Day 10 of the hunt
We were realistically done hunting for the trip. I had spent more than expected for trophy fees which was fine. We slept in and straggled out of camp at around 9AM. First stop was a large farm/ranch that is for sale. Over 27,000 acres. It has a photo lodge sitting on it that is operational, but needs some TLC. We talked to staff and looked at the buildings. Tried to get a pic of the resident Bushbuck, but he was playing shy with me. At its peak this place ran 8,000 bed nights per year. Its less than 1 1/2 hrs from The airport. Has lots of features that make it an interesting property. New laws in Tanzania allow an individual to own the animals if there is a game fence around the property. This allows you to legally sell game meat from those properties.
After that we went up the road to a school. It is having several new buildings added to it. Middle school. They were having a talent show outside. We had some candy as well as some school supplies that we wanted to drop off. Always fun to see the kids. The new classrooms looked pretty nice. Be a good thing for the coming generation. Then back for lunch.
That afternoon we went on a game drive for pics. Saw a lot of animals just not the huge herds of before. Elephant, giraffe,Zebra, WB and the gazelles primarily. Had a nice sunset. Got back to camp and had a nice dinner. Like Mike mentioned the food was good. Quite good. Always plenty of cold drinks too. I loved the before dinner toasted cashews. Locally grown and apparently cheap.
I don't remember if we had the DR visit that night or the night before. CoVid tests in camp. No loss of hunting time running into town. Pretty nice that way. Did both a nasal and oral swab. Printed results were available before we flew out.
It was a somewhat melancholy day for me. I hate to leave Africa, With the amount of time and $$ invested in flights I really prefer to spend at least 2 weeks there. Just couldn't work it out this time. It also was a day to reflect on our hunt and our time there. It was a pleasure and a great time. We had excellent staff and great PH's to work with. I love that part of Africa. First time to Tanzania for us. Would like to return.
I'll do a final wrap up either later today or tomorrow. I was asked the question of why Tanzania and was it worth it by one of our members. I want to address that as well. Also want to see about the pics from my camera. Only pics posted have been from my cell. Those are OK, but some better ones on the camera.
Bruce