April 26th
I'm up at 5am after a restful sleep. I was just zipping up my bags when Kamilla knocked and asked if I would like a cup of coffee. We sat and talked a bit while I waited for Louis. Kamilla moved to RSA from Namibia, her husband is a commercial pilot who incidentally was Pieter's former flight instructor. She talked about her hopes for the upcoming World Cup of Soccer and tourism etc. I spoke a bit of my home in Arizona and of my excitement about this trip. I enjoyed my stay at the lodge and would recommend a stay there if you need to overnight in Johannesburg on your next trip.
http://www.du-du-lodge.com/
Louis rang the bell and we loaded my bags and were off to meet Pieter and his girlfriend Jolene. We loaded our gear in the plane and Pieter asked if I wanted to fly in the right seat. Of course I did! After a preflight check we taxied and took off. Climbed to 8K feet and above the cloud ceiling the weather was beautiful. Approximately one hour flight and there were a few holes to peek through. I was REALLY happy we flew. All the roads below looked like rivers. If we had driven there was a good chance we could have spent a couple days in a muddy roadside ditch. When we took a drive off the farm a couple days later the roads were a complete disaster. We began our descent. Pieter pointed out Thabazimbi Mountain (mountain of iron) Shortly after we dipped below the clouds and that was the last we saw of the sun for several days. On our approach to the farm I spotted Gemsbuck and Giraffe. Louis spotted 2 Kudu. This was the first time I had landed on a wet dirt strip.Fun Fun Fun with a slight pucker factor. Juan (PH) met us at the big Camelthorn "hanger" and we unloaded gear and goods for the next 10 days into the bakkie. After a short drive to camp we met the camp staff. It is so beautifully green and the air is nice and fresh from the rain. I got the short tour of the camp facilities then we loaded up and drove back to the strip to shoot Louis' German made Sauer chambered in Whby .300 mag. 2 shots,2 adjustments (Louis is left handed left eye doninant I am right handed right eye dominant) 2 more shots,2 adjustments I jerked the 5th and nailed the 6th. Let's go huntin'!
Loaded up and took a drive.Louis saw an impala cross the road from right to left and we stopped the truck and got out. Louis set up the sticks and said what I thought was "there he is"...I put the rifle on the sticks and said "I can't see him"...Louis said to the left to the left. He said hold on let me check him. I looked through the scope and what did I see but a Jackal! Surprise! OK shoot! Bang! I think you got him,we heard him yip! He's running away and Louis said shoot him again! He didn't have to ask me again. Bang! and the Jackal disappeared. We walked to see if we could find any blood. Nothing... Dang, I missed. We all had a laugh about our miscommunication. Loaded up and drove down the road. We saw kudu cows, impala, and some warthogs. I was in heaven!
We were pretty wet by this time so back to camp for coffee and some brunch. Excellent. After brunch we loaded up and went for another drive. Saw African Yellow hornbill, crested francolin then Louis spotted some impala. Parked and walked a short distance and Louis saw a ram hiding in the bush. I had the rifle on the sticks as Louis checked him. Most of the horns were hiding. I wiped off the lens with my bandana and got a decent view and waited while we watched the ram chew his cud. Cool factor x10! Let's move a bit to get a better look.... Louis says he's better than I thought you should take him. I slid the rifle on the sticks and..the ram was off to the races! ARGHhh!
Back to the truck. We were driving when one of the guys saw zebra. Parked and put a really fun stalk on a herd in the rain. We got semi close and a couple good glimpses before the wind swirled and they winded us and were gone. fun fun fun. We drove around for a bit more and saw Guinea fowl and Swansons francolin while checking for more impala and a blue wildebeest.We were all wet and cold again so back to camp for some coffee and to dry out. After we had warmed up Louis offered to go back out but I told him I was happy to stay in camp this PM out of the weather. I was still a bit jet lagged.
We had an excellent dinner. Braaied lamb chops and boerewors along with a favorite staple pap, a corn porridge type dish with the consistency of mashed potatoes (sort of) and the flavor of corn tortillas. Served with a nice brown gravy. YUM. We enjoyed after dinner coffee and talked till about 11 pm. I went back to my chalet and sorted out my gear and sat down to write this. Right now a francolin is raising a ruckus outside. This is sooooooo......COOL! What a great first day experience. Many firsts today burned into my head for the rest of my life. Thanks God!
OH,...........and I have a debt to settle with a jackal. HaHaHahahahaahah!
