Folks,

I may be slightly ahead of the packing curve for our move to Wyoming so I'll try to put down a few details of my safari.

We arrived at JIA on 28 July and were met by an Air 2000 person who literally wisked us through the baggage/gun business. Within a half hour of arrival we were in Garry Kelly's twin cab Toyota and on our way to the Karoo.

We stayed with a wonderful couple in the Karoo that couldn't have made us more comfortable. Unfortunately the wind blew a gale and temperatures very cold with snow in the mountains making hunting the rhebok very difficult. We did see quite a few animals but we just couldn't put a stalk together in the day and a half we had to hunt. Next time I'll schedule 3-4 days just for those little little furry gray guys.

Next we drove to another property near Grahamstown for East Cape kudu and bushbuck. The wind continued to howl but the hunting was in canyons off the plateau the main ranch was on so we had some shelter. After a couple of days of watching kudu pop in and out of the brush across several canyons we connected on a representative bull. Of course the horns were way shorter than the greater kudu but the neck has remarkably more hair and the body size is smaller by a good third. A quite different looking animal than the kudu I have shot before.

These folks have farmed and hunted the same land since 1880 and they had a remarkable array of kudu horns that had come from the property. The biggest was 53" with the average being somewhere between 38" and 45". In their opinion any kudu larger was a transplant from the North.

I also shot a very nice Mt. reedbuck just at dark on the way back to the ranch. He stood on the ridge just a couple of seconds too long.

We didn't see a bushbuck we wanted so we were off to the Natal Midlands. There we stayed at a B&B that was one of the highlights of our trip. Let me just say dinner was a three hour affair and we were treated like royalty. Truly wonderful. The first morning it continued to be cold but we found an outstanding common reedbuck on a big ranch near Petermaritzburg. I crawled up, shot him in his bed and he just rolled over dead. The afternoon of the same day we went to another farm for bushbuck. The landowner explained how he had hides set up near his alfalfa and the bushbuck came out each night there. We were slightly apprehensive but sure enough at the last possible shooting light a beautiful bushbuck came into the field and I dropped him cleanly.

The following day found us on the way to Zululand and a private game reserve. Here we hunted nyala. As some of you may know the drought hit the nyala in Zululand very hard. Mkuze that has always been known for producing big nyala lost approximately 1000 animals last year and effectively lost all the big mature bulls. We hunted four and a half days and did see two very big bulls for a fleeting moment each. I could have dropped one easily if I would have shot from the back of the vehicle but I chose not to do that. I'll definitely return to that place again to hunt because we saw a good number of young bulls in that 23"-26" class so in a few years there should be some outstanding bulls available.

The Northern province and Garry's home base of Bonwa Phala was next. Bonwa Phala is really special. The whole operation is well thought out and the accomadations are first rate. Food and wine was outstanding as well as the property being great hunting for a wide variety of species.

On an adjacent property we took a blue wildebeest the first day that should easily go gold medal. Iv'e been wanting to better the one I took on my first safari so this was a nice bonus.

I was looking for a huge greater kudu and waterbuck but eventhough we saw many I didn't find the ones I was looking for.

Three days at Bonwa Phala and we were blasting off for Maun, Botswana. Crossing the border by vehicle was no hassle but I did have to fill out the multi page gun form again and the whole operation was a little disorganized. We hit Maun later that day and Johan Calitz arrived while we where there at his safari offices with client who had just killed a 58x57 pound elephant in the area where we were to hunt. Little did we know that Johan six days later would take his next client to a 94x68 pounder. Anyway we were off for the Mababi depression.

The first two days of elephant hunting produced very little but we changed strategy on the third day and immediately were into lots of elephant. By 11 AM on the third day we had looked at and turned down eight bulls and had a 58 pounder on the ground. That whole experience was the pinnacle so far of my hunting experience. I had no idea of taking the brain shot but that was the only shot I had. Both Garry and Ronny the Bots PH thought I should try it so BANG! and down he goes. It took a couple of finishers to end it all but he never got up. What a rush!

After the elephant we went back to Maun and then out into the Okavango for red lechwe. We got a very nice one on day two and really enjoyed the the watery paradise.

Now we blasted back to Bonwa Phala and I mean blasted Garry tries to hold the Toyota on 150 kph on good road. You do the math. The six final days produced a mature nyala of 27" but not much else although if I had been inclined I could have generated a sizable body count with ease.

As a sidelight we did see three snakes and a leopard. Two pythons of 12' and 16'and a night adder in Botswana. Also in Botswana a male leopard let us film him in the daylight at 20 yards while he lounged in the shade near a waterhole.

I also want to say that we had no hassles with guns at all. Yes! We went through London again. No problems anywhere or with BA.

Finally Garry Kelly is just a great guy to hunt with. We were with him basically all day everyday for over a month and he took everything in stride and maintained a good humor at all times. Sadie and I both had a ball with him. He never waivered on the trophy standards we had set and obviously truly enjoyed the whole hunt.

If anyone is interested in information on a very economical package hunt all the way to lion, buff, elephant etc. just contact me and I'll tell you what Garry offers.

I will get to the pictures. I promise.

Regards,

Mark