Hi all,

I returned Saturday night from a ten-day hunt in the Save Conservancy in Zim. I must thank Ganyana for originally posting the availability of late season quota hunts. Even though Shangaan pulled their offer, I was able to find the same deal at a couple of different places, both very well-thought-of outfits. I ended up going with a hunt from Brooklands Hunting Safaris, thanks to Ron Oliver's efforts. I also had an offer of the same thing from Swainson's in Dande.

As soon as I have time I'll post a complete report, including some pics, in the Hunting Reports section along with my observations concerning travel through Amsterdam (KLM) as an alternative to SAA. I'll also post a comment or two on the use of Optima travel assistance in Jo'burg (short version: Optima seems to have its problems behind it and the assistance they gave me was invaluable).

The hunt was primarily for buffalo, with leopard a possibility. I was able to scratch down a nice old dugga boy on the afternoon of the last day (yep, the fat lady was walking onto the stage), and added fine sable and eland to the list as well. The leopard escaped me, but I wasn't too upset or surprised; December just isn't the best month to hunt leopard and I was concentrating on buffs anyway.

Kudos to Ron Oliver, Brooklands (Paul Wellock is a great PH), Shawn at Gracy Travel (see my report for info about that), and of course to Ganyana, who started this whole mess .

More details to follow in the Hunting Reports section; I'll yell when the post is up.

Welcome back and congratulations. We could all use a new hunting report and some pictures!

Waiting for the report. Congratulations on your success with the Buf