Folks:

I love to safari! It's always like a good three horse rig that has no weak part of the team.

You got your ponies pulling for you and they are named "Anticipation", "Experience" and "Memories".

I'm really enjoying the anticipation stage. I've scoured the airline sites and found good tickets, Delta 200 and 201 coming and going to JNB with window seats at the bulkhead. Since those Comfort Economy locations are in high demand, finding the right flights and getting them was like making an A+ on a test.

I've picked out my rifle for the trip. A Shul Cape Gun in 7x57R/16 gauge 2.75", claw mounts and a Zeiss 1-4.5x scope. The rifle barrel is a 1" shooter and the shotgun barrel shoots #1 buck well and slugs will hit a clay pigeon at 40 yards. Low brass #6's pattern mod/full (so the birds will have a problem if I do my part).

I've made my packing lists and have about everything laid out and am only awaiting a couple of extra camera batteries I bought on ebay and a present or three for the P.H.s' families.

My wife and I are walking 3 to 5 miles every day, sometimes over our Sidney Lanier bridge which is a whole lot of vertical, 3.6 miles of 280 feet of up and down.

I close my eyes to go to sleep every night and conjure up a kudu springing out from behind some brush or a warthog scampering along with his tail straight up. An elephant will trumpet coming to water and maybe, just maybe, a leopard will cough to announce his presence. Sleep comes pretty easy that way. My wife says I smile a lot.

I'm looking forward to making great friends with the P.H.'s and their families with whom I'll stay and hunt. I'll see the Eastern Cape for the first time. I'll drink a Scotch on a new (to me) laupa and smoke a few great cigars.

This first horse of the Troika is really getting ready to go. At my usual lunch spot, I didn't even notice the waitress addressing me because I was trying to remember how to orient myself to North by the Southern Cross.

I leave on September 9th, so I have 20 more days to let "Anticipation" pull my sleigh alone for a while before "Experience" gets hooked up and then "Memories" completing my Troika 10 days later when I return home.

Ain't it great! This will be my 25th safari, I think and I'm like a 6 year-old awaiting Christmas morning.

Gotta love it Judge!

By the way, good choice on th cape gun.

I am starting to think more and more of mine.It will be somewhere about a year or so from now.
I am thinking on how to improve over my last trips.I hope I will be in good spirits the time come.Things do not look that bad especially after this week.It might be a buff and tuskless hunt but I rather it would be a bull ele hunt.October or March are the months I would like to go.

Wishing you the Best Judge..

Geez Ernest, you have such a way with the written word. Both Ruark and Hemingway would be jealous! I personally wish you and your bride an action-packed adventure with more than enough "experiences" to create a lifetime of "memories"!

A raise of the glass and a "hip, hip" for your silver safari!!!

Ernest;

I hunted the EC and it was the experience of a lifetime. I know you'll fall in love with the Karoo.

In fact, that picture to the left is of me with my Cape kudu, killed at Southern Cross Safaris, outside Cradock in the EC.

BTW, just keep in mind how you got there--through the good graces of a generous compadre who forwarded you a website with a contest--

Who are you going with Ernest? I visited the Western and Eastern Capes as hunter for the first time in June of this year with Charl van Rooyen of Ininito Safaris on my Bucket List Hunt, and absolutely loved those areas of South Africa! The Little Karoo, the Greater Karoo, the Garden Route and its magnificent port cities, the Indian Ocean, the Drakensbergs. . . . . .Wow! You and the bride will have a fantastic time!

Sounds great Judge! I too love the trifecta you describe. I'm a little behind your timeline but my "anticipation" horse is really just starting to get stretched out and ready for hook up.

My wife and I will be heading over on Nov 29th for bull elephant and leopard. My ninth trip, her second, but her first to Zim. Got my new VC 500 tuned up and ready to go, and the Chapuis 9.3x74R is shooting great. 14.5 weeks to go before we board that jet and I'm doing my best to get back into really good shape this time, for this one I know is going to be hot and hard going at times.

Yes sir! The anticipation is just as important as the actual event in my opinion. It's what bridges the gap from one safari to the next as memories of the last, without anticipation of the next, would not be nearly as enjoyable.

Have a great one and enjoy the new areas with the old guns!

Sure! Rub it in. Seriously, hope it turns out to be the best trip you've ever had. Be careful and shoot straight.

Ernest,
you explained it real well,my 6th safari is coming up in about 9 weeks,nine long weeks that is

That is very nicely written.

To see how after 25 safaris you take such pleasure in the preparations and anticipation of all things is inspiring.

Thanks for sharing.

The anticipation is almost as much fun as the experience. Getting the gun ready, thinking about the next trophy, gathering the goods for the journey - it doesn't get any better than this. I really believe it's what keeps us young & adds years to our lives. When we are too old to go again, then we also have the wonderful memories that we can cherish & share with our grand kids (or maybe just some old fart in the nursing home). Have a great trip, & we'll see you at the airport in Dallas in January.

Lovely prose; Have a great trip. Can't wait for your report upon your return.

From Florida I wish for you and the wife a Grand
and Unforgettably Wonderful Adventure!

Better take a heart pill! Have a wonderful time. The Cape Gun will raise a few eyebrows.

quote:

Anticipation

I leave for a leopard and "whatever comes my way" hunt with Thierry Labat in 26 days. Deposits paid, commercial and charter flights/overnights are booked, double rifle and bolt gun ready, satellite phone sim card filled with usable minutes, Global Rescue ready, insurance for my double squared away, 4457s done, pre-hunt weapon and fitness workup going great, packing list complete, and I have a new "Charles May" knife to hang off my culling belt as a security blanket.
The preparation is almost as good as the hunt itself!

Good luck JudgeG

A few things:

Russell, Sandy isn't going this year. She is helping me get into better shape for the trip by walking with me every day, though. Her first safari will be next year during which we'll do three days at Victoria Falls, staying in Gorges Lodge, eating dinner at The Boma and a lunch on the terrace at the Victoria Falls Hotel, enjoying a "booze cruise", getting a good aerial view of the Falls from the helicopter and an up close and personal one from a river raft trip. Then we'll go to Candy Pieters' place at Nehimba Lodge for four days. I'll put her back on a plane for home and then do 10 days for a tuskless and a leopard at Matetsi 3 with Lou Hallamore.

But, maybe it's unfair to have more than one "Anticipation" going at a time, so I'll stick to the safari in 19 days instead of one 365 away.... Can anyone see the smile on my face as I write this?

My trip this year will be relatively a short one, a little over a week. First, I'll be hunting with Ashley Hobson at East Cape and Karoo Safaris. Then, I'll travel a couple of hours and hunt with Dave at Leopard's Valley. I'll have a videographer at both with me so I'll be sending out some "presents" to those interested when I return. I've found that a good DVD really adds to the third horse of the Troika when "Memories" n
need to be stoked a bit. That, and it is a pretty good way to show new guys what to expect when they finally get off their dime and go on their first safari. Can't help it if I'm a missionary. Alas!

Below are three pictures. As part of the "Anticipation", for the past 10 or so safaris I've had made up a few tee shirts for the trip. This one, obviously, was made for Biebs' and my trip to Chirisa in 2010. "Memories" again to savor every time I put it on. I wrote a story about the safari entitled "The Cathedral of the Mopanes" if anyone is interested. Fun trip, lots of "Memories" in the re-reading of my account and a lifetime friendship made with a truly great guy in Jon Bieber. That's what it is all about.





And, if anyone is getting ready for some African strolls, I invite them to come walk the below bridge with me. It'll be 95 degrees today at 2:00 p.m. Come sweat a bit with ol' Ern!

Ernest you will love the cape, not the "wilds of Africa" but a beautiful place. I look forward to returning there soon. Now I will have to settle for Ethiopia.

Good luck and safe travels Judge

quote:

Originally posted by JudgeG:
I was trying to remember how to orient myself to North by the Southern Cross.

Mate, we use it to find south!

Seriously, have a great time, and thank you for sharing such a magic outlook. Anticipation... Experience... Memory...

Sure, I understand that, but I hope this old fighter pilot still can do reciprocals.

I'm living on the memories of hunts past, waiting for the anticipation of hunts future. Next year to Zim.

Good Luck!!

Judge, I always enjoy reading your posts, as you write well. Good luck on your safari, and don't forget to take many pictures. Safe travels!

...and don't forget to keep sending us great posts such as this one.

Judge, enjoy, look forward to hearing how your cape gun performs

Too many tempting restaurants with fried foods in relatively close proximity to that bridge - to torpedo a health regimen! Kudos on your selection of training grounds - the rise and fall should work some different muscles than walking on the typically flat topography of Coastal Georgia.

Love your visual of the horses. Unfortunately the third horse (memory leg of the journey) doesn't have the stamina these days to compare to the first (anticipation). They would make an unequally yoked pair...

Look forward to reading your (always excellent) report when you return!

Best of luck on your Safari and I look forward to your hunt report.

My first night at Leopards Valley, I told Nikki that I don't normally bother with dessert. Since I was the only hunter in camp, she said "Lovely!! I don't have to make dessert all week!"

Dave looked like he was going to have a stroke!!

Judge G:

Great luck on your hunt. Frankly, I find the "anticipation" quite frustrating. I leave 1 Oct.

I don't handload anymore. My light rifle is finneckey. Only ammo it seems to like is out of stock everywhere because our "Beloved Leader" has purchased all the available ammo and components for some domestic dispute he foresees (another issue entirely). (Call NSA, I'm certainly already on thier list).

Bottom line, has anyone got any .300WSM Nosler Trophy Grade 180 gr. Accubond ammo? My rifle seems to like that fodder. Let me know if you know where I can get some.

Geting all the odds and ends lined up is, frankly, frustrating. That is what secrearies are for.

Lavaca, I leave the 6th of Oct and find this time exciting.

JudgeG, wishing you best of luck! Looking forward to the report.

quote:

Originally posted by WannabeBwana:
My first night at Leopards Valley, I told Nikki that I don't normally bother with dessert. Since I was the only hunter in camp, she said "Lovely!! I don't have to make dessert all week!"

Dave looked like he was going to have a stroke!!

all I can say Bwana is PAYBACK SUX !!

JudgeG,

I always enjoy reading your posts, you do have a way with the written word.

You did a fine job of capturing the essence of the processes one goes thru getting prepped for a hunt, both physically as well as mentally. I'm leaving Thursday for the Caprivi, to say that the anticipation process is in play, would be a dramatic understatement! To add to the drama, today is the "early" birthday party for my youngest ( she's 4..... and my oldest grandchild, is 3!!!), so a housefull of people starts this afternoon until I depart.

Oh, and I am going out on my own starting September 1, non-compete ran out simultaneously with the start of the hunt. And my soon to be ex-partners, are.. well, to state it mildly, having a conniption fit. And I have made several other... extended absences, this summer, for various fishing excursions.

Too much going on, I tell everyone we had the youngest one, to keep me young. Or as I told my oldest, I am tired of waiting for grandkids, I will have my own! She was not amused.

Anyway Judge, thanks for the insightful post, and good luck and Godspeed on your hunt. Please PM if you find yourself in TX or Louisiana, if you're a drinking man, I'd like to sit with you a bit.

A good, peaty single malt, a short glass, listening to the crackle as it's poured over crushed ice and the blossom of wonderful aroma filling your brain with sweet memories of campfires in Africa... Yeah, I'll have a drink with you!

Judge, as you well know, sometimes.... there is no ice, but the 18 yr Glenlivet is just as sweet!

Judge,
Have a great trip! I was wondering if Little Ernest packed and ready? Is he sleeping at night?
Bfly