.
Note - This report is long and has lots of pictures, however given that Mauritania was totally new to us, I got a bit carried away!







This little piggy went to market. This little piggy stayed at home. This little piggy had roast beef, this little piggy had none. And this little piggy went for a ride on the back of a Toyota hunting truck!


I guess that for most Africa hunters, warthog do not feature very high up on 'the wish list' as main target animals. I guess they are more often than not an opportunistic target, hunted or targeted if you or the PH happens to see a big tusked boar whilst you are out in the veld. Or maybe at the end of the safari when all the other animals are in the salt and you decide to sit at water or on a game trail on the off chance that a good pig will come by. In general 'targets of opportunity' rather than 'top of the list' trophies.

I doubt that many American hunters would consider crossing the Atlantic to the Dark Continent, solely to hunt warthog and nothing else. The same likely holds true for Europeans, where the majority of Africa hunters would not cross the skies from Europe to Africa just for warties. The exception perhaps being a few die hard German, Belgium or Spanish "pig mad" hunters!

Me on the other hand, I cannot get enough of warthog and bushpig and I can say in all honesty that of all the African non dangerous game animals, I enjoy hunting big warthog and big bushpig more than any other animal. Blue wildebeest come in a close second. But trophy pigs hold a solid position right at the top of my list

My wife and I have had the fortune to live in and hunt throughout Africa for the last decade plus. Looking at the number of mounts in our game room, we have been pretty successful and had a fair share of luck on warthog and bushpig. I have posted a few pictures of our successes on the hog section here on AR over the years.

Now, in looking and searching for something new on the warthog and bushpig front, I came across old stories and pictures of Mauritanian warthogs with thick, thick tusks. In fact some of the sows were so large that the tips of their tusks touched in the middle! Thick, thick, yes thick ivories! I have seen a fair share of big warthog over the years, yet these were seriously big pigs ! The warthog equivalent of Bots eles, stocky with thick and solid ivory! I clearly needed to find out more.

I started researching and reading and the more I discovered the more my excitement grew. I found a travel agent in Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania, that offered hunting trips and we exchanged mails and talked a number of times on the phone. The stories seemed true!

However, with most Embassies and Consulates listing Mauritania under the "avoid non essential travel" section of their websites, was this the place we really wanted to travel to on safari? I spoke with a very close friend in the security industry about the risks of travelling to and in and around Mauritania. His feedback, after some calls and mails, was that the risk on the southern border to Senegal, where we would be hunting, was seen as 'benign'. Now with us living and working in Lagos / Nigeria for the past 7 years, my wife and I can do 'benign' and so, after upping the life cover (joking), we booked our hunting trip to Mauritania to specifically target big ivoried warthog in early February 2016!

6 days with 2 days travel - including a half day of sights in the capital at the end, 4 full days hunting, all ground transport, lodging in 'haimas' - bedouin style tents - or cottages, all meals and 5 warthogs each. With 10 warthog on the hunting card between us this trip should certainly give us our 'pig fix' for 2016!

There would also be the opportunity of wing shooting in the late afternoons and early evenings for pigeon and dove. For the wing shooter or birder, Mauritania records 500 plus bird species including 21 duck / geese species, 14 pigeon and dove and 5 sandgrouse species. Being passionate wing shooters, I was excited to research and find out that there are a number of dove species present in the country that we have not shot before - Vinaceous dove, Blue spotted wood dove and Turtle dove being just three of many (and all listed as LC ie Least Concern on the Conservation Status List). Similarly there are 5 species of sandgrouse found in the country that we have not come across previously in our sporting / hunting travels around Africa and we shoot sandgrouse every year - Four banded, Lichtensteins, Spotted, Crowned and Chestnut bellied sandgrouse were all listed as present in Mauritania! It would be awesome to get in some late afternoon wingshooting for sporting birds new to us!

Chinguitty Voyages, the booking agent, also advised that extra warthog could be added at little cost should we take our 10 pigs between us in the first couple of days! Things were sounding better by the minute!

Mauritania, bordered by the Atlantic seaboard to the West and Western Sahara, Algeria, Mali and Senegal the land neighbours. Three times the size of Germany at over 1 million square kilometres and 90 % sand and desert, home to 3.5 million people, and ruled by the erstwhile military dictator, General Mohamed Ould Aziz. A country where slavery is still common practice although it had officially been 'abolished' several times and where atheism is punishable by death and where nearly 100 % of the population is Muslim with three quarters being Moors (Arab-Berbers in the north) and the rest (black Africans in the south) falling under the title of 'Other African'. Many Mauritanians are Nomads. This trip had the makings of being an absolute hunting / safari holiday of firsts for both my wife and myself!

Oh yes another first! The country is totally dry and here I do not mean the climate. No, here I mean 'alcohol dry'. No beer, no wine, no spirits, no booze! Nada, nichts, nothing! Well, this too would be a first, a hunting trip with no wine at dinner or cold beers when you get to the truck at the end of the hunting day or a scotch or a G&T under the African stars by the fire in the evening. Dry, dry, dry! However, the thought of big, thick ivoried warthog carried the no alcohol aspect of the hunt, plus a week on the wagon cannot hurt!

We would be hunting in R'kiz, a 130.000 h remote concession, bordering the Senegal River, some 250 kms from the capital. The second concession, Keurmance at 85.000 h was further down the river towards the coast and is in between two villages, so people are always around and about. It is believed that the two concessions hold some 10 to 12 thousand resident warthog between them! 10 to 12 thousand! I kid you not! We would see 50 plus warties a day. We were told that in the 2014/5 season some 800 odd pigs were taken by some 120 hunters.

This had the sounds and makings of a pig hunters dream! There are a few reasons for the tremendous number of warthog in the country and specifically in this area

1/ being a Muslim nation, warthog do not feature on the menu and hence have no table value and as such are not hunted or poached for meat

2/ the warthog population in Mauritania has no natural enemies / predators other than man, a few caracal and the golden jackal, they will take the odd piglet or sick sow on an opportunistic basis but rarely a healthy pig outright

3/ water and vegetation bordering the Senegal River is abundant and as a result the population is well fed and healthy and the pigs can breed up to twice a year!

And nope, there were no fences here - neither high nor low! We did not see nor open a single fence the whole trip.

With no real enemies and a year round warm / hot climate the warthog in Mauritania do not burrow or seek out earths and dens for shelter and warmth at night. The tend to lay up and sleep in nests in the bush and thickets. This would lead to great stalking through the sands and scrub and papyrus along the river banks looking for 'pig shapes' in the shadows. And when spotted, slow and exciting stalks would begin!

The other way of hunting warthog in the concessions was by way of mini driven hunts, so called 'Batidas' (Oscar bring Spanish, the Spanish word was used). We, the guns, would position ourselves downwind on the riverbanks or in the scrub and one of the trackers / guides would slowly walk up wind of the warthog. It was always exciting to see the first pig get wind of the danger and then as one, tails erect, they would run downwind towards us and hopefully give us the chance to pick out a shooter of a pig and get in a safe and sporting shot! The other driven way was to position us, the rifles, on well used game trails / pig paths or the edges of scrub lines and then for the guide or tracker to beat through the bush sending the warthog barrelling along the paths in sounders of 2, 3, 5 or more! Here the trick was to decide in a split second whether the pig was a shooter and then try and get in a (safe) running shot! At times we had pigs racing by 2 and 3 meters away from us. Super exciting stuff!

Also seeing the actual damage the thousands and thousands of warthog do to agriculture and subsistence farming in the area, there is a strong argument that the limited hunting that occurs in the region plays a really important role in crop protection and aiding farming.

In the weeks and days leading up to this trip, I started dreaming about warthog! Big tusked, trophy warthog, with shiny white ivories!

Flights were quickly booked with Air France from Dusseldorf, Germany, via Paris, France, to Nouakchott, Mauritania. Whilst we currently live in Lagos, it would be easier for us to start this trip from Germany, where we have a family base. On the longer flights I prebooked / purchased the emergency exit seating giving us a little bit more leg room and comfort in Air France economy on the 4 hour flight. I find it surprising that they actually sell off the emergency exit seats at a premium!

As regards rifles and shotguns, we decided to go totally European on this trip, with me taking a 1991 Wolf double in 8x57JRS, topped with a Zeiss 1,5-6x42 glass and shooting Brenneke 145 gr TIG bullets and Anja taking her new / old Dumoulin 7x65R KLB sporting a Swarovski glass and shooting 177 gr Brenneke TIG bullets. Both ideal for walk and stalk and driven warthog - light, easy to the shoulder and swing, with plenty of punch to knock over Mauritania's toughest pigs!








For the wing shooting we would take a matching pair of Beretta Silver Pigeon 20s and 10 boxes of cartridges.




I would also carry a Puma White Hunter knife on my hunting belt along with a Puma pocket knife. On driven pig a good knife is often a 'God send' for administering 'a coup de grace' rather than another bullet. Indeed, I would use it on this hunt to quickly dispatch and to bleed out a downed pig. Sadly however I would not however be using the corkscrew on the Puma pocket knife to open any decent reds in the evenings!

Oh and just for kicks and something different, I decided to dispense with my lucky 'Big Bore SA' hunting cap and I went on line and ordered a few Shemarg scarfs for Anja and me - when in Rome and all that. Anja muttered about travelling to a foreign country, carrying rifles and shotguns and wearing military style desert headscarves and the chances of looking at jail cells from the inside! I got olive and coffee and she got burnt orange and red.




In fact this was a great piece of kit - it kept the sun off, kept the Harmattan sand and dust out of our faces and off our hair and out of our ears and eyes when worn with sunglasses. Plus it doubled up as a hand towel on more than one occasion in the bush.

A week before our departure date, the booking agent sent through copies of the four gun permits - all correctly completed, signed and stamped. He would be at the airport on our arrival with the originals. He also confirmed that the vet certificate for the trophy export ( we could take the tusks and skulls with us on departure ! ) would be ready for the last day of the hunt. No Dip & Ship or forwarders here. A simple EUR 150,- vet certificate and inspection at the airport and you take the trophies with you and no issues bringing them in to Germany either. Simple.

Air France messed us around a couple of days before the trip declining to transport our guns. When I demanded why, they came back and said that Paris had said that a 20 mm rifle was very large and questioned the purpose ?! Some clown had listed the 20 bore shotguns as 20 mm guns !! We got it sorted the day before departure and were good to go.

Sunday February 7, we set off from Dusseldorf to Nouakchott via Paris with Air France. The check-in with guns and the German police weapons check went fine. After a short stop over in Paris, with coffee and croissants, we caught the connecting flight to Mauritania and touched down into a world of sand!






We waited an hour on arrival for our entry visas, whilst the Chinguitty Travel representative (who came through to the arrivals hall and identified himself to us with his ID card) cleared our luggage and guns and loaded the bags onto the Toyota truck. Then followed an 'interesting' 4 hour drive south along a poor tar road, stopping and swerving intermittently for camels, donkeys, goats and broken vehicles!




















We were pleased to arrive at the camp around 9.00 pm and unpack followed by a late fish dinner and bed.

Oscar is the camp manager. A Spaniard who previously PH'd in Mozambique and Namibia before moving to Mauritania 10 years ago. He runs the camp well, instructing the staff on what to do, the guides on what areas to hunt each day and setting the menus. He briefed us on arrival about the type of hunting we would be doing, that there may be locals everywhere so be careful of every shot, both boars and sows can be shot and have fun!


Warthog

From the outset, there were signs of pigs everywhere - spoor, dung and skulls and bones! Literally everywhere.
















The routine was up at 05.30 and after coffee, toast and fruit, we loaded up and drove between 30 and 90 minutes to where we would hunt. We never hunted the same area twice.

Sunrise






The hunting typically started with small driven hunts with one of the guides (we had two between us - Chiek and Mohammedin - and a driver- Mahmud) walking / beating a section of thicket and bush pushing the warties to us, whilst the other guide stayed with us to help spot. Some of the driven hunts were at first light at 07.00, with the sun just coming up.


Others were later in the morning and they typically lasted from 10 to 20 minutes. It was exciting stuff with pigs barrelling past as close as 2 - 3 meters from us out to 50 meters.


In the thick stuff



Anja's first pig - a decent sized sow out of the first drive on the first morning to get the monkey off her back and the first animal with her 'new / old' rifle! The 177 gr Brenneke TIG bullet went through both shoulders and exited.





My first pig - a boar taken with a running shot at some 50 meters.





Two in the salt off the first drive of the hunt!

My second driven boar was taken out of a sounder of 4 pigs in the early morning light on day 2. He dropped to the shot but needed a finishing shot. I thought about using my Puma knife to finish him as I walked up to him but as I approached with my knife drawn, he backed his hindquarters up into a bush and he starred straight at me with narrow, piggy eyes! Quite eery actually! A bullet ended it and my second pig was in the salt.

Anja on the sticks at sunrise



My pig - I think I hit him right







On the next afternoon we walked / stalked a huge harvested rape field. It was a vast area and we saw over 60 pigs on the field. Anja walked / stalked a couple of large groups of 10 - 20 pigs and then took this boar with a perfect frontal shot. The guides were thrilled and Anja got a pat on the shoulder from one of them! (Whilst I got handshakes and hugs for every pig shot, Anja, being a woman, was never offered a handshake let alone hugs and back patting by the guides when she took a pig. The most was a pat on her shoulder !) This would be her largest pig of the trip. Oscar commented that whilst the tusks were a good length they were unusually thin for Mauritania.










Less than 10 minutes after Anja took that boar, I dropped this one out of a running group of 3 pigs. I used Anja's rifle just to see how it shoots. And it shoots sweet!















Shortly after that, maybe 30 minutes later, this boar trotted straight to us along a game path, stopping and staring some 20 meters from us. Not the biggest pig, granted, but I decided to take him all the same as he stood there looking at us. I shot him, he sat down on his rear with his head up high, proceeded to spin three quick circles then ran about 50 meters and fell over dead. Quite something to see.






Walking along a small tributary of the Senegal River, with bull rushes and reeds on our left and thicket and thorn trees on our right, Anja saw and walked / stalked and shot this boar. A solid solo boar with smiles all around!








Early one morning we drove some 90 minutes to a swamp / marsh area. Here we had two or three small drives, with pigs bolting from the thickets across an open section into the reed beds. On the third drive, Anja was in the thickets and I was on the edge with Mohammadin.

Into the thick stuff







A group of 6 smallish warties burst from the thick stuff across the flats, followed by 3 more and then followed 2 larger pigs bringing up the rear. I hit the last boar with a perfect Texas heart shot and followed up with the second barrel, again a great Texas heart shot. The 'three hole' grouping was about 4 inches - which on a racing warthog at 30 meters is pretty good in my book! A shot to the shoulder ended him. This was my last and final pig of the trip.









Anja's last pig she shot on the last evening, just before 7.00 at last light on the edge of a reed bed. We saw some 30 plus pigs leaving the reeds for the safety of the trees and thicket for the night and then spotted a solo boar still grazing at the edge of the reeds. Anja put in a super frontal shot at about 120 m at which the pig raced in a circle and then came belting straight at us like a rocking horse, jumping and bounding high through the air before he finished with a slo mo hand stand / front flip, arse over tusks, and lay dead on his side less then 10 m from us! I had slipped the double safety off in case as he started to run but was so engrossed in watching the pigs reaction to the shot that I did not shoot to back Anja's shot. Had we got this scene on film it would have made great footage! A big solid boar with thick tusks and a great pig to end the hunt with!








I wounded and lost one pig during the trip, in fact on the first afternoon. A high back shot which dropped the boar but only for him to get up and take off again. I missed the second shot. We followed the blood spoor and tracks about 750 meters when suddenly a heavy sand storm came up and in seconds the tracks and blood spoor were gone for ever. Sand storms, Mauritanian trackers/guides worst enemies!



Wing shooting.

We spent one afternoon and the last morning with the shotguns. We did not really do enough shooting to justify taking the shotguns but it was fun nevertheless.

We shot flighting / passing dove from the shade of a large thorn tree before climbing a large dune to shoot spurwing geese and duck that flighted between a marsh and the Senegal River in the evenings just before last light. We did not get any geese as they were simply too high, but we had a great time trying.











On the last morning we walked the foreshore of the river for an hour and shot a dozen pigeon and doves, accompanied by Pachito, Oscar's young GSP. A fun dog and a good retriever. We shot Namaqua and Turtle dove and speckled pigeon. We saw and heard sandgrouse but did not shoot any.








There were plenty of dove and pigeon, with nests in literally every tree and bush. Clearly the area does not suffer from many predators.








The camp

The camp was remote, on the shore of the river, with four cottages around a dining tent and a fire pit.

The cottages were simple and clean with showers and bathrooms at the back. Comfortable best describes. The water was hot when the sun was on the tank but mornings at 05.30 the shower was refreshingly cold!

















The meals were good with meat at lunch and fish in the evenings. We had a great warthog fillet and bratkartoffeln one afternoon and seafood and langoustines one evening, all washed down with Bavaria alcohol free beer or Coke Zero or water ! A good red or white wine would have been just the compliment to those meals but it was not to be!

Oscar in action








One evening, Oscar arranged for one of the camp staff, Ahmed, to carry out a traditional tea ceremony for us. This involved Ahmed, going through a 45 minute ritual of making three separate small glasses of frothy, sweet minty tea for each of us, from the first being mild and slightly sweet to the third being strong and very sweet and very minty. Mauritanian's talk and drink tea all day and always three small glasses from sweet to deadly sweet. It was interesting to see and be part of!





Landscape

The drive down from and back to Nouakchott was about 200 kms and took us through mainly desert sands. Villages line the roads every 10 - 15 kms with empty haimas tent structures and each village with a mosque. Many villages / tents were empty and it was explained to us that a large part of the population are nomads and tent structures are left standing for anyone to use. Also many people had moved into the main cities and would return to their villages, reoccupying their tents when the return on holiday or for visits.

It is a harsh country of wide sands and dunes with camels, donkeys, cattle and goats roaming freely. However, we also saw flooded rice paddies and wind towers! Mauritania would appear to be faring pretty well compared to other African countries.















We did not see any large hills of mountains, but were told that there are many mountains in the north east towards Mali.



All in all we shot 9 warthog (8 boars, 1 sow) and we, or better said, I lost one. So we filled our 10 pig quota. All of mine (5) were taken as running / driven shots, whilst all of Anjas (4) were standing shots. Anja by the way gave me one of here quota to make up for my lost one! Thank you Anja.

For those interested in numbers the biggest we shot was 29.5 cm and the longest tusk weighed 288 grs. The average of our 9 was 24.2 cm. The thickest circumference we shot were 25 cm tusks with 12.5 cm bases!

Oscar runs very detailed and accurate records of all pigs hunted, measuring and weighing the longest tusk of each pig shot. He measured all our trophies for his book. The largest pig taken so far in the concession measured 43 cms and weighed over 500 grs. (Thats close to 17 inches for the non metric!)

We did not shoot the monster boar or sow that I had hoped we would get, but then again we did a lot of driven hunts and took the warties as they came, enjoying the challenges that go with driven hunting.

To have a better chance for that real big one it would have been necessary to split up and hunt separately focusing on walk / stalk and not driven hunting. We wanted to hunt together and enjoyed hunting together, sharing so many firsts. Also Oscar said that December, during the mating season, is probably a better time to target large boars.

So we have a reason to go back again to try for that monster boar or huge sow!

On our final day we drove back to Nouakchott early afternoon and saw a bit of the city before Mohamed Salem, the travel agent, took us out for a dinner before our flight. On his recommendation, I tried the camel steaks. I will try most things once and this was a 'once' meal. He mentioned that Mauritanians prefer camel meat over goat and beef. Does not say much for the goat or beef !

He personally took us to the airport, handed over the Vet Certificate and checked us in and cleared our guns with the police, before we boarded the 23.40 Air France flight to Paris.





And boy oh boy did the champagne, beer and Glenlivet on the plane taste better than great after a week of alcohol free beers and soft drinks!

It was an awesome hunt in a country previously totally unknown to us. Friendly people and fascinating countryside and landscape. We hunted different areas each day from wide open fields to thick bush and thorn. We never once felt uneasy or uncomfortable (well maybe a little on the drive down to the camp simply due to it being dark and with so many animals on the road which was a bit hairy) and never did we once feel our safety was at risk.

Would we do this hunt again ? Yes, tomorrow!

A very big thanks to Mohamed Salem at Chinguitty Voyages for his help and excellent service and thanks to Oscar, the camp manager, and Chiek and Mohammedin the trackers and Mahmud the driver and other staff in the camp.

Hats ( or turbans ) off to the guys. They did a great job!






And thanks to all AR readers for coming along too !


_____________


A couple of Ps lines on the funny moments and other things

1/ driving back to camp late one evening after sunset the driver suddenly stopped the car and he and the guides all jumped out, leaving Anja and I alone in the back seat. I assumed that they were going to set the locks on the Toyota front wheels as we were driving in loose sand. When they started walking away from the car, I guessed they needed to have a pee and joked to Anja that she was about to be kidnapped and sold into slavery and that they would take my kidneys (my standard joke in Africa). Suddenly the 3 guys sat down and removed their shoes and then they started praying ! Anja and I both had to stifle a laugh as that had not crossed our minds! In fact the guys managed their prayers when we were finished hunting or when it was a quiet non-warthog moment. That was a first on a hunting trip.

2/ One morning, walking / stalking between some very thick thorn bush and tall reeds, a seriously large caracal of about 14 kgs slowly walked across our path from the reeds to the bush some 25 m in front of us. I expected the guides to throw up the sticks and give me a chance of a shot. However neither they nor Anja saw it and they just carried on walking! Writing this now I know that the caracal was there ! I did not imagine it and it was huge!

3/ On the last evening before we went out for dinner, Mohammed, our travel agent, took us to his office for tea and to freshen up. The office consisted of a small sign on the door, one tiled room, a desk, a chair and a sofa - that was it. No pictures, no reception area, spartan at best. Anja asked me whether I would have booked the trip with Chinguitty if I had seen the office before? My honest answer, likely not. Chinguitty Voyages was exceptional in responding to my mails, providing infos quickly and in detail and getting all permits etc through to us. They met us in the airport, hosted us to dinner and almost took us to the steps of the plane when we left. Who needs fancy offices, big boardroom tables and large reception areas when a desk, a computer, a chair and a couch will do it to !


Here some other pictures that may interest -

One of the village houses on the return trip



Traffic




Not a clue what they are but inc them for Dogcat / Ross



On the hill





Rice fields




More traffic





Goats everywhere




The green house !




Nigeria hasn't got these !




Lots of these !




There are no buff here so we called these 'camel beans'!




Eyelashes !




Tipping - that well debated subject - published in the dining tent



.

Fantastic mate and looks like you and Anja had a ball. Some serious pigs you got there in what looks to be fascinating country. Well done.

Sure looks like a proper swine heaven - fine job.
Just a question - as I see you were using Brenekke's TIG leadfree bullets - how would you rate them compared to their lead siblings?

Very good and interesting report. Fascinating to read about your adventure and you got some great pigs. Very unusual.

Nice hunt and report. Congratulations.

Very nice from an unusual destination!

Thanks for sharing.

Charlie & Anja!!!!

What a great adventure! Your report and pics rank up there with Ross's (dogcat)!

The champagne free zone is a problem, but one we hunters gladly deal with to pursue our passion.

Thanks for sharing your amazing (and very unique) safari.

Best regards, D. Nelson

Great report. What an interesting place to hunt, I love the desert.

Excellent report.

Many thanks.


Steve.

What a cool trip! Exotic, indeed. You are adventurous people, congrats.

Price is right and it is an adventure not many have done. Nice job!

Great report Charlie! What an adventure, with some beautiful photos and hogs.

Pig Heaven ! Do you think you have found it ?
Great write up, enjoyed,as always,reading it.

Wow... I never knew there was hunting in Mauritania! Congrats on a cool adventure and a great hunt report. Is French the common language there as it is in most of western Africa?

Congratulations on a great hunt and a great report! I don't want to get personal but approximately what was the outfitter price for the hunting trip per person.

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Thanks for the (so far) all positive comments / feed back! It was indeed a great hunt.

Mouse93 - the Brenneke 145 grs leadfree TIGs did the job. I used these as I have purchased 250 rounds in anticipation of using the double in Europe on state concessions - where lead free is compulsory. Next time I may go for a heavier bullet!


Darin - thanks so much! And yes it was a decision that needed careful thought. It was somewhat unusual sitting by the camp fire drinking alcohol free beer and Coke Zero! The next hunt is in Namibia and I know that there will be champagne and scotch on that one !

Sika98k - most pigs that I have seen in such a large area, yes. Limpopo is great for big pig. KZN and Pongola too. But Mauritania takes the 'gold' in my book for numbers of pigs from morning thru to last light day in and day out!

Bwanamrm - yes, French is the language along with some 'pidgin English'. I speak French so we were pretty ok on the language front.


Gatogordo - I have sent you a PM with full details. Its not personal - its a published price for an off the shelf package hunt and it was EUR 3.150,- pp inc 5 pigs and everything else with no extras other than modest staff tips.


Cheers

great report... contratulations... a very inusual hunt

Charlie, thanks for the detailed report and great photos. I look at the few trophies I brought back from a Namibia PG hunt, and think -- I wish I had concentrated on good warties. Totally get it!

Great report what a cool trip never had heard of Mauritania before

Great hunt- I want to go!!!


Good Hunting
CF

Charlie ,you did it ,again a fantastic safari ,and great report ,congratulations .

Fantastic report of an off the beaten trail safari! I may have missed it but what do they do with the pigs if they don't eat pork?

Appreciate the bird pics. I believe they are quelia's of some sort.

Perfect swine-fest! One of my dream hunts!!!

Great report.

I believe the birds in mention are cut throat finches.

What an adventure!


Ashamed to say I have never heard of Mauritania before.


Also, while my wife loves to travel and loves me, she would NEVER hunt pigs with me in NW Africa!

quote:

Originally posted by Carl Frederik Nagell:
Great hunt- I want to go!!!


Good Hunting
CF

Me too!!.

Charlie. Glad this report made it back to the top.

Mauritania - found it!

Happy you got carried away, the report is juicy and delightful - the pictures also.

What an adventure - congratulations to you both and thank you for sharing.

Jytte

What a wonderful safari, and excellent report. I really enjoyed reading about your choice of rifles, what classics.

neat hunt thats different. i do like using my 9.3 double on pigs. what was the weather temps like ?

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Duckear - no need to say you are ashamed not to know Mauritania ! After all it simply does not feature in the webpages or hunting shows. An unpolished pig jewel !

Spike - weather was good, for me shorts and sleeves the whole week, Anja wore a fleece most mornings and the trackers jackets. By 10.00 a.m. everyone was in shirtsleeves. Mornings around 15 degrees up to high 20s around noon.

Jytte - as always too kind with your words. Thank you. It was indeed a great and unusual hunt from the destination, to the camp to the terrain!

.

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An interesting place for sure. Well done and thanks for sharing.

Excellent. Sometimes I miss the good ones and have to circle back.

Looks like a very a fun hunt. Great pictures and a very nice write up with some interesting and darn nice rifles too.

With it up to about 6 inches of rain today in Houston (again) - there are times you want to go dry! Well maybe not completely dry.

Excellent report. Thank you for share with us. I can see you fun a lot. I´m glad for you.

Regards,

Ovny.

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Anja and I have a return trip to Mauritania in the planning - was for December '17 but we are rescheduling to Feb '2018, a year away.

Anyone want to join and make this a "AR Mauritania Big Boar Trip"?

Looking at 5 days hunting inc 5 pigs which comes in at around EUR 3.500,- plus AF flights out of Paris. Extra pigs not a problem.

Drop me a PM if interested.

Charlie

Ps to be very clear, I am not an agent or benefitting in any way financially from this idea. Just thought to put it out there for anyone who is adventurous like us and loves hunting warthog!

.

Nothing wrong with NA beer. I actually prefer that to the stuff with alcohol.

Sounds like a great trip. Thanks for sharing.

BH63

Wow!! The Grand Slam of Ham!! I missed this report the first time around. I'm glad it made it back to the top. Excellent adventure I wish we could join in on.

Cheers
Jim & Joyce

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:
Wow!! The Grand Slam of Ham!! I missed this report the first time around. I'm glad it made it back to the top. Excellent adventure I wish we could join in on.

Cheers
Jim & Joyce

Me too!!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by D. Nelson:

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:
Wow!! The Grand Slam of Ham!! I missed this report the first time around. I'm glad it made it back to the top. Excellent adventure I wish we could join in on.

Cheers
Jim & Joyce

Me too!!!!!

Darin you should go girl. Charlie is an excellent host and Anja is a joy to be with.

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:

quote:

Originally posted by D. Nelson:

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:
Wow!! The Grand Slam of Ham!! I missed this report the first time around. I'm glad it made it back to the top. Excellent adventure I wish we could join in on.

Cheers
Jim & Joyce

Me too!!!!!

Darin you should go girl. Charlie is an excellent host and Anja is a joy to be with.

If I survive 2017 in Zambia I'll definitely consider it! It will be tough without champagne but no doubt Charlie & Anja would make a campfire and pig hunt worth it!

Best regards, D. Nelson