Trip Report Shiwa Ngundu

PH: Charlie Harvey

Main Tracker: Pierre

Dates May 31 to June 6

Location: Northern Province of Zambia

Species Hunted: Lechwe, Puku, Bushbuck, Impala, Waterbuck, and Blue Duiker, and Reedbuck,

Species were seen but not hunted: Livingstone’s Eland, Kudu, Zebra, Wildebeest, Lichtenstein Hartebeest

This trip for me was phenomenal in terms of hunting, hospitality, history, and humanitarian. The history of Shiwa Ngundu and Charlies Grandfather, Sir Stewart Browne-Gore is recorded in a couple of books but most recently in a book called the “Africa House” (a couple of mistakes in the book but a good story)
Guns: I hunted with Charlie’s Ruger M77 in 30-06 and 243. I wanted to bring mine, but with all the travel and Charlie’s recommendations, I did not bring mine, and I am reluctantly glad I did not. It made travel easier.

Weather: Weather was cool by northern US standards. For the most part, I just wore a long sleeve Columbia shirt. Charlie and the trackers were in winter coats and stocking caps. I thought the weather was great for hunting.

Background (very brief)

Browne-Gore visited this area after reading about Dr. Livingston’s visit to the Lake Shiwa Ngundu, which was the Lake of the Royal Crocodiles. He visited while on surveying expedition for the British Army before WWI. A crocodile killed Livingston’s dog here. After WWI Browne-Gore built with local material a proper English manor in remote than North-East Rhodesia. The house has 40 rooms, and an engineer estimated that 5 million bricks are used in the building the estate. The exterior walls are 3 feet thick and interior walls a foot and a half. All the bricks and lumber made on site.



Travel
I took South African Airways from Washington DC to Johannesburg onto Lusaka. I was met at the airport after immigration (just a stamp in the passport) by Kay, Charlie’s representative. Kay took me to the Renaissance Hotel.

The following morning, Kennedy, the driver picked me up at 6 AM to start our 800 KM drive to Shiwa. Kasama the nearest commercial airport runway was closed. I did not want to spend the money on a charter.
The drive was on the Cape to Cairo Highway. This “ highway” was interesting because after you leave Lusaka and head to the Northeast, it is maybe equivalent to a two-county road in the United States. Periodically, locals were selling tomatoes, sweet potatoes, watermelon, honey, and thatch along side of the road.
Unlike the US, where there is a restaurant every 30 minutes or much less it pretty scarce heading north except for basic gas stations that had soda but I was not sure of the food quality and limited selection. The highway is two lanes and many times when a semi tractor-trailer broke down they broke down in the lane. The driver places tree branches with leaves showing he was broken down. Significant more truck traffic coming and going from Tanzania that cars.

Along the way, we met four different sets of policemen who stop vehicles and check tax stamp, insurance stamp on the car and drivers license and occasionally passport for myself. A Revenue Agency and the military also stopped us along the road. All folks were friendly but slowed down travel.
The condition of the road was poor in an area with many wide potholes, no asphalt (under repair?) So all in all it made an interesting trip. Next time, I will go when the airport in Kasama is open.



Hunting
Our daily routine was to meet at 5:30 have a cup of coffee/tea, and a snack then heads out and hunt until 9 or 10 AM. Join back together for lunch and back out hunting at 3 PM until darkness, which was 6 PM in early June.

I found the schedule very much to my liking. What was going to be different about this trip was that I was not going to bring any trophies home – just pictures. A subject that is discussed on this forum. I think I found this liberating and more relaxing. I just enjoyed the stalks.

For example, on one occasion we were glassing a bushbuck and Charlie said it had a broken horn, so let's go on. I replied. “ I don’t care,” and off we went stalking the bushbuck.

On the first morning, we are off after Lechwe. We saw many, many Lechwe in the open along the lake. Our first stalk is keeping a small cluster of trees between a Lechewe and me brought us to within 100 yards. My first shot missed, so I fired again which hit him and he began to circle in the open. I fired another shot, and he dropped. All my shots were off sticks.

After seeing the Lechwe, I was thinking about taxidermy. Charlie said he would keep him for me if I changed my mind.



Pierre and I next hunted impala. It was quite a long stalk through some trees and noisy dried leaves until we got within about 100 yards of a herd. He told me which one to shoot which of course I missed with the first shot but hit it and brought it down with the second shot.

So it took me three shots on the first animal and two shots on the second animal; the next animal had to be one shot.

Another PH and his client from Atlanta arrived that night to hunt Lechewe next morning. We went out with them the next morning. The client shot a great looking Lechewe with one shot. Hopefully, that wasn’t my one shot kill.



After lunch, they went out after blue duiker, and we went out after Puku. After a relatively easy stalk to about 150 yards (?) Pierre put up the sticks and the Puku dropped with one shot. We took the Puku to a local hut and gutted the animal for the family. The family is getting all the internal organs and guts. I guess nothing goes to waste in Africa.

Continuing to hunt we saw some bushbuck, so off we went. The bushbuck presented a straight on a shot in tall grass. I took the shot and missed, and the bushbuck ran off. Charlie let the dogs out who are trained not to chase live, unwounded animals. The dogs were one Jack Russell and 2 Rhodesian Ridgebacks and a Rhodesian Ridge Back mix. We saw a Bushbuck runoff, and the Ridgebacks did not give chase. So it must not be hit. It was getting dark, and Jack Russell showed back up, so we called it a night.

It was my third day, and we were off after Bushbuck. It is amazing how many Lechwe, Puku and Bush Buck I am seeing. Another stalk and we connect with a bushbuck with one shot. That afternoon we hunted Waterbuck. I do not care about size. I am just enjoying the stalk. We shot a Waterbuck that afternoon. What an incredible body and hide.

We went after Blue Duiker and reedbuck. I have never had any interest in hunting the smaller antelope liked the duiker. We would stalk when we saw one. We also did a lot of walking, and one of the trackers would call them in. We were hunting them with a rifle, not a shotgun, Charlie preferred a 243 or 222, but I liked the feel of his 30-06, so we hunted them with the 30-06.

The tracker was able to call them within 30 yards in the forest but then wait for Pierre to say if it was a male or not. The horns are different between the male and female. They only have only a couple of inches of the horn; it is hard to tell them apart. It didn’t seem like the males wanted to wait around to get their picture taken.

The last three days, we focused on duiker and some reedbuck we would encounter but no success. I would love to hunt duiker again.

I got sidetracked about blue duiker. While we were hunting duiker, Charlie took the dogs back to where I missed the bushbuck. The dogs found my bushbuck, which a leopard made a meal out of one of the hindquarters. It seems there were two bushbucks there last evening. We all saw the one runoff unscathed, but Jack Russell went after the shot Bushbuck. The Jack Russell’s tracks were all around the dead bushbuck's carcass.




Humanitarian

I planned to bring a Safari Club Blue Bag to Shiwa. Shiwa has a clinic and hospital on its grounds ( 32KM x 8 KM I think). Charlie said the most important thing to bring was to burn cream because they cook around open fires. A lot of kids get burned.

I ended up bringing about 75 pounds of medical and dental supplies. The hospital did not have any burn cream, Advil, liquid Advil, ibuprofen, cortisone, antifungal cream, nonstick bandages that I brought. I also brought antibiotic cream, gauze, and stuff. A friend of mine who is a dentist donated 50 toothbrushes and toothpaste that we passed out. We probably could have used 500 or more toothbrushes.
My garage is in better shape than the hospital and the school. Charlie ‘s grandfather built the hospital and the school in the ’20s and ’30s. They are trying to rebuild one school house and maybe another. Our SCI chapter donated some money, but they are trying to race another 8K for school buildings.



Of course, kids walk to school. Those that live too far away stay overnight during the week. No beds for them to sleep on. Just sleep on the floor with a blanket. The bring maize, oil, and beans with them to last the week and young d kids cook their meals. In addition to salary, the teachers receive cement to build their own houses. The kids help by making the bricks.
Jo (Charlie’s wife) told me how the kids would be happy with used pencils…. So when I went back to Lusaka, I got on the Amazon site and ordered the school supplies they needed on a Thursday night. I got back home on Saturday, and all the supplies were sitting on my porch. We have it good in the Western World. I mailed them off with a dozen soccer balls and pumps.




History
Charlie’s family have all played roles in British history. Charlie’s, grandfather, Sir StewartGore-Brown played roles in Zambia History. He sent the person to college who later become the first Zambian President, and the Zambia Constitution was first written there at Shiwa. Much more as well. There is a lot more there, which I will skip keeping this brief.

Jo gave a phenomenal tour of the house. Painting of family members and what they did. Reading the book “Africa House,” you see places, library…. That is mention in the book. It is neat connecting events from the book with the actual house. One of Charlie’s great uncles was one of nine survivors of the Khyber Pass. His portrait is on the wall plus a rifle and helmet from an Afghani his great uncle shot.

Hospitality

The hospitality was phenomenal. Even after the first evening, I could have gone back and felt it was a success. The meals were great and plentiful. The routine of meeting in the main room (not sure official name) for a sundowner or tea before dinner and after dinner was great.
Conversations were enjoyable and enlightening.

Internet is by roaming in the bush or at the office — no internet at the house. Charlie got rid of the internet at the house because people were focused on their phones versus their surroundings. I whole heartily agree.

I called and talked to my wife one day while out in the bush. She said to me: “You do not want to come home, do you?” I said: “I never said that.” She said: “No, I can tell.”
I realized that I was very relaxed and everything I enjoy or interested in was at Shiwa. The hunting was relaxed, enjoyable, and successful. I enjoyed passing out toothbrushes and toothpaste to the kids and bringing much-needed medicine to the hospital. I enjoy history, especially WWI British East Africa. The last shots of WWI have fired 50 KM from here. The German’s General Lettow von Vorbeck’s grandson was there for the 100 anniversary of the ending of WWI last year. I enjoy British guns and seeing and Charlie’s grandfathers 333 Jeffery and 470 Nitro Express. I was in heaven.

Lessons learned on my conduct

1. Somewhere I developed the habit of lifting my head when shooting. – reason for my misses
2. Be ready to shoot versus looking at the game in binoculars
3. The basics of shooting for those Marines: BRASS – Breathe, Relax, Aim, Stop, Squeeze the trigger.
4. I brought a DSL and Zoom lens, with its bag was bulky. Most of my game pictures are shot with the iPhone just easier.
5. If sticks are too tall, take a second to adjust and let tracker know, once I let him know they were the correct height.
6. Practice more on shooting live animals versus targets.

Major Lessons Learned

On my 800 KM drive up to Zhiwa I did not see any game animals or roadkill unlike here in Ohio you see multiple deer dead alongside the road to deer out in the fields or edge of the woods. Charlie explained to me that there are not any animals unless it is a game area that is hunted and being protected from poachers.
Last month they caught a poacher and Charlie called the police. The police did not have petrol for their cars. So Charlie called one of his employees in town; had him rent a car and driver and pick up the policeman and drive them out to the farm to make the arrest.

On another note, there were a couple of groups of Zambian college students who were on a field trip to the Shiwa house because of its historical significance. These were the first game animals that the students saw in their lives. I think us Americans think everyone in Africa is around game animals and it is a false notion.

There are a lot of things that I have not covered. Shiwa is a wonderful place and Jo and Charlie are doing a great job of bringing back its splendor and offering some great hunting.

Great report.

One question.. how big is the hunting area?

Enjoyed your report. Glad you had a great time!

The main reserve is 23,000 acres that I hunted on. He also hunts a couple of other areas for Cape Buffalo and other species.

quote:

Humanitarian

Your "Humanitarian" section. Is this a common theme among African hunters ?
I salute you sir, for giving back to the weakest and most vulnerable in any society.
Your graciousness defines your character.

Interesting report. Thanks for posting it!

Very nice report!

Thanks for taking the time to fill it out. Being able to read about the history of where one is at is very enjoyable to me as well.

Congratulations on a fine hunt and trip!

Great report of a fascinating place, thanks for sharing.

Read this great book. Fantastic destination.
This has been on my list for some time and I must go there just for the history. Hunting would play a second role.
Do they have buffalo hunts there as well ?

Cheers

Thanks for posting.

quote:

Originally posted by BEJ:
[QUOTE]Humanitarian

BEJ, I would ask others here to answer your question but many people I personally know or who are involved with Safari Club bring the "Blue Bag" of school or medical or what the locals need. I also know folks who have donated money to help build churches or schools. The Safari Club Foundation and chapters encourage members to bring items to where they are hunting. There is a Amy Bell Foundation which provides funding for the bags and soccer balls I believe.

Jim

Wonderful and informative report. Thanks for posting.

Best regards, D. Nelson

quote:

Originally posted by AB109:

Do they have buffalo hunts there as well ?

Cheers

AB109, I believe Charlie hunts buffalo in areas called Nyaminga and Mukungule.

Many thanks

quote:

Originally posted by Singleshot03:

quote:

Originally posted by AB109:

Do they have buffalo hunts there as well ?

Cheers

AB109, I believe Charlie hunts buffalo in areas called Nyaminga and Mukungule.

Well done!

Great photos and report, thanks for posting!

.

+1 !

.

See any sitatunga? I recall that Danish shot one there a couple of years ago.

I did not see any sitatunga but he takes 4 off there a year. They must have been hiding in the swamp.

Outstanding Hunting Report. One minor correction: the first “S” in BRASS stands for “Sight” not Stop. I was the Honor Graduate of the All Army Rifle Instructors and Coaches Clinic in 1975, and taught BRASS to thousands of Army shooters.

What an enjoyable report, Congrats!!!

Very nice report and fine photos.
You clearly were there for the experience with good success!

quote:

Originally posted by Bud Meadows:
Outstanding Hunting Report. One minor correction: the first “S” in BRASS stands for “Sight” not Stop. I was the Honor Graduate of the All Army Rifle Instructors and Coaches Clinic in 1975, and taught BRASS to thousands of Army shooters.

Bud must be the difference is services. We definelty used the first "S" for Stop. Verified with a couple of Marine buddies. I also googled it and some people used the first "S" to stand for taking up the "Slack"

I stand corrected. The first “S” in BRASS stands for Slack. Keep in mind I was in the Army in the 1970’s and I’m lucky if I remember my way home these days.

Thanks for sharing. I hear you on the taxidermy. Last year I went saying I wasn’t bringing anything home. Well, couple grand later it’s state side and being worked on by the taxidermist. I can’t fool myself, I enjoy looking at the taxidermy from my hunts.

I very much enjoyed this report.

Thank you for sharing it and all the details.

George