Outfitter: Atacora Safaris
Area: Konkombri bordering Pendjari National Park
PH: Philippe Clero
Animals taken: Harnessed Bushbuck, Western Savannah Buffalo, Western Roan, Hippo, Red-flanked duiker
Animals targeted but not taken: Western Hartebeest, Sing Sing Waterbuck

After 3 safaris to southern Africa, I wanted to try something different. East Africa is a little too expensive for me, so I wanted to give West Africa a shot. One problem I ran into is my lack of speaking French. From my research I noted that the more popular (and cheaper) destination was Burkina Faso, and the typical arrangement was using a local PH with an interpreter. In many cases this led to a successful hunt, but in some it also led to a nightmare, specifically related to communication and expectations. One of my requirements was to have a PH that spoke English and preferably not local. I also wanted to hunt an area and country not commonly hunted by Americans. This led me to Benin. Currently there are only 5 outfitters in Benin, 4 of which offer Big Game hunting. Porga – operated by Club Faune, Batia which mostly uses local PHs and the W park, which is currently red-flagged for terrorist activity from the Niger border. Finally there is a relatively small concession called Konkombri on the north-east side of Pendjari Park.




Konkombri is small but very unique. It is bordered by the Pendjari river to the north and west (with the national park on the other side of the river) and by the Atacora mountains on the east side. This leads to a good amount of animals that cross over from the park and the mountains sort of provide a natural barrier to many, especially some with 2 legs. It was previously run by an operator that primarily catered to European clients, typically French. But last year, the operations were taken over by new management and they are interested in marketing to other sectors like the US. The owner actually advertised a hunt on this forum. There are 2 PHs currently in camp both named Philippe and both speak very good English. Philippe Clero, who I hunted with, hunts extensively in Tanzania and used to hunt in CAR. Thus he is very used to non-European clients, especially Americans. His English is impeccable.




The hunt is not especially hard, but you must be in decent shape. The terrain is mostly savannah with forest type woodlands near the rivers and rocky near the foothills of the mountains. The valleys in the mountains also have some shallow pools of water. The ground for the most part is hard clay and has a lot of holes from elephant foot prints during the rainy season. I managed to twist my ankle badly in one of these on the 2nd day of the hunt, but the hunt was saved by an Ace bandage and some Advil. They do some controlled burning, so you have anything from tall to medium grass and burnt patches of new grass. Great habitat for animals to eat and bed. This is not a high game density area. I would call it medium, but there are large nos. of buffalo, roan and kob. More importantly there are many old animals as well as animals of different age ranges including very young, which is promising. They have anti-poaching teams that are incentivized by what they find. The model seems to be working.




During my hunt the days were very hot and basically we returned to camp for lunch and didn’t start back up until late afternoon. Very little animal activity in the heat of the day. The camp is in the middle of the concession and remote. It takes about 2 hrs by car after you enter the park near Batia. Camp is comfortable and they have a generator they run all day. Huts have en-suite bathrooms and running water from a well. Food is French cuisine exclusively using game meat. Good food. I don’t drink much when hunting, but they have a good selection of hard liquors, wine and beer, which is included in moderation. The Harmattan was an issue the last 5 days of the hunt. Animals are a little skittish, especially in high winds. It also induces coughing in cases.






Bushbuck

This was high on my list. Ended up taking him on the first day. We were not having much luck connecting with animals, so decided to stop by a local fishing village. On the way back, I asked to stop to take a picture of the sunset and as we were doing so, up pops the horns in the foreground. Get off the truck and a quick stalk and shot. The grass is high in places, so very often you do not get a full view of the animal. In this case, all I could see was the back half and part of the head. You have to know the anatomy. I shot through the grass and got the lungs just behind the front legs. You have to be comfortable taking shots like this or you may have to pass on many good animals. I naturally tend to aim for fur, so had to concentrate a bit.







Buffalo
On the first day, we chased a group of old males through some thick terrain. There was one very good old male in the group but got spooked about 200 yards out by some kob we ran into. We chased them for a few hours, through tall grass, dry river beds, woodlands and savannah, but ended up losing the tracks. Pretty sure they went back into the park. On the second day afternoon, we ran into a large herd. Must have been about a hundred buffalo. A quick stalk and shot at what we felt was the oldest bull in the group. We saw buffalo almost every day. Some very old bulls and in many cases we were able to stalk as close as 30 yards. Pretty exciting stuff.




Roan
We saw Roan every day. Many is groups and also many loan bulls. Ideally I wanted to take an old lone bull. On the afternoon of the third day, we found a lone old male right off the road. The first shot was a bit back, but we finished after a quick follow up.



Hippo
I was originally hoping to do a hunt on land. But these hippos pretty much stay in the water during daylight hours. The hippos here stay in pools close to the river and go back and forth into the park. It is exciting to get so close to them, but the hunt itself is not the most adrenaline pumping. We looked over a couple of pools over two day. The challenge is finding a suitable old animal. The shot will be fairly close, within 50 yards. They are not as big bodied as other parts of Africa. The recovery is definitely exciting and not what I was expecting. There are no boats, so the guys go out with lighted palm fronds and beat the water to scare away the other hippos and crocodiles to tie a rope to the dead hippo and drag it back.




Red-flanked duiker
We nicknamed them the red devil. They were very high on my list and one of the reasons I picked Benin over Burkina Faso. Having taken the bushbuck, buffalo and roan within the first 3 days took some pressure off so we could concentrate on the duiker. All you see are fleeting glimpses as they run off. Philippe would call them and on the first day, we had one come in very close to the call, but it was a female. We saw quite a few of them but they don’t stand still long enough for a shot. Also once they see you, they will not respond to a call. We hunted them hard for 4-5 days. They like living at the edge of the savannah and the woodlands near the dry river beds. Very difficult habitat for a shot due to the thick vegetation and obstructions. Finally one morning, we managed to find one hiding behind some thick branches. It was not far but extremely obstructed view. The head was behind a big branch. It took us a while to confirm it was a shootable male. We got a quick glimpse of the horns when it picked up its head. The only shot I had was a few inch by few inch opening through the brush on the rib cage. Otherwise the animal was completely obstructed. I took careful aim and shot. But the bullet must have hit a branch and tumbled. It ended up hitting the animal in the head at an angle and pretty much destroyed the skull and cape. It was the most exciting and the most disappointing point of the entire hunt. I wanted to do a full body mount and after chasing them for days, I had managed to destroy the cape. He was an old male with very nice horns.




Hartebeest and Waterbuck
On day 2 I completely missed a shot on a nice old male hartebeest standing quarter to at about 120 yards. I have no idea what happened. We tried chasing them for a second shot, but no luck. I was so surprised at the miss I even rechecked zero on the rifle. It was me. We chased after them on a few other occasions, but either could not get a decent shot or could not find a shootable old animal.

The last two days, I decided to also try for Waterbuck. They were there, although not in huge numbers. The day before the last day, we actually came across a very nice old male in a group. They were pretty relaxed on the side of the road, so we drove past them and stopped to glass. As we were glassing, a truck full of game scouts from the park drove up right behind us and stopped right in front of them causing them to take off. We tried going after them, but no luck. On the afternoon of the last day we saw a male that would meet trophy standards, but was still young, so I decided not to take the shot.

Pointers:
1. I flew into Ouaga in Burkina and drove from there into Benin. Flights from France to Ouaga are more frequent than to Cotonou in Benin and I was not carrying rifles. The border crossing can be difficult as many are looking for bribes. I refuse to bribe, especially government officials. I was questioned for a while by the Benin police at the border, but finally he gave up and stamped my passport. I would consider flying into Cotonou to save the hassle. Drive time from either is about 10-11 hrs over crappy roads. Flying from Cotonou to Natitingou on an air charter then driving 3 hrs may be an option for those interested.
2. I would not recommend this for first time hunters to Africa or those who want a high body count of animals. The enjoyment is in the experience and you must go with the flow. The animals are there, but you will need focus and luck to get them.
3. Harmattan can be an issue if you are sensitive to dust. You will get caked in it. I think I have a pound of that crap in my lungs. A bandana or dust mask may help. As such I did not have much issues with it.
4. It was hot with temps around 40-42 mid day, but it is a dry heat. Evenings are cool. I would think twice about hunting after mid-march because of the heat. The concessions is bordered by the river on 2 sides, so there is always water and animals here. But when hot they are not moving.
5. English is not an issue with these guys. The PHs as well as the Owners speak great English and are very fast in responding to your queries. No surprises from what I was told the hunt was going to be.
6. The ground is uneven and hard clay. You may not see many holes as they are covered in dry grass. Boots with good ankle support is needed. Also carry a couple of Ace bandages in your first aid kit. It saved my hunt.

Excellent report !!!!!!

Mike

Awesome trip and a great report!

Gosh Excellent report excellent pictures .Got back from Burkina Faso in late January hunted Arly safaris just across the river from you. You right West Africa is a great experience . But is it is better to have a couple of Africa trips under your belt. Not a hard hunt but not easy either should be able to walk 5 to 6 miles a day and shoot a diner plate of sticks at 150 yards

Very well done! Congratulations on quite an adventure.

Very cool hunt destination!

Thanks for a great report.

Great report congrats!!!

quote:

Originally posted by shotgun46:
Gosh Excellent report excellent pictures .Got back from Burkina Faso in late January hunted Arly safaris just across the river from you. You right West Africa is a great experience . But is it is better to have a couple of Africa trips under your belt. Not a hard hunt but not easy either should be able to walk 5 to 6 miles a day and shoot a diner plate of sticks at 150 yards

Your assessment is very correct. Like any hunting, you may get lucky, but need to be prepared to walk some distance everyday and we did. Frankly, I went with little expectations and wanted to enjoy the experience as it came, so was fairly surprised and excited with the amount of game I saw.

You may not remember, but I had a short conversation with you about staying the night in Ouaga after the attacks. Thanks once again for your feedback and I am glad to say I did not see any problems during my stay as well as my flight out. There are a large no. of checkpoints outside the city all the way to the border and we got stopped multiple times to look at ID and some even wanted to look inside the bags. A bit of a hassle, but I would rather that than the alternative.

Great report and trophies. Good to see the new operator investing in the area.

I love it.

Good Hunting

Carl Frederik

Great report!! Thanks for sharing!!

very well done!
Just returned from Burkina and enjoyed the change as well.

Outstanding report, trophies and pictures,
AR 79. Is that the same hat you wore during your leopard hunt with Jan at Sebra Hunting Safaris? I head back in April 2017 for my fourth hunt with Jan.

Great adventure!!!!

What dates were you there?
What would you do differently other than the airlines?
What would you recommend for a 1st timer to Benin?

Well done Roy !

You do like Buffalo don't you ?

Great report. Thanks for posting

great report and congrats on some fantastic animals.

Classic !! Well done !!

Nice Roan. Thanks for the report.

quote:

Originally posted by Bud Meadows:
Outstanding report, trophies and pictures,
AR 79. Is that the same hat you wore during your leopard hunt with Jan at Sebra Hunting Safaris? I head back in April 2017 for my fourth hunt with Jan.

I have worn that on all my trips to Africa. It's my lucky hat. Can't do without it.

quote:

Originally posted by dogcat:
Great adventure!!!!

What dates were you there?
What would you do differently other than the airlines?
What would you recommend for a 1st timer to Benin?

I hunted for 10 days from 16-25 Feb.

I flew Air France and that was not really the issue. Even if I flew into Cotonou, it would have been Air France. Originally I chose to fly into Ouaga because I was told the road tranfer was 5-6 hrs. Once I got there, realized some of the roads had deteriorated and the trip ended up being a little over 11hrs. This is the same time it would take from Cotonou. So no real advantage. Things like this change everyday depending on checkpoints, condition of roads, etc. so you have to go with the flow. These guys are trying and really investing in the camp and concession, with plans for an air strip in the future. So that will really change things.

Benin is not that much different from other West African countries. The first timer to Benin needs to have patience and learn to not get upset over things that always do not go as planned. The real enjoyment is the experience and the more positive you remain, the better your experience. In camp, these guys try their hardest to make sure you are happy.

Simply outstanding!

That's cool, it's nice to see new places.

Very informative report. You did well. Nice adventure.

Great report, trophies and some fine photography! Especially like the photo of the African shaped rock. Cool stuff.

I agree with your assessment regarding West African safaris. They are a true adventure and you need to roll with the west African flow or you can get agitated fairly quickly. But Benin, Burkina Faso and Cameroon are great safari countries with surprisedly diverse and plentiful species for the dedicated hunter.

Well done.

Outstanding trophies. Well done!

Well done! Way to go. What happened to the Batia conccesion that lays near by? Any info while being there?

quote:

Originally posted by dwarf416:
Well done! Way to go. What happened to the Batia conccesion that lays near by? Any info while being there?

This is second hand info, so take it for what it's worth. I met with a person from an NGO that is completely independent of all the hunting concessions as well as the park. But he was involved with the parks as well as the hunting concessions. According to him, poaching has become a serious problem in Batia. I feel this is due to their close proximity to the villages. Also they are reportedly doing uncontrolled burning and the animals just don't feel safe due to lack of cover. Again, none of this is first hand, but I did receive the info from an independent source.

It would be better if somebody that has hunted Batia recently can provide some feedback.

Great hunt and a really cool destination. Thanks for sharing your adventure.

quote:

Originally posted by AR79:

quote:

Originally posted by Bud Meadows:
Outstanding report, trophies and pictures,
AR 79. Is that the same hat you wore during your leopard hunt with Jan at Sebra Hunting Safaris? I head back in April 2017 for my fourth hunt with Jan.

I have worn that on all my trips to Africa. It's my lucky hat. Can't do without it.

So true, I am not a supersticious person but I have a lucky shirt I bought in Italy at Camp Darby 20 years ago, when I am not having any luck in the hunting fields I put it on and "BAM" something wonderful becomes nyama.

May not be luck, but it sure as hell helps align the stars or get my head in the game.

Sad thing is, it has several holes in it.

Thanks for the info.

Congratulation's,
Buff looks like a really nice one. Gotta love the bushbuck too.

We took the same highway. Trip was supposed too be aprox. 4-5 hours. It was more like 7 because off all the potholes.

All – thanks for your comments on the pictures. I never considered myself artistic or a photographer as such and was using my wife’s camera on this trip. Her advice was, “Take lots of pics and some are bound to come out good!!!” I decided to add some more pics that I think came out decent. Please enjoy.


Harmattan







Pendjari river

AR,

Thanks for a great report. Congratulations on a great hunt and animals. What a duiker!

You just added a destination to my bucket list.

Nice report! GREAT Pictures!

Very nice hunt report AR79, well done you got some great animals. I agree with you 100%, it is a great experience to hunt West Africa. I just spent 6 days late April with some friends. We had a big amount of rain, the bush was green with water everywhere. We saw lots of game, buffaloes twice a day, roan, hartebeest, cob and so on.
By the way I am going to hunt with them next year. So if some of the AR members are looking for details, please PM me.

Congratulation again.
Christophe