In March of 2016 I took Caracal’s (Dennis Rollinger’s) offer on AR for a Lord Derby Eland hunt in Cameroon. My good buddy Tony came along because misery loves company. We flew DC to Brussels where we met up with Dennis and flew to Yaounde and overnighted there. The next morning we flew to Garoua. The week before we left I was driving in the car with my wife listening to NPR (keeping tabs on the other side) and they had a live report from Garoua and said the only people flying into Garoua were Special Forces soldiers fighting Boko Haram and big game hunters. My wife was not very happy, but she let me go anyway. We spent the night in Garoua at a wonderful hotel that instead of soap and shampoo, had condoms in the bathroom. Nice touch. The next morning we began the 6 hour drive to camp. There is a lot of humanity in Cameroon and you experience a good amount of it on the drive. Here are some of the pictures from the trip:








My sat phone emailed my wife my GPS location every day. Here is where the camp was located:



Camp was basic, but decent. Huts with window AC units and showers. AC was critical as it was unseasonably hot and humid.


There was a sandstorm in the sahara that made everything super hazy. It did block a little of the sun.


We made it a little worse by doing quite a bit of burning.





Did a lot of walking and stalking.





First animal down was a decent kob.



Then Tony got a reedbuck:


One day we stumbled on what appeared to be a poacher napping, only it wasn’t a poacher and they weren’t napping. It was an old woman who had apparently succumbed to the heat. It freaked out the trackers. Surprising how nobody wanted to deal with her – tribal or government. Ultimately Reinhard Visser, the outfitter, coordinated with the military in the area to bury her. The soldier who came to oversee the burial shared pics of his Boko Haram kills on his phone. Africa truly is a different world.


Saw no evidence of poachers, but the outfitter has a decent collection of seized homemade rifles and traps. I tried to convince him to trade for one, but no dice.





My buddy connected on nice oribi, which made for a nice BBQ.




We walked our butts off chasing eland. It was like they were toying with us. We would cut a track and chase it for hours. Several times we could smell the herd, but all we ever saw were flicking tails disappearing in the bush. It was just so ridiculously hot, and then we had a huge, violent storm that made lots of puddles so the animals did not have to travel to water. That, combined with all of the sand in the air, made for a tough hunt, but we finally got a shot. Even though he was not huge, I was grateful for the opportunity. He will be a beautiful mount.



The lead tracker, Souley, was wearing a “gri-gri” that he took off to clean the eland. Witch doctors had made it for him to protect him. It was one of the cooler things I had seen. At the end of the hunt I was able to trade my binos for it.



We had been on several herds of roan over the hunt but had never had a clear view to identify a mature male. The last day we made one last drive. We saw nothing and were heading back to pack up and hit the long road back to Garoua. I was resigned to no roan, but still had a great hunt. Then, at literally the last second, we spot a large herd. The herd moves off to the right and we go to follow them. Out of the corner of my eye I catch some movement to our far left. I realize it is a lone bull shadowing the herd. I know what that means. I don’t even say anything but wait for the walking bull to give me an opening and shoot. I hit him perfectly and he reared up like a stallion and pawed the air with his front hoofs. It was truly epic. Dennis had seen what I shot at, but the outfitter was following the herd and never saw it. He was very nervous that I had shot a female as they are virtually identical. Not to worry, he was an old beautiful male. Perfect end to the hunt.

Great pictures, it looks like a lot of fun.

Interesting photos and adventure. You got some nice trophies.

Vince,

Cameroon is a special kind of adventure. Nice report and congrats.

Mark

Nice report and some nice animals, congratulations on your eland it is one of the world greatest trophies, glad you had a good time!

Geez, great trophies. Congratulations on a successful safari!

Will echo Mark's comments that Cameroon is a true adventure. I hunted there in March of 2015 and there were US Spec Ops guys in the hotel bar I stayed in Douala. Sit down and shared a beer with them. They said Garoua was "ground zero" for Boko activity and that is where they were flying the next day. Looks to be a bit quieter there now. Glad you had a good hunt with no incidents! Thanks for the report.

Thought you were out and about, didn't realize it was a big adventure!
Great animals and experience.
Now I have a plan for you....

Lord Derby is a hard hunt.
Congrats on getting one of them. Can't imagine how much hotter it would be in March... Feb was bad enough!

Well done!

Outstanding, congrats on getting the Eland. Fine Roan as well!

Vince,
I appreciate your report and I am happy you enjoyed the trip!

quote:

Originally posted by bwanamrm:
Will echo Mark's comments that Cameroon is a true adventure. I hunted there in March of 2015 and there were US Spec Ops guys in the hotel bar I stayed in Douala. Sit down and shared a beer with them. They said Garoua was "ground zero" for Boko activity and that is where they were flying the next day. Looks to be a bit quieter there now. Glad you had a good hunt with no incidents! Thanks for the report.

I was in Garoua most of this season and also last season. No boko haram activity there, in fact there has never been any significant activity there. Problems start north of Maroua which is quite a long way from all the hunting areas.

a very interestin safari. Congratulatios. To Caracal also...

Congrats on a great adventure!

I really like the attempt to checker the homemade guns.

I did Cameroon in 2004 with Ngong Safaris. Definitely a different safari experience.

Looks like you had a great hunt and come home with some good trophies and memories. Excellent stuff.

Cool stuff.

I was in Cameroon in January and I really enjoyed the hunting.

Getting through Douala was a bit of an eye-opener but nothing too crazy as long as you rolled with the punches.

Nice report and congrats to you!

Congratulations. Some fine trophies and experiences.

Wow, great report. Would love to visit camaroon. Plan to cut my teeth in Namibia first

Congrats on a great hunt!

Well earned trophies and a great adventure. Congratulations I hope I can hunt Cameroon one day. If only a PG-hunt

Congrats and thankyou for the fscinating pictures/story. Brian

Great photos. Thanks for the report

Great report with great pictures. Congratulations on some excellent trophies.

GREAT REPORT!
However, did you really trade, what looks like a pair of Leicas, for the lucky charm?

quote:

Originally posted by Chris Lozano:
Congrats on a great adventure!

I really like the attempt to checker the homemade guns.

That must make it a "deluxe" model!

Seriously it looks like quite a time. Congratulations on a fine hunt.

I rely enjoyed this report and your clear passion for learning about the smaller things in africa.

Thanks for a great report on an interesting adventure. Congratulations on some wonderful animals well earned.

Congratulations on some super trophies, hard earned too!!!! Great report and pictures! Well done!

Best regards, D. Nelson

quote:

Originally posted by D. Nelson:
Congratulations on some super trophies, hard earned too!!!! Great report and pictures! Well done!

Best regards, D. Nelson

+1