I haven't been able to find anything online, so am appealing to all of you. I would like to build a Google Earth file showing all the Hunting Camps in Africa. If you have GPS coordinates for a camp, please post them and I will begin putting it together for distribution.

If you haven't used Google Earth before, it is a great tool/toy.

Colin

Doma: S 16deg- 41'- 39.5"
E 030deg-03'-00.4"

Makuti Camp, Zimbabwe

Lat=-16.2395, Lon=29.2482166667

Senuko Safari Lodge (Shangaan Hunters)
(ARC 1950)36K 399977 UTM 7715217
Registered Airstrip (Catogary 2)
S 20 38, 380' E 032 01,534'

Big Five main camp CN = 15 38 41 10S, 29 59 21 41E
WESTERN or Duckworth CS CAMP= 16 02 35 98S, 29 51 48 56E
CHIRISA CAMPS =17 57 35 43S, 28 12 34 64E
KAMBAKO MOZ NIASSA =12 07 59 46S 38 19 14 96E?
R W CS =16 13 45 46S, 30 05 45 69E
OMAY UME CAMP =16 57 37 49S,28 26 24 30E
MAC POINT= 16 59 45 39S, 28 03 41 88E

Gentlemen,

Thanks for your input. Here's what I have so far:
Safari Camps

Colin,
Thanks for sharing.
Regards,

Limcroma Safaris:

24°11'46.36"S
26°54'55.80"E

Nice job.

Perhaps, a next step would be for the providers of the coordinates (the people who have been there) to annotate the tags with comments and/or photos.

.

Colin,

You have a very laudable ambition, but I hope you realise you've probably started a lifetime's work........ there must be thousands of hunting camps in Africa and many of them will change location every two or three years because of rivers moving and areas changing hands etc. To say nothing of completely new/additional camps being built...................

Then factor in the fact that Google Earth don't scan large parts of the African continent for considerable periods and you might even have considerably more than a lifetime's work.

Good luck with it though!

CaneCorso,,

Thanks for the public service.

Are you prepared to post an e-mail address so that we can send you Google Earth markers directly. If not prepared to post an address in public, please send me a PM.

A last request, can you make the sites available as a *.shp file for use in ArcView?

In good hunting.

Andrew McLaren.

Hey Glenn,

Thanks for the coordinates. I had searched for your camp before and kinda figured that landing strip was yours, but was not sure (there's another one close by.) Now there is no doubt. Are the guest bungalows next to the long building on the cliff?

Very cool... Here you can see the landing strip at Doma on the map, as well as the first flight from that strip. The landing strip was carved out in 3-days while we were there in Nov '05.

You can also see the little island that this croc was shot on.



Who doesn't love technology?

Here's a new file with Limcroma added. I have done some sleuthing and cannot find a simple way to convert from KMZ to SHP files for ArcView. However, I did find a multistep process here:

GeoTools

If you have a kmz/kml file to send me feel free:

tejedor@9mmlargo.com

Safari Camps

Colin

quote:

Originally posted by Colin Castelli:
Here's a new file with Limcroma added. I have done some sleuthing and cannot find a simple way to convert from KMZ to SHP files for ArcView. However, I did find a multistep process here:

GeoTools

If you have a kmz/kml file to send me feel free:

tejedor@9mmlargo.com

Safari Camps

Colin

Hi Colin and all

Go to the top link and have a look at GPS Track maker is IMO the best program for use with GPS systems I got arc view. Garmin etc. but found this to be the most useful.

The Good thing it is free! And it got a button on top for Google you press it and it will open your waypoints and tracks in Google earth then you can save them as KMZ files.
You can connect your gps to upload and download and do real-time navigation at the same time recording your tracts on to maps that you can import as backgrounds.


For the website = http://www.gpstm.com/

To down load direct: http://www.gpstm.com/downloads.php?&lang=eng&sid=1&ver=13.3.349;


Let me know if you like it.

Freischuetz,

GPS Tracker looks good, I'll have to try it out on one of my Intel machines later.

In the meantime, here is another update with Limcroma's locations added. If you look at this version, you will see that they put some information in the Description field. Also, take a look at the Limpopo Vally Hunting Safaris placemark and you will see that I have restored the html code that I had removed (they are friends of several years). I can include information in the Description field if sent to me by the owner/operator of the outfit.
Safari Camps

Colin

Hi Colin...with your GPS set for which map datum??? If you set up your GPS to use ARC1950 so that it ties in with our 1:50,000 maps you get quite different co-ordinates compared to using Cape or WGS that Google/Garmin use!

Ganyana,

I assumed everyone was using WGS84, but have since discovered otherwise. Twenty years in the Army and all I used was WGS84 and MGRS, I have since discovered that there are way too many systems for simple old lat/long.

Please everyone, send the coordinates to me in WGS84 for now. I'm still trying to find a conversion program from ARC1950 to WGS84
Colin

quote:

Originally posted by Colin Castelli:
Ganyana,

I assumed everyone was using WGS84, but have since discovered otherwise. Twenty years in the Army and all I used was WGS84 and MGRS, I have since discovered that there are way too many systems for simple old lat/long.

Please everyone, send the coordinates to me in WGS84 for now. I'm still trying to find a conversion program from ARC1950 to WGS84
Colin

try http://www.tatukgis.com/products/Calculator/Calculator.aspx

Trackmaker accept them to

Ganyana:

I am a fairly good country navigator and regardless which datum you use coordinates are the same. Sometimes, when you switch from one map/chart to another the points may plot a to a slightly different position, however, the actual point is the same, this is of importance only using very large scale charts such as harbor approachs. i compared my lat/lon using wgs84 with Gordons and we were within 40 ft. good enough for government work.

Hi Bryan

Would love to get to the bottom of this map datum BS. I have been up to 1km out compared to the points given by some PH's. I asked Garmin about it and they didn't know anything about Africa. The local Garmin Agent thought that ARC 1940 was about right, and the local surveyor uses ARC 1950.

Our maps use Clarke 1880 which is, of course, not one of the options we are given. All the maps I have seen for Botswana, Zambia as well as Zim use Clarke 1880.

Not sure what Mozambique uses, but do know that their maps do not tie in with the zim maps. Also, if you are hunting in Dande and use WGS84 to determin the border...you are hunting in Mozambique (according to the surveyor beacons)!

Hi GAHUNTER
Sorry for the delay, I think you may have the wrong camp if it is North of the airstrip, here with easier co-ordinates for the camp.
20 39' 44.83" S
32 02' 21.92" E
Hope this helps.

Shangaan - I guess it is spot on?

Hi mouse93, yes sir, that would be the place. The confusion comes from previouse discussion in this post about WGS84 and ARC 1950. Using WGS84 with our Zim maps places you at least 300m off the spot so can be a bit tricky when dealing with boundries. If you go about 2-3km East you will see the spot you had your buffalo shootout.

thanks - found it

20 39' 57.55" S
32 03' 57.94" E

Datums, Projections, deltas in meters, ellipsoids, WEGS84, ARC1950, Clarke1880, Equidistant Cylindrical, UTM. My head hurts. After many hours on the internet, I know that it is possible to convert ARC1950 to WGS84, but it isn't that simple. You've got to find a tool that has both Datums and both projections so that you can get a usable product at the end.

I think the only easy way is to make friends with someone who's first name is Doctor and works in the Geographic department of your local university!

Of course we can't even agree on something as simple as the shape of a 220V plug/recepticle worldwide; why should we agree on a geographic coordinate system.

I can remember getting hit with a meter-stick in elementary (primary) school in 1974 because I didn't use the metric system. We HAD to learn because the United States was switching to the metric system soon. Yea, right; I'm still building with 2x4s, buying gallons of milk, and traveling for numbers of miles.

Rant over, time to go do my overdue taxes for this year. That should actually be more relaxing than trying to convert ARC1950 datum to WGS84.

Colin

Glenn,

No, I was looking at the cluster of buildings just a few hundred meters to the southwest of the airstrip, around 20 38 39.25 and 32 01 17.86. Those must be staff quarters. Apparanetly, the bungalows at the guest camp don't show up on the satellite photo, although you can see the outline of the kopje where they are located with no problem.

On the satellite photo, there appears to be another, shorter, air strip almost due east of yours, about 8-10 kilometers. Who does it belong to?

Hi GAHUNTER, that is an old airstrip on Levanga Ranch which we also hunt. The Conservancy is going to use this as research base so will be used by the rhino dehorning operations and other research based projects. The buildings south west of the airstrip are the staff accomodations and workshops area.

quote:

Not sure what Mozambique uses, but do know that their maps do not tie in with the zim maps. Also, if you are hunting in Dande and use WGS84 to determin the border...you are hunting in Mozambique (according to the surveyor beacons)!

Or if hunting in Mozambique using WGS84 you might find your party may actually be in Dande...or that was the excuse my poaching PH gave me.

Perry

Perry, Perry... a good PH will go to whatever length to get you your trophy and not let inconvienient details like borders (did I mention the minefield) get in the way

Here are three with Tanzania Gametracker Safaris. The first two are in Masailand and the 3rd is in Western TZ.

Monduli
S 03° 02.261
E 036° 38.795
Elevation is 4,850 feet


Monduli Ju (the camp up on Monduli Mountain)
S 03° 14.595
E 036° 27.738
Elevation is 7,782 feet


Moyowosi
S 04° 10.958
E 031° 12.819
Elevation is 3,629 feet

Updated with the Tanzania locations added.
Safari Camps

Colin

Here are the coordinates for Luke Samaras' NGWARA camp in LL3 Selous
Map datum WGS84
37L 0442253
UTM 9091061
These were given to me by the PH but I could never figure out how to locate them on Google?

Updated with Ngwara location.

Blacktailer, the imagery of TZ at that locaiton is horrible, but it appears to be in the correct place.

Safari Camps

Colin

2'59'37.96"S 38'27'40.92"E and
29'19'59.34"N 80'05'59.79"E are the old hunting camps of Col Patterson's at Tavo Bridge and J Corbett's champawat village where the infamous Tavo man eating lions and the Champawat man eating Tiger where hunted and killed.

Even though we can't hunt there, I think we'd all like to; so I have added COL Patterson's Tsavo Camp to the file.

Safari Camps

Colin

Added:

Hunter's Safaris in Free State RSA
Charlton McCallum Safaris in Zimbabwe
Safari Camps

Does anyone know how to contact T.Carr from the Reference board. I'd like to move this there, but haven't been able to contact him via PM.

Colin

Are you still collecting the coordinates for camps? If so, here are two more. First is the Utunge Camp on the lake with Luke Samaras. I stayed here during the bulk of my recent hunt except for about a week I spent on the Rufiji River at a fly camp:

S 08°01.439'
E 038°24.008'

The main camp on the 7 million acres 4-concession tract is the one they call "Luke's Camp." I visited there briefly a week or so ago.

S 08°14.496'
E 038° 06.741'

As for the fly camp along the river, here are its coordinates as well:

S 07° 47.093'
E 038° 02.022

Ganyana
I cant vouch for the accuracy of this info. But after having similar trouble with shifting points at the same coorinates I made some enquiries to a garmin dealer. They said that the reason for this was that post 9/11 with the added threat of Improvised guided missile strikes, that on an irregular basis the satellites were set a few points out in random directions at different times of year. This has the effect of putting you between 10 feet and 500 feet off course. Apparently a security measure.
Whether its true or not I cant say, but there you have it.

This came about after doing a rough survey for positioning a center pivot irrigation system on a small valley. The technician could not understand why I wanted the pivot to climb a hill when we had a perfectly flat peice of ground to use right next to it. Anyway, it soon became apparent that something was not quite adding up

quote:

Datums, Projections, deltas in meters, ellipsoids, WEGS84, ARC1950, Clarke1880, Equidistant Cylindrical, UTM. My head hurts. After many hours on the internet, I know that it is possible to convert ARC1950 to WGS84, but it isn't that simple. You've got to find a tool that has both Datums and both projections so that you can get a usable product at the end.

I think the only easy way is to make friends with someone who's first name is Doctor and works in the Geographic department of your local university!

this is a great idea , my gps is in africa , however what would happen if you set your gps to arc1950 then entered all the points ...after that change to another system , do all your co-ordinates change with any accuracy ....