Ladies and Gentlemen,

I got the following photoes of the first hunting camp we will be hunting from next month!

"....Walter's tent is built on stilts above the river water by 18 inches. We thought that should be enough to keep him safe from the crocs!...."

I get the impression Walter might have exceeded Roy's tolerance for putting up with him.

We will take a sat modem with us, and hopefully will be able to give you all live, daily reports.

Apparently we are hunting in two seperate areas this year. The above photoes are of the camp at Mwatisi. Then we will be moving to the Selous.

Paradise!

Looks good to me.

Gerhard

Getting anxious, eh?

Damn, that makes me homesick! I guess Africa, is just a memory at this point, they've priced me out of the field!

I wouldn't bother...you won't enjoy it.

Saeed, at least with the tent on stilts he can easily use his underwater camera whenever he feels like it.

What a beautiful camp!!

Its been a full year since my last hunt now and PSD has really kicked in (it was a delayed reaction this time!). So I have been spending a lot of time reminiscing. I am, however, really looking forward to the vicarious thrill that I always get from monitoring your hunts on-line and watching the DVD's aftwerwards.

I bet you guys are getting very excited!

Cheers,
Canuck

quote:

I bet you guys are getting very excited!

Probably not as much as Walter is.

He is in full disaster mode right now.

He has lost his binoculars, his torch and his satellite phone.

I don't know whether I have made the right decision or not. But, he begged me to let him go get our firearm travel permit from the airport police. We have never had any problems in the past, so I hope that streak continues.

Everyone at the airport knows him - that in itself is not an advantage, as they also know he is a disaster on two legs.


And knowing some of the jokers there, one never knows what they might do to get him going.
But, we will have to wait and see what he does.

Saeed: Where and with who are you hunting with? jorge

Please do enjoy your hunt. It is a beautiful camp.

quote:

Originally posted by jorge:
Saeed: Where and with who are you hunting with? jorge

Roy and his son Alan Vincent. The same family I have been hunting with since 1982.

The photos above are of the Mwatisi camp, then we are going to be hunting in the Selous.

I am not really sure of the exact location because I never pay any attention to that. We are mainly hunting buffalo, so I leave it to my PH to decide where we should go.

So far this policy has worked out great, as we always managed to shoot all of our quota.

Well, our genius here has come up with another great idea to spend my money!

Walter says he will try running some sort of a contest here on AR while we are posting our daily, live reports.

The winner should expect to win an incredible prize of Z$100,000 note!

I have no idea what the contest is going to be about. I am sure he will dream up something!

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Well, our genius here has come up with another great idea to spend my money!

Walter says he will try running some sort of a contest here on AR while we are posting our daily, live reports.

The winner should expect to win an incredible prize of Z$100,000 note!

I have no idea what the contest is going to be about. I am sure he will dream up something!

Saeed,

It will cost more to mail the prize than the Z$100,000 is worth.

Thanks. I remembered after I hit the "sent" button you hunted with Vincent, but I also remembered that you also hunted with PVT as well. jorge

Saeed, that's way too luxurious. Shouldn't you rough it now and then?

quote:

Originally posted by jorge:
Thanks. I remembered after I hit the "sent" button you hunted with Vincent, but I also remembered that you also hunted with PVT as well. jorge

In 2003 and 2004 the Vincents did not have any place to hunt on after loosing their concesssion in Zimbabwe due to Mugabes policies. They had to have a black partner - which was not a problem by itself at all. Because they could not pick who to pick, but one would be picked for them!

So we looked for another PH to hunt with, and were very lucky to find Pierre van Tonder with Ray's help.

We hunted both years with Pierre - Alan Vincent came on both hunts to video our safari. And on the second year Roy also came along.

In 2005 the Vincents got their operation going in Tanzania, so of course we went back to hunt with them.

This decision is based purely on my own choice of wanting to hunt with the Vincents as I have been doing for so many years. I talked to Pierre about this, and he understood my decision.

We had two great hunts with Pierre, and would gladly hunt with him in the future, and would recommend him without any reservations.

I have seen a few members here saying they prefer to hunt with different outfits each time they hunt.

My own choice is precisely the opposite. I like to hunt with people I have known, and who have done their best to make sure everyone in our party enjoys their hunt.

That is why, despite having been on many African safaris, I have only hunted with Roy and Alan Vincent, Pierre van Tonder and Peter Harris in South Africa.

I know for a certainty that any time we hunt with any of the above mentioned gentlemen, I ould not have to worry about anything at all but to enjoy ourselves.

quote:

"....Walter's tent is built on stilts above the river water by 18 inches. We thought that should be enough to keep him safe from the crocs!...."

Yep, he'll be safe from all of the little ones, under 3'. Please take plenty of Tums/Rolaids, for the croc that does get him. Do not want the ol' croc to get an upset stomach.

Keith

The camp setting looks superb ! I especially like the big large trees. Nothing like a good shade a cold drink in hand after a hard hunt.

How many days are you going this time and how many buff on quota if I may ask ?

WE are going to be there for 21 days, hunting two areas.

I think we have either 15 or 18 buffalo on our quota.

18 buff! That's one per day..carumba. Saeed must be getting close to 150 buff personally.

Is that a picture of Walter's latest girlfriend basking in the sun on the sandbar?

Saeed,
Make sure you put a pop gun in Walter's gun case, without him knowing. This way, he cannot possibly hurt anything!!!

Great looking camp, but where are Walter's portable air conditioners? I missed those in the pictures.

I accept invitations !!! Im jelous!!! this is one of the places I would like to die and RIP.!!!

Saeed,
All joking aside, what is your relationship with Walter? Is he your friend, relative etc...he doesn't look mid-eastern, how did you two meet....and by the way....how the hell does he afford those Tanzanian trips with you???

PS I know a bit about your background, but I have been wondering about Walter's story for a while now....

how abt blanks and dummy rounds for walter at the range?????

quote:

Originally posted by brian simmons:
how abt blanks and dummy rounds for walter at the range?????

A few weeks ago he brought a Spanish made revolver, 22 rim fire, which he said was shooting "very erratically"

He set up a target at about 10 yards, and I was "helping" him sight it in, by loading the revolver for him. We keep a plastic container which has several hundreds rounds of 22 ammo on the shooting bench - and a handful of blanks in my pockets.

He fired a number of rounds and was not able to hit the target!

Me "Come on Walter! You are not even on the paper!" Try resting your hands on the rifle rest, those 2 inch revolvers are not very accurate."

He did, still no holes in the paper!

Walter "These guns are so USELESS I have no idea why people buy them"

Me "Can I try?"

I took the pistol from him,a nd pretended to aim with it.

"Bloody hell, the barrel is wonky?"

Walter "Ha? Let me look!"

Me "Wait, let me just whack it with a hammer and see if I can get it straight"

Walter "I will get the plastic hammer. We don't want to damage it"

While he went to get the hammer, I asked another friend to keep Walter busy while I "fix" the revolver.

They went to the fridge to get drinks, I gave the table a couple of very hard whacks with the hammer, loaded it with REAL ammo this time, and shot it.

Holes mysteriously appeared on the target.

Me "Walter, come, your gun is fixed. Try it now."

I loaded it up for him, and he put all shots on paper.

Now the funs started. He wanted to take the revolver apart, to see why it got a bent barrel. That revolver will never bee the same again!

Does he read this forum or is he banned from the Africa section? I don't think I have ever seen him post outside of his forum. You must be herding his electrons somehow...

quote:

A few weeks ago he brought a Spanish made revolver, 22 rim fire, which he said was shooting "very erratically"

He set up a target at about 10 yards, and I was "helping" him sight it in, by loading the revolver for him. We keep a plastic container which has several hundreds rounds of 22 ammo on the shooting bench - and a handful of blanks in my pockets.

He fired a number of rounds and was not able to hit the target!

Me "Come on Walter! You are not even on the paper!" Try resting your hands on the rifle rest, those 2 inch revolvers are not very accurate."

He did, still no holes in the paper!

Walter "These guns are so USELESS I have no idea why people buy them"

Me "Can I try?"

I took the pistol from him,a nd pretended to aim with it.

"Bloody hell, the barrel is wonky?"

Walter "Ha? Let me look!"

Me "Wait, let me just whack it with a hammer and see if I can get it straight"

Walter "I will get the plastic hammer. We don't want to damage it"

While he went to get the hammer, I asked another friend to keep Walter busy while I "fix" the revolver.

They went to the fridge to get drinks, I gave the table a couple of very hard whacks with the hammer, loaded it with REAL ammo this time, and shot it.

Holes mysteriously appeared on the target.

Me "Walter, come, your gun is fixed. Try it now."

I loaded it up for him, and he put all shots on paper.

Now the funs started. He wanted to take the revolver apart, to see why it got a bent barrel. That revolver will never bee the same again!

Dangerous crowd indeed!

Saeed, will you be hunting any cat on the trip?

quote:

Originally posted by Ahmed Sultan:
Saeed, will you be hunting any cat on the trip?

We always do, but I am afraid we have not been very successful on cats in the past 4 years in Tanzania.

Last year we managed to get a leopard.

The same thing with elephants. We look for them, but, again, we have not seen anything that shootable.

I hope you have better luck this time. We will be looking for the live update and photos.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:A few weeks ago he brought a Spanish made revolver, 22 rim fire, which he said was shooting "very erratically"...... That revolver will never bee the same again!

quote:

he is a disaster on two legs.

Shouldn't you wear some body armor near him? and check your insurance policy to be sure you are covered in case of natural disaster?

Walter suggested we post a photo a day to this thread until we leave.

Horst, a man I have known for more than 35 years. And have been on many hunts with, is not going to be joining us this year.

He had a heart attack six months ago, and went into a coma for about two months.

He has come out of it, and seems to have most of his senses. He can say a few words, and started to eat normally.

We are all going to miss him on this years hunt. We are all keeping our fingers crossed for him to make a complete recovery, and may be join us on another hunt.

Saeed,

Terrible news about Horst!

Please wish him well.

Best Regards,
Dave

I am VERY glad to hear his condition is improving Saeed.

Regards,
Chris

Walter with one of "his" many buffalo trophies. You can also see his normal hunting attire.

Walter has a slightly different outlook on how he shoots "his" trophies - especially ones that require any sort of tracking.

As we get to a waterhole, and find some tracks.

Walter "Yeay yeay yeay! Look at THIS one's tracks!"

Roy "What about his tracks?"
Walter "Look at them and tell me what you notice"

Roy "It is a bull, and not a cow, if that is what you mean"

Walter "Roy, I am going to lend you a book. It will teach you many things you have not learnt so far"

Roy "I like reading books. One always learns something from them. And while we are on that sbject, why don't read some books on how to shoot straight"

Walter, looking at me; "You see what you have done to that man? You have RUINED his opinion of me"

Me "No Walter, he discovered your talents all by himself"

Walter "Now stop this and let us get back to what I was talking about here. What ELSE do you notice about the tracks of this bull?"

Me "Walter, go and find yourself a shady tree, have a nap, and we will see you after we shoot one of those buffalo"

Walter "WRONG! I am going to get your rifle, I am going to LOAD it for you, and I am going to give it to you. You will follow this herd, you will shoot THIS bull - pointing to the tracks he is looking at. This bull is MINE, not yours. I am going to have his balls for a snack tonight"

Walter absolutely loves to eat buffalo balls.

Me "How would you know it is this particular bull that we shoot?"

Walter "I would know. You and your friend over there know nothing about buffalo. If you look at these tracks, you will see how deep they are compared to others. It is because this bull has very big BALLS"

Me "We might make a mistake and shoot another one. So why don't you go and shoot this one?"

Walter "I have learnt a long time ago it is better to send you to shoot my animals' I like to rest in the shade, listen to some music, read a book, and think of what you and Roy are doing"

Me "Me and Roy will be hunting buffalo, and you will miss out on all the fun"

Walter "No I won't. I will sit there and imagine exactly how you two are hunting. You will come back and tell me what happened, and it will be exactly like I had imagined it. All in the comfort of the truck"

Me "OK, see you later. Don't finish all the food and drink"

Walter "If you want food and drinks left you better come back soon then"

quote:

Walter absolutely loves to eat buffalo balls.

Boy, Sigmund Freud would have a field day with Walter.

Please wish Horst a speedy recovery.