes. The issue is that anything can happen and stuff changes so fast. Hoping this time next year I will have something locked in.

Without appearing to be a defeatist, West Africa is a fricking mess. I'm not sure but it seems to me most of the globe political hotspots are near the equator. Anyone else see the correlation?

I was fortunate to hunt CAR, during a short window of political "stability". The big danger while I was there was Joesph Kony (LRA)

I'll never set foot in west Africa again. That said, I dearly want to walk after LDE with Christophe Morio, we were suppose to hunt together but the outfitter moved some PH assignments around.

 

[Bruce]

Not hunted Uganda YET, BUT have travelled the country a lit( was working my last Project in the DRC and the route home was via Entebbe. Wife and I did a week's FOTO safari through the Queen Elizabeth National Park down to the mountain gorillas... FANTASTIC country and abundant wildlife.
Higher than usual trophy prices etc have dulled my excitement to hunt this Gem of Africa....Rand Dollar exchange rate doesn't help us locsl hunters!!

 

[Hank2211]

Yeah that car ride in Benin sounds brutal. I think even with the charter it is 2 or so hours to most camps. But I mean the remoteness is part of the allure.

Having done the drive there and back, I can attest that it is indeed a long drive. Having said that, the vehicles are air conditioned, and after a long flight or series of flights (more likely) to get to Cotonou, a day of sightseeing and sleeping actually comes in handy. It's on the way back that it seem long, but flights for Europe leave Cotonou in the evening, so it tends to work out OK.

And yes, LTD, the remoteness is actually wonderful. If it forces you to slow down a bit and enjoy the hunt, rather than "get in, shoot and get out", then I for one support it 100%.

 

[Countrylife]

Uganda, so far, seems to be ok, IF they can contain the DRC Ebola outbreak at their border. The violence and political instability is causing refugees to cross the border into Uganda. I was planning to go and take some folks with me, but the situation changes from day to day and even hour to hour. Be sure you check carefully, and check with the World Health Organization also.
Here's a site that collects reports from many news sources.
http://www.ebolavirusnet.com/ebola-news.html

 

[sestoppelman]

https://www.garda.com/crisis24/news-alerts/89491/benin-ongoing-lassa-fever-outbreak

Here is another concern though probably a minor one for those not aware of it. I have read about it for awhile. Of course one can get sick or attacked anywhere, that I understand so don't feel the need to call me a wuz. I will do it for you. I am a wuz! I like adventure as well as the next guy, but some of this stuff looks like a lot of looking over your shoulder and sleeping with at least one eye open all the time. I don't want to have to worry about mice peeing on the garden as well. Its not Ebola but its similar.

 

[Hank2211]

https://www.garda.com/crisis24/news-alerts/89491/benin-ongoing-lassa-fever-outbreak

Here is another concern though probably a minor one for those not aware of it. I have read about it for awhile. Of course one can get sick or attacked anywhere, that I understand so don't feel the need to call me a wuz. I will do it for you. I am a wuz! I like adventure as well as the next guy, but some of this stuff looks like a lot of looking over your shoulder and sleeping with at least one eye open all the time. I don't want to have to worry about mice peeing on the garden as well. Its not Ebola but its similar.

I don't want to minimize anyone's concerns about issues such at Lassa fever but, again, there was an outbreak when I was in Benin a couple of years ago. You will generally come into contact with so few people in rural Benin, and when you do come into contact you will never get close enough, that this really shouldn't be a cause for concern.

In any event, travelling to Africa, and particularly to some of its more remote parts, is an exercise in risk tolerance, as is virtually any activity one might undertake, or place in the world (developed or not) which one might choose to visit. I believe Benin to still be one of the safer places to visit in Africa.

 

[sestoppelman]

I don't disagree, like I said, I'm a wuz!