Day 1 Friday 6/12

Arrived at Houston Hobby airport about 1pm and checked in with the Delta ticket counter. The ticket agent had never checked in a rifle so she got some help from her coworker at the next counter. She kept smiling through the whole process. After glancing at the guns from a safe distance she said “Looks like they are unloaded to me….. close up the case.” Checked everything through to Johannesburg.

Flew to Atlanta and changed planes for the overseas flight. We spent time waiting for the boarding call by playing spot the hunters. Some of them made it too easy by wearing their hunting clothes to the airport. Right when we were boarding a big thunderstorm blew through and delayed the flight’s takeoff by two hours. After we finally got airborne they served dinner which was not bad for airline food. In fact the entire flight was very comfortable. Delta is now using a new Boeing 777 for this trip and it is quite a bit more comfortable than the old airbuses that they were using. The seat back entertainment center was especially nice. The flight was 14 hours but we did manage to get several hours sleep.

Day 2 Saturday 6/13

Arrived at Johannesburg at 8pm their time. Cleared passport control and customs with no problem. While standing in line at passport control we smelled a strong smoke odor and then saw a fire crew in bunker gear casually walking past. Whatever was on fire they were in no hurry to put it out. Welcome to Africa.

We met our PH, Pieter Kriel, with HUNTING IN AFRICA, http://www.huntinginafrica.co.za/,and his safari cook, Nanette, in the lobby. Next stop the Police Office to collect the rifle case and get the gun permits. We were the last ones in line. Shit. While we waited I unlocked the gun case and gave Pieter his new rifle, a CZ .458 Lott. Some of you have heard the story of our efforts to legally export this rifle from the US and import it into the RSA. He was thrilled to see it finally after three years of trying to get it home. Nobody much minded that we were playing with in the police office. The only people there were hunters and cops.

We got finished at the police office and left the airport at around 11pm. We were really starting to get tired by this time. Pieter drove us to Pretoria and we all checked into a guest house for a shower and some sleep.

Day 3 Sunday 6/14

We woke up early and had a nice breakfast at the guest house and then met our tracker for the trip. He was a very nice fellow named Zwelly. Good natured, polite, friendly, and spoke pretty good English. Pieter said that he has been hunting with him for several years now and that he is a good man. So off we went on the five hour drive to the hunting property.

The hunting property is located in the Drakensburg Mountains, up past the town of Ohrigstad, just on the border between Limpopo and Mpumalanga Provinces in the NE part of South Africa. Kruger National Park is not very far away to the East. We had a very nice drive through some scenic mountains. Most of the drive was gaining elevation.

We arrived safely at the property and got unpacked. First thing on the list of things to do was check the rifle. We met the property manager, a young man named Couese, who it turned out was also a PH. He took us up to his shooting range, a small termite mound not far from the lodge. He set a coke can at the base and said to fire away. I shot first hitting the can from about 80 yards with two out of two shots. Phyllis then shot the rifle and did the same. This little exercise is really not about sighting in the rifle but is a shooting test so the PH to see how well you can shoot and handle your rifle.

Next Pieter got out his new baby and took two shots off hand at the coke can from about forty yards. I then took two shots but moved up to thirty yards. I hit the coke can both times. What was interesting was that the bullets went all the way through the termite mound and the tracker found about half of them on the ground aways behind the mound. They were still hot.






We drove around some of the property and were amazed at the scenery. It was mountainous terrain with some big open areas. There were small trees and some brush and lots of dead grass in the meadows. The terrain was very rocky. Everywhere the ground was covered by rocks ranging from bowling ball size to brick size. Walking was very difficult as you had to thread your way around the bigger rocks.









We told Pieter that we did not want to shoot anything the first day. This is because experience has taught me that because of fatigue and jet lag you don’t remember much about your first day of a safari. So we just enjoyed the drive around the property. We saw giraffe, warthog, zebra, and impala.




Dinner was cherry and bacon kabobs grilled on the braai, followed by t-bone steaks, corn on the cob, potato salad, biscuits, and brandy tarts for pudding (all deserts are called pudding in S.A.).







When it was time for bed we found folded monogrammed towels laid on the foot of our bed as a gift from Pieter.


Day 4 Monday 6/15

One of the more interesting days. We get up around 6am. It’s still dark out and pretty cold in the lodge. Shower and get dressed with the aid of a flashlight. Someone forgot to tell someone else to turn on the generator in the mornings. We have a breakfast of coffee and rusks. Rusks are sort of like a dog biscuit only harder and with less flavor. Don’t try to eat one until it has been dunked in your coffee for a few minutes. This is the standard African safari breakfast. It’s a good idea to bring something to eat while out in the field in the morning. We like to pack pop-tarts but granola bars or something like that would do as well.

We head out to hunt and start seeing animals. My wife and Pieter go after a Zebra. The stalk lasts about an hour before the zebra spot them and run off. About thirty minutes later we come across them again and they stalk them again but can’t get a shot.

After driving up over the ridge in 4x4 lo range over a two track to a high meadow we see an impala herd with nice looking ram. My turn to try a stalk. We follow the herd slowly as they head up a rocky ridge. They can climb faster than we can so before they get totally out of range I set up on the shooting sticks and pop the ram at about 200 yards. He went down in his tracks.




We climb up to see the trophy and are admiring it when my wife, Swuazee, and Couese arrive up on the ridge. My wife has the knee torn on her pants and it is bleeding. She took a fall while climbing up the rocks. She said it was fine but I could see that the cut went all the way to knee bone and needed stitches.

We get the ram down and loaded into the truck and head back to the lodge. Pieter says that the nearest medical service is in Lydenburgh about an hour’s drive from the lodge. We are all pretty hungry and lunch is ready so we eat lunch and then head for town.

The clinic in Lydenburg was a clean looking place with two doctors and two clerks but no nurses. We signed in and noticed that the doctors would come out into the waiting room and talk to the patients whose turn was next. Then they would go into the office. About fifteen minutes later it was our turn. The doctor was a white guy in his early forties who spoke some English. He looked at my wife’s knee in the waiting room and agreed that it needed stitches. He took us to a treatment room that had equipment in it that looked like it was from the late 1950’s. He disinfected the wound and then pumped it full of lydocane and then started sewing. It took four stitches to close the wound. That was that. We went back out to the waiting room and paid the clerk $40.00 in Rand and headed back to the lodge. No lengthy medical history was taken, no x-rays, no unnecessary bullshit. The doctor just stitched her up and off we go. Quick, efficient, and cheap.

We drive back to the lodge and my wife spent the rest of the day with her leg propped up and read a book. The rest of the crew and me head out for the evening’s hunt.

Just before sundown we spot a pretty good Kudu bull and four cows. Off we go. The closer we get the better it looks so we take our time and do a very careful stalk. We got to within about eighty yards and can’t get any closer. I take the shot and make a clean heart/lung shot. The big bull staggers a few steps and falls over. He turned out to be a very pretty 55 inch trophy.




Couese calls his crew on the radio and we stand around talking and admiring the Kudu for about an hour until the recovery crew arrives with a large farm tractor and trailer. The get the Kudu loaded and we head back to the lodge for dinner.

My wife’s knee looks fine with no swelling or bruising. She took some Ibuprofen and said that it did not hurt much and that she would be ok.

Dinner was chicken stew, rice, rolls, salad, and milk tarts for desert. I had a few shots of tequila just in case my knees started to hurt. What a day. I slept pretty well that night.


Day 5 Tuesday 6/16

My wife stayed in today to rest her knee. When we woke up it looked pretty good with no swelling and no sign of infection.

I head out with Pieter , Swuazee, and Couese to put out some corn and molasses meal by one of the high cliffs to attract baboons and bushpigs. This is the first time I have heard of baiting animals in Africa but it makes sense. We use bait to hunt deer and hogs in Texas so why not use it for baboons and bushpigs in Africa.

We go around the East side of the mountain and see some very nice scenery. On the way back to the lodge we spot a Black Back Jackal way at the end of the dirt airstrip. It was about 250 yards away and just standing there staring at us. I took a firm rest and aim dead center of mass and let one fly. To every one’s surprise, including me, the bullet hits him dead center and ripped him open. He was a pretty big mess so I did not take a photo.

We go back to the lodge and have a nice brunch of crepe tacos.





My wife felt like she could do some walking so she went out with us on the afternoon hunt. Late in the afternoon we find the Zebra herd again and my wife and Pieter go after them. They slowly drift along behind the herd and about thirty minutes later we hear a shot and the distinctive sound of a solid bullet hit. Pieter and Couese talk on the radio and we find out exactly where they are and drive over as close as we can and then walk to where they are standing next to a very dead Zebra. She got in a perfect heart shot and he ran about fifty yards and went down. Pieter said that was the first one shot kill he had seen on a Zebra with a 30-06. Congratulations were exchanged and the recovery crew was called again.







Dinner was BBQ ribs, Boerwurst sausage, cottage fries, peppercorn squash, homemade bread, and butterscotch pudding with peaches for desert.






Day 6 Wednesday 6/17

Today we drove up over the mountains and down the other side to go visit Kruger Park. We saw three of the big five plus lots of other animals and birds. One of the stops at the park has a natural history museum that features elephants. There were some skulls and tusks of some of the biggest bull elephants seen in modern times.










Lunch was a picnic at one of the rest stops in the park. Nanette cooked sausage and biscuits on a sort of gas BBQ grill that we rented. They had a very interesting system. You pay an attendant a couple of dollars and he brings the gas grill over to your picnic table. When you are finished with it he takes it away and cleans it for the next customer.





It was well past dark when we were driving back to the lodge from Kruger so we stopped in one of the bigger towns along the way and had burgers for dinner.

Day 7 Thursday 6/18

We all went out hunting in the morning including my wife. We did not see any animals we wanted to shoot but did see eland, giraffe, waterbuck, and kudu.

Lunch was scrambled eggs, chicken livers, English muffins, bacon and fried mushrooms.


After lunch we went to Lydenburg to buy ice, more booze, and do some shopping.






Dinner was beef fillet, bacon, onion and cheese, couscous, salad, and cake with pudding for desert.



After dinner we went out on a night hunt with spotlights looking for varmints. The only thing interesting that we saw was a bushbuck and a leopard. We did not shoot either one. No varmints were seen.

Day 8 Friday 6/19

Drove around all morning looking for something to stalk. Not much game moving today. It is starting to get cloudy and windy and colder than usual. Looks like a front is blowing through. The game is all lying low today.

My wife and Pieter stalked some impala but could not get a shot.

Back to the lodge for lunch. It was three different types of quiche. Good stuff. Nanette can really cook.


After lunch we headed back out but again not much was moving. I did get a stalk on a warthog but did not get a shot.

Dinner was Kudu fillets, green beans wrapped in bacon, grilled on the braai and salad.
















Day 9 Saturday 6/20

This was the coldest morning so far. We cruised around and spotted an impala herd with a nice ram. My wife and Pieter go on a stalk and about an hour later we hear a shot but no bullet strike. This is the worst part of hunting this way. You sit and wonder what is going on but can’t call on the radio incase game is close. You don’t want to ruin it for the hunters. All you can do is wait for them to call and report in. So we keep waiting and then after about fifteen minutes we hear another shot with the sound of a bullet strike. They call in and report a ram down. She had missed the first shot, probably due to brush deflecting the bullet. It was pretty thick where they had followed the impala.


Lunch was omelets and biscuits.



My wife stayed at the lodge for the evening hunt. We went to the far side of the high bluff to check the baboon bait and found them there. They spotted us first, which is the usual situations with baboons. They are extremely alert animals and trying to sneak up on fifty of them is nearly impossible. They are scrambling to get over the edge of the bluff to safety. I take an offhand shot at one of the stragglers and get a good solid hit on a mature female. Very exciting!

Dinner is chicken and potato stew with pancakes and onion spread for starters.




Day 10 Sunday 6/21

Hunting is not allowed on Sunday on this property, per the property manager (not per SA law) so we do a local tour of the scenic areas around the mountains. We visited Pilgrim’s Rest, God’s Window, Rouark’s Luck Potholes, and the Three Roundavals Gorge. This was some amazing scenery. The weather was mild and the air was clear. Perfect for taking a drive in the mountains.













Lunch was several types of sandwiches served on the tailgate of the hunting truck.


We arrived back at the lodge around three, changed clothes and loaded up and went hunting. To heck with silly rules. We were mostly interested in finding a couple of more warthogs but did not see any worth shooting.

Dinner was kudu stew and rolls with some sort of flaming desert.







Day 11 Monday 6/22

We had been trying to pattern big warthog that had been seen up on the top of the mesa. Pieter put up a game camera at a water hole near where he had been seen but he was not showing up. Just smaller males. We decided to spend some time in the area so we set up a makeshift blind and sat there all morning. We saw a few warthogs and other animals but the big warthog did not show up at the water hole. Instead we saw him way out near a rise and just after topping the rise he turned west and headed into the tall grass.

We return to the lodge for brunch of fried eggs, back bacon, sausage, homemade bread, coffee, and juice. Just as we were getting started on lunch Pieter was staring out over the big open area down in front of the lodge. He said that it looks like a big warthog. We both run to get our binoculars and come back to the patio and have a look. Sure enough it is a really big bodied warthog and from what we can see nice teeth. I run and get my rifle and some ammo and we take off at a trot down the cliff road that leads to the air strip. When we get down to the area Pieter searches around with his binoculars and eventually spots the big pig and a couple of females. We do a stalk and get close enough. I made a broadside heart shot and he goes down.



After lunch we go out again and my wife stalks a troop of baboons but can’t get close enough for a shot. Later we run into an impala herd and my wife and Pieter go after them. This time the stalk was a short one and within a few minutes we hear a shot. Another Impala ran down.



About sundown we go up to check the game camera at the water hole. As we approach in the twilight the flash on the camera is going off about every five seconds. We look and see that a warthog is happily rooting around the edge of the pond not paying any attention to the camera flash. I dismount the truck and walk over and fire an offhand shot and get him in the boiler room. Pieter then said that this one was on the house.



Dinner was chicken fried steak, cottage fries, corn and squash kabobs, salad, and pudding.



Day 12 Tuesday 6/23

We started the day by sitting up in the make shift blind by the water hole again waiting for the big warthog. Again several show up but not the big boy. Then later in the morning he was spotted way out on a rise and again he turned West and headed into the tall grass and brush without even looking at the water hole.
We got up and went after him on foot but could not catch up to him nor determine where exactly he went. Where he went was only a few hundred yards from a cliff so he must have a gone along the edge somewhere.
On the way back from looking for the warthog we flush another jackal but my wife was carrying the rifle and did not get a shot.

Brunch back at the lodge was a sort of sausage chili casserole with cheese, small pancakes, liver pate and coffee.



After lunch we went sightseeing again and toured Echo Cave where a tribe of Africans hid during a war with other Africans. Very interesting.

Dinner was Kudu neck stew and biscuits, salad, and somores for desert.

Day 13 Wednesday 6/24

Got up to a very cold morning and went out on our last hunt. We still wanted to bust that old warthog up on the mesa so we sat up wind in another brush blind about 100 yards from where we had seen him on the previous occasions. It was really cold and the wind made it feel even colder. About thirty minutes past the time that we had seen him before we were about to give it up and go in. We were all shivering and Pieter stood up and said he wanted to have a look back at the water hole to see if anything was there. He walked off quietly in that direction. I got up also because I could not stand to sit any longer and started wandering around looking for where the hog might be going when he passes that spot. Pieter looked back at where my wife was still sitting and saw the big hog and saw my wife looking at it and making gestures to Pieter asking in sign language if she should shoot it. He hurriedly signaled back that she should. She lined up and gave the old bastard a good one right through the shoulder. He never knew what hit him. What a fantastic way to end the hunting trip.



We went back and had one last big breakfast and started packing. After that chore was finished we said our good buys to the staff and handed out their tips. As we were leaving the old man was busy sweeping up and getting the place ready for the next nimrods.

Congratulations, that was a fun hunt and some great food to go with it.

Regards
Aziz

Congratulations to you and your wife on a wonderful trip. The report was well written and I enjoyed all the photos. You guys took some great animals and I really like your Kudu.

Thanks,

Greg

Great report. You had my mouth watering with that one! Good idea on taking photos of all the food.

Thank you for a very well written report and congratulations on your trophies.

I had the fortune to hunt with Pieter in 2008 and hope to again in 2010.

I am ready for dinner now after all of those food pics. Great story and hunt. Congrats.

Great trip and great photos. Thanks for sharing and congrats!

Thanks for sharing your wonderful pictures and story.

You had a wonderful hunt! Thanks for sharing!

jpj3

I've never seen so many photos of food. You obviously enjoy your tucker.

Sounds like a great trip and thanks for shareing. Only one question remains ....

When are you going back ?

love the wart pig
congrats

Very nice post !!
It looks like you went hunting to a restaurant!!

Nice trophies and nice looking guns.

Thanks for sharing.
L

We made a day trip to the Dullstrum area but didn't get fed nearly as well as you did.
Looks like you and your wife had a great time and took some nice animals.

Looks like you had a fun time. Congratulations on your hunt!

Brett

That was a great report and the pictures are terrific.

I love that part of South Africa! Thanks for sharing your Safari with us. Congratulations.

Congratulations!!!!!

And I still get people arguing with me that the Cape has the most spectacular scenery in South Africa....

Your photos just proofed that the Eastern Escarpment is most spectacular!!!

Muletrain,

I'm reading this Sunday AM before breakfast. Man! I need some greasy bacon and eggs after looking at all that food.

Glad you had a great safari. Looks like a good time was had by all.

Great pix!

Mark

That was a great hunt and great pics. My wife and I hunted with Pieter and toured Kruger in May '08.

quote:

Originally posted by Gerhard.Delport:
Congratulations!!!!!

And I still get people arguing with me that the Cape has the most spectacular scenery in South Africa....

Your photos just proofed that the Eastern Escarpment is most spectacular!!!

Totally agree. You know when you are hunting on a ranch in Lompopo and after about the third day you get sick of driving down the same grid pattern of roads? Well that certainly did not happen in the mountains. We never got tired of looking at the spectacular scrnery up there.

quote:

Originally posted by Lorenzo:
Very nice post !!
It looks like you went hunting to a restaurant!!

Nice trophies and nice looking guns.

Thanks for sharing.
L

Ha Ha!!

The food was so good that I just could not give a fair and objective report without including some pics of the grub.

Don't lie. I know you guys enjoy looking at pictures of food as much as you like looking at pictures of guns and dead animals.

Lord, see your story has opened up my appetite. I too am expecting my Ceska 550 Africa Safari in 458 Lott, but I cannot build on a safari. Excellent photographs.

Oscar.

Nice report and safari... I have never seen pictures of every meal someone had on safari before.

It appears you and your wife had a stunning great time....and I think I gained several pounds just reading your report. Damn I miss those Castle Beers in the afternoon!!!

Sounds like you had a great time i cant wait to get back there and hunt again.
nothing like africa.

quote:

Don't lie. I know you guys enjoy looking at pictures of food as much as you like looking at pictures of guns and dead animals.

Very true, nice to see that you and your wife had a good hunt and great food, congratulations.

Cograts on the hunt, I recognize your skinner, his nameis Zwelly, I see he is still wearing that Michigan State Shirt, he used to be with "Ntshonalanga Safaris"

quote:

Originally posted by AKsheephunter:
Cograts on the hunt, I recognize your skinner, his nameis Zwelly, I see he is still wearing that Michigan State Shirt, he used to be with "Ntshonalanga Safaris"

Thanks, I had no idea how to spell it.

Love your writing style and sense of humor. Sounds like you had a great time. Congrats to you and your lovely bride (a real trooper, she is too!) and thanks for posting your report; I really enjoyed reading it.

KG

P.S. You are in the running with me for the guy who takes the most pics of food, much to our respective company's chagrin and bewilderment, I'm quite sure...

Congratulations on a well executed hunt plan. I have had the pleasure of hunting with Pieter four times and he always comes through with a fun hunt.

What is the name of the property you hunted on? I think I might be next door!

quote:

Originally posted by infinito:
What is the name of the property you hunted on? I think I might be next door!

Really! Your hunting property is in that area?

The property we hunted on is called Misty Falls. Driving from Ohrigstad you turn right about a half mile before the Shoe Cave and go up a dirt road through a gigantic prickley pear cactus field. The lodge was nearly at the top of the mountain and looking back towards town you can see a red and white radio tower down in the valley.

Wow, now I'm hungry. Great report!

CTJ

I'm no more than 25Kilo's away! You will see some reports from AR members coming this season that hunted here with us!

You will be able to relate to the mountains! Dmitry from AR hunted with me last week, and we shot a VERY big Mountain Reedbuck the classic way. Glazing the mountains and then stalking them.....Great fun.

Glad you had a great hunt, and thanks for a very nice report!

Congrats on some very nice animals taken!

infinito - I was very surprised to find out that fly fishig for trout is very popular in that area. It is not something that is talked about. Outfitters should mention it so that people that are interested in fishing can plan for a few days fly fishing or bird shooting.

Looks like you and your wife had a great experience! Thanks for sharing. Wondeful scenery, trophies and food pics!! Need to get going for lunch..

Great hunt welcome to my back yard its better than the cape

I think that it is only fair that, now that you have all of our mouths watering, that you have us over and feed us doing a re-creation of the food you had in Africa.

Nice job. Tell your wife well done also.

Those are some amazing trophies.

Congrats on your hunt, the pics of food are killing me. I think it's time to put a steak on the grill