Big Country
AH senior member
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2013
- Messages
- 60
- Reaction score
- 72
- Location
- Minnesota
- Hunted
- United States, Canada, KZN South Africa
Alright Gentlemen and ladies, and all of the rest of you miscreants 
After arriving home from our adventure of a lifetime, I compiled the notes I had from our safari. I really wanted an account of not only the daily goings on, but the things I saw and felt throughout the trip. I wanted to have a full account to share with my grandkids someday when I am old and gray and the details have faded from memory. The end product ended up a bit long, but reads a little like a story, and my lovely wife (Mrs. Country) has encouraged me to share it with all of you. For those of you wanting a short synopsis, this probably isn't it. For those of you looking for a long, detailed read, grab a glass of something cold, and hopefully enjoy...
Safari, Really?
One hot summer’s day, I found myself relaxing under the big maple in our front yard. The love of my life was sitting beside me enjoying a cold drink. Our 1 year old was crawling around, exploring her new world, happily babbling at the birds. My love turned to me and said calmly “I think we should go on safari to Africa” silence followed, she took a sip of her lemonade and with a thoughtful look said “Mmm Hmm, Africa”. I nearly fell off my chair….
After I caught my breath and the heart palpitations stopped, I asked my wife, do you really mean this? Are we really going to look into this? Can I get this in writing?
I should preface this with the fact that we were having a conversation at the time about relatives, life goals, and how waiting until retirement doesn’t always work out like you think. We both liked the idea of going while we were under 40, rather than over 60. It sounded like the best way to get the “Whole Experience”
I have been a hunter since the ripe old age of 12 or so. My father brought me along hunting pheasants, squirrels, and rabbits on Saturday afternoons in September until the deer and duck hunters took over the woodlots and swamps in October and November. Since then I have hunted nearly everything that walked, or flew in the Midwest. I had read stories of great white hunters pursuing strange and dangerous beasts on a continent 9000 miles away. I always assumed that this was a pursuit of the rich and didn’t even dare to dream of it. With a home, marriage and family, gone are the days of hunting every weekend from September until March. I don’t regret the change; I simply enjoy the memories of the old times. Times when I went hunting simply because I had nothing better to do. Now days my hunting trips are further between, but are longer trips to further destinations.
Concept
Years before while in my early twenties, and working as a laborer for an excavating company, I had the privilege to meet a truly worldly hunter. In the process of excavating for an addition on his newly remodeled 1880’s farm house I began this journey called safari. During the hottest part of the summer we took breaks in his “Clubhouse”. This was an old granary that had been cleaned up a bit, but still had its original slat wood floor and walls. Inside, covering the walls, couches, and floors, were skulls, skins, and shoulder mounts of a hundred animals I had never seen before. We spent hours after work talking about Africa, hunting and travel. He explained how a 2 week African plains game safari could actually be more affordable than a week long guided elk hunt in Colorado. 5 or 7 animals for the same price as one seemed like a good deal, but still way out of reach at the time. He told me if I ever had the urge or the means to go, to just drop him a line. To be honest, I didn’t think much of it at the time. Fast forward 15 years…I had no idea if he would remember me, but I finally decided to take him up on his offer.
We met with Walt & Darci in late summer of 2013 to discuss the possibility of an African safari. Over several glasses of wine we discussed the opportunities to be had in various African countries from hunting to sightseeing. We toured their trophy barn, and I’m sure we gaped like fools at all the trophies.
My personal favorites were an absolute giant of a Lord Derby Eland, and a Forest Bongo. Both are hunts that are not for the sightseer, faint of heart, or wife, I’m afraid. Ten miles + of walking in the tepid rain soaked bush a day in temps soaring past 85 with humidity in the 70-80 percent range just didn’t sound like fun to her. I can’t imagine why?
Walt & Darci recommended a more realistic first time adventure in the way of taking a plains game safari to either Namibia or South Africa. They recommended an east Africa style tented camp with 1X1 hunting. Meaning one hunter to one PH. (As it turns out, the tented camp has become a bit of a white elephant in the Natal province, and is seldom offered today.) After further discussion they recommended three PH’s that operate in the Kwa-Zulu Natal province of South Africa. Leo & Tish Van Rooyen of Leo Van Rooyen Safaris. Willem and Amanda Basson of Zeekoepan Safaris. And Anton Marais of Northern Zululand Safaris.
Walt advised that I absolutely could not hunt Natal without taking a bull Nyala. This was a must have when hunting in Natal. They are endemic (naturally occurring) and the biggest trophies in the world are taken there. He has two life sized mounts and we looked at them extensively.
The Gun
In the fall of 2013 I spent many hours researching guns, ammunition, and reading the hundreds of posts and articles titled “Which rifle for safari?” I am a bit of a traditionalist, and thought if I’m going to Africa, I want a gun and caliber that says ”Africa”. I settled on a 375 H&H magnum. The 375 seems to be considered the granddaddy of African safari cartridges, and also the minimum caliber for dangerous game most everywhere. Mostly looked at as a “cannon” in the states, it is considered an old standard, and quite tame in Africa. Our American enthusiasm for fire breathing magnums with ultra-high velocities and laser-flat trajectories is not shared by those residing on the Dark Continent. I had a 7MM Rem Mag, but it just didn’t seem like the right thing to bring on safari. I knew the .375 might be a little much for plains game, but the traditionalist side of me won out. Once I had settled on the caliber, I set off to find the gun. I was working in a rather narrow section of the price market,($2000 or under) and as such, had only a few options. I also wanted the look of a proper express rifle, big iron sites, heavy barrel. There would be no muzzle breaks, stainless steel barrels or black stocks. I was looking for a gun that had some safari character. The English Whitworth Express rifles were plentiful and could easily be had for $1000. I handled a few of these and they seemed to be a decent representative of the low end express rifle, but just didn’t turn my crank. The CZ 550 had gotten very good reviews and there were used rifles aplenty. I handled several, but didn’t particularly like the reverse safety, and mostly because of that I did not pursue the CZ. Another widely available used express rifle was the post 64 (push feed) Model 70. They were plentiful and in my price range. I liked the look of the model 70’s and found one with an HS precision stock in a safari olive drab that I liked the look of. I called HS Precision and spoke to them about their stock and how it may have been bedded. They were more than happy to talk to me about the aluminum bedding block nestled in the synthetic stock, and that I should not be concerned about a poor bedding job. This stock was a free floated design that was drop in, bolt in, design. I had the rifle transferred from the Cabelas gun library in Dundee Michigan, to my local store in Rogers, MN. Close inspection showed it to be nearly flawless. $1200 with a quality set of quick detach rings, plus Cabelas made me pay $30 to ship the rifle to MN. Much to my irritation they were absolutely unwilling to budge on the price. Not a dollar. I worked on them for two hours and they wouldn’t even cover the shipping. I understand that you will never get a “deal” on anything from a Cabelas gun library, but I at least expected them to cover the $30 store to store transfer fee on a $1200 purchase. It was explained to me that they charge 40% over what they paid out, period. Another annoyance was the absolute lack of ammo in the store. They only had two boxes of PRVI Partisan ammo in the store. This ammo in 375 H&H has gotten terrible reviews, with misfires and rounds failing to chamber happening with 10-15% of the ammo in any given box. New gun, no bullets, GRRR... I did not leave particularly happy, and am not sure I would buy from a Cabelas gun library again. In the end, they had the rifle I wanted, so I bought it.
Craigslist being the wonderful thing that it is, provided me with a Zeiss Conquest 3-9x42 in a German #4 reticle for $300. The previous owner said it was mounted on a Sako Finnbear elk rifle, and saw some work at the range, but never made it to the Elk woods.
Research
In November of 2013 we contacted all three safari companies and obtained info and pricing. Pricing between them was different, but similar. Higher daily rates and lower trophy fees, and vice versa. Zeekoepan followed up with us the most consistently, followed by Leo Van Rooyen. Anton Marais’s follow-up was spotty at best.
After some research we decided to look into mostly early September booking dates. The airline cost is far less after September 1st than in July or August and early September is still considered prime hunting time.
In early February of 2013 we talked over finances and family planning stuff and we decided to postpone safari until 2015 or 2016 pending the next baby
We considered attending the SCI World Expo in Las Vegas to meet with Anton Marais, but decided that the $1000 price tag was too much
We considered meeting Leo Van Rooyen in Houston Texas, but again the travel costs were again prohibitive. He actually called us when he got into the states and invited us to Texas.
We attended the Minneapolis SCI event in early march of 2014 and met with Willem and Amanda Basson for several hours the following day. After the meeting we fully intended to book with them for 2015 or 2016. All of our questions were answered, and we felt that we came away as friends.
When it became apparent that this might actually happen, I started researching “deals”. I became a member of an online site called africahunting.com. It quickly became apparent that the animals I wanted to hunt could be had for much less than the quotes we were receiving, but at an apparent cost to quality. I.e. Many groups of hunters in camp, multiple PH’s working the same concessions, Having to share the attention of the camp staff, lack of side trip opportunities unless otherwise booked with a separate travel guide. After much discussion, we decided that the more intimate experience of being the only hunters in camp, and the singular focus of the PH and staff was worth the extra cost. Walt & Darci emphasized how important it is to have the singular attention of the PH and staff for a really quality experience, especially on a first trip. The availability of side trips (fishing, sightseeing) under the standard price umbrella also helped us make our decision.
Holy Sh!$% This is really happening!
In late march of 2014, with no baby currently on the way, and no real reason we couldn’t go, we kind of fell into the decision to “Pull the Trigger” on our safari. Of course the 24 month savings plan would have to be accelerated significantly, but child care and a number of other things came together to make fall of 2014 our prime dates for safari.
After some consideration, we decided to really get to planning our safari for the fall of 2014. We both had approved vacation starting 10 September, and decided that if one of the recommended outfitters had dates open around that time that we would book. With some heartache, but not surprisingly, Zeekoepan had a full schedule. Anton Marais had multiple dates open, but none that coincided with our September dates. Leo Van Rooyen had several sets of dates in the prime months, and one exactly overlapped our approved vacations. Arrival September 12th and depart September 23rd
The first week in April of 2014 we both began the process of contacting our employers to discuss vacation approvals, contacting the grandma’s, and Julia’s girlfriends to discuss taking care of our daughter, and really looking at the finances. Things began to really fall into place without much work at all. It seemed like it was meant to be.
On April 4th we made the decision to book with Leo and Tish Van Rooyen and wire transferred a deposit of $4390. I also contacted Lori Spears of Travel Express to put together a travel package for us from MSP to RCB and back.
On April 6th Lori responded with a best price package that included all air travel for $1870.70 per person. After some research, we decided to book the City Lodge hotel in the OR Tambo airport for our overnight layover in Johannesburg.
April 8th I forwarded a list of questions and some background info on us to Tish Van Rooyen
On April 9th I booked and paid for the air flights with Lori from Travel Express. She reserved our seats for all 6 flights. Side by side with one window for the shorter flights, and front to back window seats for the two long flights.
April 10th I found my passport, and wrote down all the gun and ammo info for Leo and emailed it so they can draft an official invite to RSA hunting letter.
April 14th I received emails from Air 2000 Hunters support. We are considering using their services for a full meet and greet in addition to their gun importing services. Lots of forms to fill out and mail off. No word back from travel express on a confirmed itinerary yet, also no answers to the long question list yet. I spoke to Walt about some payment details and he asked about my trophy list. I told him about my desire for really excellent Kudu and Nyala bulls, a nice tall and wide impala ram, zebra and possibly a warthog. He approved very much but suggested that I add a blue wildebeest and a springbuck if given the chance.
April 19th Julia and I had our first shooting practice session. I worked with her on gun safety, and shooting mechanics for about two hours. We put about 70 rounds downrange from a .22 Mag and 10 or so from a .22-250. Her shooting mechanics were much better than I thought they might be, hitting 100% of her shots from 60 yards on a 4x6 steel target. The .22-250 is a closer approximation to my .375 in weight, and I wanted to step her up in muzzle blast and recoil slowly. We both worked on staying in the scope after the initial shot, tracking our target, cycling the action, and firing follow up shots rapidly. We did all of our shooting off the sticks. This was a first for both of us, and it took a little bit of getting used to. I made a trip to the lumber yard and had improvised a set from 6’ pieces of 1.25” curtain rod and some parachute cord for the tripod lashing. A little sanding and some stain, and they almost looked the part. Our neighbors were probably wondering about us a little. Not knowing of our travel plans, they must have wondered at the two of us “Stalking” around our yard, one behind the other, setting up a little tripod, and shooting off it. Good fun!
April 29th After much research Julia and I decided on a second set of binoculars. We compared my Steiner Outfitter to Zeiss Conquest HD and Nikon Monarch 7. The Monarch 7’s seemed to be the best value, and we ordered them. Our safari planning is coming together nicely. The financial side is going well with Julia being lucky enough to pick up bonus shifts and some holiday double-time. With luck my summer will include a hundred hours of OT or so and we’ll be in good shape. We shopped for and picked up our carry-on luggage /Safari rucksacks at Eddie Bauer this week also. We have done a little shopping for Digital cameras, but have not settled on a specific model yet.
June 5th Just before our June fishing vacation we purchased a new digital camera. We settled on an FZ200. We have played with it a little, but need to a lot more before we go. I sent off the Steiner’s, and they were back within 2 weeks fully repaired no questions asked. Julia has been slowly accumulating safari clothes that she finds at Savers. I have nearly everything I need so far with the purchase of 2 long sleeved olive army shirts from Fleet Farm.
June 5th Julia and I had our second shooting session. I set a paper target at 40 yds, 1 gal propane’s at 60 yds, 8” steel gong at 100 yds, 13’ steel gongs at 150 and 200 yds. Julia surprised me again, hitting consistently at 100 and pretty good at 150. We both struggled at 200 off the sticks. I finally got the courage to sight in my 375. The 260 gr. Nosler’s patterned very well. Off the bench with a sled I shot the bore sighted rifle at 40 yds. 8 inches low and right, not too bad for bore sighting. Julia helped me dial into the hole and the second shot was right at the bottom of the 1.25” bull’s-eye. Backed up to 100 yds and the hole was into the top of the bull’s-eye. At 150 dead on, at 200 about 5-6” of drop. Surprisingly repeatable for a large caliber. We shot about a hundred rounds of 22 mag, 20 rounds of 22-250 and 5 rounds of 375.
July 16th I am getting things ready to take to US Customs and Immigration for the certification of our form 4457 to declare possessions. I will be taking my rifle, binoculars, phones, and i-pad to the Humphrey terminal this Friday. This should be the last step before sending off all the info to air 2000 for our pre-permitting process.
July 18th Customs was a breeze at the office in the Humphrey terminal. I attracted a lot of attention sitting alone in the terminal with a gun case waiting for the customs office to open though. We got 4457 forms filled out for all our electronics, binocs, rifle, and scope. It took about an hour.
July 22nd Went to Cabelas over the weekend and dropped $500 on safari stuff. Mostly on 4 pairs of zip off pants, tsa locks, binoc harnesses, and a box of 375 h&H shells. We also found a bunch of stuff in the bargain cave that could be worn on safari. We are getting ready to send over all our documentation to Air 2000 this week. The postal service in RSA is not functioning at this time and they recommended using DHL for point to point delivery @ $109 Last thing left to buy is an ammo box, forgot this at Cabelas the other day.
September 3rd Safari is a week away! I have been shooting the 375 off the sticks every few days using 300 gr sp. The big soft points really slap when they hit the 1” steel plates. All of our gear and clothes is in order, and final packing will be happening this weekend.
September 9th we had a couple of hiccups with the wire transfer but managed to get $5000 transferred to Leo before we left
September 10th Day 1
Travel
5 am alarms go off and we are up and headed for our 9am flight in Minneapolis.
The flight from Minneapolis to Dulles was uneventful after my parents dropped us off. We had a nice meal at Chipotle in Dulles airport 4 hours before boarding our South African airlines flight to Johannesburg via Dakar. The flight was long, but bearable. SAA had really good food and served three in-flight meals which were of moderate size, good quality, and lots of variety.
September 11th Day 2
More Travel
We landed in Johannesburg at 5pm local time and met our representative from Air 2000. He wore a suit, spoke fluent English, and walked us through a completely painless customs, immigration, and passport control with a minimum of effort and time. There was a rather tense conversation between him and a woman from the world health organization at the customs desk. I’m not sure if they were speaking Afrikaans or Zulu, but it was clear they were not happy with one another. I have no idea what was said but in the end we got to pass. He walked us all the way to the hotel front desk and we said our goodbyes and thank you. Money well spent, for the first trip anyhow...
We had dinner at the City Lodge restaurant. They had a somewhat limited menu, but the food was very good. Julia and I split an order of mack and cheese and an open faced chicken sandwich with a glass of wine. I had a Hunters extra dry cider. It went down nicely, and I tolerated it well. Julia later enjoyed a long soak in the huge tub in our room, while I read a little. We were pretty exhausted and hit the sack about 8:30. We both woke up at 12 midnight and had trouble falling asleep again. Some sleeping pills did the trick, and we both drifted off, but had trouble getting going in the morning.
September 12th Day 3
It Begins!
5 am wakeup call and we are headed through the Johannesburg airport to check in for our regional flight to Richards Bay. We were immediately bothered by two very unofficial looking airport workers that appeared to be baggage handlers. Along the way to the check in counter, we picked up at least one more. The gate agents, saps officers, skycaps/ baggage handlers were all relentless in demanding bribes, to the point that Julia became quite rattled. “A little something for the boys?” “A little help for the boys?” “These boys keep your luggage safe, a little something for them?” In the end their help was occasionally useful in a large and unfamiliar airport and we paid them $20 for their trouble. The ring leader took it and then the followers proceeded to demand money for themselves. It took a very stern “Piss Off!!” to get them to let it go. This part of the trip was very irritating, but as Mid-westerners we don’t tip folks just because they walked beside you for 200 feet. I’m going to try and chalk most of this up to cultural differences, and move on. If I fly through Joberg again I will know enough to shoo them off immediately, and just handle it myself. We made sure to check our bags all the way through from Richards Bay to Kennedy on our return trip to avoid this hassle.
The flight to Richards Bay was on a very small gulfstream turboprop. It only had 3 seats per row. Julia had a ball flying in such a small plane!
The terminal at RCB is tiny, and the kind of place that has no gates or jet ways, you just clamber down the ladder out of the plane and walk a quarter mile to the terminal building.
A typically South African woman, tall, blond, and very pretty, Tish Van Rooyen was waiting in the baggage claim area for us. She breezed us through baggage claim and collecting my rifle, and we were off for the 3 hr. trip to Mahlalela. Along the road there were many ramshackle stands selling everything from fresh produce to cooked meals. There were cows and donkeys just wandering on or near the road everywhere. No fences, no shepherds, just wandering cattle, very strange..
We stopped about halfway at Illalla Weavers for brunch and some shopping. I found a book on how to make biltong and sausages, Julia found a necklace to go with her blue dress and a cute outfit for Katie.
Tish drives a little like a pissed off New Yorker, not scary per say, but it kept it interesting! We arrived at the gate to Mahlalela about 1pm. We took a slow drive in and saw a crocodile guarding a male ostrich it had killed, a female ostrich that looked very raggedy, and a buck and doe of common reedbuck. Much to Julia’s delight we saw no less than 6 giraffe. It was quite hot and most of the animals were lying up in the brush.
We met Mark and Telani Dedekind the owners of Mahlalela game ranch straight away. They showed us to our chalet, the honeymooner’s cabin. Sometimes it’s nice being the youngest guest! Our chalet was very nice and private. We got settled and had a snack and a drink before finally unpacking all of our stuff.
We got to meet all the dogs, Two ridgebacks and 4 little hunting dogs, all jack russell mixes. Asterix, and Roxy , Romeo a ridgeback, two other dogs we don't remember the names of. There were always no less than 4 around to welcome you to the lodge.
I sorted out my hunting gear and Walter, one of Mark’s staff PH’s, took us to the range to check out my rifle. Along the way Walter pointed out all sorts of things from identifying rhino species by their scat to trees and birds. The rifle papered 2" high and right. A simple adjustment and it papered 1.5" high at 100 meters. Perfect. Just then the sun was starting to drop low, and I eyed Walter for a reaction when I suggested a little drive?? He was willing since my PH was still enroute from closing the dry camp 750 Kilometers north. Walter took off with us in a utv with Julia sitting up top. We saw impala including a big group of rams, 6 kudu bulls, one of which had Walter a bit excited. If we were hunting, he said, you shoot that one straightaway!! He was tall, had deep curls, mass, and wide! He was walking with another slightly younger bull near the river. Note to self.... We also saw at least a half a dozen nyala bulls and glassed them carefully. One was a shooter, but not the bell shaped monster I am looking for. Walter took us to a small pan and we saw 3 different mother/calf pairs of white rhinos at less than 100 yards. These things are huge! The short drive right before dark really got our blood pumping about this safari. After settling things back into our chalet we went to the lodge for a snack and a sundowner. Another pair of hunters arrived from the northern camp with Leo and Tommy. A pair of Germans, Otto, and his young son. Otto had hunted all over Africa including Kenya before it closed. They speak very little English, we speak very little German, and all the others speak Afrikaans. It made for an interesting dynamic around the dinner table.
Starters for the evening were braaied (grilled) homemade venison borewors (sausage) which was excellent. Not fatty like pork sausages, and an excellent flavor. Even a very surprised Julia gobbled it up (she’s not much for sausages usually).
Dinner was several meats done over wood coals on the braai served with salad, bread, a sweet corn dish, roasted squash, and roasted vegetables. The braai was mutton chops, pork chops, and beef steak. All were fabulous.
Dinner was topped with a particularly wonderful looking ice cream dish which Julia took a picture of. Some sort of deep fried candied shell called a “brandy snap basket” filled with ice cream and topped with a drizzle of chocolate sauce. Julia absolutely loved this desert, calling her favorite of the entire trip.
One more sundowner and it’s was off to bed for the two of us. First day of hunting to come tomorrow 6am. It was so overwhelming to actually be here in Africa on a real safari. It brought us both nearly to tears a couple of times today. There is no mistaking this place for anything other than Africa...
More to come...
After arriving home from our adventure of a lifetime, I compiled the notes I had from our safari. I really wanted an account of not only the daily goings on, but the things I saw and felt throughout the trip. I wanted to have a full account to share with my grandkids someday when I am old and gray and the details have faded from memory. The end product ended up a bit long, but reads a little like a story, and my lovely wife (Mrs. Country) has encouraged me to share it with all of you. For those of you wanting a short synopsis, this probably isn't it. For those of you looking for a long, detailed read, grab a glass of something cold, and hopefully enjoy...
Safari, Really?
One hot summer’s day, I found myself relaxing under the big maple in our front yard. The love of my life was sitting beside me enjoying a cold drink. Our 1 year old was crawling around, exploring her new world, happily babbling at the birds. My love turned to me and said calmly “I think we should go on safari to Africa” silence followed, she took a sip of her lemonade and with a thoughtful look said “Mmm Hmm, Africa”. I nearly fell off my chair….
After I caught my breath and the heart palpitations stopped, I asked my wife, do you really mean this? Are we really going to look into this? Can I get this in writing?
I should preface this with the fact that we were having a conversation at the time about relatives, life goals, and how waiting until retirement doesn’t always work out like you think. We both liked the idea of going while we were under 40, rather than over 60. It sounded like the best way to get the “Whole Experience”
I have been a hunter since the ripe old age of 12 or so. My father brought me along hunting pheasants, squirrels, and rabbits on Saturday afternoons in September until the deer and duck hunters took over the woodlots and swamps in October and November. Since then I have hunted nearly everything that walked, or flew in the Midwest. I had read stories of great white hunters pursuing strange and dangerous beasts on a continent 9000 miles away. I always assumed that this was a pursuit of the rich and didn’t even dare to dream of it. With a home, marriage and family, gone are the days of hunting every weekend from September until March. I don’t regret the change; I simply enjoy the memories of the old times. Times when I went hunting simply because I had nothing better to do. Now days my hunting trips are further between, but are longer trips to further destinations.
Concept
Years before while in my early twenties, and working as a laborer for an excavating company, I had the privilege to meet a truly worldly hunter. In the process of excavating for an addition on his newly remodeled 1880’s farm house I began this journey called safari. During the hottest part of the summer we took breaks in his “Clubhouse”. This was an old granary that had been cleaned up a bit, but still had its original slat wood floor and walls. Inside, covering the walls, couches, and floors, were skulls, skins, and shoulder mounts of a hundred animals I had never seen before. We spent hours after work talking about Africa, hunting and travel. He explained how a 2 week African plains game safari could actually be more affordable than a week long guided elk hunt in Colorado. 5 or 7 animals for the same price as one seemed like a good deal, but still way out of reach at the time. He told me if I ever had the urge or the means to go, to just drop him a line. To be honest, I didn’t think much of it at the time. Fast forward 15 years…I had no idea if he would remember me, but I finally decided to take him up on his offer.
We met with Walt & Darci in late summer of 2013 to discuss the possibility of an African safari. Over several glasses of wine we discussed the opportunities to be had in various African countries from hunting to sightseeing. We toured their trophy barn, and I’m sure we gaped like fools at all the trophies.
My personal favorites were an absolute giant of a Lord Derby Eland, and a Forest Bongo. Both are hunts that are not for the sightseer, faint of heart, or wife, I’m afraid. Ten miles + of walking in the tepid rain soaked bush a day in temps soaring past 85 with humidity in the 70-80 percent range just didn’t sound like fun to her. I can’t imagine why?
Walt & Darci recommended a more realistic first time adventure in the way of taking a plains game safari to either Namibia or South Africa. They recommended an east Africa style tented camp with 1X1 hunting. Meaning one hunter to one PH. (As it turns out, the tented camp has become a bit of a white elephant in the Natal province, and is seldom offered today.) After further discussion they recommended three PH’s that operate in the Kwa-Zulu Natal province of South Africa. Leo & Tish Van Rooyen of Leo Van Rooyen Safaris. Willem and Amanda Basson of Zeekoepan Safaris. And Anton Marais of Northern Zululand Safaris.
Walt advised that I absolutely could not hunt Natal without taking a bull Nyala. This was a must have when hunting in Natal. They are endemic (naturally occurring) and the biggest trophies in the world are taken there. He has two life sized mounts and we looked at them extensively.
The Gun
In the fall of 2013 I spent many hours researching guns, ammunition, and reading the hundreds of posts and articles titled “Which rifle for safari?” I am a bit of a traditionalist, and thought if I’m going to Africa, I want a gun and caliber that says ”Africa”. I settled on a 375 H&H magnum. The 375 seems to be considered the granddaddy of African safari cartridges, and also the minimum caliber for dangerous game most everywhere. Mostly looked at as a “cannon” in the states, it is considered an old standard, and quite tame in Africa. Our American enthusiasm for fire breathing magnums with ultra-high velocities and laser-flat trajectories is not shared by those residing on the Dark Continent. I had a 7MM Rem Mag, but it just didn’t seem like the right thing to bring on safari. I knew the .375 might be a little much for plains game, but the traditionalist side of me won out. Once I had settled on the caliber, I set off to find the gun. I was working in a rather narrow section of the price market,($2000 or under) and as such, had only a few options. I also wanted the look of a proper express rifle, big iron sites, heavy barrel. There would be no muzzle breaks, stainless steel barrels or black stocks. I was looking for a gun that had some safari character. The English Whitworth Express rifles were plentiful and could easily be had for $1000. I handled a few of these and they seemed to be a decent representative of the low end express rifle, but just didn’t turn my crank. The CZ 550 had gotten very good reviews and there were used rifles aplenty. I handled several, but didn’t particularly like the reverse safety, and mostly because of that I did not pursue the CZ. Another widely available used express rifle was the post 64 (push feed) Model 70. They were plentiful and in my price range. I liked the look of the model 70’s and found one with an HS precision stock in a safari olive drab that I liked the look of. I called HS Precision and spoke to them about their stock and how it may have been bedded. They were more than happy to talk to me about the aluminum bedding block nestled in the synthetic stock, and that I should not be concerned about a poor bedding job. This stock was a free floated design that was drop in, bolt in, design. I had the rifle transferred from the Cabelas gun library in Dundee Michigan, to my local store in Rogers, MN. Close inspection showed it to be nearly flawless. $1200 with a quality set of quick detach rings, plus Cabelas made me pay $30 to ship the rifle to MN. Much to my irritation they were absolutely unwilling to budge on the price. Not a dollar. I worked on them for two hours and they wouldn’t even cover the shipping. I understand that you will never get a “deal” on anything from a Cabelas gun library, but I at least expected them to cover the $30 store to store transfer fee on a $1200 purchase. It was explained to me that they charge 40% over what they paid out, period. Another annoyance was the absolute lack of ammo in the store. They only had two boxes of PRVI Partisan ammo in the store. This ammo in 375 H&H has gotten terrible reviews, with misfires and rounds failing to chamber happening with 10-15% of the ammo in any given box. New gun, no bullets, GRRR... I did not leave particularly happy, and am not sure I would buy from a Cabelas gun library again. In the end, they had the rifle I wanted, so I bought it.
Craigslist being the wonderful thing that it is, provided me with a Zeiss Conquest 3-9x42 in a German #4 reticle for $300. The previous owner said it was mounted on a Sako Finnbear elk rifle, and saw some work at the range, but never made it to the Elk woods.
Research
In November of 2013 we contacted all three safari companies and obtained info and pricing. Pricing between them was different, but similar. Higher daily rates and lower trophy fees, and vice versa. Zeekoepan followed up with us the most consistently, followed by Leo Van Rooyen. Anton Marais’s follow-up was spotty at best.
After some research we decided to look into mostly early September booking dates. The airline cost is far less after September 1st than in July or August and early September is still considered prime hunting time.
In early February of 2013 we talked over finances and family planning stuff and we decided to postpone safari until 2015 or 2016 pending the next baby
We considered attending the SCI World Expo in Las Vegas to meet with Anton Marais, but decided that the $1000 price tag was too much
We considered meeting Leo Van Rooyen in Houston Texas, but again the travel costs were again prohibitive. He actually called us when he got into the states and invited us to Texas.
We attended the Minneapolis SCI event in early march of 2014 and met with Willem and Amanda Basson for several hours the following day. After the meeting we fully intended to book with them for 2015 or 2016. All of our questions were answered, and we felt that we came away as friends.
When it became apparent that this might actually happen, I started researching “deals”. I became a member of an online site called africahunting.com. It quickly became apparent that the animals I wanted to hunt could be had for much less than the quotes we were receiving, but at an apparent cost to quality. I.e. Many groups of hunters in camp, multiple PH’s working the same concessions, Having to share the attention of the camp staff, lack of side trip opportunities unless otherwise booked with a separate travel guide. After much discussion, we decided that the more intimate experience of being the only hunters in camp, and the singular focus of the PH and staff was worth the extra cost. Walt & Darci emphasized how important it is to have the singular attention of the PH and staff for a really quality experience, especially on a first trip. The availability of side trips (fishing, sightseeing) under the standard price umbrella also helped us make our decision.
Holy Sh!$% This is really happening!
In late march of 2014, with no baby currently on the way, and no real reason we couldn’t go, we kind of fell into the decision to “Pull the Trigger” on our safari. Of course the 24 month savings plan would have to be accelerated significantly, but child care and a number of other things came together to make fall of 2014 our prime dates for safari.
After some consideration, we decided to really get to planning our safari for the fall of 2014. We both had approved vacation starting 10 September, and decided that if one of the recommended outfitters had dates open around that time that we would book. With some heartache, but not surprisingly, Zeekoepan had a full schedule. Anton Marais had multiple dates open, but none that coincided with our September dates. Leo Van Rooyen had several sets of dates in the prime months, and one exactly overlapped our approved vacations. Arrival September 12th and depart September 23rd
The first week in April of 2014 we both began the process of contacting our employers to discuss vacation approvals, contacting the grandma’s, and Julia’s girlfriends to discuss taking care of our daughter, and really looking at the finances. Things began to really fall into place without much work at all. It seemed like it was meant to be.
On April 4th we made the decision to book with Leo and Tish Van Rooyen and wire transferred a deposit of $4390. I also contacted Lori Spears of Travel Express to put together a travel package for us from MSP to RCB and back.
On April 6th Lori responded with a best price package that included all air travel for $1870.70 per person. After some research, we decided to book the City Lodge hotel in the OR Tambo airport for our overnight layover in Johannesburg.
April 8th I forwarded a list of questions and some background info on us to Tish Van Rooyen
On April 9th I booked and paid for the air flights with Lori from Travel Express. She reserved our seats for all 6 flights. Side by side with one window for the shorter flights, and front to back window seats for the two long flights.
April 10th I found my passport, and wrote down all the gun and ammo info for Leo and emailed it so they can draft an official invite to RSA hunting letter.
April 14th I received emails from Air 2000 Hunters support. We are considering using their services for a full meet and greet in addition to their gun importing services. Lots of forms to fill out and mail off. No word back from travel express on a confirmed itinerary yet, also no answers to the long question list yet. I spoke to Walt about some payment details and he asked about my trophy list. I told him about my desire for really excellent Kudu and Nyala bulls, a nice tall and wide impala ram, zebra and possibly a warthog. He approved very much but suggested that I add a blue wildebeest and a springbuck if given the chance.
April 19th Julia and I had our first shooting practice session. I worked with her on gun safety, and shooting mechanics for about two hours. We put about 70 rounds downrange from a .22 Mag and 10 or so from a .22-250. Her shooting mechanics were much better than I thought they might be, hitting 100% of her shots from 60 yards on a 4x6 steel target. The .22-250 is a closer approximation to my .375 in weight, and I wanted to step her up in muzzle blast and recoil slowly. We both worked on staying in the scope after the initial shot, tracking our target, cycling the action, and firing follow up shots rapidly. We did all of our shooting off the sticks. This was a first for both of us, and it took a little bit of getting used to. I made a trip to the lumber yard and had improvised a set from 6’ pieces of 1.25” curtain rod and some parachute cord for the tripod lashing. A little sanding and some stain, and they almost looked the part. Our neighbors were probably wondering about us a little. Not knowing of our travel plans, they must have wondered at the two of us “Stalking” around our yard, one behind the other, setting up a little tripod, and shooting off it. Good fun!
April 29th After much research Julia and I decided on a second set of binoculars. We compared my Steiner Outfitter to Zeiss Conquest HD and Nikon Monarch 7. The Monarch 7’s seemed to be the best value, and we ordered them. Our safari planning is coming together nicely. The financial side is going well with Julia being lucky enough to pick up bonus shifts and some holiday double-time. With luck my summer will include a hundred hours of OT or so and we’ll be in good shape. We shopped for and picked up our carry-on luggage /Safari rucksacks at Eddie Bauer this week also. We have done a little shopping for Digital cameras, but have not settled on a specific model yet.
June 5th Just before our June fishing vacation we purchased a new digital camera. We settled on an FZ200. We have played with it a little, but need to a lot more before we go. I sent off the Steiner’s, and they were back within 2 weeks fully repaired no questions asked. Julia has been slowly accumulating safari clothes that she finds at Savers. I have nearly everything I need so far with the purchase of 2 long sleeved olive army shirts from Fleet Farm.
June 5th Julia and I had our second shooting session. I set a paper target at 40 yds, 1 gal propane’s at 60 yds, 8” steel gong at 100 yds, 13’ steel gongs at 150 and 200 yds. Julia surprised me again, hitting consistently at 100 and pretty good at 150. We both struggled at 200 off the sticks. I finally got the courage to sight in my 375. The 260 gr. Nosler’s patterned very well. Off the bench with a sled I shot the bore sighted rifle at 40 yds. 8 inches low and right, not too bad for bore sighting. Julia helped me dial into the hole and the second shot was right at the bottom of the 1.25” bull’s-eye. Backed up to 100 yds and the hole was into the top of the bull’s-eye. At 150 dead on, at 200 about 5-6” of drop. Surprisingly repeatable for a large caliber. We shot about a hundred rounds of 22 mag, 20 rounds of 22-250 and 5 rounds of 375.
July 16th I am getting things ready to take to US Customs and Immigration for the certification of our form 4457 to declare possessions. I will be taking my rifle, binoculars, phones, and i-pad to the Humphrey terminal this Friday. This should be the last step before sending off all the info to air 2000 for our pre-permitting process.
July 18th Customs was a breeze at the office in the Humphrey terminal. I attracted a lot of attention sitting alone in the terminal with a gun case waiting for the customs office to open though. We got 4457 forms filled out for all our electronics, binocs, rifle, and scope. It took about an hour.
July 22nd Went to Cabelas over the weekend and dropped $500 on safari stuff. Mostly on 4 pairs of zip off pants, tsa locks, binoc harnesses, and a box of 375 h&H shells. We also found a bunch of stuff in the bargain cave that could be worn on safari. We are getting ready to send over all our documentation to Air 2000 this week. The postal service in RSA is not functioning at this time and they recommended using DHL for point to point delivery @ $109 Last thing left to buy is an ammo box, forgot this at Cabelas the other day.
September 3rd Safari is a week away! I have been shooting the 375 off the sticks every few days using 300 gr sp. The big soft points really slap when they hit the 1” steel plates. All of our gear and clothes is in order, and final packing will be happening this weekend.
September 9th we had a couple of hiccups with the wire transfer but managed to get $5000 transferred to Leo before we left
September 10th Day 1
Travel
5 am alarms go off and we are up and headed for our 9am flight in Minneapolis.
The flight from Minneapolis to Dulles was uneventful after my parents dropped us off. We had a nice meal at Chipotle in Dulles airport 4 hours before boarding our South African airlines flight to Johannesburg via Dakar. The flight was long, but bearable. SAA had really good food and served three in-flight meals which were of moderate size, good quality, and lots of variety.
September 11th Day 2
More Travel
We landed in Johannesburg at 5pm local time and met our representative from Air 2000. He wore a suit, spoke fluent English, and walked us through a completely painless customs, immigration, and passport control with a minimum of effort and time. There was a rather tense conversation between him and a woman from the world health organization at the customs desk. I’m not sure if they were speaking Afrikaans or Zulu, but it was clear they were not happy with one another. I have no idea what was said but in the end we got to pass. He walked us all the way to the hotel front desk and we said our goodbyes and thank you. Money well spent, for the first trip anyhow...
We had dinner at the City Lodge restaurant. They had a somewhat limited menu, but the food was very good. Julia and I split an order of mack and cheese and an open faced chicken sandwich with a glass of wine. I had a Hunters extra dry cider. It went down nicely, and I tolerated it well. Julia later enjoyed a long soak in the huge tub in our room, while I read a little. We were pretty exhausted and hit the sack about 8:30. We both woke up at 12 midnight and had trouble falling asleep again. Some sleeping pills did the trick, and we both drifted off, but had trouble getting going in the morning.
September 12th Day 3
It Begins!
5 am wakeup call and we are headed through the Johannesburg airport to check in for our regional flight to Richards Bay. We were immediately bothered by two very unofficial looking airport workers that appeared to be baggage handlers. Along the way to the check in counter, we picked up at least one more. The gate agents, saps officers, skycaps/ baggage handlers were all relentless in demanding bribes, to the point that Julia became quite rattled. “A little something for the boys?” “A little help for the boys?” “These boys keep your luggage safe, a little something for them?” In the end their help was occasionally useful in a large and unfamiliar airport and we paid them $20 for their trouble. The ring leader took it and then the followers proceeded to demand money for themselves. It took a very stern “Piss Off!!” to get them to let it go. This part of the trip was very irritating, but as Mid-westerners we don’t tip folks just because they walked beside you for 200 feet. I’m going to try and chalk most of this up to cultural differences, and move on. If I fly through Joberg again I will know enough to shoo them off immediately, and just handle it myself. We made sure to check our bags all the way through from Richards Bay to Kennedy on our return trip to avoid this hassle.
The flight to Richards Bay was on a very small gulfstream turboprop. It only had 3 seats per row. Julia had a ball flying in such a small plane!
The terminal at RCB is tiny, and the kind of place that has no gates or jet ways, you just clamber down the ladder out of the plane and walk a quarter mile to the terminal building.
A typically South African woman, tall, blond, and very pretty, Tish Van Rooyen was waiting in the baggage claim area for us. She breezed us through baggage claim and collecting my rifle, and we were off for the 3 hr. trip to Mahlalela. Along the road there were many ramshackle stands selling everything from fresh produce to cooked meals. There were cows and donkeys just wandering on or near the road everywhere. No fences, no shepherds, just wandering cattle, very strange..
We stopped about halfway at Illalla Weavers for brunch and some shopping. I found a book on how to make biltong and sausages, Julia found a necklace to go with her blue dress and a cute outfit for Katie.
Tish drives a little like a pissed off New Yorker, not scary per say, but it kept it interesting! We arrived at the gate to Mahlalela about 1pm. We took a slow drive in and saw a crocodile guarding a male ostrich it had killed, a female ostrich that looked very raggedy, and a buck and doe of common reedbuck. Much to Julia’s delight we saw no less than 6 giraffe. It was quite hot and most of the animals were lying up in the brush.
We met Mark and Telani Dedekind the owners of Mahlalela game ranch straight away. They showed us to our chalet, the honeymooner’s cabin. Sometimes it’s nice being the youngest guest! Our chalet was very nice and private. We got settled and had a snack and a drink before finally unpacking all of our stuff.
We got to meet all the dogs, Two ridgebacks and 4 little hunting dogs, all jack russell mixes. Asterix, and Roxy , Romeo a ridgeback, two other dogs we don't remember the names of. There were always no less than 4 around to welcome you to the lodge.
I sorted out my hunting gear and Walter, one of Mark’s staff PH’s, took us to the range to check out my rifle. Along the way Walter pointed out all sorts of things from identifying rhino species by their scat to trees and birds. The rifle papered 2" high and right. A simple adjustment and it papered 1.5" high at 100 meters. Perfect. Just then the sun was starting to drop low, and I eyed Walter for a reaction when I suggested a little drive?? He was willing since my PH was still enroute from closing the dry camp 750 Kilometers north. Walter took off with us in a utv with Julia sitting up top. We saw impala including a big group of rams, 6 kudu bulls, one of which had Walter a bit excited. If we were hunting, he said, you shoot that one straightaway!! He was tall, had deep curls, mass, and wide! He was walking with another slightly younger bull near the river. Note to self.... We also saw at least a half a dozen nyala bulls and glassed them carefully. One was a shooter, but not the bell shaped monster I am looking for. Walter took us to a small pan and we saw 3 different mother/calf pairs of white rhinos at less than 100 yards. These things are huge! The short drive right before dark really got our blood pumping about this safari. After settling things back into our chalet we went to the lodge for a snack and a sundowner. Another pair of hunters arrived from the northern camp with Leo and Tommy. A pair of Germans, Otto, and his young son. Otto had hunted all over Africa including Kenya before it closed. They speak very little English, we speak very little German, and all the others speak Afrikaans. It made for an interesting dynamic around the dinner table.
Starters for the evening were braaied (grilled) homemade venison borewors (sausage) which was excellent. Not fatty like pork sausages, and an excellent flavor. Even a very surprised Julia gobbled it up (she’s not much for sausages usually).
Dinner was several meats done over wood coals on the braai served with salad, bread, a sweet corn dish, roasted squash, and roasted vegetables. The braai was mutton chops, pork chops, and beef steak. All were fabulous.
Dinner was topped with a particularly wonderful looking ice cream dish which Julia took a picture of. Some sort of deep fried candied shell called a “brandy snap basket” filled with ice cream and topped with a drizzle of chocolate sauce. Julia absolutely loved this desert, calling her favorite of the entire trip.
One more sundowner and it’s was off to bed for the two of us. First day of hunting to come tomorrow 6am. It was so overwhelming to actually be here in Africa on a real safari. It brought us both nearly to tears a couple of times today. There is no mistaking this place for anything other than Africa...
More to come...
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Great so far, waiting for the rest.
