Ladies and Gentlemen,

We leave on the 13th of August on our hunt this year with our friends the Vincents in Tanzania.

Alan is already there, and I spoke to him yesterday. He said there has been so much rain in our area, the place looks like a jungle!

Walter decided he needs a "holiday" before our hunt, so he is off to South America for 3 weeks. He said he needs to build up his energy "far away from your influence".

I made a big mistake by asking him if he had gotten his visa for Tanzania yet. Apparently he has forgotten to get it, and would have gone to South America, and as he needs a few days for his visa to get ready, he would have been left behind!

"OH SHIT! I have forgotten, good thing you have remineded me"

"OH SHIT is about right! Just imagine the fun we would have had without you"

"You would not enjoy hunting without me. Neither would Roy. He would miss playing nasty tricks on me"

I loaded our ammo yesterday, and I think we had a repeat of what happened last year if my memory serves me right.

I like to check the zero of our rifles each time I load a new batch of ammo.

So I put up a target and fired a shot. Walter was looking through the spotting scope.

"You MISSED!"
"What do you I missed? It is there on the target!"

"You missed the bullseye. It is too high and too far to the right!"

The shot was about 2 inches high, and about a half inch to the right.

"Just look, I will fire another shot"
"Hahahahaha! You missed COMPLETELY now!"

"Walter, it went into the first hole! You can see it is bigger now!"

"You are supposed to hit the bullseye. So you missed again!"

"Come try a couple of shots yourself"
"No, no, no! I am not shooting that big cannon! It kicks too much!"

"You shoot it in Africa!"
"I don't have a bloody choice, as you won't let me take my Blaser hunting"

"So we are going to have the same old story. You wasting ammo shooting and never hitting anything?"

"I will scare them, and you and Roy can go finish them off. I know you two enjoy that"

So the comedy show has started.

We are planning to give you daily reports from the camp as we did last year.

Best wishes on this year's trip Saeed.

You guys definitely get the award for the most fun on safari.

We look forward to the updates.

Kyler

You have to hand it to Walter.

He went to the Tanzanian Councilate to get his visa. Last year they had to keep calling him to come back pick his passport, as he left it with them for God knows how long.

He went and handed over his passport, the man knew him well enough by now - he does creat an impression!.

"Hello Mr. Walter, if you would care to wait, your passport will be ready in 15 minutes"

"I will come back tomorrow, as I am late for an appointment"!

People have to send their passport by mail, and wait for a long time to get them back. Walter could not wait 15 minutes!

Saeed,

You guys are crazy, probably from trying to drive the other one crazy.

Have fun in Tanz, and keep us posted of your antics.

The Best Wishes,

Bill

Bill,

Walter and myself got off on the wrong track from day when we met. And it has gone downhill from then on.

The first time I met him I took a Browning shotgun to him to fix something on it. He asked me what do we hunt with that shotgun.

I told him we go on a boat and shoot seaguls to feed our falcons, and invited him to come along.

He realily agreed, and off we went on our small power boat.



The idea was to scare the daylight out him. The boat did over 75 miles an hour, and very hard to keep level in any sort of rough water. Of course, in the afternoons it is always choppy here.

Also, there was no seat in the back. And Walter had to share what little space there was with a few seaguls, melted ice cream and a box of wet cigarettes as he used to smoke!

Anyway, after we came back, he smiled and told me he was very proud to be 2 inches shorter from his ride!

Ever since all of us have been trying to annoy him, and so far only managed to do it once.

We are still looking for other things to upset Walter with

You need to write a book, Saeed. Perhaps it would make the New York Times bestseller list, especially if you chose the right cover photo of Walter.

Saeed I too will be heading out at about that same time,leaving on the 12th.Will be heading to Namibia though , instead of Tanzania.Starting to get antsy now.Thirty days out .Putting out a pile of things to take,seperating out what will not make the trip.

Like you , I also have to plan for , and pack for, my mentally challenged son.Walter being yours.Mine is actually no more mentally challenged than most young men his age, I can offer no excuse as to why Walter is ,well...Walter.He is obviously too old to be suffering from semen septicemia that plagues the youth in my charge.

In either case ,if we did not provide for their well being ,I am sure they would both arrive with the clothes on their back, a portable DVD player/gameboy, and possible whatever they were eating when they got off the plane.

Ah well.That is our lot in life.I suppose we should be glad we can do for them.

Countdown started, and you're already having fun with Walter!!

I hope all your paperwork, innoculations, etc, sorts out without any hangups.

Dan

Saeed,

Well with your safari in thirty days, that means I will be heading home from my lifetime dream safari...How depressing....
I think Walter will shine with his antics...

Mike

HI Saeed;

We depart LAX for Arusha on August 14th. Will you be passing through Arusha or Dar? I would love to meet you in person if works.

Best regards, D. Nelson

D. Nelson,

We are flying into Dar, but not staying there at all. We take a charter to our camp from the airport as soon as we clear customs.

Well, sorry I'll miss my chance, but "good hunting" and I can't wait to hear (read) your report upon your return.

Best regards, D. Nelson

Saeed:

What is on the menu for animals during this trip? I know buff, but anything else?

577NitroExpress,

We are very easy on choices - whatever is on our quota and comes our way.

We hope we might be lucky and get a lion, leopard or an elephant - or if get lucky all three.

saeed, please tell the Vincents hello for me, i will be in germany while you are hunting, i have to do one more sugery on my back. please have alan call me at the end of your hunt like last time if you remember, i'll be thinking of you daily from my hospital bed, the progonosis is good. thanks

eric

Eric,

I hope all goes well with your operation. We'll call you as soon as we get there.

I am hoping to make live daily reports from the camp.

We have just had a BBQ for Walter, as he is leaving after tomorrow on one of his many holidays.

We are watching THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY II. And Walter is insisting we get an ultra light aircraft like in the movie - complete with the girl too!

Thanks to Jim for posting those trail camera photos, Walter went and bought one!

He dropped it here earlier today, saying "Here is another toy for you. You better learn how to use it before we go to Africa. I want to put it by the bones we throw out close to the camp to get some hyaena pictures"

We might put it by our lion and leoprad baits too. It should be interesting to see what we get.

Good luck Saeed, your daily report will be very welcome !!

How many people in the hunting team this year??

L

Practice with that camera before you use it. I took mine out the first time and all I got was my face, and pitch black.

Looking forward to the reports Saeed!

Being new here, I had to update myself on Walter. Interesting fellow.

And you are taking him hunting? My only question is how much of a head start are you going to give him?

Have a great hunt, Saeed! And please keep us posted. I`m really looking forward to daily reports!

I watched the four DVD`s you so generously sent out, a couple of days ago.. Don`t know for what number of times. The laughter, joy and Walter-show really adds spice to the thrilling hunt-scenes..
Good luck!

Gentlemen,

We are down to 2 weeks before our trip, and as promised, here is details of the sat modem we are taking with us.

Thrane & Thrane Explorer 500

The dealer was kind enough to bring this modem over this afternoon, and eveything worked very well.

That means we are all set for daily live reports from the hunting camp like we did last year.

That is a nice looking piece of equipment Saeed.

I see that Outfitter Satellite has them for rental at a reasonable cost ($179 for 14-days + a voice handset for $89), although it looks like the usage might add up. I am looking forward to the "live feeds" from the field! If you could please, let us know how this solution works out, and how quickly the MB's accumulate when connecting to the Internet (assuming you are not setting up a VPN connection). Thanks Saeed!

Have a fantastic hunt! Regards, Bill

If anybody is curious about renting one: http://www.outfittersatellite.com/bgan_thrane_explorer500.htm