Hello to all. I have a question regarding the Eastern Cape SA. My family and I hunted with Chris Bolton of Zungah Safaris many times. Chris is no longer with us (I could write a book about the man. He will be forever missed and touched the lives of my family in a way that cannot be expressed in words). I also hunted with Noel Ross when I was with Chris. I am planning another trip for my family friends and sons. Does anybody have information on who is currently hunting what was Noel Ross and Chris Boltons properties? Would you recommend the outfitter and PH (s)? My understanding is that Noel retired from organizing hunts and devoted himself to PH school for up and coming guides. If these properties are no longer available, are there alternative places that you could/would recommend? -we are not looking for hot tubs and 5 star meals. It’s all about the hunting experience for all of us. I have never hunted Namibia so that is an option as well as I keep reading awesome reports from there as well. A few people will be first time African hunters. Plains game with emphasis on spiral horns. Wild open country over high fence enclosures is a must. Any recommendations and or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Took my wife, stepson and his wife last August on their first safari. Had a great hunt with Andrew Renton of Kei River Safaris based in East London.Depending on which area of his you are hunting, accommodations are all great and one is right on the beach! Most hunting is low fence or on properties that are huge with self sustaining game- no put and take. Highly recommend his operation and I’m a veteran of 17 safaris, mostly DG but half dozen or so plains game.

Lots of recommendations for Cruiser Safaris but as Jerry has mentioned people speak highly of Andrew Renton.

Thank you. Yes, I know I’m asking questions that have been answered a hundred times before. -PS. I have been a lurker on here for decades. Read every hunt report every week. I am a married career firefighter with kids so I don’t have the opportunities to go on the hunts that are posted here. I do want to give a shout out to everyone that posts their trips and stories because it keeps the people like me dreaming and planning for the future. Thank you to all the contributors out there.

Fairgame, Saeed, reddy375, larryshores, DougDuckworth, kathi, cal pappas, and many others…thank you for producing and contributing to the best hunting website on the internet. My two little boys and I read all your reports, adventures, and reviews. I would be honored to hunt with anyone of you someday. You probably don’t realize it, but you make a big impact on future generations. My kids want to look at the newest hunting reports, not video games. All of you are changing the next generation for the better.

quote:

Originally posted by wamuley:
Hello to all. I have a question regarding the Eastern Cape SA. My family and I hunted with Chris Bolton of Zungah Safaris many times. Chris is no longer with us (I could write a book about the man. He will be forever missed and touched the lives of my family in a way that cannot be expressed in words). I also hunted with Noel Ross when I was with Chris. I am planning another trip for my family friends and sons. Does anybody have information on who is currently hunting what was Noel Ross and Chris Boltons properties? Would you recommend the outfitter and PH (s)? My understanding is that Noel retired from organizing hunts and devoted himself to PH school for up and coming guides. If these properties are no longer available, are there alternative places that you could/would recommend? -we are not looking for hot tubs and 5 star meals. It’s all about the hunting experience for all of us. I have never hunted Namibia so that is an option as well as I keep reading awesome reports from there as well. A few people will be first time African hunters. Plains game with emphasis on spiral horns. Wild open country over high fence enclosures is a must. Any recommendations and or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Hi wamuley,

If you are open to using an agent, I would be happy to help you. My outfitter who is based in the Eastern Cape has free range, low fence and high fence areas. Send me a PM or email mtaylorsporting@gmail.com

Try Victor Watson, Karoo Wild Safaris. He is on AR. Great for families. Huge range of properties and species. Cost effective. Sense of humour. Last but not least, Victor and Lindsay are decent human beings.

quote:

Originally posted by wamuley:
Hello to all. I have a question regarding the Eastern Cape SA. My family and I hunted with Chris Bolton of Zungah Safaris many times. Chris is no longer with us (I could write a book about the man. He will be forever missed and touched the lives of my family in a way that cannot be expressed in words). I also hunted with Noel Ross when I was with Chris. I am planning another trip for my family friends and sons. Does anybody have information on who is currently hunting what was Noel Ross and Chris Boltons properties? Would you recommend the outfitter and PH (s)? My understanding is that Noel retired from organizing hunts and devoted himself to PH school for up and coming guides. If these properties are no longer available, are there alternative places that you could/would recommend? -we are not looking for hot tubs and 5 star meals. It’s all about the hunting experience for all of us. I have never hunted Namibia so that is an option as well as I keep reading awesome reports from there as well. A few people will be first time African hunters. Plains game with emphasis on spiral horns. Wild open country over high fence enclosures is a must. Any recommendations and or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I knew Chris well and we miss him dearly in our area. Noel is an Eastern Cape legend and my first experience with him when he guided me on a junior hunters course in Oviston Game Reserve when I was 14 years old. You’ve hunted with two fine hunters and gentlemen!

quote:

Originally posted by the Pom:
Try Victor Watson, Karoo Wild Safaris. He is on AR. Great for families. Huge range of properties and species. Cost effective. Sense of humour. Last but not least, Victor and Lindsay are decent human beings.

I agree and stick with the AR posters such as Victor and you will be in good hands

Thank you for your replies, I realize appreciate it. Hopefully I will be able to post in the African Hunting Reports soon

Just my $.02 worth, and sounds like you have some great advice already, but if you’ve already hunted South Africa, I might suggest a different country, like Namibia that you mentioned. Very safe.

I am a novice, and am returning to Africa this summer for my 12th safari, which is nothing compared to some of the hunters on this great forum. But I can tell you that I’ve enjoyed seeing/hunting different countries in Africa. I have hunted South Africa and Namibia, and I thought they were both exciting places with a lot of good game to pursue. So far, I’ve only hunted four different countries, but plan to expand to others in the future. Spread your wings!

If you decide some day to visit even more countries, may I suggest Andrew Baldry (Fairgame) in Zambia? This summer will be my 6th safari with him, and I find him a gentleman, and a great PH. Plus, so far, I’ve enjoyed hunting Zambia and its game offerings the most, but probably because I like to hunt DG along with PG as well. YMMV.

Good luck on your next safari!

I just got home from a hunt in the East Cape with KMG Safaris. Marius Goshen really knows what he is doing and I got great animals. All the animals were well above average except for an average mature caracal. When you hunt with dogs you don't have a real selection. I shot cape bushbuck, vaal rehbock (9 inches), mountain reedbuck, steenbuck, and fallow deer that were all well above average. These were all on low-fenced sheep and cattle land. I will do a report as soon as I can figure how to load the photos. If you want another good hunt, I would recommend Jan DuPlessis with Zebra Safaris in northwestern Namibia. I had a great hunt with him several years ago and the best food of any hunt I have been on. Jan's wife is a great cook. His land is also low-fenced cattle land. Namibia is also a good place to rent a car and see more of the country. We went to Etosha National Park, Damaraland, and along the Skeleton Coast. Namibia is probably the safest country in Southern Africa.

In my years in the business, I found Swartkei SAfaris, Phillip and Chas. Price, introduced to me by Jeff Neal some 40 plus years ago to be the best in RSA with extremely large parcels of private unfenced land some larger fenced leased land and and the best hunters I know of. with no short cuts. Im retired and unaffiliated with them, other than friendship.

These recommendations are exactly what I was hoping for. Thank you. I’m going to sit this trip out and save for a Mozambique or Zambia Buffalo+ PG trip for my son and I. It was 20 years ago now but I lived in RSA while attending college at University in Stellenbosch. Bought a car and toured the country for months after class was out. -One thing I haven’t seen suggested on here ever as a side trip that I would highly recommend (unless the fishery has been decimated since I was there) is if your flight itinerary finds you in Cape Town and you enjoy fishing as well as hunting, try to book a tuna trip. I forget if it has to be timed with the anchovy migration, and there’s a few ports that the charters run out of (iirc we ran out of Hearts Bay). Some friends and I went and had a trip of a lifetime. Hooking 100-200 pound bluefin tuna free drifting cut bait on the surface until you can’t play another one. Watching a 200 pound tuna smack your bait as it hits the water is pretty awesome. It’s a short run from the ports, and some days weather prohibits the fleet from getting out but I’ve never experienced a bite that hot before or since. -Something to think about if you find yourself in a position to go someday.

I’ve passed on these references and know that they are all well vetted by the members here. One of them will be getting booked in the near future. It’s turned into a Father/son + 1 family friend. I consider them family. He taught me new ways to hunt and opened his house and woods to me since I passed hunter education as a preteen. I felt I owed him the recommendations of the best in the industry and I knew this would be the most trustworthy source to get it. Thanks again. -Jared Valenta

I would recommend KMG in the eastern Cape. Have hunted with Marius twice and he exceeded my expatiation's at every level.

For Namibia Ekuja safari. Have hunted with them in 2021 and going back in 2025.

First off: I don't know about the East Cape area you hunted & I've only hunted the East Cape once, but from my personal experience, my "knock" against RSA is that I don't want to do a bunch of "ranch hopping." ie: "You want a certain animal, that's a 1hr drive each way. This other animal is a 4hr drive & we stay at a different ranch." Personally, I'm done with that.

Second, all else being equal, I would ALWAYS try to hunt a new country (or a different area within a country I have hunted)... I want to see as much of Africa as I can.

For me, I prefer to hunt an area where we leave camp and are essentially hunting immediately. I did my first safari in Namibia. That country has a lot of really large low-fence ranches. More like hunting a huge ranch in the Western US. I would talk to Karl Stumpfe, Ndumo Safaris (on AR) for sure.

I would also suggest a hard look at a ranch hunt in Botswana. I took my son there with Tholo safaris and it is a really great operation. I was also considering Nkwe Safaris, Matt Egan is the agent and posts here. The late Cal Pappas went with them and posted a good report. Note: Namibia is easier to get into/out of, with easy flights into Windhoek through Frankfurt.

Best of luck & please let us know what you book!

Thank you Baker458 and I love reading your posts. As of today, I’m setting aside a bank account just for my next Africa trip. Life is too short. I just lost my hunting dog unexpectedly today and having a rough go at life. I’ve never had more of a good time than drinking a sundowner over a campfire. I want my two boys to experience the same thing (maybe without the sundowner for the time being)

I wholeheartedly concur with Dale’s recommendation of Sebra (Not Zebra) Hunting Safaris. I’ve hunted with Jan du Plessis SIX times, as recently as August 2022. Jan’s prices are extremely affordable and you’ll eat like a king. I’ve published hunting reports here on AR for my hunts of 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019, complete with lots of trophy pictures and descriptions of the gourmet dinners served by Jan’s wife Mariesje. The pictures speak for themselves.

If you’re interested in Sebra, their website has been down for a couple of weeks. You can reach Jan du Plessis at: Sebra@iway.za