ZIMBABWE: Our Zimbawe Adventure & Hunt For Buffalo & Elephant

[ActionBob]

Having decided to take the opportunity for a great deal on an elephant hunt that came about because of the ivory import ban... The first challenge was to convince my wife to go.. In hind sight I probably should have gone alone but she did appreciate gaining the experience and the first hand knowledge of how this part of the World is. Although she was ready to go home on the 3rd day in camp.... It was an adventure, I would not recommend this as a relaxing vacation. I do think Ann would admit that it was worth being there on certain days, like day 6 when we got into a large herd of elephants (more later).

She has laid out a few rules for any future safaris she accompanies me on... The biggest one being that the safari truck be the 4 door version with a comfortable seat for her to ride in. We went to some areas that required up to a 3 1/2 hour drive and it was pretty cramped in that little Toyota 60/40 seat.

We started out by flying through Paris and as we had a full day layover, Ann had booked a private tour guide to pick us up at the airport and take us on a tour of Versailles. That went very smooth and it was easy as we had our main luggage checked all the way through to Polokwane RSA and brought our carry on's with and just left them in the van.

Then a second long night on a plane and arrived in Joberg where the Rifle Permit folks were waiting for us. Connected on to Polokwane and had a little snafu with the rental car as Hertz was on full out Africa time and even though their sign said open until 5, they had closed at 1 so we ended up getting a car from the very helpful young lady at Avis (which was the only one open)... We had forgot to pack a GPS and they did not have one to rent but the directions were very good and we drove right to the hotel way out o nthe other side of town without incident. Had a nice late dinner and some much needed sleep followed by a great breakfast and then back to the airport to get the right car, a little SUV with an automatic which was well worth it in Kruger. Stayed in Lataba camp the first night then Satara and then back to the same Protea Hotel in Polokwane.

Saw lots of critters including elephants, hippos, blue wildebeest, way too many impala, and I don't remember what else that first afternoon drive in... A little frustration is the need to be into the camp by 6:30 when the critters really come out just an hour or two before that.... I had made reservation for the camps on line but could not get the game drives figured out... So we signed up for the 8PM game drive and Ann decided we may as well do the 4AM drive as well so got on the list for both. A tip for this time of year, sign in, go directly to your room and turn on the AC to the max, then go eat and look around and come back when it is cooled down a bit!

The game drives did not disappoint from what we had experienced in the past. Drivers who had varying levels of knowledge. Fellow tourists who could not STFU! (be quite) to save their hides. And idiots running the spot lights at night. We took a good flashlight and got in line first to claim a spot light on our 3rd drive. We did get some interesting views and experiences with elephant the first night, mainly watching them eat trees. The highlight for me of the morning drive was a hyena coming right around the truck.

That second day we took all day driving on our own with a packed lunch and took every side road to get to Satara camp. Saw a couple Kudu that I'm still dreaming of! And got right up into a pride of lions right before lockup time at camp.

This above kudu looked to me like he had the body size of an eland!

 

[James.Grage]

Great start to a wonderful trip...

They just cannot hold a spot light still or make slow moves to cover the area...

 

[ActionBob]

Had some trouble and thought I was going have to start all over so posted that as a start.

Ok so we have way to many Kruger photos to bore you all with the monster buffalo and other trophy animals that are there....

After 3 days and 3 nights we headed back out just before closing and drove back from Phalabora to Polokwane in the dark. Got our same room, got the guns and bags all ready and a bit of sleep and off to meet Nadine from Threeways at 7AM the next morning at the car rental place at the airport. We were not prepared for what followed............

 

[cptkirk]

Never too many pictures. I am jealous, never got to see a lion on my trip. Keep it coming.

 

[BRICKBURN]

cptkirk beat me to it. Cross post.

Ok, I have never heard of anyone being bored of Photos of game or otherwise . Never.

Anyway, with some trepidation I await the rest of the tale.....

 

[Wheels]

Have been hoping you would write this. Always enjoy the elephant hunts. Certainly looking forward to it.

All the best.

 

[Wheels]

cptkirk beat me to it. Cross post.

Ok, I have never heard of anyone being bored of Photos of game or otherwise . Never.

Anyway, with some trepidation I await the rest of the tale.....

Between hunting and Thanksgiving I haven't been on the web much. Great seeing the new emoji's!

 

[ActionBob]

Off to Zimbabwe!
Quinn's previous client apparently got delayed a day and so was a day late leaving, that meant that office manager Nadine was picking us up and unfortunately Quinn could not have the planned overnight at home in RSA with his family and I was a bit disappointed that we would not have the several hours drive time to discuss the upcoming hunt and get to know each other... I soon forgot all about that, well not all that soon as Nadine was late.... We had decided to unload the car and were just getting a 3rd cart to load things on when a young lady along with her mother pulled up in a very short mini van that was stuffed almost to the roof with supplies and Christmas shopping! she pulled up and said "Bob and Ann?" I'm sure both of us were standing there in shock with our mouths hanging open looking at this overloaded mini van and our pile of luggage. I came to and stammered something like "uh, yea, your not Nadine are you?" "Yes!" (with a big smile) was the reply.... Umm, "where is the Toyota Truck?" "My van is a Toyota!" (still smiling but it is fading fast as she begins to focus on the two double rifle cases, two large bags and the backpacks....... So I get around to inquiring how in the heck are we going to get our luggage and guns in there, and is your mother here to catch a plane.... Now Nadine seems to be realizing that we actually intend to bring our luggage and guns and yes both of us really showed up!

So she gets out and comes around and says... "well, we will make a plan... (more on that later, might take another post).... Miraculously we get everything stuffed in with the gun cases standing up in the spot Ann would liked to have sat (considering the mother was actually planning to stay right there in that front bucket seat and ride along home)... So Ann and I got cozy in what was left of the back seat, had bags and Christmas decorations piled to the roof above our heads so hoping there would be no need for sudden stops, were on our way... At least to the first slow down hump on which we managed to scrape the van over and then in true African form, Nadine simply swung over into the wrong lane to drive around the rest of them... Oh did I mention a back tire was low! And in spite of being late, Nadine needed to stop for breakfast... But first things first... Stop to check the gas and fill up the tires!

On our way out of the KFC drive through with breakfast in the bag, I spotted a tire shop across the intersection and suggested we pull in... Nadine thought it a great idea to check the tire again but agred when I suggested it might be prudent to actually get it fixed! So we did and on our way again.

I had one bigger concern than actually getting to our destination... I had contracted a typical Minnesota cold before we left, it was pretty much over but I still had a cough that concerned me as to the hunting DG and coughing at a bad time, and I was concerned I would get bronchitis... so I wanted to get some antibiotics and we needed gaiters.... Nadine knew just where to go and pulled into a shopping mall with a gun shop for the gaiters and a drug store... Had to see the Dr. in the back for an extra R100 but got my something cillin and was on the way again.

As we had little minutes alone here and there, Ann was quizzing me as to "just how good a deal did you get anyway?" and "did you check references?" But we both decided to make the best of it and both Nadine and her mom were great company with wonderful senses of humor.. Especially the mom who had a great ability to both laugh at and with her "should have been born blonde" daughter.

So one more little side note before we got to the border. We are driving through the tunnels in the mountains.....

When Nadine mentions a local custom where she says when there is a line of cars all going through the tunnels at once, everyone "pops their hooters!"... Now I'm sitting in the back and had the AC blowing full out, and granted... my hearing is not what it used to be, so I say "excuse me?" As I'm looking at Ann, glancing at the mother filling up the front passenger seat and then the rather decent looking young thing in the drivers seat... Wondering how much trouble I'm going to get into if I pull out my camera phone or if I should just pull my shirt over my head too So she chirps right up and explains " oh yea we like to just have fun with it, sometimes there are full lines of cars going both ways and everyone is popping their hooters coming and going all the way through the tunnel and then we do it again at the next tunnel!" The mother is smiling back at us, Ann is looking confused, and I'm sure I had a "deer in the headlights stare".... Well no popping as we are the only car on the road and Nadine pulls over to get a picture.......

So we are a couple more minutes down the road, and I'm contemplating this whole "tradition" and bring up the story of my brother and his rather conservative wife who when they were planning a motorcycle trip to Sturgis, my brother's friend asks his wife if she can ride on the back of a Harley in the dark? That confuses her so he explains that she won't be able to see with her shirt lifted over her head! (in true Sturgis biker tradition)... Well Nadine chuckles a bit but does not seem to make the connection.... So I ask her if she knows what "hooters" are to us Americans, and if she knows what "popping" them would mean..... After a bit of hesitation, she says "parp.... parp your hooter, parp parp parp, you know!?"... Then more hesitation and she says, you might say "toot your horn".... To which I reply :"blow your horn??"... Which brings out roaring laughter from both her and her mother and, with a bit of a red face, she explains that to a South African "blowing your horn" means something different but not all that far off from "popping hooters". She then says "oh my God! this is why that last American I brought through here had such a red face and got so quiet!" Then she explains that I don't seem as shy as he was, and that she also had a South African PH with..... So we laugh about how she was not going to come out of that either way. And I explain that if they had proper automobiles built in Detroit instead of Japan, they would have horns that did considerably more than "parp"!

One more stop to top off the gas tank, all the tires are good! We buy some biltong and are finally getting to the border at 12:00 noon. We had been told how easy it was to get across, as long as you get there in the morning. Well 3 1/2 hours later were through and heading down the rather interesting major Zimbabwe highway. Nadine was really adept at negotiating through the herds of goats, stray donkeys and wandering cows, major potholes, swerving semi trucks and "chicken busses" not to mention hitchhikers and the endless police roadblocks, which she got through with no payments. We also got a look into life in a bankrupt country as she paid the toll fees with a mixture of US$ and RSA rand.

Tokkie the owner of Threeways had called many times and Quinn could be heard in the background as they worried about us getting there and their schedules. It was apparent that we were way late for lunch and Quinn was determined to get to the tent camp so we got re-loaded into his (two door) Land Cruiser and ate some of our snacks for lunch. We hadn't seen nothing yet!

 

[ActionBob]

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[Royal27]

Great start Bob!

 

[ActionBob]

The regional shopping center... Number 10, ran out of names apparently so some villages are numbered?

"Whatever you need,,,, They probably ain't got!"

and the mall parking lot....

 

[ActionBob]

Back onto the main road for the region...

 

[ActionBob]

Some of us enjoyed the drive more than others.

 

[James.Grage]

heck those are good roads

 

[enysse]

Great read, can't wait for some more

 

[BRICKBURN]

Love those roads.

 

[ActionBob]

Arrival at the tent elephant and buffalo camp;

It was well past dark when we got in and with really no up to date communication with the cook, he had to wait until we got there to cook dinner. This was to become the normal routine. Get back to camp late, shower and have a beer waiting for dinner, eat and go to bed bone tired.

Malakea is the cook, he also did laundry and some cleaning if the skinner was busy on a large animal. He always seems to be pretty mellow and steady, never pushed too hard. He is on Threeways staff.

Lasarus is the skinner but also does laundry, and serves the food, cleans the camp, and is really more butler than anything. He was also responsible to get us up in the morning although I made a point of setting the alarm on my phone. I got to thinking of him as the second hardest working staff member, also works for Threeways.

Fanni is the driver and stays with the truck, he drives if Quinn is tired on a long drive, if we are on the back hunting, and to come pick us up when we walk a long ways from the truck (which is often). He also does all maintenance and cleaning of the truck as well as helped with large skinning and butchering jobs. He worked darn hard chopping out my elephant tusks. At first I though he had it pretty easy as he would sometimes catch a nap while we were hunting, but it soon became apparent that he was the hardest working and probably most capable, definitely the jolliest and friendliest member of the team. He had been a heavy equipment operator before the economy fell apart and there was no more construction going on. He works directly for Quinn and also builds/welds things when not hunting.

I never did figure out how to pronounce the tracker's name... He could track well but I came to think of him as "chicken little" because he sure could run the other way when a big critter looked at him. He was Quinn's man as well.

Quinn had a discussion with us on the way in that when hunting, if we got into a close confrontation or even a charge with a dangerous animal. He absolutely did not want us to run. He wanted us to get behind him and stay there while he "sorted it out", with his Merkel 500 NE if need be..... And he had good reasoning. He was concerned that by running, we would instigate a charge, and another example that if a wounded buffalo charged past him and someone had ran back a 100 yards (or 10 yards in some of the thick stuff we got into), first off he could not shoot without worrying about hitting a person, and secondly the buffalo could easily circle back and get this person with Quinn not being able to do anything..... we took this seriously and I would stand a half step behind and to the side and Ann would actually move up to get right behind us when we got into close encounters and the guns would come up.... Which did happen several times! (fortunately never with a wounded animal and never a charge!)... More later.

Quinn also inquired further as to what I wanted to do if for example, a big Tom leopard walked across the road in front of us... I told him that if he had the quota, I wanted to do my best to shoot it! And so explained to him that with the daily fees being paid, the flight cost and misery of those long flights covered, I considered any extra animals we could take to be a bonus and would be very happy to take them.... He also knew from emails which PG I was most interested in.

Day 1;
Got to sleep in until 4 AM, quick breakfast and load up, Quinn driving, Ann and I in front, the driver and tracker on the back dodging the thorns and vines as we drive to the village to pick up Ben, our government game scout. He is paid by the government.. This is a C.A.M.P.F.I.R.E. unit or communal area. It is pretty apparent that this is a communist country, at least at this point. On one hand, the people are very friendly and helpful. On the other hand, it seems like it is one of those places where almost anyone could pick up and take care of things, but everybody seems to be waiting for somebody to do it, anybody could do it but in the end nobody does! Typical communist productivity.

In spite of being employed by the government, Ben turns out to be a really great guy. And the only real gentleman in the group. He evolves into bringing up the rear and always looking out for Ann. He also carries some water in a backpack and helped me with my gun a few times when we were climbing rocks or crossing a tough place. And he is the guy who pitches in where and when needed when no one else is available or when no one else does.

 

[James.Grage]

keep it going big guy

 

[jeff]

Great story, love the humor!!

 

[ActionBob]

For some reason my photos stopped dropping in. I was dragging and dropping but all of a sudden they don't drop or load???