Hunter: Jason Johnson
Observer: Michelle Johnson
Dates: September 9 through September 21, 2010

Otjandaue Hunting Safaris
Omaruru, Namibia
PH Roy van der Merwe

Travel : arranged by Steve Turner, Travelwithguns.com

Rifles: Remington 700; 300 Ultra Mag ; Bullet: 180 grain Barnes TSX
Kimber .22 Win Mag Rimfire

Animals Harvested: Kudu, Blue Wildebeest, Steenbuck, 2 Gemsboks, Mountain Zebra, and Warthog

Being my first trip to Africa, some of this will be old news to a lot of readers, but bear with me. On Sept. 7 we flew from Detroit, Michigan to Atlanta . While in Atlanta, my wife and I met JudgeG who invited us to relax in the Delta Skyroom as his guests while we awaited our next flight. The Judge is a really nice guy and was a pleasure to visit with. Our next flight was to Johannesburg. Upon arrival in JNB we collected our luggage and rifles and went to the Southern Sun Hotel to relax for the evening and get some much needed rest. The Southern Sun was clean and quite comfortable, I would not hesitate to stay there again.

The following day, Sept. 9, we flew to Windhoek, Namibia, collected our gear, met Roy and proceeded to the lodge. The next morning we went to the range to check the rifles and then went hunting. Being my first African hunt I was shocked by the amount of game we saw everyday. We drove in the cruiser, stalked on foot, and sat at blinds near waterholes for the eight days of hunting. Roy is an excellent guide and hunter and knows his ranch like the back of his hand. Of the game we hunted the Hartman Zebra was probably the most difficult to get a shot at, but after a couple days of zebra hunting and a few blown attempts by me, I finally harvested a zebra. On the next to last day of hunting we spotted a caracal, the second caracal in as many days, which I proceeded to miss three times. I could make excuses like : it was quite windy, or I was not sure of the distance, but the bottom line is that I was really excited and it happened really fast and I REALLY missed. Maybe next time! I harvested all of the game I had hoped to and had a wonderful time hunting, so for me the hunt was a success on all levels.

Accommodations
The guest house is clean, comfortable and well furnished with all the comforts of home. The food was always good and plentiful and the lodge is nice and efficiently run. Roy and his wife, Janet, are great hosts and make you feel more like friends than clients.

Side Trips
After our eight days of hunting we made two side trips. The first was to Etosha National Park, which is a great trip that I would recommend to anyone visiting Namibia. We saw many lions, elephants, black rhino and a plethora of plains game. We stayed at the Okaukuejo rest camp while in Etosha and it is a very comfortable resort style camp. Our other trip was to Swakopmund, on the coast. Swakopmund is a resort town with nice hotels and dining. It also offers shopping, both on the street at wooden markets and in shops throughout downtown. While in Swakopmund, we rented quad bikes and rode in the giant sand dunes and it was a fun afternoon.

Summary
The trip was a success on all levels and I don’t know how things could have gone any better. I think the only thing I would change if I could would be to have hunted 14 days instead of 8.

TROPHY PICTURES











ETOSHA PICTURES






Regards,
Jason

Very nice.

Congrats

My one regret when I went to Namibia was not visiting Etosha for a few days.

P.S. Your doomed, have fun on your next one

Nice report, photos and trophies!

I went to Namibia for the first time myself this year with an itinerary very similar to yours.

What a wonderful country, hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

Like Heym 450/400 said, you're probably doomed like me, all I do is dream about getting back to Africa as soon as I can.

Congrats on a great trip.

Wonderful trip. Nice trophies. Those Etosha pix are special.

Namibia was also my first safari hunt and I think you made a wise choice and collected a fine mixed bag of animals. It is a safe and well run Country, and has a wide variety of game animals like you enjoyed.

Cogratulations, and hope the Taxidermy costs don't exceed your safari costs. (Mine did).

Your smile says it all.

When are you going back?

Congratulations Jason!!! What a wonderful first safari!!!!

Brett

How fun for you two!!

Rich
DRSS

Great trophies and pics!

I hope one day my son and I can make it there to hunt Namibia again and meet up with Roy...

Roy is good folk!

quote:

P.S. Your doomed, have fun on your next one

How do these guys know you?
Sure glad this trip worked for you . Next time we can hunt Elephant.

Congratulations !
Andy

Thanks for the report and nice photos. You will never be able to convince people that zebra hunting is challenging. They think that you just walk righ up to one and whack it, but in fact they are one of the most difficult animals to stalk.

Looks like you had a great trip. I have a photo of that same single elephant when we were in Etosha in July.

Great trophies, and great trophy photos! The smile says it all!

John

Jason,

Congrats on great hunt with Roy. He is a really nice guy and I enjoyed my short hunt with him a few years ago. Glad to hear things are still going well at Otjandaue.

Bill

Very well done. You got a variety of good trophies and you and your wife had a great time.

Congratulations.

quote:

Originally posted by Jason Johnson:
...and make you feel more like friends than clients.

I felt the same way about the folks on my Namibian safari.

You sure got a lot of bang for your bucks, Jason. Congrats!

Congratulations on your wonderful Safari!

You have contracted the "African addiction" now. When is the next safari?

Congratulations, D. Nelson

Outstanding pictures and trophies. Well done.

Thanks for sharing. It certainly appears as if you had a great trip.

Jason,

Great pictures and great trophys. I took my first safari to Namibia this year and I agree with all that you said.

Good luck and I hope your return trip is near.

Nice pics Jason, congrats on a successful hunt!

Sounds like an awesome trip and great pictures!

Wonderful report! Thanks for sharing. Great trophies and photos.

Congrats - looks like a great trip!

Hi Jason, Good Pictures, Glad you had a Good hunt. Talk to you soon . Mo Das

quote:

Originally posted by ghostbird:
Congratulations !
Andy

A1

Great Trophies Jason

Now I get to see some pics of Roy's place.
Can't wait till spring I'll be spending 6 weeks at Roy's place working with him and his wife teaching them taxidermy and tanning.






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Congrats on a great safari.

It was nice to meet you and yours in ATL. Thanks for the report and great pictures!

Congratulations Jason. Great trophies and pictures. The last time I hunted with Roy I hunted four days straight for a Hartman's zebra but did not manage to get one. I had to be satisfied with an old Burchell's Zebra on the last day.
I love hunting with Roy. He has a good setup and Janet and him make the trip really pleasant.

See you at DSC hopefully

Jas

Outstanding, Jason!! I hope to go on my first hunt in Africa next June! I'm planning 7 days to hunt but unfortunately that is all I can pull off. I'm sure I will wish for more days like you!

Thanks for report on great first safari!
I presume the huge smiles are from you mind telling you "I must do this again!"

Wow, that brings back some great memories! I hunted in Omaruru myself 2.5 years ago and then went to Etosha and Swakopmund as well. The terrian where you hunted is almost a carbon copy of the terrain I was hunting on.

Great pics and great report!

PS - I know what you mean about hunting zebras there - mine took 3 days and came right down to the wire on my last day - but man, was it a rush!

quote:

Originally posted by JohnCrighton:
Wow, that brings back some great memories! I hunted in Omaruru myself 2.5 years ago and then went to Etosha and Swakopmund as well. The terrian where you hunted is almost a carbon copy of the terrain I was hunting on.

Great pics and great report!



PS - I know what you mean about hunting zebras there - mine took 3 days and came right down to the wire on my last day - but man, was it a rush!

I spoke with you about two and a half years ago about your Namibia trip. Joyce and I ended up going to Etosha and Swakopmund as well on our trip before hunting with Arub and then heading to Zambia.

Thanks again for the information. It was a big help.

Great post and pictures, i am looking forward to hunting there some day.

quote:

Originally posted by 470drshooter:
Namibia was also my first safari hunt and I think you made a wise choice and collected a fine mixed bag of animals. It is a safe and well run Country, and has a wide variety of game animals like you enjoyed.

Cogratulations, and hope the Taxidermy costs don't exceed your safari costs. (Mine did).

My first safari as well. I need to go back. I have wonderful memories of that hunt.