And I just looked at the calendar and realized that in 19 days I will be stepping onto a plan bound for Laguardia...then Joberg...then Port E-Beth for my first ever safari! My wife and a good buddy of mine are gonna have a bit of fun.

Plains game and a good time are on the menu...with perhaps the most important that my wife have a good time. Lots of sights, sounds and most of all critters!

For me, strangely, it's Kudu. It's always Kudu though, isn't it? I can't say why but the Kudu is stuck in my head. I've always wanted to hunt Sable but...Sables not on the menu for my first. My buddy Kevin, he hates horses and therefore has a desire to punch a Zebra's ticket.

My wife? Her job is to choose which trophies are shoulder mounts and which are Euro mounts. She likes the Euro mounts...

Looks like my #1 in 7x57 is going across the pond with some 175 gr. loads. It just...feels...right!

I've packed and repacked, checked my 4457's, arranged my extra day of lodging...and now I'm down to selecting movies for the flight. Woohoo!

Well, I am happy for you, at the same time, I envy you. Have fun, and good luck.

Enjoy your trip. You're doomed, however. I hope you klnow that. It's the first trip of many. Better quit talking to the wife. It just causes problems. :-)

Someone is having you on, it is about time that the terrible rumour of kudu in the Eastern Cape is put to bed. There are none. Otherwise have fun.

Good luck and have a great time.

We have 86 days to go before we head out too.

Have a great trip- and I hope you kill a monster kudu!

good luck ....as others have said ...you are doomed ,as soon as the africa bug bites !!! have fun , roll with the punches and let us know how you do ..

When you touch the ground in Africa, say "honey I'm home".
I've got a year plus 3 wks before I'm back home again.
It's useless to say "have fun", because it would be almost impossible to prevent it.

Robert, who are you hunting with out of Port Elizabeth. No worries on Kudu....there are plenty on the East Cape, for sure. My first safari was similar, with Blaukrantz out of Pt Elizabeth. There's a little outside cafe/restaurant in PE where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet...nice place for a sundowner. Enjoy.

Biebs in North Jersey.

Biebs,

Leopards Valley (Tygerkloof) Safari. We have a 7-day, 7 critter package (Kudu, Wildebeast, Blesbuck, Impala, Springer, Steen, Duiker)and I've added Wartie and my buddy added Zebra to the mix. We've also added a couple days on either end of the trip for sightseeing and general relaxation.

The pictures I've seen indicate we should get some up close looks at Elephant, Lion, and perhaps Rhino. Very cool!

PS: I'm going to look for that cafe! Sounds just spectacular! Any other suggestions on places to visit in town?

(PS: shamelessly ripped from the Tigerkloof website: aWe hunt mainly in the Leopard's Valley Wildlife Conservancy consisting of 6 landowners and 32 000Ha (80 000 acres) of UNFENCED hunting area. This gives us the opportunity of managing our wildlife resources to increase better game quality. This is added to our existing neighbouring concessions of 42 000 acres of unfenced private game reserve, and 2 other private reserves each being 37 000 acres of abundant game, including free roaming Big 5. This gives us a total hunting area of 190 000 acres of adjacent areas. These properties have most of the 30+ hunt able species of Southern Africa within an hours drive of the Main Lodge. )

I am 8 days out and starting to get a bit antsy !