The Kunene River, which forms the Northern border of Namibia with Angola, must be one of the most remote places In Africa I’ve ever had the privilege of guiding a client on a hunt. This is one of those areas in Africa where you only hunt for one species and that is crocodile, monster crocodiles.


The Kunene River with Angola on the opposite side.


The moon rising over Angola.

This area is home to the nomadic pastoralist tribe, the Himba people, that relies on the resources provided by the Kunene River for survival. They are as primitive as one can get in today’s modern Africa, hunting with the Himba's can only be described as a chapter out of one of Hemmingway’s novels.

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Himba ladies waiting for their men to return from the hunting grounds


Himba men forming a chain link and armed to cross the crocodile infested waters.



The area is dry and arid, if not for the Kunene River flowing through this area, almost nothing will be able to survive here.


We hunted the stretch of river East of Epupa Falls, this area has a large concentration of huge crocodiles and we saw several river monsters over 14 feet every day we scouted the riverbank.







Several monster crocodiles basking in the sun.





Sundowners on beach after a long day of scouting.



On Day 5 we pulled the trigger on a 15 foot monster, it is to be noted that this was not the biggest crocodile we saw.


The Waiting Game


15 feet


The Recovery Crew


We almost had more fun recovering the croc after we shot him. With the help of some young Himba men and a very small inflatable canoe, we manage to recover the crocodile before the high tide, caused by the water released from the Rucana Hydro Electric plant, flooded the sandbank where the crocodile was lying. All meat was recovered and delivered to the local communities, it is a common misconception that the locals don't eat crocodile meat but the Himba's don't let any protein go to waste.

















This is definitely not a hunt for a first time hunter to Africa but if you are looking for unique experience, hunting a real river monster, the Kunene River in northwestern Namibia is highly recommended.

For more information please feel free to contact me directly as there is only a small number of permits available each year.
Yours in conservation hunting.

Johann Veldsman

Pretty cool experience there

Great photos and indeed monster crocs!

I especially like that moonrise image. Great work behind the camera.

The Himba women are the best dressers (to the extent they dress at all) in all of Africa!

Congrats!

A 14-foot croc is indeed large but from the photos, you have only taken one.

It would be nice to see more photos of these big crocs.

Any elephant, lion or buffalo?

Congratulations on a wonderful hunt in a spectacular area.

I was overlanding there in 2012 with my 3 year old son. One of the most beautiful evenings of my life was there, terminal insomnia had me up at 01:00 drinking a whisky and smoking a cigar watching over the moonlit desert mountains in Angola.
My wife had to stay at home being pregnant with twins, in 2019 I repeated the trip with the twins in tow. Good memories.

My wife must not see this. A hunt like this will be right up her alley.

Thank you for sharing.

Fantastic! Thanks for posting Johann. Hope to see you in Harrisburg!

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Wow! Congratulations to all involved! Great pictures and a big croc! Thanks for sharing.

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Johann, wonderful post, wonderful photos. Great to see you on here. You have grown a wee bit older in the intervening 15 years since I had the pleasure of hunting with you.
Tremendous croc!

So cool

Congrats and thanks for posting.

Great set of pictures.

Am wondering if that big croc had any

jewelry inside it?

Thank you for sharing this trip with us.

George

Outstanding report and pics!

Great Safari.

The story line and pictures reflect on what a wonderful experienced you had.

Thank you for sharing.

What a unique and awesome trip....great photography as well! Congratulations to the client.

Geez, really great pics. Thanks!

Great story and pics...some places in Africa are magical..