If anyone has hunted there, I'd appreciate your impressions and thoughts.

Took my first buffalo there in 2003. The lodge we stayed in was first rate. Shakari could give you more info. He lives near there and I am sure has hunted it.

quote:

Shakari could give you more info. He lives near there

Steve has moved on, he still could probably give good info though.

Lived there all some 40 odd years

A wonderful place in my book! Shakari's now residing in Portugal.

Sir,

This reserve is made up out of lot's of private owned farms that have been thrown into one big conservation project. It is now part of the Greater Kruger National Park.

Some of the best, fair chase Buffalo hunting in Africa today, known for BIG trophies. The animals move freely between the Kruger park and other similar reserves like the Timbavati and Balule.

Only draw back for some is the price tag. A Buff hunt here is going to cost you between $23-$30k.

A very good friend of mine owns some property in the Klaserie and i have spent quite a bit of time there.In addition to the standard game drives we also regularly go for walks on his property, often in search of buffalo.

Last year i joined him on his private Buffalo hunt as an observer; having hunted Buffalo in Zambia, Zimbabwe and other areas in South Africa i was very keen to experience a hunt in what i consider prime buffalo country.

Technically it is fenced but what ever anyone says the fence makes absolutely no difference to the movements of the buffalo or the quality of the hunt. If anything the well developed road network is the greatest help to the hunter and if you want to cut to the chase so to speak it makes it rather easy to figure out where the buffalo are by checking tracks on the roads.

The genes are good , quotas are well managed and there are a LOT of buffalo; this is a great combination for any trophy hunter. If you book enough days, go at the right time of the year and make your intentions clear i strongly believe that you have a very good chance of shooting a big bossed bull with a 43" spread - with an outside chance for something in the 46-47" range. You must be aware that they will not let you shoot a soft bossed bull regardless of how big he may be or how much you offer them. The final call is in the hands of the resident PH/Guide; he is a great guy, very experienced and passionate about hunting.

The buffalo were generally more relaxed than those in concessions in Zambia and Zim and this allows you to really glass hard and look for the right bull. But as crazy as it sounds trying to keep track of and get a shot at a specific animal in a herd of 400 can be incredibly challenging.

It is an expensive destination, very different to a Zambezi/Luangwa Valley hunt but highly recommended. The recent floods have done considerable damage to the roads , camps and infrastructure in the reserve but provided you dont go in the next 2-3 months it should have no direct impact on your hunt

I have indeed recently retired from the professional hunting field and left (South) Africa and did indeed know the area under discussion a little....... I wouldn't agree with Charl when he says "Some of the best, fair chase Buffalo hunting in Africa today" however I would say it can offer good trophies and good opportunities for some clients.

The member here who knows it best (by far) geographically and historically would be ALF and anything he has to say is worth listening to.

As far as I'm concerned, the animals in these areas tend to be more habituated (for the obvious reason) to people and vehicles than in places such as the Selous GR in Tanzania and other true wilderness areas.

Like everywhere else, it's had it's fair share of dodgy buggers etc trying to get their foot in the door and/or misrepresenting things but if you go to the right people then you'll have a fairly good hunt there....... don't however expect to have the same sort of hunting experience as you'd have in a true wilderness area.

I'm not suggesting it'll be a better or worse hunting experience more just a slightly different one.

Oh and I would agree with Charl's comment about price...... don't expect it to be particularly cheap.

Hmmmm....Steve my old friend......so that 46 and a something bull at Lifeform that was shot in 2010,who scores.....what, number 6 on SCI of all times does not let it qualify as giving the hunter "some of the best fair chase Buff today"?

I know what your viewpoint is on this, and for certain will not get into a bickering tit for tat twitter over it, BUT I honestly believe it is one of the best areas to hunt amongst the Big Five, without seeing fences during the hunt, and shoot a maybe 42" plus Cape Buff. We all know certain areas in Tanz. produce these class Buff on a regular basis, and that is why I said ONE of the best areas....!

How's things down your way mate?

Charl,

If you'd said 'one of the best places for the possibility to get a big trophy' I might have agreed with you and if you'd said 'one of the best places for the possibility to get a big trophy in southern Africa,' I'd definitely have agreed with you, but I wouldn't say it's anywhere near "Some of the best, fair chase Buffalo hunting in Africa today".......... those things are all very different from one another ....... or at least, they are to me.

Yup, things are generally very good here thanks. Winters are a tad colder and we're battling with the house hunting because we're being very picky in what we want but that's largely our fault........ The best things about it by far are the effeciency, cleanliness and lack of crime and corruption... and of course, most important of all, I haven't had to hear the expression 'hough, I have a prrrroblem' a single time in the 4 months we've been here.

you won't believe how smoothly things run here. No matter what kind of permit or piece of official paperwork or approval you want, you're in and out of the relevent offices either with what you wanted granted or the correct answer to your question within minutes......... not hours, days, weeks, months or even years but minutes!

Steve,

Sorry for the side track, but you do realise that you just used Portugal and efficient in the same sentence? As much as I love the place, those are not words that seem to go together naturally. First rate place to retire to just the same.

Dean

Dean

Dean

Believe me mate, Portugal is the true epitome of effeciency when compared to a country such as RSA that often:

Takes more than 5 YEARS to renew or issue a firearms permit.

OR

Where the local cop shops have additional delays (often weeks or sometimes months) because they run out of paper or lose their computer password.

OR

Issue permanent residency to Nigerians without any visible means of support but not to white folks who provide employment, investment & tax.

OR

Take at least 3 years to even answer any application for permanent residency.

OR

Where the cops are unable to attend a crime scene because they have no fuel for their vehicles. (They always seem to have plenty to pop to the local supermarket or pub though)

OR

Increase the cost of electricity by umpteen hundred percent over the coming 3 years because it's easier to do that than it is to arrest the minister responsible for stealing the entire national budget for new power stations for the coming decades.

Hell, they can't even manage to bury their own dead and consequently the morgues in some areas are half full of body bags where the contents have turned to mush and bones.

The problem with Africa is that it's wasted on the bloody Africans who couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery and all the people in charge are all as bent as a nine bob note.

Steve, I think you should loosen up and tell us how you REALLY feel. Glad you are doing well in your now home and hope you will continue to contribute on AR. I always appreciate your input.

Tom

Tom

Thanks for those kind words..... and yes, I'll try to post what I can, when I can but at the moment, I only have very limited internet access.

Thanks all for the input. I will be tagging along there on my friend's buff hunt in March. I would however, like a crack at a bushbuck. 2 trips - zero sightings.

Bushbuck are like hunting whitetails stay in the valleys and not to high glasing down near streams. Thick whitetail cover, as the name says Bushbuck, should say Brushbuck.

Mike

So far its been WTFbuck!

Our very own Scriptus is probably one of the best fudis to advise on bushbuck but (FWIW) I find the best way to hunt them is to still hunt them. I like to identify a little clearing in or very close to riverine habitat that just looks/feels bushbucky and then identify a good shooting position for that area and then return there about an hour before dark and wait for a suitable animal to appear in the clearing.

I worked that one out MANY years ago when I first hunted the Botswana side of the Limpopo and could sit and watch the hunters on the South African side of the river trying to stalk them........ and you could see one bushbuck after another, after another simply hear/smell them coming and duck down until they'd gone past.

Shakari, is there nowhere in Africa you could recommend a retired person from the USA to live out his life

quote:

Originally posted by lb404:
Shakari, is there nowhere in Africa you could recommend a retired person from the USA to live out his life

Sure.... there's plenty of places but I can't think of any that are run honestly and effeciently etc.

Africa is a fantastic place but don't ever expect any of it to be run anywhere near as well as it should be. I'm afraid the areshole politicians and their winds of change blew that out of the window decades ago..... and I'd predict things will get worse as every year goes by.

quote:

Originally posted by lb404:
Shakari, is there nowhere in Africa you could recommend a retired person from the USA to live out his life

On the Kafue in Zambia.

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:

quote:

Originally posted by lb404:
Shakari, is there nowhere in Africa you could recommend a retired person from the USA to live out his life

On the Kafue in Zambia.

Only temporary paying visitors allowed ! Trespassers will be fed to the "flat dogs!"

Steve is right, you just have to witness the crap on the go here. These socialists are of the opinion that the rest of the communists, apart fron China, Cuba and now Venezuala, could not make it work, so they will show the rest how to do it. Anybdy who wants to spend time here, retirement or whatever, keep your motor running.
lb404, depending where you end-up, the duration of your retirement could be fairly short. Nigeria, Sudan, Somalia etc.

quote:

Originally posted by Scriptus:

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:

quote:

Originally posted by lb404:
Shakari, is there nowhere in Africa you could recommend a retired person from the USA to live out his life

On the Kafue in Zambia.

Only temporary paying visitors allowed ! Trespassers will be fed to the "flat dogs!"

Steve is right, you just have to witness the crap on the go here. These socialists are of the opinion that the rest of the communists, apart fron China, Cuba and now Venezuala, could not make it work, so they will show the rest how to do it. Anybdy who wants to spend time here, retirement or whatever, keep your motor running.
lb404, depending where you end-up, the duration of your retirement could be fairly short. Nigeria, Sudan, Somalia etc.

Seriously mate me and my partner are developing a model for those who want a second home in Africa. Sure you have a social responsibility to the attached community but that is Africa mate.

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:

On the Kafue in Zambia.

We considered Zambia but they don't make it easy for white immigrants any more than most of the others do....... You need to read the small print but the crux of the matter is they want the whities money etc but anything they give by way of residency is either temporary or very easily withdrawn. Which of course means little if any guarantee or permanency in exchange for your investment of time, money and effort.

As each year goes by, African Governmunts are increasingly adopting the policy of Africa for Africans and I can't see that changing in the foreseeable future.

As Scriptus says...... keep your motor running!

That is really sad, I spent two years in the Belgian Congo from 1960-1962. I went to the embassy school and had a wonderful time. Saw many good things as well as many bad things. All in all it was my favorite tow years of my youth. Now that the US is seaming to be headed to socialism, I feel lost in my own country. Not nearly as bad as Shikari but I am looking for another place to live out my life. I have about another 5-7 years I would like to work and have a working plan of egress at that time.

quote:

Originally posted by shakari:
As each year goes by, African Governmunts are increasingly adopting the policy of Africa for Africans ....

I thought some African gov'ts are adopting a policy "Africa for the Chinese ...".

The Chinese think the same John....... but just watch Africa kick them all out when they think the time is ripe.......

Oh Yeah! Just check out the new African Union HQ in Addis Ababa. A gift from China, the "new colonialists." [manical laughter drifting off into the distance.]

quote:

Originally posted by shakari:
Dean

Believe me mate, Portugal is the true epitome of effeciency when compared to a country such as RSA that often:

Takes more than 5 YEARS to renew or issue a firearms permit.

OR

Where the local cop shops have additional delays (often weeks or sometimes months) because they run out of paper or lose their computer password.

OR

Issue permanent residency to Nigerians without any visible means of support but not to white folks who provide employment, investment & tax.

OR

Take at least 3 years to even answer any application for permanent residency.

OR

Where the cops are unable to attend a crime scene because they have no fuel for their vehicles. (They always seem to have plenty to pop to the local supermarket or pub though)

OR

Increase the cost of electricity by umpteen hundred percent over the coming 3 years because it's easier to do that than it is to arrest the minister responsible for stealing the entire national budget for new power stations for the coming decades.

Hell, they can't even manage to bury their own dead and consequently the morgues in some areas are half full of body bags where the contents have turned to mush and bones.

The problem with Africa is that it's wasted on the bloody Africans who couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery and all the people in charge are all as bent as a nine bob note.

Evidence of Naki's "Black Industrial Revolution" in action.

quote:

Originally posted by shakari:
The Chinese think the same John....... but just watch Africa kick them all out when they think the time is ripe.......

Steve

I think the Chinese are different from today's weak Western Whitees. More like the colonials of a hundred to two hundred years ago.

The Chinese also think in terms of hundreds of years. The pathetic blacks of Africa won't be able to defend their huge natural resources from the Chinese if they get a foothold. China has a desperate need for huge reserves of natural resources and the Africans and their natural incompetence won't be much of an obstacle.

The Red Army, the world's largest army might have something to say about Chinese interests and investments being kicked out.

George Orwell after all prophesied all this in 1948 (1984).

quote:

Originally posted by NitroX:
foothold. .

"FOOTHOLD ? ? ?" They are in the lounge eating noodles and drinking f#*@king tea mate.

John

I don't disagree with you about the Chinese at all but my guess is if the Af's ever decide they want them out, they'll just kick them out and to hell with the consequences...... just like Mad Bob treated the farmers.

The Africans couldn't organise a piss up in a brewary and love to make new laws that don't work for the sake of making them but the truth is, they hold the whip hand in their own countries and they don't care about chucking out the baby with the bathwater because they KNOW that the white man will continue to give them foreign aid and charity, no matter what they do or how harshly they treat people, including their own people...... the people might suffer and die but those in power will always be able to afford a new Mercedes or a new executive jet.

Zimbabwe being a good example.

reading this post makes me somewhat happy about how life can change. in August 2001, after my second hunting trip with my wife to RSA, we decided that RSA would be a nice place to retire to 12-15 years down the road and spent a week looking at properties for sale in Limpopo Province. the idea was to buy a game farm then, lease it back to the owner or another outfitter, visit it and hunt a bit till retirement in age 65( 11 years down the road), then move there and live 6-9 months out of the year. found a nice 2800 acre game farm near Naboomspruit running as a bow hunting operation with 2 5acre dams stocked with largemouth bass and talipia with a cabin on each, good game count, bow hunting blinds, and a nice 750 sq. meter house that was 3/4 completed. total price for everything was about $125,000. got back to the states, arranged the purchase and sent the required deposit. 2 weeks into the transfer process, i found out i had stage 4 non-Hodgkins lyphoma and a life expectancy of 10 or so years. not much sense in buying the property so i contacted the owner, explained the situation, and he graciously cancelled the escrow, wished me well, and sent back the deposit. now 11 years later , i am in remission, doing well, and hope to live a QUITE a while longer. had i gone ahead with the purchase God knows whether i would be able to stand the political situation or even still own the place. things have changed a lot in RSA in the last 11 years- and all the changes are for the worst!! thank you God for keeping me out of the quagmire that has become RSA( AT LEAST IF YOU ARE WHITE).

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:
( AT LEAST IF YOU ARE WHITE).

Good to hear of your remission.

Some of the "Tribesmen" are starting to wake-up here and there. They tend to get upset when a relative dies waiting five hours for an ambulance, or if an ambulance does pitch for a woman in labour, and they get to the hospital and the women is not there? Turns out that no-one closed the door, and no-one stayed with the patient. The guerney was not fastened down and en route the patient departed and challenged a pick-up truck. The patient and her unborn child lost. In today's paper is a story of one poor beggar who went in to a state hospital for heart surgery and had his leg amputated.
Schools have opened for the new school year and in the Eastern Cape, SADTU, the Black Teachers Union is on a go slow strike.
Aaahh Africa, everyday a challenge.

For you folks who dream of retiring in RSA or dream of living there a few months each year, here is a possible scenario for you: buy a house/apt/condo in a gated development away from major cities, and use on holiday each year when you can hunt. Temp resident permits up to 90 days are issued upon airport arrival. Travel during off peak periods to get best airfare, usually less than $1500 RT. Foods great, wine not expensive. Climate great. Whats not to like.

quote:

Originally posted by shakari:
will always be able to afford a new Mercedes or a new executive jet.

Zimbabwe being a good example.

South Africa too. A recent junket to the United Nations saw the South African Airforce send three passenger jets, one with the President and his entourage, the other two as spares in case the first got a flat or whatever. Oh, at a cost to SA of R10,000,000.

Scriptus

Unfortunately that doesn't surprise me at all....

Jackalhunter,

Not a bad idea but I should point out there are a few problems with it..... not least amongst 'em the fact that the temporary rifle import would be difficult..... not impossible but certainly difficult.

The new immigration amendments will also make like difficult. For example, until now, if someone wanted a visa extension, it was fairly easy but the new one says the applicant must return to his home country to apply for the extension which of course completely buggers the idea of the extension.

I love my country and would not move from here. Yes, there are lots to moan about but there is much more to be greatfull for and to enjoy. Lost of people emigrate fro here to Aus or New Zealand but the statistics have shown that with in 5 years almost 75% of those come right back. Africa will always be Africa and I love it here.

Fritz, those stats are just so much BS. There are those young folk who do 12 / 24 months in the UK, come back and then go somewhere else. In New Zealand, there are so many Saffas that even small places like Queenstown, the supermarkets have whole sections where one can purchase SA groceries. the same can be found in Australia and Canada. As an example, ex Armscor employees are now working in the USA in military related industries, and that even includes Sonchem folk. All around me, friends and family are going. These buggers do not want whites. There is a German who invested R4,500,000 in a farm close to Port Alfred, in order to comply with a Home Affairs Directive, [employ so many blacks] and pay R38,000 [under correction on that figure] for his Permanent Residence. After 6 years he has no P RES and a truck load of labour crap. Guess what, you can buy his farm, he has lost his R38,000 [non refundable] and he is going back. This probably sounds quite familiar to Steve Robinson. The consideration haunting a lot of South Africans is that although they want to stay and make things work, they see what happened in Zim, and realise the same thing is happening here. Monies invested, pensions and the like are losing value daily. Petrol and goods are not expensive, our money is just worth shit. The fuel hikes are only a stop gap to provide cash to the State. We are all so stupid, we never question why they quote Brent Crude prices when our oil comes at half the price from Iran and the like. Right now, today, the Eastern Cape Government cannot pay its Service Providers. They have no money! One little company that I know of, is owed in excess of R15,000,000. They received a transfer yesterday of R200,000. Enough for now, but there is plenty more.

Like Fritz, I also love Africa, esp South Africa but there's no getting away from the fact that what should be (and once was) a paradise on earth has become a super mega bugly stuff up of immense proportions. There's also no getting away from the fact that the ever increasing policy (throughout the continent) of Africa for Africans is meaning things are getting steadily worse and willl continue to do so for the foreseeable future and that there's simply no (politically correct) answer to that.

RSA has had over 20 years to get things back on the right track and instead has steadily regressed in every way........

I'm not blaming the new(ish) regime because they're black but because they're stupid, corrupt and ineffecient beyond belief.