I am one month back from an incredible safari with RW Safaris Inernational. It was only work that has prevented me from compiling my FIRST hunt report sooner. I will do it in stages as time permits.
We had booked a Spiral Horn package with Rick Wolvaardt including 10 hunting days and a bonus trip to Kruger which was just a 1.5 hour drive to the east. Pete and I swapped our kudu for waterbuck as we had both previously taken kudu. Rick sweetened the package with a couple of extra smaller animals.
Along with my two hunting mates, Pete and Scrub-we endured the flight to Joburg with the help of a few beers and G&T's. After obtaining our SAP's permits we were greeted at the airport by Greg who was a pleasure to travel with on the 5 hour journey to Northern Limpopo. RW Safaris operate from a beautiful farm on the Sand River near Musina, just 30 kms from the Zimbabwe border.
We arrived at midnight and met the crew and were shown to our rooms. What a nice surprise awaited us - we all had personalised shirts, caps and coffee cups awaiting on the bed. We were thoroughly impressed with their professionalism and the hunt hadn't even started! We went to the bar and were introduced to our PH's. I was with Rick, Pete was with Ruan and Scrub was with Courtney. There is only one real way to become acquainted with your PH and that is to have a drink together. After a couple of G&T's , Scrub asked what time it was?? 1.00 o'clock in the morning was the response. A bit unsure of the time zones, Scrub asked if it was the 16th August and the boys replied yes. "Well it's my birthday" came Scrubs response. The celebrations went on until 4.00 am.
We also had the privilege of hunting with Martin Muller of African Sun Productions. Martin is a professional camera man who specialises in filming safaris. Before we engaged Martin I took a look on You tube at some of his work and I was blown away. Take a look at his videos and you will see what I mean. In addition to being a great filmmaker- Martin is a great guy with a brilliant sense of humour.
Day 1
After a quick brekky and taking in the spectacular views from the lodge, we headed for the shooting range. My Tikka .338 win mag was spot on as was Pete's .308. Wayne needed a few adjustments on his .308 to get it spot on. I might add that my .338 has the bolt on the other side and I know I have a few friends on AH that were born with the same gift as me.
We split up and all went our different ways. Rick and I went straight to a high point above the Sand River. Straight away we spotted 3 young kudu bulls and then a large kudu bull joined them. Rick estimated this bull to be around 55 inches. Three or four big impala rams caught our eye. They were a long way off but it was clear even from that distance they were big. Soon after we spotted a few nyala cows and a young bull. Lunch was calling so we headed back to the lodge. We met our chef ,Wendy. Let me state this here and now - this is my 4th African safari and the food was unbelievable- it surpassed anything we have ever experience before. Wendy would even take requests for lunch or dinner the following day. We nearly always requested game meat that we hunted. Lunch on that first day was the best chicken pie I have ever tasted.
We headed out again for the afternoon hunt and spotted a big old waterbuck bull. Unfortunately he had the top few inches broken off his left horn. From that sighting I thought the waterbuck was going to be an easy trophy to take - how wrong that thought proved to be. Despite seeing a lot of animals - nothing really caught my eye. We saw several nice nyala bulls but none quite big enough. This place really is kudu, nyala, duiker and impala central. We saw ridiculous numbers of these animals every day. We headed back to camp in the dark and arrived at the lodge to a nice surprise. Scrub had taken a beautiful bushbuck. He and Courtney were perched high above the Sand River at the back of the property and they saw a bushbuck a long way off. They kept an eye on it and over the course of 2 hours the bushbuck came within 200 metres. Scrub did the rest with his .308.
Scrub with his bushbuck
Day 2
Rick and I decided to go for an early morning stalk along a dry creek. Straight away we came onto a group of warthog with a big boar on the right. They were feeding away totally oblivious to our presence. I was on the sticks waiting for the boar to lift his head to get a look at his tusks. Alas - the wind changed direction and they disappeared. Further on we came across a huge blue wildebeest bull with a few young bulls. Rick said he was a monster - but I already have a monster on my wall. Not far along we come across a big kudu bull feeding on the edge of the creek. We waited for him to move on so we didn't spook him.
We walked into a deep ravine with very steep sides. We came around a corner and Rick set up the sticks and told me to shoot. I didn't know what I was supposed to shoot. I quickly looked up on the mountain and there was a beautiful nyala bull. I quickly put the .338 on the sticks and all I could see was his neck and his head as he faced front on. Under recoil I thought I saw the bull go to the left but the smile on Ricks face and the ensuing handshake told me otherwise. It took us 20 minutes to get up to the bull and what a beauty he was. He had the shape I had always dreamed of. Bell shaped with the horns going out at the top.
Kudukid with his nyala bull
We had booked a Spiral Horn package with Rick Wolvaardt including 10 hunting days and a bonus trip to Kruger which was just a 1.5 hour drive to the east. Pete and I swapped our kudu for waterbuck as we had both previously taken kudu. Rick sweetened the package with a couple of extra smaller animals.
Along with my two hunting mates, Pete and Scrub-we endured the flight to Joburg with the help of a few beers and G&T's. After obtaining our SAP's permits we were greeted at the airport by Greg who was a pleasure to travel with on the 5 hour journey to Northern Limpopo. RW Safaris operate from a beautiful farm on the Sand River near Musina, just 30 kms from the Zimbabwe border.
We arrived at midnight and met the crew and were shown to our rooms. What a nice surprise awaited us - we all had personalised shirts, caps and coffee cups awaiting on the bed. We were thoroughly impressed with their professionalism and the hunt hadn't even started! We went to the bar and were introduced to our PH's. I was with Rick, Pete was with Ruan and Scrub was with Courtney. There is only one real way to become acquainted with your PH and that is to have a drink together. After a couple of G&T's , Scrub asked what time it was?? 1.00 o'clock in the morning was the response. A bit unsure of the time zones, Scrub asked if it was the 16th August and the boys replied yes. "Well it's my birthday" came Scrubs response. The celebrations went on until 4.00 am.
We also had the privilege of hunting with Martin Muller of African Sun Productions. Martin is a professional camera man who specialises in filming safaris. Before we engaged Martin I took a look on You tube at some of his work and I was blown away. Take a look at his videos and you will see what I mean. In addition to being a great filmmaker- Martin is a great guy with a brilliant sense of humour.
Day 1
After a quick brekky and taking in the spectacular views from the lodge, we headed for the shooting range. My Tikka .338 win mag was spot on as was Pete's .308. Wayne needed a few adjustments on his .308 to get it spot on. I might add that my .338 has the bolt on the other side and I know I have a few friends on AH that were born with the same gift as me.
We split up and all went our different ways. Rick and I went straight to a high point above the Sand River. Straight away we spotted 3 young kudu bulls and then a large kudu bull joined them. Rick estimated this bull to be around 55 inches. Three or four big impala rams caught our eye. They were a long way off but it was clear even from that distance they were big. Soon after we spotted a few nyala cows and a young bull. Lunch was calling so we headed back to the lodge. We met our chef ,Wendy. Let me state this here and now - this is my 4th African safari and the food was unbelievable- it surpassed anything we have ever experience before. Wendy would even take requests for lunch or dinner the following day. We nearly always requested game meat that we hunted. Lunch on that first day was the best chicken pie I have ever tasted.
We headed out again for the afternoon hunt and spotted a big old waterbuck bull. Unfortunately he had the top few inches broken off his left horn. From that sighting I thought the waterbuck was going to be an easy trophy to take - how wrong that thought proved to be. Despite seeing a lot of animals - nothing really caught my eye. We saw several nice nyala bulls but none quite big enough. This place really is kudu, nyala, duiker and impala central. We saw ridiculous numbers of these animals every day. We headed back to camp in the dark and arrived at the lodge to a nice surprise. Scrub had taken a beautiful bushbuck. He and Courtney were perched high above the Sand River at the back of the property and they saw a bushbuck a long way off. They kept an eye on it and over the course of 2 hours the bushbuck came within 200 metres. Scrub did the rest with his .308.
Scrub with his bushbuck
Day 2
Rick and I decided to go for an early morning stalk along a dry creek. Straight away we came onto a group of warthog with a big boar on the right. They were feeding away totally oblivious to our presence. I was on the sticks waiting for the boar to lift his head to get a look at his tusks. Alas - the wind changed direction and they disappeared. Further on we came across a huge blue wildebeest bull with a few young bulls. Rick said he was a monster - but I already have a monster on my wall. Not far along we come across a big kudu bull feeding on the edge of the creek. We waited for him to move on so we didn't spook him.
We walked into a deep ravine with very steep sides. We came around a corner and Rick set up the sticks and told me to shoot. I didn't know what I was supposed to shoot. I quickly looked up on the mountain and there was a beautiful nyala bull. I quickly put the .338 on the sticks and all I could see was his neck and his head as he faced front on. Under recoil I thought I saw the bull go to the left but the smile on Ricks face and the ensuing handshake told me otherwise. It took us 20 minutes to get up to the bull and what a beauty he was. He had the shape I had always dreamed of. Bell shaped with the horns going out at the top.
Kudukid with his nyala bull
