Hello guys -

I'll be making my first trip to SA next month,
and am looking for some advice on Africana to bring back. These will be gifts and items for the house, trophy room etc.

Is there anything in particular to look for?
What did you bring back that you really liked?
Looking for ideas.


We have to stay an extra day in Jo'berg at the end of the trip, are there any good places that
you could recommend to look for this stuff?

Thanks in advance!

First of all, I would suggest shopping for curios before the hunt. That way, most of your purchases can be shipped back with your trophies. I like Zulu Baskets, scrimshaw or painted ostrich eggs, small wooden carvings, carved masks, coffee table sized books with tons of photos of the animals and the country, small stone carvings, table coverings made from native fabrics in exotic designs, and perhaps a couple of scrimshaw warthog tusks.

From various trips to about seven countries I have bought (plus some sent to me as well):

a Shona chieftain stone bust, with chalk rubbed whute hair. Lifesize. I carried this back to London in a day pack casually hung on my shoulder. It weighed 12 kgs

various stone sculptures: kissing giraffe, rhino

wood carvings: elephant bookends, candle sticks, 2-3 foot Maasai warrior and woman, fish, rhinos, etc etc

a lot of prints and some original paintings

a stone chess set, the board broke in freight

various spears and shields - life size and as close to if not authentic as possible. Knobkerries, assegais. A Tswana axe

Various jewellry for my wife

Various other things. Bought a 5 foot giraffe carving at home as it wasn't a bad price unlike normally.

What I really want is stone cape buffalo scultures, about a foot tall, and 2 or 3 long. Also the National Archives white history was flogged off by Mugabes minions around 1993 and I remember seeing original photographs etc of Selous and others. A Maasai spear!


***

The main point is whatever takes your fancy and you like!

Actually some of my favorite "bring backs" came from my hunting trips to Australia. Aboriginal carvings from Darwin, Cascade and XXXX barmats from Brisbane, kookaburra sculpture from Sydney, cane toad coin purse, opal and cultured pearl jewelry for the wife. Every day items for one person is another man's treasures!

Wood boring beetles...

Watch out for the soft would sculptures and make sure they are dipped before they´re shipped.

LOTS of nice stuff to by, I´m especially partial to masks, religious ornaments and bones...

*Bones and religious ornaments* - Last trip my daughter bought a bag of witch doctor bones. The set included little stones, bones, and a little booklet explaining how to read the signs. She was playing with the set in her room after we returned from the hunt, and left the array of bones on the floor. The dog found them and ate them. Now his eyes have an odd glow to them.

My younger son -who is into Tarot- also bought one of those and he´s had a lot of fun with it...everyone winds up 1) in love 2) rich and 3) dead.

In that order.

Close inspection will show that the bones are not human ...

quote:

Cascade and XXXX barmats from Brisbane

RBHunt

For a moment I thought you said "barmaids" from Brisbane.

quote:

The dog found them and ate them. Now his eyes have an odd glow to them.

A Weredog.

Herewith my favorite 'Africana'



HUNTING ONE HOUR FROM CAPE TOWN
http://www.kapstadt.de/lemberg

DTW,

Follow the advice of either shipping back with your trophies or bring an extra bag to carry back. I found out the hard way it is expensive shipping.

IF you are staying at Afton House, they will run you over to Cabano's where they have most everything you can think of and reasonably priced.

My personal recommendation is a custom made knife from one of South Africa's Guild members. There are giraffe bone and warthog tusk handles along with several types of wood. These are also avail at Cabano's.

Fred

Sunshine

I once went to a local restaurant. Inside the foyer which was two floors high was a large carved statue from the South Seas of the Pacific. It stood at least 12 feet tall. Sitting at a table on the balconey for the first time I noticed and pointed out to my wife the statue had a huge five foot dong which the carved man was grasping with both hands.

Unusual decoration for a restaurant.

Later the proprietor of the restaurant came to work for the winery I worked for as a chef.

Is that a personal carved artwork in your house? The female in the middle is really beautiful . She looked like the men until I noticed she had boobs!

Whatever you intend to bring home from Africa these days, just make sure those items will pass your home Environment/Customs/Fish & Wildlife/AnimalParts Protection Agency/Quarantine etc etc Gov Dep pearly gates !
Remember that once you purchase items /souvenirs/memorabilia in the local market place those may contain some prohibited materials/elements like animal bones, hides, hair, tusks, ivory, teeth, wood, timber, leaves etc organic substances. Innocent as they may appear to you, they will surely draw an attention of enthusiastic and very anbitious custom officials at the aiport at home !
Timber carvings might be Gamma rayed but you will be hard pressed with explaining what this Zulu shield is made from - did you say a cow hide ? - how do we know this is not made out of Cape Mountain Zebra (CITES # 1) hide ? Do you have a "certificate of the origin" for this piece ? (Such documentations are in terribly short supply in local African marketplaces I suppose !)
I would personally bring weapons for my trophy room - spears and shields, African timber carvings will be next on my souvenir's list.
Les from Australia

quote:

Is that a personal carved artwork in your house? The female in the middle is really beautiful . She looked like the men until I noticed she had boobs!

South African blacks are not very handsome... Such carvings you can find at the Greenmarket Sqare in Cape Town.


HUNTING ONE HOUR FROM CAPE TOWN
http://www.kapstadt.de/lemberg

My favorite and my wife's favorite are elephant hair bracelets, I bought 2 real ones and 1 made to look like one out of silver for my wife. She rarely wears the silver one but loves to wear the original. I'm not sure if I was allowed or not, but customs didn't ask and I didn't show it to them. If they would have found them and said I wasn't allowed I would have just turned them over. I wear mine every day to work and it reminds me of Africa constantly
I also brought some rocks back that I found while hunting. One has very unusual markings on it and we always have people trying to buy it. I also brought some petrified rock, there were literally tons of it where I hunted. When the guy at customs ask about the rocks, I told him they were for my wife and he put them back in. Again, if he said I wasn't allowed I would have just turned them over.

I also brought some porcupine quills that we found when we were hunting. I had them packed in my luggage also, even though I'm sure if customs found them they would have taken them.
Good luck and keep your eyes open. Joe

DTW, welcome aboard...if you need answers to questions just ask...About 50 miles north of Joberg is a great place to get curios native made...It is an outside flea market where you can barter for anything and everything African..I bought a hand carved elephant Ph said by it that is what they look like...I have bought tpys for grandchildren hand carved giraffes..masks, you name it you will find it there...It is not far from a major lake or resevoir...You will need a guide to get you there and back..I also stay at the Mercur Hotel it is right across the street from the mall 15 minutes from the airport..

Mike

Hi DTW

As retreever has sid there is a market close by called wellwitschia market, it is right next door to the Hartbeespoort dam , which is a lovely drive to from Johannesburg. you will get all that you would like in the African theme from this market and you can bargain with them for better pricing.

If you need help getting there and back dont hesitate to ask I would have no problem getting you around for that day no problem.

Cheers Schmidie

"opie-Knoppe"