EDELWEISS
AH enthusiast
First, I grew up reading Bell, and Rouark, and Roosevelt, and Capstick, and Sullivan and and and. I dreamed of hunting LION since I was maybe 12 years old. To survive a bad marriage, I fantasied about a Dangerous Game Safari, the way some guys flip through porn. Id sit there while she was droning on and on with a legal pad making notes about my fantasy hunt. Where would I hunt? Places like Tankanika no longer existed. I longed to hunt Kenya in the steps of William Holden; but sadly Kenya closed its hunting grounds by the time I was "ready". I wanted to sit by the fire and just listen to stories from Harry Selby, before retiring to my tent to rest for the morning's chase. Those legal pads of my dreams actually came up in my divorce. It seems she would have rather had me looking at porn, than dreaming about something "Id never do". I bought all the old books about Afrika that I could find, even skipping lunch to save the cash to buy them, so "she" wouldnt complain about wasted money--except she DID complain, "Why couldnt I just watch sports on TV--like a normal person?".
Finally the divorce came and I free to fantasize without shame. I re-grouped and decided to consider a much cheaper Plains Game hunt. That was 2012, where I hunted for 8 days on the Easter Cape, for Zebra, Impala, Wildebeest, Ostriage, and Nyala. it didnt ease my lust for LION; but gave me a taste for more. I sent out a lot of emails to PHs. Everyone wrote back, and everyone sounded great; but Marius at KMG called me. Thats about the time when I realized I didnt know what I didnt know... He took me by the hand without making me feel embarrassed, and we joke about me being an "expert" because I had read all the books.
Theres a saying, that you plan your next safari, on the plane home. I did; but mine actually started when I was settling up finances with the Marius. I joked that We got everything and more than I had planned for EXCEPT lion. He said something about still having time, and I replied that my cheque book didnt...
Thats when he said we could always do a lioness for significantly less than a male. I had never even considered a female... Marius pointed out Lions in the wild do not have MGM manes, at least not normally in RSA. Finally we settled on a price and I came home full of lust. A few years passed with more BS from my ex-wife about how I had spent the kids' college money to go to Afrika, and how selfish I was to only think about myself. Every time I paid a bill for something I had to have, I realized "that" could have been "Lion Money".
Then came my wonderful new wife. (you know youve found the "right" person when you finally find "that person"). I wont bore you with the details, suffice to say it was amazingly romantic and funny at the same time. As we realized more and more, that we were meant for each other; the talk of marriage came up (especially as we both said when we met that we didnt want to get married again when we started). Then there was talk about where to Honeymoon. Some of the ideas included climbing Mt Kilimanjaro, visiting Base Camp of Everest, a B&B in the Falklands.... We wanted a honeymoon that nobody else ever did; the kind that makes your friends and family say "Oh, ahhh huh?" Then she suggested "why dont we go the Afrika and hunt lions, Ive always wanted to go there and I know you want a lion....". This BTW is the same wonderful woman that thought my idea of getting married in a kilt and with all the groomsmen also in kilts with swords was perfect since she wanted to have the service in Williamsburg at the W&M chapel where she matriculated a few years ago.
So a few hundred emails and phone calls back and forth to Marius Goosen of KMG Safaris. Scheduling meant we had to delay the hunt for a few months after the wedding; but that just made it better. Anticipation is 50% of the hunt. We agreed that the hunt would just be part of the honeymoon and we would see as much of Afrika as we could (Johannesburg, the Big Hole diamond mine in the Free State, Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, and Capetown). All totaled we spent what felt like "days" on planes (because it WAS days when you added it all up).
We decided to hunt first, so we didnt have to hump the gun and gear on every flight. That certainly made life easier, especially since I have a horrible habit of over packing and even then always forget something. My forgotten item on this trip was a rain coat (more on that in a few). We hunted in the Free State. I was asked not to say which specific property, so as not to alert poachers; but suffice to say we were greeted daily with Rhinos out of our bedroom windows. Contact KMG if youre interested in more details.
For you guys, whove never hunted Afrika, and specifically RSA, its NOTHING like a drop camp in Alaska or your deer lodge in the woods of PA. The facilities are Tier One!. Think a suite on an expensive cruise line. Laundry is done for you every day, the food is amazing, and the staff are constantly asking what they can do for you. I gave up asking them just to call me by my first name; but it was always Mr _______. The alcohol flows freely, and "sundowners" in the veldt are just part of the experience when you arent sitting by the fire listening to the Lions roar.
Since this hunt was solely for Lion, I only brought one rifle. After lots of pondering, I decided on my Merkel SxS 470 Nitro Express. It was overpowered for Lion; but RSA laws require 375H&H and above to hunt Dangerous Game. Dont even start talking about 9.3x74R... I did all of my Plains game hunting in 2012 with a Ruger RSR in 375HH, so I wanted to use the Merkel. Afrikan hunting typically begins before sunrise with a light breakfast, then you load up in the safari trucks and head out to scout for tracks. Youve probably seen these trucks before, with elevated seats in the bed and "jump seats" on the front fender for the trackers. Imagine that back here. Im sure some busy body would go crazy about safety.
Before I go any further, let me settle any issues with Lion hunting. In THIS case, it was a totally ethical free ranging animal. Yes it was on private property (think property the size of Rhode Island). Yes its fenced; but try to tell the LIONs they cant jump over the fence. In RSA 90% of the property is owned by individuals, so theres nothing like State Hunting Grounds, here in the US. Also game on "your property: is your property, so when your neighbor's _________ wanders onto your property, it suddenly becomes your ______. Good neighbors might make a phone call to say come get you animal; but they arent required. Next the difference between High Fence (8 feet) and Low Fence (4 feet), means a landowner with a High fence cant set his hunting dates. A Low fenced property must follow the game laws for when/what season each animal can be hunted....and finally "Cecil" was not one specific animal. That was just a name give to male Lions as they they were pointed out to tourists, sorta like all puppies might be called "Spot".
Finally the divorce came and I free to fantasize without shame. I re-grouped and decided to consider a much cheaper Plains Game hunt. That was 2012, where I hunted for 8 days on the Easter Cape, for Zebra, Impala, Wildebeest, Ostriage, and Nyala. it didnt ease my lust for LION; but gave me a taste for more. I sent out a lot of emails to PHs. Everyone wrote back, and everyone sounded great; but Marius at KMG called me. Thats about the time when I realized I didnt know what I didnt know... He took me by the hand without making me feel embarrassed, and we joke about me being an "expert" because I had read all the books.
Theres a saying, that you plan your next safari, on the plane home. I did; but mine actually started when I was settling up finances with the Marius. I joked that We got everything and more than I had planned for EXCEPT lion. He said something about still having time, and I replied that my cheque book didnt...
Thats when he said we could always do a lioness for significantly less than a male. I had never even considered a female... Marius pointed out Lions in the wild do not have MGM manes, at least not normally in RSA. Finally we settled on a price and I came home full of lust. A few years passed with more BS from my ex-wife about how I had spent the kids' college money to go to Afrika, and how selfish I was to only think about myself. Every time I paid a bill for something I had to have, I realized "that" could have been "Lion Money".
Then came my wonderful new wife. (you know youve found the "right" person when you finally find "that person"). I wont bore you with the details, suffice to say it was amazingly romantic and funny at the same time. As we realized more and more, that we were meant for each other; the talk of marriage came up (especially as we both said when we met that we didnt want to get married again when we started). Then there was talk about where to Honeymoon. Some of the ideas included climbing Mt Kilimanjaro, visiting Base Camp of Everest, a B&B in the Falklands.... We wanted a honeymoon that nobody else ever did; the kind that makes your friends and family say "Oh, ahhh huh?" Then she suggested "why dont we go the Afrika and hunt lions, Ive always wanted to go there and I know you want a lion....". This BTW is the same wonderful woman that thought my idea of getting married in a kilt and with all the groomsmen also in kilts with swords was perfect since she wanted to have the service in Williamsburg at the W&M chapel where she matriculated a few years ago.
So a few hundred emails and phone calls back and forth to Marius Goosen of KMG Safaris. Scheduling meant we had to delay the hunt for a few months after the wedding; but that just made it better. Anticipation is 50% of the hunt. We agreed that the hunt would just be part of the honeymoon and we would see as much of Afrika as we could (Johannesburg, the Big Hole diamond mine in the Free State, Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, and Capetown). All totaled we spent what felt like "days" on planes (because it WAS days when you added it all up).
We decided to hunt first, so we didnt have to hump the gun and gear on every flight. That certainly made life easier, especially since I have a horrible habit of over packing and even then always forget something. My forgotten item on this trip was a rain coat (more on that in a few). We hunted in the Free State. I was asked not to say which specific property, so as not to alert poachers; but suffice to say we were greeted daily with Rhinos out of our bedroom windows. Contact KMG if youre interested in more details.
For you guys, whove never hunted Afrika, and specifically RSA, its NOTHING like a drop camp in Alaska or your deer lodge in the woods of PA. The facilities are Tier One!. Think a suite on an expensive cruise line. Laundry is done for you every day, the food is amazing, and the staff are constantly asking what they can do for you. I gave up asking them just to call me by my first name; but it was always Mr _______. The alcohol flows freely, and "sundowners" in the veldt are just part of the experience when you arent sitting by the fire listening to the Lions roar.
Since this hunt was solely for Lion, I only brought one rifle. After lots of pondering, I decided on my Merkel SxS 470 Nitro Express. It was overpowered for Lion; but RSA laws require 375H&H and above to hunt Dangerous Game. Dont even start talking about 9.3x74R... I did all of my Plains game hunting in 2012 with a Ruger RSR in 375HH, so I wanted to use the Merkel. Afrikan hunting typically begins before sunrise with a light breakfast, then you load up in the safari trucks and head out to scout for tracks. Youve probably seen these trucks before, with elevated seats in the bed and "jump seats" on the front fender for the trackers. Imagine that back here. Im sure some busy body would go crazy about safety.
Before I go any further, let me settle any issues with Lion hunting. In THIS case, it was a totally ethical free ranging animal. Yes it was on private property (think property the size of Rhode Island). Yes its fenced; but try to tell the LIONs they cant jump over the fence. In RSA 90% of the property is owned by individuals, so theres nothing like State Hunting Grounds, here in the US. Also game on "your property: is your property, so when your neighbor's _________ wanders onto your property, it suddenly becomes your ______. Good neighbors might make a phone call to say come get you animal; but they arent required. Next the difference between High Fence (8 feet) and Low Fence (4 feet), means a landowner with a High fence cant set his hunting dates. A Low fenced property must follow the game laws for when/what season each animal can be hunted....and finally "Cecil" was not one specific animal. That was just a name give to male Lions as they they were pointed out to tourists, sorta like all puppies might be called "Spot".
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Sounds like you lived your dream.
