Where in Africa can one hunt cape buffalo at elevations greater than a mile high?
I know a place in Tanzania, in Maasai Land, not far from Olduvai Gorge, the supposed cradle of humanity ...

This is a picture from Tandala Camp, facing Mount Gelai with a peak at 9000+ feet, in the clouds.
It is getting sunrise illumination as Saeed and videographer Wayne James get ready to start another day in paradise.
Saeed, Alan, and Roy Vincent hunted buffalo there in mid November 2010, all the way up to 9000 feet.
For those fit enough, are there any other "peak experiences" besides the Mount Gelai locale?

I hunted on Mt Kitumbeine in Lake Natron back in 2010. Had a great time. We spent a week on the mountain, but were unable to connect with they type of buffalo I was looking for. It is different than any other buffalo hunt I have done. The vegetation was unbelievably thick and it was foggy/rainy and cold in our time up there. A true mountain hunt!

Ripp
I was on Gelai in 2005 about to hunt out of TGT's tent camp at the top of mountain. We were to begin a Buff hunt the next day when my host came down with altitude sickness. Which was shame for a number of reasons. The biggest impediment was his physical condition and a reaction to his Malaria medications which made it impossible for him the get close enough to any Buffalo we saw in Moyowosi in the previous 14 days. However I did take a buffalo in the swamp.

The plan on Gelai was to sit in camp and let the Buffalo come to him basically. As there was fresh buffalo crap amongst the tents this seemed to be not so far fetched an idea. That evening we sat on an open hillside and counted 3 bulls not more than 300 yards away. Bushbuck were literally everywhere, some Eland showed up as well as a bush pig. I had to pinch myself. All I could think of was at daylight we were going to have the time of out lives. At daylight I was awakened by a very anxious tracker that reminded me of a just released short hair as he was almost vibrating with excitement. We were the only hunters that had wanted to go to Gelai that year except the owners.I walked out of the tent and started glassing and counter no less than 43 bulls within a 800 yards of us. Two of which looked like tanks.

It was at this time my host decided to pull the plug and we reluctantly headed off the Mountain. To say I was crushed would hardly define my feelings. But you do what you have to do.

I dream of Gelai to this day. It is cold,damp and shrouded in mist from what they tell me a lot of the time. The bush from what little I saw was thick but any memorable hunt has it's own unique issues. If I could go back to Africa tomorrow and pick the spot it would be on the top of Gelai. That is my kind of hunting.

D'Arcy

HI D'Arcy,

Your wet, cold and humid camp has been replaced by a warm, cosy, wooden cabin! The hunting is still just as good if not better than ever. :



view from the cabin



Loosimangoor and LePurko mts in Maasailand also offer some "mile high" buff hunting.

Cool, really cool... I take it everyone kept their concessions in this area? Josch and TGT? This has to be on any dedicated buffalo hunters bucket list! Buff in the Zambezi Valley, Moz swamps, Masailand plains, in Zambia's Luangwa Valley, the Selous... and a Mountain Buff in Tanzania! Is there a more classic and unique "must hunt" area?

Michel
I think I would have preferred the Tent Camp myself but admire the effort that is always a hallmark of TGT.

TGTS Monduli Camp. 8900 ft.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Bwanamich:

view from the cabin



WOW!

quote:

Originally posted by DArcy_Echols_Co:
Michel
I think I would have preferred the Tent Camp myself but admire the effort that is always a hallmark of TGT.

we still offer the canvas option as a fly camp in the wet season as then, access to the higher reaches of the mountain where the cabin is, is inaccessible.

But, take it from me who enjoys canvas in the bush, that cabin is simply awsome!

Ann, if you look through the gap in that picture to the valley below, you can see Lake Natron. The contrast between the arid, desert like landscape below and the 9000ft mt with its lush montane forest is extraordinary.

Even more wow, thanks for pointing that out! I would love to hunt there someday.

quote:

Originally posted by Bwanamich:
HI D'Arcy,

Your wet, cold and humid camp has been replaced by a warm, cosy, wooden cabin! The hunting is still just as good if not better than ever. :



view from the cabin



Loosimangoor and LePurko mts in Maasailand also offer some "mile high" buff hunting.

One of these days Bwana...one of these days!!!

Man oh Man. What adventures await in those green hills!

Buffalo Mounts identified here so far, thanks all:
Gelai
Kitumbeine
Lepurko
Loosimingor

Here is a satellite pic that is zoomable, if the link works, shows Gelai and Kitumbeine side-by-side,
Gelais covered by clouds, Kitumbeine with a bigger base:

http://wikimapia.org/#lat=-2.7....1910784&z=9&l=0&m=b

The pic from Saeed's 2010 expedition shows those two "Buffalo Mounts" side-by-side too.
And if you look between them in the distance,
I do believe the little cone is Lengai, the Maasai "Mountain of God" volcano active as recently as 2006?

That one is on the satellite map too, "Ol Doinyo Lengai Volcano" ... Lengai.
It is a big area map, also includes
Lake Natron
Olduvai Gorge
Ngorongoro Conservation Area
Mt. Kilimanjaro
Serengetti National Park
... and Arusha too.
It would take a lot of airplane time to cover all that in in a few weeks!

From Wikipaedia, a view with NASA assistance also, looking SW, or almost the same direction as the view from Tandala camp:



Lake Natron would be in the lower green sweep of this picture, behind Gelai, extending out of the frame, to the right, on up into Kenya, 60 Km long,
unless I am confused.



Now where are Loosimingor (of Rainer Josh and Robin Hurt fame) and Lepurko ... ?

mt Loosimingor is to the right of your picture. With any luck I will be there a week from Friday. Maasai Bushbuck and Patterson's Eland are my main animals.

quote:

Originally posted by SG Olds:
mt Loosimingor is to the right of your picture. With any luck I will be there a week from Friday. Maasai Bushbuck and Patterson's Eland are my main animals.

Mt. Loosimingor: To the right of Gelai on the painted picture topo? ... How far? Please and thank you.

Mt. Lepurko?

All these mountain buffalo stick to the hills, eh?
Just these four mountains listed above?
Do they travel from mountain to mountain?
Are they inbred like hillbillies?

What about Longido? Hunting there? Buffalo there? Sport hunting there? Or poachers?
Would a poacher work that hard for a buffalo?
Not an easy poach.

Searching by satellite:

http://wikimapia.org/#lat=-2.7....1910784&z=9&l=0&m=b

I was wrong. Loosingmor is actually east of Ngorongoro. So to the left not right. Don't know how far but I hope to see the crater so I'll find out.

Dreams are made of this.....
http://www.ngorongorocrater.com/

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by SG Olds:
What about Longido? Hunting there? Buffalo there? Sport hunting there? Or poachers?
Would a poacher work that hard for a buffalo?
Not an easy poach.

Poachers will not waste their time on an elusive Buffalo in dense forest up a mountain when there are "easier pickings" to be had in the form of zebra and wildebeest at the foot of that mountain.

If you go due East from Kitumbeine Mt you will get Lepurko Mt and then further East Loosimangoor Mt. Lepurko is quite small compared to the other. Loosimangoor probably has the largest forest area of the lot.

Monduli Mt lying between Lepurko and slightly South East of Kitumbeine also has buffalo but they are getting hammered and so are all the other critters that inhabited that forest. It's surrounded by villages and a growing town to the South hosting a large military barrack with a high demand for bush protein!


Longido Mt has a rather small forest area where a few buff still occur in dwindling supply. I can safely say that there is no buffalo migration from these mountains except between Loosimangoor and the Lake Manyara Park and wildlife corridors linking the latter to Tarangire.

RIP,

My friend "Iceman" hunted with Rainer Josch on Mt Loosimingor this past November. I was there as an observer. We had a fantastic hunt...it well exceeded expectations, and believe me, they were high! Here is a pic of Bill at about 7000 ft....




Typical scenery on the top of Loosimingor...


Checking out a herd of buffalo...

Here is Loosimingor. You can see it for most of the drive between Arusha and Ngorongoro.

Here we are at the top of Oldoinyo Lengai Volcano. L-R: Me, Iceman and Rainer Josch.

Elevation ~9500 ft at the top of Lengai. We did not find any buffalo up there though... lol...

quote:

Originally posted by SG Olds:
I was wrong. Loosingmor is actually east of Ngorongoro. So to the left not right. Don't know how far but I hope to see the crater so I'll find out.

The Crater is only about a 2 hour drive from Loosimingor. When on Mt Loosimingor, looking northwest you look right at Ngorongoro.

This picture is taken from Rainer Josch's basecamp....The big mountain over the Iceman's left shoulder (far right of picture) is Mt Kitumbiene. The big mountain on the far left of the picture is Ngorongoro. Mt Gelai is the mountain directly behind the Iceman's head, and Lengai volcano is behind the little mountain that is at the north of end of Ngorongoro.

RIP

I have to say Gelai if not the most interesting place I've hunted it is certainly one of most unique. The contrast between the drippy forest in the clouds and the burnt plain below was amazing.

We stayed in the tented camp just in the edge of the woods. I guess it was about 2/3 of the way up the mountain. When you walked out of the forested campsite you were in hundreds of acres of jungle thick 8 foot tall orange flowers. Incredible.

We were there three days and took a beautiful bushbuck but did not see the big buffalo I was lookng for. We did have a couple of big but shorthorned bulls up close and personal though.

Other than the fact that there are no buffalo on the valley floor Natron is an amazing concession and I throughly enjoyed it.

Mark

Wow! Just Wow!
Thanks for sharing the peak experience there, Canuck, and "all y'all."
I got my bearings now.

Great thread RIP. Thanks for getting it going!

Todd,
Certainly my pleasure! I am grateful for all the insights added here.

I heard Roy Vincent singing "Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to Gelais we go ..."
as he, Alan and Saeed set off to spend a rainy first day on Gelais.
Roy is twisted steel and sex appeal, well aged, eh?



View to the southeast from Mt. Gelais, looking at Mt. Kitumbeine:



Buffalo in the center, eland in the upper left, upslope:















Saeed racking out on the meat hammock in the clouds:











Back on the flatland:

Great photos of an incredibly interesting place!

Absolutely stunning pictures! Thanks to everyone for posting.
And the picture of Saeed resting under the clouds is priceless!

Canuck,

Did you or Iceman do any reports on your safari?

Buffalo hunt on Mount Gelai


For those who have missed it, here is a link to our buffalo hunt on Mount Gelai

For all those who have posted in the past that Buffalo hunting is as simple as shooting a cow, take a look at Saeed's video posted above. Now that's a buffalo hunt! Thick stuff and lots of shooting!

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Buffalo hunt on Mount Gelai


For those who have missed it, here is a link to our buffalo hunt on Mount Gelai

Thanks for sharing, Saeed. That's the kind of area you want to hunt for a buff!

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Buffalo hunt on Mount Gelai


For those who have missed it, here is a link to our buffalo hunt on Mount Gelai

Yes!
A "peak experience" for sure.
That is what it is all about.
Tough, old bulls at 9000 feet, bovine and human.

quote:

Originally posted by SG Olds:
Canuck,

Did you or Iceman do any reports on your safari?

Not yet. Iceman hasn't decided to try posting photos yet, and I've been to busy to do a quality job on a report (they take a LONG time!!). I am going to be too busy for a little while yet, so I may just compromise and post a "photo essay", then fill in some details at a later date (with Iceman's assistance, hopefully).

Verily ... when the Iceman cometh.

Zooming in on Mt. Gelai from Saeed's 2010 TGTS Tandala (Kudu) Camp in Maasailand,
cloud cover, nap time at 9000 feet:

What is the ideal Mountain Buffalo Rifle/African Sheep rifle?
After the stainless-synthetic spec for the rainforest,
Saeed's .375/404 Jeffery would be hard to beat.
Of course none is much good if you can't see the buffalo due to vegetation.

There is no such thing as a brush-bucking bullet, but an FN solid might be the best bullet choice for whatever rifle is chosen.
A Walterhog in the chamber, and a magazine full of FN solids ...
If you shoot through the buffalo on the mountainside, the slope behind it will stop the bullet.
Any game animal behind it will be at a different elevation.
No worries about herd-shooting shoot-throughs.
Hard to get a buffalo herd to line up for you in that terrain.