And all I can say is that it was awesome! This was my first trip to Africa so I don't have much to compare against, but it will be hard to better the hunting, sightseeing and fishing that we had along the way.

We hunted with Claude Thorburn and I cannot speak highly enough of him. Many of you in the U.S. may not have heard of Claude as a majority of his clients seem to be from Europe, but by all accounts he measured up to and exceeded my expectations of a PH. Claude's credentials speak for themselves as he has been a PH for many, many years. Last year his clients took 27 leopards and I may not know much about leopard hunting but that seems like a bunch! He bent over backwards to make sure we had everything we needed or wanted in addition to the excellent stalking. My wife tested this philosophy by missing a couple of springbok at long distances and then finally connecting on a long and ardous belly crawl that left them both full of thorns . All told, our small group took 3 gemsbok, 3 springbok, a black wildebeast, and a mountain zebra in 4 actual days of hunting on a property that had just been opened to hunting. We saw huge herds of gemsbok, hartebest, and wildebeast as well as a pile of springbok. The warties were there as well, but more difficult to see in the tall grass. More stories and photos coming as soon as I get things digitized.

Claude's hunting abilities were self evident in the field, but he also proved most adept at getting everything else arranged as well. When my wife and I arrived in Windhoek from Jo-burg, all of our luggage made it except the rifles. Within a few minutes Claude had things sorted out and by supper time that night the rifles were in Namibia.

We also toured Etosha National Park for a couple days and I would highly recommend it to anyone in the area. We saw piles of game including giraffe, zebra, wildabest, elephants, rhino, lions, etc., etc. even though they have more water (hence grass and brush) than they've had for 8 or more years.

We finished the trip with a few cool days in Swakopmund. We tried our hand at catching bronze sharks, but came up a bit empty. We did catch a few smaller fish and some nurse sharks though and thoroughly enjoyed the cooler temps along the ocean.

Kernel

P.S. Joe's Beer House in Windhoek is awesome for game steaks and atmosphere, but the Cattle Baron had one of the best beef fillet's I've had in a long time!

Kernal,
Good for you!!! What part of Namibia is your PH based out of, and what area did you hunt? Wolf

Kernel,

Lets see some pics, I bet you had a blast.

Wolfgar,



Claude operates primarily out of Windhoek I think mostly for logistical reasons of picking up hunters and such. We hunted west of Windhoek about 100 km or so meaining we were more or less in the central part of Namibia. Cluade does have access to several areas further north and west in the more mountainous regions also. I believe those are the areas where most of the leopards are and where I'll be going next time!!! We didn't have time, but he also has some good bird hunting spots further south in Namibia. Ah, too many options and too little time.



Pics coming soon!

Congratulations, Kernel, on your first African safari. As you know, it won't be your last! The trip home was probably spent wondering how to get back as soon as possible. Namibia is a great country for a first or tenth hunt. Sounds like you had an excellent PH and were wise to travel and see as much of the country as possible. Look forward to your pictures.

My mountain zebra photo is posted below. The first photo shows me at just about the top of the "mountain" about an hour before shooting the zebra. It was a spectacular stalk and the shot was a considerable challenge for me. The zebra died where it stood and is also the spot of the photo. The highest peak you see behind me is from where I shot. It was about 230-250 yards and something close to a 40 degree angle. Luck involved you may ask? Probably and lots of it!



I was using my 9.3x62 loaded with 286 gr Nosler Partitions. My shot was a bit behind the shoulder, but completely passed through and made soup of the internals. I'm a believer in that round now for sure. It may not travel fast, but it hits like a freight train!