Well, after years of dreaming and tons of research, I made my first hunt on the Dark Continent. I have hunted in Wyoming, Colorado, Nevada and Canada but have always longed for an African Safari. Through research and word of mouth, I decided on Jim Hackiewicz who operates Huntingadventures.net and is also a PH. This is located in the Limpopo region and is operated on a fair chase, indiginous style of hunting which is what I wanted. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night doing a canned hunt on stocked animals. Jim was a pleasure to deal with and was out-of-this-world helpful as far as answering newbie questions and tips for traveling. He also hooked me up with a quality tour guide for my first 4 days in-country for some sightseeing, and to help burn off the jet-lag (I cannot recommend this enough as I was destroyed the first few late afternoons...by the time I got to camp I was ready to go hit the field all day with no troubles at all...you don't want to waste any precious time in the field). My PH, Henk Viljoen, turned out to be the best guide and hunting buddy a man could ask for. His knowledge was incredible, he spoke near-perfect English and he was an excellent judge of game. My hunt turned out to be everything I imagined and lots more with only one exception...one head of lost game (totally my fault)! My first day started out strong with lots of sightings and we even killed a Puff Adder that was in the road. My first shot was on a very nice Zebra which went down with one 30-06 round. We grabbed lunch and then set out again and came across some Impala with a very nice ram that waited just a second too long to bolt for the brush...he was dropped in his tracks. We finished off the afternoon with a bang by seeing a very nice Kudu just as it was getting dark...he was also downed with one shot. Lots of celebratory beers were had that evening! The next day went uneventful until after lunch when we came across 2 Red Hartebeest that Henk told me were very nice. I decided to take the biggest of the 2 if we could get up on them. After a short stalk, I lit off a round that dropped him but he jumped back up quickly...I fired a second time through the bush and missed...jacked in a third round and dropped him with that one. Later that afternoon we were headed back to camp when we saw some nice Wildebeest...we stalked as close as we could get and against my better judgment, I lit off a round into a bull...he took off into the fading light never to be spotted again. I was devastated after taking 4 animals with great shots...what a letdown. We came back in the morning to try and pick up the tracks again but never were successful in finding him. I was in a bad mood the whole day as we regrouped and decided to sit on a waterhole and try to take my first warthog. After about an hour wait, 2 females came in and Henk whispered that I should take the biggest one to use as a skull mount...I had told Henk that I wanted one skull mount and one head mount to take home, so I fired. She went down after bolting about 30-40 yards. I felt a little better now so we called it a day. The following morning, we were trying to get up on some wildebeest to see if we could see a wounded one...after they got spooked Henk said he would go get the truck so I waited in the clearing to see what might happen. To my suprise, a Jackal popped out of the brush just cruising around, never sensing me. I layed the rifle over the shooting sticks and dropped him at about 100-125 yards. I wanted to have the pelt done but the 30-06 took a big chunk out of his hide so I decided on doing a skull mount on him also. That evening, I saw a nice male tusker and he was dropped with one round...I was very pleased with him to say the least...big warts and very nice tusks. I was now only wanting a Blesbok and possibly a shot at another Wildebeest to snap the jinx. I got another shot that I thought was a sure thing although it was getting very dark...I thought for sure I was too close to miss. I aimed lower this time and lit off a round...he didn't look like he flinched and bolted off...I was practically in shock! We looked for him for quite awhile and then decided to come back in the morning. Next day, nothing. Not a drop of blood (fortunately, or I would've been paying for that one also)! I was jinxed as far as Wildebeest go...they don't call it the poor-man's buffalo for no reason! On the last day I dropped a very nice Blesbok that capped off the trip on a high note. I cannot recommend Jim's operation enough...the service, the quality of game, the food and the professional staff was all as good as it gets.

Since I was dropping so much on airfare, I decided to extend my trip and do some sightseeing, scuba diving, surfing and a Great White Shark expedition while I was there. All of these adventures turned out great and were well worth it. I ended up traveling around Jo'berg, Pretoria, Cape Town (cannot recommend the Cape enough), and Durban. Renting a car and driving the cape was incredible as was seeing huge Great Whites up close. If the wife is going with you, take her shopping at any of the malls...they are amazing! She will love you for it and it will make her very happy she went with you!

I strongly advise taking several cameras, one of which is a digital SLR with several lenses. A small, quality digital camera is nice to have as backup and to keep handy. Take backup memory cards...I even took my laptop as another form of backup...the hundreds of pictures I took are priceless. I also took my digital video camera and got some incredible footage.

PLan early, make sure you consult a doctor and get your vaccinations covered and I even had the doc write me a few prescriptions for antibiotics just in case. I also did the antimalarials just in case.

If you are considering Africa....DO IT...you will have no regrets!!!!!! I just wish I didn't have to wait until the age of 38 to get it done! I am already thinking about where I want to do my next safari...maybe Cape Buffalo!

Now the hard part...waiting for the trophies to arrive!

Congratulations on your first safari. Sounds like you had a wonderful time. The wildebeest give everyone a hard time.

Ya...those damn wildebeest....it was like a curse or something!

The side trips sound just as good as the hunting!
Can you describe the shark watching to us?

At least you have a good excuse to go back and what a nice wildebeest!
Keep in touch with you PH, you never know sometimes a wounded animal is recovered days/weeks after the hunter has left.

Lance, sounds like you had a great hunt. You will get that wildebeest next time. Henk is a really great guy. Remember, I want to see your pics.
Roger

Roger...thanks for making me take 2 warthogs!!!!! It's all your fault! You were so right about how much fun it is to hunt those buggers. I will do my best to call you this weekend. When are you flying next?

Yep, Henk was the best...I really miss popping some cold ones with him after each day in the field.


As far as the White Shark expedition, it was a one day boat trip and we took turns in the cage. By rotating in and out, you were able to get great pictures and video from the boat and also experience seeing them up close from the cage and get some underwater pics also. I highly recommend seeing these beasts up close and personal!

When are you going to post some pictures?

quote:

Originally posted by Devildawg66:
When are you going to post some pictures?

+1 on this. All the great descriptions and no pictures?