SOUTH AFRICA: TRI-Fold Safari

[Ridgewalker]

Civet! AWESOME! I do enjoy hunting all those night critters!

 

[AZDAVE]

@Lee M I am planning on building a trophy room onto the house. I am doing the giraffe as a flat skin and it will go down as a central rug.

 

[AZDAVE]

Day 9

Today is kinda a down day. One couple is hunting and the rest went to the pride rock area on the Limpopo river that inspired the movie the lion King.

I sat with Phillip and worked through some paperwork and talked in depth on all the moving part to coordinate this group trip and what it takes for him to run his safari business.

He had me hunt with as many of his PH's as possible so that I would have developed a personal connection and understand what makes them tick.

I agreed to work in the states as a Safari consultant and booking agent for him when I returned to the states. Since they aren't a sponsor here on AH, I won't add that to my profile but will help anyone book a hunt with Intrepid. I will also be happy to help someone in planning their small to large group with how I did the coordination no matter who they book with.


The afternoon after all the paperwork and discussion we took the PH's that were in camp to the range for a friendly shooting competition between them using my doubles. The referee was Phillip and the range director was me. First was two shots at 50 Meters for the best group. Then the next was 2 shot at 35 Meters both shots in under 5 seconds. Everyone shot well and the tie breaker between Harry and Jaques was two shots with my 450/400. In the end Harry had the best results. Not to bad for shooting my right handed double lefty.

Went out for a night session looking for any more small cats and a porcupine. Had a nice drive and saw alott of game including a huge buffalo but nothing on the target list.

 

[AZDAVE]

Day 10

Last day a group picture with the trophy's and a group picture of the Outfitter and PH's.

Everyone says good bye to our host and new friends.

Loaded up and the transported is taking us by the taxidermist to get everyone's contact info correct. Then onto the curio warehouse so everyone can purchase their trinkets.

Stop for lunch at a road side pizza parlor and easy drive to the airport.

Bruce from Gracy travel is there to help the group sort out the luggage, rifles etc. Good byes were said to everyone. One couple is staying to go to Cape town to visit friends and Sonya and I are heading down to the arrival hall to find our transporter and host for the second part of our trip.

 

[AZDAVE]

Final Impressions:

Intrepid safari delivered on everything they promised and more. A very professional and well run company that I am happy we hunted with.

Our group shot quite allot of animals and the work and care of the trophies in the skinning shed was top notch.

The properties are very large and well managed. I was impressed with the amount of work done to care for the land, water and the attention to all the small details was impressive.

The animals were in great shape and the two that really impressed me was their Sable and Buffalo. If you are looking for a huge sable or Buff you should consider them for a safari.

The equipment was in great shape and well maintained from the silverware in the lodge to the tractors used to maintain the property.

The lodge is even nicer that the brochure or web site looks. This is the nicest lodge we have been in anywhere in South Africa. Truly a 5 Star lodge.

All in all this safari company is a class act.

 

[enysse]

Just the picture above with the horns and crocodile says it all! Your crew got some exceptional trophies and great memories!

 

[Ridgewalker]

Excellent! Thanks for sharing AZDave!

 

[cpr0312]

Congrats to all! Thanks for sharing!

 

[AZDAVE]

We head down to the arrival hall and meet with Ria and her son PC of Motsomi Safaris. At this point my wife says “I know you we talked about a safari at SCI” Ria just smiles and says well Dave has a couple surprises for you about the photo safari and a hunt after for your springbuck. No as you can imagine that she had about a million rapid fire questions. Basically I can't stay the extra days and my boss doesn't know. Well I spoke with both directors that you work for and they know, the lady this is covering down for you knows, the dog sitter knows and I coordinated with them. “Well I have a couple appointments scheduled” Yea I could do anything about them so you will miss them. Just let them know that you had travel problems in Africa caused by your husband. Well her head in now spinning. Get he a cup of coffee and then tell her that 3 of her best friends (And one hubby who is my hiking buddy) are getting off the plane to go with us. Now she is giving me the eye and asks “Who” well since I kept it a secret for a year you will have to just wait and see Well she starts guessing and I told her that several of her guesses were people I invited but that just couldn't work out coming.

 

[AZDAVE]

The flight is about an hour late and you can see the gears working behind her eye trying to guess. Finally out walks Phyllis, Barry, Sue and Val to look of absolute surprise on Sonya's face is complete!!!

We get all the bags loaded up and the ladies ride with Ria and the guys with PC. We are headed to Zambula Golf Resort for the evening. It was about a 2 hour drive where I get to talk to PC about the upcoming hunt part of the adventure and check with Barry about the flight and ask what is expatations are for the photo safari and what non-hunting activities they want to do while we head out on the hunt.

Zambula they had rented a really nice home on the golf course for the evening, dinner got cooked, had time to catchup an our hunt with Intrepid and get everyone down for some much needed shut eye.

 

[AZDAVE]

Day 11
We got up and had a great breakfast and loaded the bakkie and Toyota SUV with everything and set out for Madikwe. On the way out the new folks get to see their first african animals that were running across the golf course. On the way to the gate we saw eland, red heartabeest, blue wildebeest and zebra.

It is about a 4 ½ hour drive. On the way we stop at the main entrance to Motsomi Safari's to see Pieter and drop our rifles off with him and to walk through the hunting and travel plans for the days right after the photo safari. We are headed up close to Kruger national Park about a 8 hour drive. Then will head south to the free state, and back to Limpopo so we will get to see some parts of South Africa we haven't seen before.

We get to Buffalo Ridge Lodge in Madikwe National Park and get checked in, say good bye for a couple days to Ria and PC, scramble to get a quick lunch and ready for a afternoon game drive.

Make it out for the afternoon game drive and it is nice to see the fascination in our friends eyes as they get to see all new sight, sound, and smells. As the list of animals spotted increases we see. Elephant, lion, cheetah, kudu, stienbuck, waterbuck, warthog, blue wildebeest, blesbuck, klipspringer, ostrich, Giraffe, zebra. However the most interesting animal we see is a Ardwolf he comes out just after dark as we are headed back to the lodge and we get to see him clearly for about a minute, wish we had been able to get a picture but everyone had put camera's up when the sun went down.

Made it to the lodge and had a nice dinner and talked about the first day for our friends and their impressions. All in all a good day.

 

[AZDAVE]

Day 12

We go on two game drives today, the mornings drive was in a light rain and most of the animals stayed bedded down. We had a nice stop in the bush and the scout brought out coffee and small biscuits. Was a very nice break on a chilly morning. The morning highlight was a nice pack of lions. It always surprises me that the viewing trucks can drive so close without triggering the predator response vs just ignore the loud moving lumps. A nice breakfast and lunch and back out for the afternoon. The highlight of the afternoon was seeing a cory bustard.

 

[AZDAVE]

Day 13

We head out on a very foggy and cold morning. Again most of the animal were moving late. Right before we headed back to the lodge we saw a group of old Dagga Boys one with a broken horn what a classic old brusier. While I was taking a picture I look over at Sonya and ask her what she thinks? She just smiles and says “ Well to tell the truth I was figuring out where the correct shot placement would be on all the bulls from the different angles they were standing” Am I blessed with a great huntress for a wife or what?

Return to the lodge to check out. Ria and PC are there to pick us all up. We made it to the Motsomi main lodge about mid afternoon. Got everyone assigned to their room and settled in. Sonya and I sat down with Pieter and PC to make a plan for the next day, as we leave for a lodge of one of his friends south of Kruger national park where I will get to hunt hippo. We will then leave and go south for 6 hours to the Free State and Sonya will hunt for springbuck and me for night kritters at their Driekoppen lodge. We leave at 0430 for about a 8 hour drive. So it is pack for this part of the hunt and leave what isn't needed at the main lodge. The bakkie is packed, dinner is served, nice conversation around the fire pit. Ria has made a plan for our friends that are not hunting and staying at the main lodge to see Sun City, a Cultural park, and taking pictures from several of the bow hunting blinds on the main property while we are gone.

 

[Graham Hunter]

Day 13

We head out on a very foggy and cold morning. Again most of the animal were moving late. Right before we headed back to the lodge we saw a group of old Dagga Boys one with a broken horn what a classic old brusier. While I was taking a picture I look over at Sonya and ask her what she thinks? She just smiles and says “ Well to tell the truth I was figuring out where the correct shot placement would be on all the bulls from the different angles they were standing” Am I blessed with a great huntress for a wife or what?
View attachment 234121

Return to the lodge to check out. Ria and PC are there to pick us all up. We made it to the Motsomi main lodge about mid afternoon. Got everyone assigned to their room and settled in. Sonya and I sat down with Pieter and PC to make a plan for the next day, as we leave for a lodge of one of his friends south of Kruger national park where I will get to hunt hippo. We will then leave and go south for 6 hours to the Free State and Sonya will hunt for springbuck and me for night kritters at their Driekoppen lodge. We leave at 0430 for about a 8 hour drive. So it is pack for this part of the hunt and leave what isn't needed at the main lodge. The bakkie is packed, dinner is served, nice conversation around the fire pit. Ria has made a plan for our friends that are not hunting and staying at the main lodge to see Sun City, a Cultural park, and taking pictures from several of the bow hunting blinds on the main property while we are gone.
View attachment 234125

Keep it up. I am running out of popcorn.

 

[AZDAVE]

Day 14
O dark thirty comes and we pullout. Enjoyed the differences in terrain and the change in vegetation as we drive towards kruger. We stopped at Big Chief Plaza for breakfast and to view the unique game viewing they have. We had an interesting Bacon, banana french toast. It was a very interesting layering of the three that I found interesting. It is always fun to see how food is presented in the different parts of the world that I have been lucky enough to travel to. We make good time and pull into Bushpig Safari lodge right at noon. Get settled in, have lunch and head out to the area we are hunting hippo.

The area that we were hunting had several dam's with small lakes with marsh and streams running between. The main river is about ½ mile away and the hippos roam back and forth all through this area. Not to mention through the sugar cane fields and the local village/township. Checked a couple of the lakes and on the second one spotted 3 hippo. So we tried to find a way to get down to where they were. About 5 attempts were made from different directions but they were in a position that we just couldn't find a way to get closer than 125 yards.. The most promising approach down through the cane and trees came to an abrupt 25 ft drop off. Darkness finds us with bino's looking at the hippos frolicking in the water. I am sure that they left for the cane fields right after we left. When we pull back in the gate to the lodge we get stopped but an African traffic jam. IE 150 cape Buffalo just bedded down on the road and both sides. So they have the right away and move when they feel like it. All at once! So we settle into a nice dinner and conversation by a fire with some great new friends.

 

[AZDAVE]

Day 15

This will be Hippo's in the mist with a double rifle day. The night before the owner of the lodge upon talking to me about my primary plan to use my VC 450/400 double with backup plan being the PH's 375. He just laughed and say just leave your double in camp as you won't get close enough and the brain shot is a small target for open sights. Pieter said Dave shots doubles and irons very well. I told them coming in that if they could get me under 60 meters and on sticks that I could make the shot. If it is over 60 I will use the scoped 375. One of the local PH's, Stephan is also coming with us today so that we can use two trucks to check more area.

It is clear and chilly as we load up. The closer we get to the area the the more fog there is. We split up when we get to there. PC heads out with Stephan and Sonya and I go with Pieter. Two lakes are checked but we can't see more than 30 meters. So we meet in a spot between the two largest lakes and have coffee on the tailgate and wait for the fog to clear. While we are waiting a huge Serval cat walks out between sugar cane rows about 125 meters from our coffee break. Before I can make it to a rifle he just wanders off into the cane.

 

[cal pappas]

AZ Dave:
Wonderful hunt and writeup. Nice to get it piece by peice to digest all the info but the anticipation is killing! Glad the rifle worked out for you. Please consider coming up to the AK double shoot next year.
Cheers,
Cal

 

[AZDAVE]

It is clear and chilly as we load up. The closer we get to the area the the more fog there is. We split up when we get to there. PC heads out with Stephan and Sonya and I go with Pieter. Two lakes are checked but we can't see more than 30 meters. So we meet in a spot between the two largest lakes and have coffee on the tailgate and wait for the fog to clear. While we are waiting a huge Serval cat walks out between sugar cane rows about 125 meters from our coffee break. Before I can make it to a rifle he just wanders off into the cane.

As the fog starts to life we split up and go check the two lakes and plan on checking the 5 below these next. We get a call on the radio from PC about 30 minutes later that they have spotted 3, with one half way out of the water. We head over and check the wind and it is good so we get down behind the dam and work our way to an observation point behind some small bushes on the dam. The closest we can get is 155 meters across the narrowest part of the lake to where they are at. The one that is mostly out of the water resting on his buddy has a ton of scars on the hide and is in a place that the wind will be good to try a stalk from the opposite side of the lake. Stephan says that there is a road that is about 700 meters behind that side of the lake that we might be able to stalk down through the trees and high grasses and get within range. We crawl back down off the dam and walk the 20 minutes back to the bakkie. Take the long way around to get to the opposite side of the lake. We all started a slow stalk down through all the vegetation to try and close the distance. The wind is still good fog has completely lifted and all the small birds are starting to wake up. We make two small detours and get to where we can see them about 100 meters out. It is now time to crawl through the tall grass. I have two PH's in front, and one behind with his video camera and Sonya bringing up tail end. We are able to close to 48 meters but the angle is bad so we sit for about 15 minutes. My hippo finally lifts its head and turns our direction. Up go the sticks, last second direction from Pieter on where to shoot at the slight angle and the double is on the sticks. Everything slows down deep breath let half out and the double goes off and sends a nice 400gr North Fork cupped point solid on its way. Hit exactly where Pieter told me to shoot, hippo just rolls over and had 4 sets of toes sticking out of the water and slowly sinks. Two hippos blast out into much deeper water and all the birds launch from their perch, and the croc's bail into the water. Peiter and PC are shaking my hand ad telling me it was a great shot. I can say it is the best shot I have made with a double to this point in my life.

So is is now time to see if we can get a bakkie down to the lakeside. The Motsomi road construction crew is now busy putting rock in the holes, cutting the small bushes etc and about an hour of hard work and the truck is in place to use the winch to aid recovery. We see one foot come up about 25 minutes after the road is finished. So out comes a fishing pole and several casts are made till a hook is set and hippo is pulled into shallow enough water to attach the winch cable. PC as the youngest PH gets the nod to go for a wade We then he needs help to roll him over and now there are three PH's wet to mid thigh. And I am now on hippo and croc patrol with people in the water. The tracker is smiling working the winch and getting everything set up for pictures when the hippo is on dry land.

 

[AZDAVE]

 

[AZDAVE]