SOUTH AFRICA: My first Time In Africa With MORETLA SAFARIS

[BourbonTrail]

Quite the first trip! Much more eventful than mine, lol. Congrats!

 

[R.M.C.]

Quite the first trip! Much more eventful than mine, lol. Congrats!

Thank you!! Yes I thought it was very eventful too, it was great for the first trip. Thanks for reading!

 

[Randy F]

Looks and sounds like you really had a ball. So happy for you bud!

 

[Jaegger]

@R.M.C.

Damn enjoyable read so Good On Ya & thx for sharing + @MORETLA SAFARIS for taking you on this 1st African Safari ride! Oh and for the Owners, his .22 & Tyron’s blind crack shooting on a WHAT Moment in the chalet!

I always seek out Operations w/ the authentic look & feel, open Lapa, thatched roof lodge, chalets, etc. I‘ve had small monkeys on my roof, birds plucking grass from my roof for nest building, even had a Vervet Monkey try to “unzipped” my tent door once … strange but cool experience!

BUT never a 4ft beastly creature such as that - WOW, definitely appears to be in the Monitor Family!

I had to chuckle , I’ve never read a Hunter ’over the moon’ for Warthog where, any mature Warthog regardless of trophy potential will do just to be able to hunt one - that’s cool! Big or small, horns or no horns, beauty or beastly ALL African Trophies have value & value brings conservation.

Happy Trails

 

[cpr0312]

Congrats and thanks for sharing!

 

[R.M.C.]

@R.M.C.

Damn enjoyable read so Good On Ya & thx for sharing + @MORETLA SAFARIS for taking you on this 1st African Safari ride! Oh and for the Owners, his .22 & Tyron’s blind crack shooting on a WHAT Moment in the chalet!

I always seek out Operations w/ the authentic look & feel, open Lapa, thatched roof lodge, chalets, etc. I‘ve had small monkeys on my roof, birds plucking grass from my roof for nest building, even had a Vervet Monkey try to “unzipped” my tent door once … strange but cool experience!

BUT never a 4ft beastly creature such as that - WOW, definitely appears to be in the Monitor Family!

I had to chuckle , I’ve never read a Hunter ’over the moon’ for Warthog where, any mature Warthog regardless of trophy potential will do just to be able to hunt one - that’s cool! Big or small, horns or no horns, beauty or beastly ALL African Trophies have value & value brings conservation.

Happy Trails

Thank you sir, I appreciate it! This is definitely an operation you should check out, it was great. The owner has a pet wart hog named Lulu and she's pregnant. She came to see what all the fuss was about in my tent, definitely a cool addition to camp. She's a little pushy but friendly. Yeah I wasn't going home without a wart hog of some description lol. My little wart hog looks beautiful to me lol

 

[R.M.C.]

Lulu, the wart hog, sleeping on the deck haha

 

[R.M.C.]

Day 10: Last day , heading to joberg in the morning for some souvenirs and then the airport. The taxidermist I chose met us at camp to pick up my trophies and discuss what I wanted done with them. His name is Morne from Amara taxidermy and he is a wealth of information on snakes and every other animal in the country, he identified the snakes near my tent as spotted bush snakes. He gave me a discount on the total price and it was more than agreeable to me.
Wart hog: shoulder mount
Bush pig: tanned hide and bleached skull
Impala: tanned hide and bleached skull
Blesbok: bleached skull
Monkey: bleached skull and tanned tail with blue balls attached ( skinners idea, not mine lol)
Zebra: tanned hide with felt backing And Ashtray made from one hoof
Blue Wildebeest: bleached skull and tanned hide with felt backing
Ostrich: bleached skull and feathers fumigated
All for under $1400 US, I thought it was a good deal. When the time comes, Tom from Trophy Shippers will handle all the details of shipping, which will hopefully be a little cheaper by then lol.
We went to the famous Cambanos for curios and I was not disappointed. I could have spent all day in there looking at Zulu spears and such. I was probably in there for an hour, had a small shopping cart packed to the gills with wooden bowls, wood masks, painted ostrich egg, tusk bottle opener, springbok hide, carved horns, elephant hair bracelet, some jewelry for the wife, and a bunch of other stuff. Then I stuffed it all in my suitcase and carry on, but came in about a pound too heavy. I gave Tyron a full box of 30.06 ammo and the problem was solved. Then it was off to the airport where a guy named Bruce from Gracy Travel went above and beyond to help me check bags in and get my rifle to SAPS . Everyone in the airport knew Bruce, the officer just glanced at my gun in the case while chatting with him, same as ten days before when I landed. One poor guy was in there trying to explain how he had a 4457 with one serial number wrong on it, they wanted him to fly back to the US and get proper paperwork somehow, then come back and fly the rifle home. I bet $50 Bruce could have fixed that if it happened to me.

 

[R.M.C.]

The food, accommodations, logistics, and the PHs were all terrific throughout the trip, the Skinner / Tracker and the chef were excellent. We were able to eat the game I killed, usually the night after it was shot, and it tasted great. I kinda thought the zebra was the best but it all tasted good. Obviously we didn't feast on the monkey but we ate everything else. We had Tyron's famous burgers made from impala, they were awesome with a fried egg on top. Most meals were cooked over a wood fire.
The camp was situated right on the river, with a small pond right by the main lodge that was frequented by bush buck and wart hogs, one of them being a big male with lovely teeth sticking out but we weren't allowed to shoot them in camp because of the tame wart hogs. Darn it, he would've looked great on my living room wall lol. The chalets were basically wooden decks built a couple feet off the ground with a wooden pole structure to hold up the thatched roof , and green canvas tent sides with zippered windows and doors. My shower stall was open air and had a great view of the river. Everything was very nice. I think there were four chalets , not counting the main lodge but I was the only hunter. The truck looked pretty new and was in great shape for the hunt, the PHs were knowledgeable and helpful.
I think Tyron was a little worried when he saw the 4 Stable Sticks in my gun case, probably thinking he'd have to suffer through the hunt with some complicated aiming device but he was quickly sold on them, after day two he expressed interest in keeping them to use with clients in the future lol. I told them they were all his, he also liked my Leupold binoculars so I left them behind too.
Tyron also had me order a small 2000 pound winch and I brought it in my suitcase for him to help load zebras and such into the truck. We definitely could've used it lol. It was a terrific trip start to finish, although US customs took my biltong, they failed to find my ostrich feathers so that was cool with me.
After I was home for about 24 hours, I had a high fever and tested positive for covid, and right now I've got a weird rash on my throat, not sure if its from my neck pillow or what lol. It was an awesome adventure that I hope to repeat in a couple years. Thanks to everyone who helped me out the last couple years, I really appreciate all of you guys. Thanks for reading!

 

[R.M.C.]

Moretlas famous burgers!

 

[cls]

Enjoyed the report, you had a great "first"safari. Well done and congratulations.

 

[BnC 04]

Again great job on both the report and your first trip.

 

[375Fox]

I’m glad you had a great first safari. It’s really the people that make a good or bad hunt and sounds like they were great to hunt with. What did you think of end August temperatures?

 

[R.M.C.]

I’m glad you had a great first safari. It’s really the people that make a good or bad hunt and sounds like they were great to hunt with. What did you think of end August temperatures?

Thanks!! Yes that's definitely true, they were good people and didn't try to hide anything from me. Everything was exactly how we discussed it. I wouldn't hesitate to hunt with them again, and just might in a couple years. Thanks for your help and advice, the temperature didn't get too crazy except the last few days but it cooled right off when the sun got low.

 

[Trogon]

Congratulations on a very successful first hunt to Africa! I really enjoyed reading your hunt report, pretty interesting round of animals you have. All great animals, your bushpig is awesome!

 

[R.M.C.]

Congratulations on a very successful first hunt to Africa! I really enjoyed reading your hunt report, pretty interesting round of animals you have. All great animals, your bushpig is awesome!

Thank you!! Yeah the bush pig hunt came together great, I was hoping I wouldn't have to spend too many nights waiting for him because it would start to cut into my hunting time for the daytime critters so it worked out perfect.

 

[458JCE]

Great hunt, great report and photos - thanks for sharing!

 

[Nyati]

Congrats, that was a great experience.

A bit disappointed you didn´t bring the Lizard skin back, that would be just stunning in a full mount

 

[R.M.C.]

Congrats, that was a great experience.

A bit disappointed you didn´t bring the Lizard skin back, that would be just stunning in a full mount

Hahaha I considered it but my PH couldn't find them in the CITES listings lol
Thanks!!

 

[BloodyKnuckles]

Great write up.
sounds like fun was had!