Benin & a Buffalo charge

Dates: April 28-May 10, 2014

Outfitter: Pendjari Safari

Area: Batia boardering Pendjari National Park

Booking Agent: Dennis Rollinger (Caracal)

Game Taken: Buffalo x2, Warthog, Grimm’s Duiker , Roan, Oribi, Harnessed Bushbuck

Game not taken: Lion, Red Flanked Duiker

Game seen: Western savannah Buffalo, Elephant, Harnessed Bushbuck, Western Roan, Western Bubal Hartebeast, Defassa Waterbuck, Nagor reedbuck, Warthog, Oribi, Grimm’s Duiker, Red flanked Duiker, Olive Baboon, Patas Monkey, Rock Hyrax , Monitor Lizard, Crocodile, Jackal, Leopard Tortoise,

Rifle: Winchester Mod 70, .375 H&H Magnum, Swarovski 3-9x36

Ammo: Handloaded 300Grn. Barnes TSX in Norma brass

I booked this hunt in March after seeing Caracals offer here on AR. Due to previous commitments I was unable to go at the beginning of April which may have worked out better as the rains arrived early this year turning the bush green and scattering game.

Air France took me from Paris to Cotonou with a flight time of six hours arriving early in the evening. Before getting to passport control yellow fever vaccination certificates were checked by a rather burley nurse who appeared to be offering on the spot vaccinations to the un-inoculated. Once in the baggage hall a company representative assisted me in clearing my rifle with the airport police. That night was spent at the Ibis hotel nearby.

The next morning Abdias the English-speaking son of the outfitter who accompanied me throughout the safari met me along with the driver. My French is ropey at the best of times so his presence was much appreciated.

We set off at 5AM in order to beat the morning rush hour in Cotonou and Porto Novo the countries capital. The old Lexus 4x4 was laden with supplies as we started the long 10-hour drive to Tanongou some 600KM to the north. The majority of the journey was on tar roads in varying states of repair. At the town of Tanguie’ta we headed east towards Penjari National Park and Batia some 40km away.

The south of the country is lush and tropical with a lot of agriculture; the drive north took us through areas of coconut, palmyra and oil palm. Mahogany, ebony and Shea nut trees were abundant which gradualy gave way to a more arid landscape turning into grasslands terminalia and combretum when you hit the Atacora Mountain range along the border with Burkina Faso and the Park.

Petrol sellers along the road (all the fuel is smuggled over the boarder from Nigeria some 50km away)

The camp was situated in a gorge on the outskirts of Tanongou a typical african village of around 400 inhabitants, all the villages in the area collectively farm cotton.
The camp was made up of around eight rondavel’s all with on suite bathrooms and electricity via a generator. There was a central dining area and bar and a separate seating area.

The camp had a fine collection of cofiscated poachers weapons and traps.

On arrival Willy the outfitter and Robert the local guide greeted me. After unpacking I checked zero and then sat down to discuss how the hunt was to be conducted, as Lion was our main target it was explained how we would be checking for tracks along the waterways and tributaries to the Pendjari river the thick tangled riparian forests that shadows the waterways is a favorite haunt for Lions to lie in wait for prey to come to drink.
We sat down to an excellent dinner prepared by the camp chef who previously worked at the French embassy in Benin.
I was woken by heavy rain in the night and the next morning the Atacora mountains were vailed in fog.

Early the next morning found us checking for lion tracks along the river

The local guide and trackers were always on the look out for small game for the pot and on the way back to camp for lunch couldn’t resist going after a large monitor lizard which one of the trackers dispatched with his machete .

A small fast flowing stream ran along side the camp and provided it with water. upon enquiring about it source i was told that there was a waterfall some 1km behind camp.

We continued to look for tracks on the roads in the afternoon and spotted Roan an Hartebeest.
The next morning we headed for the Pendjari river.

We picked up good buffalo tracks and came across a solitary Roan bull that I a took off sticks at 180yds

the Roan had had a prior run in with a lion at some point.

Back at camp i took a walk up to the waterfall for a swim, the setting was spectacular and provided a welcome respite from the heat.

The abundance of water in the bush had dispersed the game and made the lion tracking like looking for a needle in a haystack. buffalo tracks were plenty though and easy to follow. their spore was so abundant that we could be choosey and decided to follow a pair of dagga boys.
The local trackers were extreamly good and took no time at all in finding and following the spore after the the pair of bulls had briefly joined a much larger herd. After a couple of hours tracking we caught up with the bulls who were preparing to bed down in thick cover. I elected not to shoot as i couldn't get a good visual on either bull in the thick cover. neidless to say the bulls suspected there was something in pursuit of them and made off.
As they crashed off through the bush a warthog appeared and froze looking straight at us some 50yds away, A quick shot and he was down.

The next morning we were looking for lion tracks along the road by the river. I picked up a track from the vehicle which I thought the trackers confirmed as lion only to be told by Abdias that it was a hyena and the French for Hyena is "HY'ENE" they drop the H so it sounded like lion.

We also found a very big Leopard track that was walking the road unfortunately leopard are not on quota in Benin
That afternoon we checked a well used salt lick, as we moved we saw a group of roan.

There had been a few heavy thunderstorms over the past couple of days, the bush was really looking green.

The following morning we spotted a herd of buffalo from the road, having not looked at all of them we decided to follow to see if there was a decent bull to take. after about three hours of tracking we got into position to check out the whole herd, nothing looked shootable so i started to take some photo's from about 30yds away.

The browsing herd disturbed a Grimm's duiker that came running past at about 40yds, I whistled to get its attention as it stopped I took the shot. It was really old the tips of its horns had been worn down.

I did not see any mature cob defassa (Waterbuck) but did see females and young on numerous ocasions the mature males must be there somewhere

That afternoon we checked for tracks in some thickets. On our way back to camp a group of elephants charged the vehicle, the trackers were very wary of elephant always giving them a wide birth when encountered. Luckily the abundant water and new growth had scattered them throughout the bush.
The next day found us back on buffalo tracks, we figured that the lion were now covering large areas looking for prey so we followed the buffalo in the hope that the lions would be to.
The trackers picked up the spore of the same two dagga boys that had previously given us the slip.
Following the tracks was hard as they entered some dense thickets, the leaf litter on the ground made the tracking very slow. After bumping them a couple of times we eventually caught up, as they were about to bed down. It was around 11AM and the temperature was well into the 40's.
I was set up on the sticks at about 40yds; the baked mud on their backs was all that was visible as they faced away from me partially obscured by the cover of the trees under which they were both standing some 10yds apart.
The bull to the left spun round looking directly at me, lining up I took him under the chin dropping him instantly where he stood. My attention now focused on the second and larger bull that had now moved off some ten paces to the right. Christophe the head tracker was to the left of me as I took a hasty off hand shot at the bull, which was quartering away looking back at me. I quickly reloaded and readied my self to shoot again as the buffalo was now moving off.
Christophe and the others who had stayed back some 50yds behind us as we made our approach all started shouting; confused I turned to my left to see what the commotion was about only to see Christophe retreating at high speed. On the report of my second shot the first buffalo had now risen to its feet and started to charge towards me. The bull crashed straight through a small tree some 20yds away as I fired at him. I was aiming at his head but hit him high in chest. A fountain of blood gushed from his chest laying a red carpet in front of him as he continued his advance. I reloaded and moved to the right firing again as he tried to turn towards me hitting him in the base of the neck. His charge now halted I moved forward and put my last round into the back of his shoulder blades.
The guide also fired at the charging bull from some 60yds hitting him in the lungs as he turned towards me.
The whole event only lasted a few seconds but time slowed to a standstill when it occurred. At the time thoughts of fear and flight didn’t enter my head. I was subsequently amazed at how calm I remained focusing on the task in hand. I also noticed that I lost my peripheral vision during the charge, I put this down to the intense concentration you experience in such moments. Within a few minutes I felt completely drained as the adrenaline surge subsided.

We then set off after the second bull. On picking up the spore it became apparent that my shot was further back than intended. After an hour or so the guide elected to stop, as he hadn’t brought any water with him. Reluctantly I agreed and we made our way to the downed bull to collect it and return to camp in order to return later that afternoon and continue the follow up.

I wasn't really thinking about photos and by the time I retreived my camera from the truck the buffalo was almost loaded.
We left camp to continue the follow up that afternoon, half way there the most almighty thunderstorm broke, forcing us to turn back. Early the next morning we resumed the search. The rain from the previous day had washed away any sign of the buffalo, I had my GPS and the track from the previous day showed that the buffalo appeared to be circling around so we cautiously followed in the same direction only deviating to check out some thickets nearby.
BY midday it was getting very hot again so we returned to the vehical to check if he had crossed the road after the rains. we also spent time checking all the water sources nearby. it was at one of these that we found the bull dead it was less than 1KM from where he was shot. Earlier we had walked this area but the tall grass had hidden him from view.

He had expired some time the previous day his corpse now bloating and fly blown in the intense sun.The cape and meat were spoilt so we just took the skull.

Hoping that the Buffalo carcass would attract any lions nearby, I was very suprised that nothing fed on it over the next four days. Christophe said that nothing would touch it as it had human scent on it. I wondered if the local villagers had used poisoned bait in the area to kill predators.

On a previous hunt with Andrew Baldry(Fairgame)he showed me a home made call he put together for calling lion, So I though I would give it a go.
The caller consisted of a metal tin with a hole in the bottom through which was treaded a length of string. Water is poured on the string and then the string is grasped between forefinger and thumb and drawn down. after a few attempts I was producing a very convincing sound. So much so that a number of the camp staff came to investigate, one wide eyed fellow was convinced it was magic and kept peering into the tin.
We tried it over a number of days in the riparian forests along the river but to no avail.

Willy the outfitter had another plan though. Voodoo originated in Benin and Willy had been to the local witch doctor. On his return to camp that evening a ceremony was carried out which involved the burning of a mixture of herbs prescribed by the witch doctor the smoke was blown into the action and barrel of my rifle. We were instructed to carry out the same ceremony again in the field the following morning.

Every sunday a market takes pace in Tanongou, people travel from all the surounding villages to buy and sell goods.

We continued checking water holes and the river for lion tracks for the next couple of days

One of the trackers who I named Machete showed his skill once more when he chased down a hyrax that had ventured too far from the safety of its burrow.

I also took an Oribi on the penultimate day of the hunt but unfortunately the battery died in my camera so i have no photos.

On the last day of the hunt we finaly picked the large tracks of two male lions, Christophe thought the tracks were only a couple of hours old so we set off in pursuit. The tracks were easy to follow on the road but we lost them when the lions crossed an area of rocky ground. The trackers picked up the tracks again but lost them once again as they entered an area of tall grass.
We all spread out combing the area in hope of finding the tracks again but it wasn't to be.

I spotted a bushbuck feeding on a ridge on the way back to camp that evening and made a stalk on him taking him at 80yds. over the past ten days I had seen quite a few bushbuck one of which was a very good trophy but I was unable to get a shot as we spooked him from cover at a dry waterhole.

The other species that I had numerous sightings of was red flanked duiker. Normally you only get a fleeting view of them as they flush from cover. I would very much like to take one and plan to try to call for them in the thickets along the river next year. If anyone has any info on what calls work best it would be much appreciated. the Baka in Cameroon seem to make a nasal call that sounds quite similar to a Primos can call that I have if somewhat louder and more agitated.

The following morning we made the long journey back to Cotonou. Again I spent the night at the Ibis hotel. Abdias took me on a tour of Cotonou the next day which included going to Ganvie lake village known as the Venice of africa. It is home of the Tofinu water people. The water settlement came about during colonial times it was seen as a safe place to live to avoid capture by the Fon tribe who traded slaves with the Portuguese. The Fon believed a water demon lived in the lake so were forbade from raiding the floating village.

Container ships waiting to enter the port of Cotonou

To sum up,even though unsuccessful on lion I really enjoyed the hunt so much so that I plan to return next year. It was defiantly one of those hunts that the more you put in the more you got out. the game is plentiful but to be successful you need to actively hunt it.

Posts: 167 | Location: Kuwait | Registered: 14 April 2009

Oryxhunter1983

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