Andrew's Prelude Thread


Darin Nelson's Update Thread



Location: Mukuyu Camp on the banks of the Kafue River, Zambia

Outfitter: Royal Kafue

Booking Agent: Mark Young

PH: Andrew Baldry

Trackers: Green, Redson

Game Scout: Victor

Dip and Pack: Mike Borman - Bangweulu Taxidermy

Shipping Broker: WELL Worldwide Energy Logistics, Inc. Customs Broker

Dates: June 20th - July 10th, 2012 give or take a day.

Rifles:
1938 Hoffman Arms with Winchester M70 action in .375 H&H with Swarovski 2.5 - 10 scope.

1902 Army & Navy Double Rifle in 450 3 1/4 NE

Handloaded Ammo: Barnes TSX 300 grain, 69.5 grains of RL15 for .375 H&H.
Woodleigh 480 grain softs & solids, 97.5 grains of IMR 4831 for the 450 NE.

Animals hunted: Lion, Leopard, Buffalo, Elephant, Lichtenstein's hartebeest, Crawshay's Defassa waterbuck, Sable, Roan, Sitatunga, Bushpig, Bushbuck.

Animals taken: Crawshay's Defassa Waterbuck, Lichtenstein's Hartebeest, Roan, Sable, Buffalo, Sitatunga, Lion (by Jim, Joyce’s report will be separate)

Animals seen: Buffalo, Crocodile, Impala, Puku, Bushbuck, Hippo, Lion, Elephant, Lichtenstein's Hartebeest, Zebra, Oribi, Baboon, Kudu, Crawshy's Defassa Waterbuck, Roan, Sable, Bushpig, Warthog, Common Duiker, White tailed Mongoose, Warthog, Reedbuck, Sitatunga,

“This could get interesting” Those whispered words of Ivan Carter echo’d from my TV during recent episodes of Track Across Africa. So how interesting would this Safari be?

It was a long road traveled to finally meet Andrew Baldry in person. We had communicated regularly over the last 18 months. At first via booking agent Mark Young and by PM right here on AR. Neither of us realized the convoluted path this booking would follow.

Lion before the ability to hunt them disappeared. That was my focus. The more I read the more it seemed the clock was ticking towards the end of Lion hunting or at least the end of the ability for Americans to import them. 2012 had to be the year. Many of the top outfits were already booked out.

Andrew was hunting for other outfitters, notably Rich Bell-Cross, but also offered hunts in the Luangwa at Munyamadzi. With one Lion on quota I was determined to make that my Lion. I secured the booking for that Lion plus Leopard and all seemed set. Then with the passing of time Andrew and Munyamadzi had a bit of a dust up. Details were unclear but my hunt was now to be guided by Thor if I wanted the Munyamadzi Lion. I had nothing against Thor and I met him later in Vegas at SCI. Really nice guy and he understood when I told him I wanted to hunt with Andrew.

Meanwhile, two years prior Andrew entered into an arrangement with a trust formed by the Kaindu Community to lease/manage 45,000 acres along the Kafue River hoping to resuscitate the land from the game poor poached landscape it was at the start.

Mr. Baldry and I talked via Skype. His assessment was brutally honest. He expected the area to take at least four years to begin to recover after he instituted active anti- poaching patrols and it had only been two years. Royal Kafue enjoyed some excellent feeder areas along its borders but two years was not enough time to expect this land to be taken off of life support. My choices seemed scant.

Andrew contacted me after a few visits to Royal Kafue and related how surprised he was that the area was rebounding faster than expected. He again voiced a reserved evaluation. “Game will be hard to see in June/July but I’m confident if we can draw in a Lion from Mushingashi you will have a good chance at a brute”.

Mushingashi is a 125,000 acre Arab owned reserve with a long history of being game rich. The land sits on the western border of Royal Kafue.

After further Skype discussions and the tiered pricing of the hunt where I only paid Leopard day rates unless successful on Lion I decided it was worth the gamble.

Andrew and I had many conversations after the deal was struck. With each passing communication it became apparent we shared the same philosophy of hunting. I’m not an inches guy, I only pursue mature game, and it’s about fair chase and the experience. No Machan’s allowed on this trip. That choice resulted in some exceptional footage taken by Joyce, my fearless wife, of two immature lions.

Enjoy the video clip. Make sure not to look away at 5:36. That’s when you will realize how close the male is after he comes to the blind.

I asked Joyce later that night when back in camp how she felt. She had two things to say….

1) I was watching it on a camera video screen so it wasn’t real
2) “All I could think was please don’t make us kill you”

The woman is fearless.

There were so many amazing events and successes on this hunt that the report will take me months to write in order to provide the imagery deserved. Bear with me. Think of it as a mini-series and enjoy waiting for the next episode.

Here's the Lion video -

Don't look away at 5:36

Flick of the tail?

cant wait for the rest.

quote:

Originally posted by Nakihunter:
Flick of the tail?

cant wait for the rest.

Yup, flick of the tail. He apparently came in even closer after he walks out of sight to the right. If you listen closely before the flick of the tail you can hear the leaves crunching under his feet.

Wow! Close!!!

Brett

How far away was he? The crunch of the leaves is distinct, so he must been awful close.
One hell of an experience I bet!

Very Cool!!!

Great video!

Looks like he was curious if there was some more meat behind that other bunch of grass

Great stuff. Can't wait to read and see more...

Wow! I believe I would have dropped the camera in favor of my rifle. Congrats to you and the superbrave camerawoman!

Great video!!!! I love how expressive a lion's tail is...you can almost hear him say "What the ..... is over there?"

Can't wait for more!

Best regards, D. Nelson

quote:

Originally posted by sjb:
How far away was he? The crunch of the leaves is distinct, so he must been awful close.
One hell of an experience I bet!

He was looking into Andrew's blind hole less than his body length away. We all just froze and he turned. I had my hands on my rifle but the barrel was already out the blind slit and trained on the bait. Andrew slowly moved his to his lap pointed towards the Lion in case he tried to come in. Joyce just kept filming but had her 7 x 57 beside her.

Outstanding video.

Mike

What an incredible memory.
Thank you for sharing.
.

Jim,

Too cool! Having been there before I can smell the smells and feel the coolness of the morning. You can't put a dollar value on those experiences.

Mark

Just to keep you interested until I get around to writing more I'll pop a picture or two up.

Here are the Lion claw marks left on the tree that held the bait in the video. We went back and cleaned and burned the site. The last picture is the right side neck of the Buffalo I killed. These are scars from Lion claw marks as well. Africa is a tough place to make a living.

keep it coming, still smiling about your sitatunga video

quote:

Originally posted by A.Dahlgren:
keep it coming, still smiling about your sitatunga video

Wait until I paste and edit the "Only you can prevent brush fires" video. So many chores, so little time.


Sitatunga Video for those that missed it.

JIM: You're my hero. I leave in 10 days for Namibia. 8 days hunting up near Etosha, then my wife flies in to Windhoek and we tour Etosha for 3 days, then 3 days at Swakopmund. Thanks for your recommendations in Swak. We'll be eating at the restaurant you recommended.

quote:

Originally posted by Bud Meadows:
JIM: You're my hero. I leave in 10 days for Namibia. 8 days hunting up near Etosha, then my wife flies in to Windhoek and we tour Etosha for 3 days, then 3 days at Swakopmund. Thanks for your recommendations in Swak. We'll be eating at the restaurant you recommended.

Bud,

My apologies for spacing on sending you the DVD. I just plain forgot. It's in the mail today express and hopefully will be a nice teaser for you before the trip. USPS said you may get it tomorrow and if not definitely by Friday.

Cheers
Jim

Jim,
Weren;t you working up a 416 for this trip? I see you took the Hoffman. I remember a while back you were trying to get 416 softs and solids together...maybe your next trip?

Great pics and videos. Look forward to the rest.

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:

quote:

Originally posted by A.Dahlgren:
keep it coming, still smiling about your sitatunga video

Only you can prevent brush fires

Dammit Scorsese, did do any hunting in Zambia ?

quote:

Originally posted by BaxterB:
Jim,
Weren;t you working up a 416 for this trip? I see you took the Hoffman. I remember a while back you were trying to get 416 softs and solids together...maybe your next trip?

Great pics and videos. Look forward to the rest.

I bought and worked up a Harris McMillian .416 Rigby to take as a second heavier rifle for Buffalo and any follow ups. I still would use my Hoffman .375 H&H for most everything. The rifle is a tack driver and we have bonded so well.

The .416 was shooting well and ready for the trip but I ended up getting seduced by the dark side and bought the 1902 Army Navy 450 3 1/4 double about a month before leaving.

It was a bit of a rush to see if I could bond with it and its open sights in time. I did, so it knocked the .416 off the line up for this trip. It's a good thing I did because Andrew needed to use it on the Lion follow up for reasons I will explain in the later write up.

quote:

Originally posted by A.Dahlgren:

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:

quote:

Originally posted by A.Dahlgren:
keep it coming, still smiling about your sitatunga video

Only you can prevent brush fires

Dammit Scorsese, did do any hunting in Zambia ?

I have this nasty habit of bagging out early. Joyce and I have a good sense of humor and Andrew is a hoot. If we had another week we could have put together a feature length movie that probably would have ended Andrew's career.

I get a giggle out of you of all people wondering about our goof off time. You must spend hours shooting photos (all exceptional) on your trips.

Safari should be about the experience not just dead animals. That experience for us involves letting the flow decide the course of the day. Andrew, Ben his son, Joyce and I would share a fire at night and come up with these silly little scenes to film. We only acted out half the ideas.

The Sitatunga clip is my favorite. It grew from talks at the fire where Andrew repeatedly tried to explain to me that most hunters spend a week or more in a fly camp getting eaten alive by mosquitos and if they are lucky they might score less than 50% of the time.

We literally popped out of a main camp, drove 1/2 kilometer, walked into a dry blind on an anthill, and I shot the Sitatunga an hour and 15 minutes later. That's when he started to also call me Bwana effin' lucky and believe in the "lucky hat".

So we decided to make a parody reflecting the incredible luck with the fake blind at camp and the table with Champagne.

Obviously the idea worked for you.

I agree "the shooting part" is just a small piece of the trip. Looking forward to more funny clips.

So you mean that your video of your Sitatunga hunt is staged ?

quote:

Originally posted by A.Dahlgren:
I agree "the shooting part" is just a small piece of the trip. Looking forward to more funny clips.

So you mean that your video of your Sitatunga hunt is staged ?

It was take two!! Had trouble with the mechanical Sitatunga in the first one.

Only one more funny clip but I'm saving it for after the Lion story is written and posted.

The Lion was shot between 06:30 and 07:00 in the morning right outside camp. (Andrew - "Let's pop out for a Lion shall we").

After the two hour photo and song celebration we decided it was 17:00 somewhere and started celebrating with a bit of alcohol. Joyce very craftily waited for the proper level of inebriation and interviewed Andrew and I. No staging, no script and it's funny as hell.

Loved the "Brush Fire", can't wait for more!! You guys are hysterical!

The “Partnership”

As I already mentioned the road to this Safari was rather convoluted. Once the decision to hunt Royal Kafue was made, Andrew Baldry had a very short window of time to prepare for us. Joyce and I live in Alaska and spent 8 of those years in a bush community. Until hunting Africa in 2010, we had never been on a guided trip of any type let alone a guided hunting trip. We are DIY people at heart and very low maintenance.

In the many Skype conversations I expressed this to Andrew. “We don’t need a fancy camp Mate, just a small tent and a place to clean up would be fine”. I sensed the pressure he was under. I didn’t realize the level of that pressure until we arrived in camp.

I mentioned the word “partnership”. Essentially that is what our arrangement ended up being. I was taking a large financial (for me) risk booking in an unknown area and I sent on money ahead of time to help with the set up. Andrew, his financial partner, and the Kaindu Community Trust needed this Safari to be a success. Lion would be the focus and all else would be gravy.

Financially, the wise thing for Andrew to do would be to market many separate hunts for the specialty animals like Leopard, Roan, Sable, and Sitatunga, especially considering the very limited quota he requested from ZAWA. As a reflection of his character, he decided if I was willing to risk my hard earned and saved money I should have a shot at the full bag, including Elephant should a decent Bull pop up. He also declined any observer fees for Joyce, secured her a hunting license, and had her hunt bait for the pleasure of seeing her evolution into the world of hunting as his only reward. Other than the Lion, her shot on the Reedbuck was a high point in this hunt for him.

So during the two day trip from Alaska all I could think was how lucky I was. When I got there I found a PH who only thought about how lucky HE was that he had found someone willing to take a chance on his new area and his ability as a PH. A perfect partnership that became even more perfect as the days progressed. Now if only we could shoot straight. As a Ph he has seen many who can’t.

Sighting in


I remember on my trip in 2010 that while sighting in both in Nambia and Zambia I felt nervous. This emotion surprised me. I’m a decent shot, I know my rifles, and I practice from practical positions regularly. Yet having to “perform” in front of a stranger affected me more than I would have imagined.

Since Andrew and I had communicated directly so much in the last year I didn’t feel like I was shooting in front of a stranger. On the contrary I wanted to show Mr. Baldry that he need not worry for the rest of the Safari whether or not I could hit the mark. Baring the scope getting bumped out before arrival I did not plan on squeezing the trigger until I could pinwheel this first round.

The target was a 2 inch square piece of yellow duct tape on a 1 ½ foot square slab of cardboard placed on a tree at 100 yards. I set a pack on the hood of the truck and rested on it. Since I had all day I cranked the scope to 10X. When the crosshairs settled bone still in the center of the yellow square I half exhaled and slowly brought pressure to the crisp 3 pound trigger. Who ever feels recoil in Africa? I sure don’t.

I recovered the sight picture and snickered to myself. The hole was smack dead center. Andrew was still looking through his binoculars and then lowered them and looked at me.

“Would you like another”, I asked?

“Let’s walk down there’, he responded.

His penchant for humor ensued. He took the target off the tree and turned it 90 degrees. “I think you need to come up 2 mm and left 1 mm. We’re done, It’s Madam’s turn.”

I’ll leave that tale for her report.

The rifles


1938 Hoffman Arms with Winchester M70 action and Martin Hagn custom stock. I was given this rifle as a Christmas bonus by my generous employer in 2009 before my 2010 Safari. He wanted to be sure I had a "proper" rifle befitting my first trip for Buffalo in 2010.


Here is the same rifle on a Buffalo from Royal Kafue. (story eventually to follow)





1902 Army & Navy 450 3 1/4 Nitro Express Double Rifle built by Webley purchased from AR member BigBBear. The rifle was carried by me on a wounded Buffalo follow up. Not my buffalo, but a wounded one we discovered by accident. It was also carried by Andrew on our side by side Lion follow up after my shot.

The Camp

As mentioned we informed Andrew that, at least for us, nothing fancy was necessary. In two short months Mr. Baldry, his son Ben, AR's own Caracal, and a host of employees performed a miracle. This camp is very comfortable.

Originally, the plan called for classic Safari Tents. When I called for references on Andrew I spoke with many people that had hunted with him, outfitters he worked with, agents that had personal experience with him, and extensively searched the web discovering articles including one written by a traveling adventurer on a dirt bike. In all this research I was only given one remotely negative statement, “He’s an artist”. The person giving that review could not explain it further. My assumption is that Andrew’s attention to detail in his photography of game perhaps took too much time for this gent. To me it was a bonus. Andrew had the exact same model camera as Joyce and I so we just handed it to him anytime an animal went down. The man is an artist and I’m thankful for it.

That same right hemisphere thinking drove him to scrub the tent idea and build a “proper camp”. I now wish I kept notes of our conversations of the last year. He would ask questions via Skype like, “Does the Madam like verdant green”? Sometimes it was hard to tell the sense of humor from reality. End result, the camp is a work of art all created in two months.

At the end of our Safari he sat down with us and requested our blunt honesty of how things could be improved in camp. Joyce pointed out some small points I would not have noticed. The bathroom mirror was too high for the average woman. The toilet paper holder is mounted behind the toilet requiring a Houdini twist to access it if sitting. I pointed out a gun rack in the Chalet would be a plus. I guarantee, knowing Andrew as I do now, those small things are already changed.

In the beginning our 55 gallon drum fed shower produced a rather feeble stream. That was an easy fix. Disassembly of the shower head revealed a California style flow limiter. Popped that puppy out and now the shower could be used to control riots.

They are starting construction on a second Chalet immediately. The above suggestions will be incorporated. I look forward to stopping back in the future just to satisfy my curiosity as to what this man can come up with given adequate time and funding. Given the success of our hunt I doubt future funding will be an issue.

The dining hall and bar with fireplace sits 150 meters off the Kafue River. Every morning a cooling mist creeps towards land from the water course. I learned that the Mutambashi tributary flowed into the Kafue directly across from camp. This thin thread of water is fed with a natural hot spring. The heated water, coupled with the cold air makes a lovely detail blurring fog. In the evenings, while enjoying the heat of a fire, you can hear the Hippo come ashore to munch the grasses left along the river’s edge.

A better location could not have been chosen. This thread started with a couple of camp pictures. Here are a few more.


Joyce's Chalet - so named by Andrew in the Madam's honor.



Romantic mosquito netting.



Iran preparing the Madam's shower after a long day of hunting.



Mist in the morning with a fig tree (Mukuyu) the camp is named for.



Camp from the Kafue river on the way back from Barbel fishing.

Congrats to all. Absolutely marvelous when it all comes together. The real reason? Attitude! Everyone was willing to go the extra mile on both sides and look what happens. I do believe in light of a couple of previous threads, this is what it means to be cut out for Africa. Sometimes you win, sometimes you loose. This time it was a big win all around. My hat is off to you all. As a bonus you got your other half introduced to your passion. There is no amount of money that could make up for that. Andrew did you right. Not that any of us had a doubt!

JIM: I got the DVD today. Many thanks!!

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:

quote:

Originally posted by Bud Meadows:
JIM: You're my hero. I leave in 10 days for Namibia. 8 days hunting up near Etosha, then my wife flies in to Windhoek and we tour Etosha for 3 days, then 3 days at Swakopmund. Thanks for your recommendations in Swak. We'll be eating at the restaurant you recommended.

Bud,

My apologies for spacing on sending you the DVD. I just plain forgot. It's in the mail today express and hopefully will be a nice teaser for you before the trip. USPS said you may get it tomorrow and if not definitely by Friday.

Cheers
Jim

quote:

Originally posted by Bud Meadows:
JIM: I got the DVD today. Many thanks!!

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:

quote:

Originally posted by Bud Meadows:
JIM: You're my hero. I leave in 10 days for Namibia. 8 days hunting up near Etosha, then my wife flies in to Windhoek and we tour Etosha for 3 days, then 3 days at Swakopmund. Thanks for your recommendations in Swak. We'll be eating at the restaurant you recommended.

Bud,

My apologies for spacing on sending you the DVD. I just plain forgot. It's in the mail today express and hopefully will be a nice teaser for you before the trip. USPS said you may get it tomorrow and if not definitely by Friday.

Cheers
Jim

Bud,

Check your PM's

Cheers
Jim

From Andrews thread that preceded your safari to the daily updates posted by D. Nelson I have been anxiously awaiting each report. Thank you all for taking the time to post them! These reports are what I have always imagined Africa to be

quote:

Originally posted by drummondlindsey:
From Andrews thread that preceded your safari to the daily updates posted by D. Nelson I have been anxiously awaiting each report. Thank you all for taking the time to post them! These reports are what I have always imagined Africa to be

Thank you for this post. I never knew there was a thread by Andrew. It must have happened while we were on our way over and I just found it by searching his past posts.

Just cements what I thought on our arrival. For some reason the guy thought he owed us something just for giving some trust and some cash.

Like I said, perfect "partnership".

Just brilliant. Congratulations to all concerned. Just one observation. There is a gap under the chalet door that would allow a python and lesser slithering types access. That could provide for some future excitement.

quote:

Originally posted by Scriptus:
Just brilliant. Congratulations to all concerned. Just one observation. There is a gap under the chalet door that would allow a python and lesser slithering types access. That could provide for some future excitement.

You got me thinking about that. I was trying to remember not noticing something like that but looking at the picture I think what you are seeing as a gap is actually green plastic screening tacked to the door bottom. I remember it dragging as you closed it. I don't recall a gap.

The guy is pretty "detail oriented". He even buried the generator into the backside of an anthill by the kitchen facing away from the Chalet, Dining area so you could not hear it while it was running.