I am not really sure how to do this but being an engineer, here is how it makes sense to me -

Locations and Outfitter
Tollie Jordaan
Tollie�s African Safari�s
P.O. Box 377
Somerset East
5850
South Africa
Phone - + 27 42 2432157
Fax +27 42 2431715
Email Tollie@isat.co.za
Website � www.safari-in-africa.com

Summary

Usually, you save a summary for the end of the report, but I can�t wait to tell you what we thought. There were 4 families (15 people, 8 hunters) on this trip. Absolutely the best trip any of us has ever taken! One hunter had been to this place previously, the rest of us were new to Africa. The hospitality was the finest we ever enjoyed � a bold statement but understand that collectively, the people on this trip have traveled to over 50 countries around the world, with two families living abroad in Germany, Kazakhstan, Russia, Okinawa and Venezuela. The Jordaan family has owned the ranch we hunted on for 4 generations and are true Afrikaaners. Being Christians, we were treated by the �golden rule� with Tollie and Karen living out their faith as they hosted us.

The best summary statement is � we are all headed back as soon as we can!!

Offerings-
Tollie offers the normal 10 day, six animal (plains game) package with up to 30 total species offered. The normal species are available with some extras such as Red Lechwe, Vaal Rheebok, Klipspringer, Waterbuck, Nyala and Cape Kudu. Waterfowl and trout fishing are available. The hunt areas are on his ranch (60,000 acres) and several nearby ranches that he knows or his family owns. He also offers a variety of very unique experiences for the entire family. Our trip included 4 families- 4 adult men hunters, 4 wives, 7 children of which 5 hunted. The children ranged in ages from 9 to 17. The website details all of the activities and side trips that are available. Side trips include tours of Port Elizabeth, Cape Town, Graff-Rennett, historical areas, Addo Elephant Park (next in size to Krueger), Mountain Zebra Park, traditional lunch in a local black family home, trips to local fairs and whatever else is happening in the Eastern Cape.

Special Offering

On the website you will see that Tolllie offers a Hunting Academy for teenagers. This was the primary reason that I selected Tollie for our first trip to Africa. We sent 5 teenage sons and an �uncle� to SA a week ahead of the families to attend this academy. They learned from PH�s about tracking, skinning, trophy identification, Bird and reptile identification, flora and fauna identification, local traditions, ethics, safety, survival in the bush, first aid and shooting, shooting, shooting. My two sons came back changed people. They are athletes, Boy Scouts and outdoorsman, but this experience gave them knowledge, skills and confidence that I could never have imparted to them any other way. During the academy, they hunted Springbok, Mountain Reedbok, Blesbuck and assorted non-game species such as rock dossies, vervet monkeys, springhare.

Hospitality

The website does not adequately convey the quality of the trips, the accommodations, hunting, PH�s and the food. I have spent my adult working career in the oil industry, working and traveling to 30 countries around the world. I have never been in a country (including Ireland, Scotland, UK, New Zealand, Australia, or Canada) where the hosts made such an extraordinary effort to make our group feel at �home�. For several in the group, this was the first trip outside of North America. I had never been to South Africa and no knowledge of the country or the people. I was absolutely stunned at the quality of life, the infrastructure, quality of food, friendliness of people and the �at home� feeling being in the country. My wife and 17 year old daughter were not enthusiastic about the trip prior to going. They were appeasing me and my sons. Along with the other non-hunters, they toured the local area and parks, but were most impacted by the local people. They went to the local schools, markets and medical clinics to see the local lifestyle. They were �blown away� by the locals and what they experienced. Of the five in my family, my wife and daughter were the ones in tears when we left.

Hunting

Being my first to Africa, I have nothing to compare to other than guided trips for elk (4 trips), deer hunting on Texas ranches (6 trips, 4 to luxury camps) and sheep (1 trip) in the US. Based on that, forget hunting in the US! The cost and the experience in Africa has me converted. The PH�s, the hunting methods, variety of game and accommodations has won me over.
The hunting was done on Tollie�s property (60,000 acres) for most game (Blue and Black Wildebeast, Springbok, Blesbok, Nyala, Mountain Reedbok, Red Hartebeast, Eland, Steenbok, Duiker, Bontebok, Baboons, Burchell�s Zebra, Gemsbok and Impala). He as access to nearby ranches for nearly all of the rest of the game. These nearby ranches are owned by his immediate family or by families he has known for many years. Several of the PH�s were sons in those families and all were excellent. Kudu hunting was done on ranches or parks within 90 minutes of Tollie�s ranch. I did not realize that Kudu is the game the PH�s and locals prize the most, much like big whitetails in Texas. These folks are passionate about Kudu and we were all infected with the passion as well. Our group took about 60 animals in total. The Kudu (6 taken) all were in the 44� to 49� range. We had one bow hunter who took several animals with his bow including Kudu. No game was lost
I could recount hunting stories until you were bored, but let me say that all of the hunting was spot and stalk. We drove to areas and frequently drove in the ranches until game was spotted or we were in a good area, then we stalked. There were no �easy� hunts, no drive up and shoot situations. The game was all wary and required repeated stalks and attempts. The most difficult game to stalk was Steenbok, Mountain Reedbok and Vaal Rheebok. I hunted all three and never got a shot a �Vaalies�. The terrain was mountainous and we could not get close enough for a good shot. The PH�s were extremely particular about the animal selected. My past experiences on elk and on Texas whitetails with guides (hurry up and shoot, hurry up and shoot!!!) had me very wary until the PH told me not to shoot more often not. My youngest son (13 yrs) took a 28� Nyala after passing on over 40 bulls in 3 days in the 22 to 24� range. The PH knew there was true trophy if we would be patient. My older son�s and my Kudu hunt was different. The PH took us to an area he had never hunted successfully on (bad omen to me) but said he had seen several nice bulls while hunting other species. We hunted a half a day and took took 48� Kudu�s after seeing several young bulls. My son took his with a .243 and mine with a .280. These are tough animals and we put killing shots on them, but they still got into the bush requiring tracking. The PH said he had never taken two Kudu in one day especially in an area he was not totally familiar with. Call it luck or whatever, but we had a great hunt.
Zebra and Springbok hunting were great fun and very challenging also. The boys enjoyed hunting vervet monkeys the most and actually worked harder at that than anything else. They switched to baboons, but were repeatedly outsmarted by them, never taking one.

Overall, none of us were after �inches� just fun, challenging hunts that we would remember. One of us passed on Red Lechwe as it was too easy and did not require much effort. That hunter never took a Red Lechwe on this trip.

Costs

Being an engineer and having an executive with a Harvard MBA on the trip, we researched the trip in detail. Costs are listed below. You can judge if we made a good deal or not. We were well satisfied with the value we received for the money.

Hunting Academy (included 2 animals) - $2200 per person
Package Hunt (six animals of various sizes but included Kudu and Zebra) - $4250
Dip and Pack - $50 per animal
Non-Hunter rate - $190 per day
Hunter Rate - $390 per day
Animals not on the package were priced
This was �all inclusive� for PH�s, food, drink, accommodations and transportation everywhere. We spent nothing else other than tips.

I realize that costs change due to the Rand vs. US dollar exchange rate, but we were extremely pleased with the cost.

If you have questions, please call me at 918 491 4834 or 918 749 9454. Anyone at my home that answers the phone can tell you how wonderful our trip was.

Ross Murphy
2894 S. Utica Ave.
Tulsa, OK 74114

PS � Does anyone have a nice .375 H&H in a Model 70 or Sako? I need one for my next trip.