Agent: Greg Brownlee @ Jeff C. Neal, Inc.

Outfitter: Westfalen Hunting Safaris

PH: John Van Der Westhuizen

Dates: There are one week openings in each month from June - August, and 2 week openings in September and October.


Our main Namibian outfitter, Westfalen Hunting Safaris, has some openings this year and needs to get them filled. We've been booking with them since 2008 and have had 100% satisfied clients (including some AR members). Westfalen's properties are two separate parcels totaling more than 150,000 acres of un-fenced, free range hunting. Here they have 15 huntable species of big game including oryx, kudu, warthog, and the damara Dik-Dik, an animal only found in this part of Namibia. Hunters need to fly into Windhoek where they will be picked up at the airport and driven to camp. Camp is located 5 hours NW of Windhoek, north of the town of Outjo. Camp consists of comfortable rock roundavel's under thatch, with hot and cold running water, flush toilets and two beds. The camp, named "Elephant Camp" get's it's name because a herd of desert elephants frequents the lake near the outdoor dining area. It's really one of the more beautiful settings for a camp that I've been to. Hunting parties are never mixed, the food is honestly the best I've ever had in Africa (many clients will attest to this), and this is one of the nicest, most honest family run operations I've ever dealt with. I hunted with them in 2009 and will make a stop over to see them again next time I go to Africa. They're worth the trip.

Hunting is done via spot and stalk from the granite Kopies, with most shot distances being well under 200 yards. They are set up for bow hunting, though compound bows are preferred as we've had guys hunting with long bows have a little difficulty.

Here's a hunt report from an AR member for those who are interested:

http://forums.accuratereloadin...221064361#9221064361

Additionally - Here's a link to a recent hunting report article written by outdoor writer Mel Toponce on his hunt here. We sent Mel there last year and he had a great time, though hunting with a long bow provided to be difficult:

http://www.huntingreport.com/t..._budget_Oct_2012.cfm


The rates for this hunt are as follows:

$350/day per hunter for 1x1
$280/day per hunter for 2x1
1st observer being offered free of charge
Each additional observer is $200/day.

Trophy fees as follows:

Kudu - $1,000
1st Oryx - $700 (2nd and third oryx are free)
Springbok $450
Warthog - $350
Steenbuck - $280
Red Hartebeest - $700
Grey Duiker - $280
Damara Dik Dik - $1,100 (on quota)
Klipspringer - $1,100 (on quota)
Giraffe - $1,300
Mountain Zebra - $900
Baboon - $80
Jackal - $80
Cheetah - $3,000 (non-importable to the US)

Additional fees will be the 15% Namibian VAT on daily rates, Airfare to and from Windhoek, Namibia, round trip transfers to camp ($600), dip and pack of trophies ($70 each/$140 for giraffe), shipping of trophies, hotels before or after the safari or grautities to guides if warranted.

Some AR members have complained about charging for road transfers to camp, citing it as a reason they would not book with Westfalen. The trip consists of around 1,000 kms of round trip driving, and with their low daily rates it's not a cost they can readily absorb. Because of this, they are willing to give hunters two free oryx if they pay for one (so a 3 for 1 type of deal). Hunters can export up to 3 oryx, but if they don't want to take all three they can choose the largest of the three and only pay dip and pack for that one animal. Trust me when I say that there is no shortage of oryx (gemsbok) here. If the observer would like to shoot one of the three, they can also do so free of charge.

Clients interested in hunting Cheetah should take a look at the hunt report link I posted above as Tendrams shot a great cheetah on his hunt and saw multiple others. It's a great place to hunt them in their free range, natural environment with high success. They have had very little rain this year but are one of the only properties in the area with year round pumped water, so the game gets VERY concentrated on their properties in years like this. Expect to see hundreds of oryx each day on this hunt, and lots of kudu, warthog, hartebeest, and springbok as well. Clients looking for Damara Dik-Dik should also consider this hunt as there is a very high concentration of them in some areas of the property, and success has been 100% in previous seasons. The quota is very limited on them (3 per year), so if interested let me know so I can try and reserve one.

Photos from a few of our clients hunts here:

Kudu photographed by my brother after already taking his great kudu bull. This bull is probably 55"-56" or so here:



Here's our client with his 41" Oryx taken here last year.



Another nice oryx:




Red Hartebeest taken by our client here:



Mountain Zebra




Cheetah taken by Tendrams here in 2011:




Damara Dik-Dik taken by Tendrams in 2011:




Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks!

Greg

This area and outfitter are BOTH fabulous. The acreage around Elephant Camp is a true plains game paradise available for prices that are rolled back a decade or more. Frankly, this is also not a hunt where you actually need a road charter. We rented a small car for the duration of the trip, drove to camp, let the car sit idle during the ten days of hunting, and then drove around post-hunt to see Etosha etc. The cost of doing this was a bit less than the cost of a road charter and afforded a lot of freedom to see what we wanted before and after the actual hunt. I will absolutely return to Westfalen to hunt again.

Could you please post some pictures of the camp and facilities?

Here is their dining/lounge area...



...and the nearby braii along with a designated sundowner consumption area just to the left of this frame.



I don't have any pictures of the rondavels we stayed in but they are very very well done. Juliana, in addition to having five star cooking skills, has a decorators eye. This is one of the most "wife friendly" hunts I have ever undertaken. My wife had never been on a safari before this one and, upon entering the rondavel, just looked at me and said, "Wow, this place is POSH...can we afford this?"

Here are some photos of the camp I took while there:





Outdoor dining area:



Camp from a nearby kopie:

Nice offer Greg. I would say the giraffe trophy fee is worth a safari in itself. I have always heard great things about Westfalen.

Is it possible to also take more than one kudu and/or hartebeest?

Are caracal available? Opportunity for bird shooting?

Also, one the links you posted mentioned a 5-hour trip to camp which seems fairly fast for a 600+ mile trip each way? That's quick even if it's 600+km's.

Bill,

Answers below.

quote:

Originally posted by DB Bill:
Is it possible to also take more than one kudu and/or hartebeest? Yes, you may take 2 kudu or 2 hartebeest at the normal trophy fees.

Are caracal available? Opportunity for bird shooting? No caracal or bird shooting. They don't like to shoot birds because they're generally concentrated around the warterholes. Being that it's free range, they need to keep the big game on their property with the water, so shooting around water isn't allowed unfortunately.

Also, one the links you posted mentioned a 5-hour trip to camp which seems fairly fast for a 600+ mile trip each way? That's quick even if it's 600+km's.
The trip may be a little longer than 5 hours each way. When I was there in 2009 it seemed to be around 5 hours, but John told me it was 1,250 miles so I must be incorrect in my judgement of how long it took. Sorry about that!

quote:

Originally posted by Greg Brownlee:
The trip may be a little longer than 5 hours each way. When I was there in 2009 it seemed to be around 5 hours, but John told me it was 1,250 miles so I must be incorrect in my judgement of how long it took. Sorry about that!

625 miles in 5 hours would be driving an average speed of 125 miles per hour with no stops for fuel, food or restroom breaks.

625 kilometers in 5 hours would be about a 75 mph average again with no stops.

Both of these seem just a little excessive for the roads that I drove on in Namibia.

quote:

Originally posted by Fjold:

quote:

Originally posted by Greg Brownlee:
The trip may be a little longer than 5 hours each way. When I was there in 2009 it seemed to be around 5 hours, but John told me it was 1,250 miles so I must be incorrect in my judgement of how long it took. Sorry about that!

625 miles in 5 hours would be driving an average speed of 125 miles per hour with no stops for fuel, food or restroom breaks.

625 kilometers in 5 hours would be about a 75 mph average again with no stops.

Both of these seem just a little excessive for the roads that I drove on in Namibia.

Sorry for the mis-reprentation of the drive time Frank.

Any Impala available?

Not here, they know a place you can get them. Being free range, there aren't any natural impala herds in this area. There are black face impala a little further north, but you cannot export them (or hunt them if I remember correctly).

They can get Impala, eland and wildebeest on a different property if you're interested, but it'll be a high fence area.

It's gotta be about 625 KM. Doing 120 KM/H on the roads up there was no problem for us so figure about 5 hours... 5.5 if you wanna be safer than I was. It really took us no longer than that.

Guys from Windhoek Airport to John's Elephant camp (one way)is around 500 km / 310 miles. With one fuel / restroom stop in Otjiwarongo the drive will be approximately 5 hours at an average of 120km p/h.

Hope this helps.

TTT - Still some openings in August - October.