Thanks very much to Kathi, I am the proud owner of two tickets to Cape Town. I am starting to plan a trip to Cape Town & Windhoek. While in the Cape Town area I would like to hunt Bushbuck & Caracal & spend a few days seeing the area. Then I would like to fly to Windhoek and hunt for Gemsbok, Springbuck, Steenbuck & Mountain Zebra. After the hunt spend 2 or 3 day touring Etosha park. I would like to book my hunt with the actual landowners or outfitters with real concessions. I am not looking for 4-5 star accommodations or hunting with the big name outfitters. Small mom and pop outfitting services are fine as long as the are not enclosed properties.

I would appreciate any suggestions as to guest houses to stay at, attractions to see in Cape Town & Windhoek or outfitters to use.

Congrats Robert!

I spent 3 days in Cape Town and loved it. The firearms permitting process there was not bad at all - seems like much less of a problem if for no other reason than fewer hunters go thru there as opposed to J'berg.

We stayed at the City Lodge V&A - a block or two from the V&A waterfront area, and we walked back and forth from the hotel with no problems, even at night. Nice hotel, superb service. 3 nights, with breakfast each morning came out to about $230 apiece. At the waterfront area there is a tourist/visitors center that has brochures for almost everything you might want to do.

As for attractions, a cable car ride to the top of Table Mountain is the standard must-do. Try to pick the clearest day for the best view.

A gal who worked at the front desk of the hotel gave us the name of a driver to take us down to Cape Point for another day. Our first stop was in Hout Bay (none of the curios in Cape Town were particularly cheap compared to Zim, but Hout Bay had the best prices). At Hout Bay you can take a boat out to see the Duiker Island seal colony. From there we continued to Cape Point/Cape of Good Hope, and then came back up the other side of the penninsula and stopped at a place called The Boulders where there is a breeding colony of African penguins. We far preferred to avoid the standard tour bus tour of the Cape Penninsula. There is a guy named Rehad Rahim (e-mail lecaptours@mweb.co.za) who is absolutely the friendliest chap you will ever meet, has an incredible knowledge of Cape Town, and is highly recommended for doing a tour. He was our airport transport to the hotel, and had he not been booked with other clients, we certainly would have employed him for going to the penninsula.

We didn't have time, but the Stellenbosch wine tour is also highly recommended by virtually everyone.

By all means, have dinner one night at a place called Panama Jack's. Monster prawns and any other fresh seafood you might like. Also in the waterfront we ate at a place called Belthazar - had superb springbuck steaks and a great selection of wine.

Can't help much on the Namibia part, but from what I've been seeing lately, website www.fultonclassicsafaris.com would be something to check into.

Jeff

Well, I can't help with the South African part, but can't recommend Vaughan Fulton highly enough.

440,000 acre concession, plenty of game and top flight service. Besides the link listed by jhrod, you can see some picts of our hunt with Vaughan at http://members.aol.com/mccray338 I think.

We hunted there last Sept. and booked back for next year.

While there are several folks booking for Vaughan, you can also book directly, although right now he is out hunting and might be a little hard to get a hold of.

Good luck, and if I can answer any questions, just send an e-mail.

Jhrod & McCray
Thanks for your help. I remember hearing about of Panama Jack's and will plan on eating there. I will contact Rehad Rahim when I am closer to finalizing my plans. He sounds like a good guy. If anybody has a favorite place to see or stay at in Cape town or Windhoek I would love to hear from you.
If you want you can email me at jjohnson@alaska.net

RJ,

I just returned from a hunt in Namibia. We hunted with Kamanjab Trophy Hunting, near Kamanjab (just south of Etosha). The hunting is on the private ranch of Helmke and Dagmar Sartorious von Bach, which is about 28,000 acres, with access to about 800,000 surrounding acres of concession. There are no high fences.

It sounds like just what you're looking for. I will post a hunt report in the "Hunting Reports - Africa" forum soon. Feel free to contact me with any questions.

Trademark Texan
I am looking forward to reading your report. I would like to hear what you liked best about your hunt & is there anything you would do differently? You can always email me at jjohnson@alaska.net
Thanks

Robert, I hunted Namibia this last May with Boet Nel of Boet Nel Hunting Safari's. It was my first African hunt and I enjoyed every minute of it. You can reach Boet at boetnel@iway.na if interested. While in Windhoek try eating at Joes Beer House. Lee in Alaska

On last year's trip to Namibia, my son and I spent several hours touring with Rehad, both on the way in, and on the way back, due to long layovers in Capetown.

He's a great person to spend time with, and he knows all the places to go (and where not to go). He'll make sure that you get to see whatever it is that interests you. And he'll keep you away from the crooks and the scams.

There's more info and pictures of our time in Capetown here:


Capetown 2003


Rick.

SBT and I had a great time and hunt with Otjandaue Safaris in Namibia this past May. The Kalahari Sands Hotel is a super place to stay and you have got to eat at Joe's Beerhouse in Windhoek. If you need more details, let me know!

John

Jeff
I have tried to email Rehad Rahim at lecaptours@mweb.co.za) and can't seem to get through to him. ( the email is bounced back ) Do you know of a different email address? Do you have any idea how much he charges to guide & drive around the Cape Town area? I am thinking of spending 3-7 day in the Cape Town area. Would you feel safe driving around by yourself?
Thanks Robert

Also, any information you can give us on things to do or see or places not to miss while we're there would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again

I can also recommend Le Cap Tours.

Holly and I spent 4 days touring in Cape Town, Paarl and Stellenbosch after hunting with Coenraad Vermaak Safaris in September of 2001.

Rehad picked us up at the airport on arrival, toured with us every day then dropped us back at the airport 4 days later.

He is a nice guy, and he is reliable. Always prompt and courteous, he was a knowledgeable tour guide and a safe driver.

Hey Robert,

Don't know what to say about the e-mail - I'm looking at the business card Rehad gave me and it is as we've indicated. The card also gives a phone number, it is +2782 441 9542.

I don't know what he charged for a day of touring, as we unfortunately did not get the opportunity. But I can say we paid him $40 for round trip transfer from the airport to the hotel at the waterfront. I can certainly call my booking agent who works with him quite a bit, and find out what a day of touring costs.

As for driving around myself, were I used to driving on the wrong side of the road, I probably wouldn't have too many problems. At the same time, the cabs are pretty inexpensive and unlike the US, whenever we went somewhere they would wait around for us at no charge. So by the time we added up car rental fee and gas, I don't know that we would have saved that much.

Table Mountain, albeit the most "tourist" of things to do is not to be missed. If you are into hiking at all, it is easily worth half a day, if not more. There are miles and miles of trails up there.

The V&A waterfront is awesome for dining and having a few beverages. I especially liked a restaurant called Belthazar, which had springbuck, kudu and impala steaks, an excellent wine selection (try one called Steenberg Merlot 2001), a great atmosphere, and wonderful service. And of course I've already mentioned Panama Jack's which is not in the V&A waterfront but a cab ride away.

A tour of Cape Point/Cape of Good Hope is excellent, and should include stops at Hout Bay, the Cape itself and a place called The Boulders, where one can see threatened Cape Penguins very close.

If you are there on a Sunday, I really enjoyed a few hours at the Green Point Flea Market.

Our three days really wasn't enough time. On my next visit I would have Rehad take us on a "Township tour", spend at least a day at taking a tour of Stellenbosch wineries, and might be inclined for a tour of Robbin Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned.

If you would like to speak more by phone, send me a PM with your number and I'll be happy to get in touch.

Jeff

Robert,

Would you like me to call him and ask him to send you an e-mail to make contact with you?

Steve
That would be great. If you have to make a long distance call. I will repay you any costs.
My Email is jjohnson@alaska.net
Thanks again
Robert

>

Robert,

I've just got hold of him and he's out playing on his motorcycle at the moment and will e-mail you when he gets home.

Congratulations on winning the free airline tickets!

Here is a link to a previous post from EyeDoc about hunting with Antonie Louw of Makalaan Safaris in Namibia. He easily meets your requirements. Additionally, he has Bushman trackers and they are amazing to be in the bush with.

http://www.accuratereloading.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=41224&page=&view=&sb=5&o=&fpart=1&vc=1

Here is a link over to a bow hunting forum talking about this outfitter.

www.bowsite.org/bowsite/tf/thread.cfm?threadid=259128&messages=23&forum=18

Just click on the link and it should take you there. If not, copy the link and paste it into the address to go there.

The last time I looked Antonie was only charging $200 US per day for gun or bow hunting with an observor rate of $80 US per day which is a true bargain.

Russell Lantier lives here in the US, books hunts for Antonie, and has a DVD and printed material about the hunting. You can contact him at rlantier.bsba@att.net

I would suggest that you spend a couple of days at Etosha BEFORE the hunt, rather than after. We did it after the hunt and I regretted it. To do it before hunting would have helped me get used to the sites and sounds of Africa, to judge trophy size and to recognize the animals in the bush. I had asked the outfitter to arrange it before the hunt but he (Allan Cillier of Ha' Nore') chose to arrange it after the hunt to fit his schedule rather than mine. We saw lions (5 yards from the car chasing us down the road), rhinos, and elephants while at Etosha. We spent 2 nights there and had a great time.

I have also sent you an email. You are going to love Africa!

Ron L