South Africa 2006

I've broken this post into 10 Posts to accomodate all of the pictures. Enjoy!

Start of Safari

The trip began on September 7, 2006. I booked with Stormberg Elangeni Safaris, a safari operator owned by several families in South Africa. It is run on family land in the Stormberg Mountains and Kat River areas in South Africa’s Eastern Cape - as well as concessions in other areas of South Africa and surrounding countries. The company is owned by the Stretton family (Robbie, Justin, Jeff, and their families), Murray Danckwertz and his family, and John and Isabel Sparks ( http://www.sesafaris.com/hosts.htm ). I must add that this family ownership extends beyond business into the everyday fabric of the safari - you become part of their families and this probably what sets them apart. I went with a group of people from Nacodoghes, Texas, of whom one of them, Bob Cunningham of Global Sportsman Outfitters, was the booking agent for the group and now the exclusive agent for Stormberg Elangeni in the U.S. Accompanying Bob where JR Royce, Dr. Aaron Polk, and Roger and Carol Russell.

I started my trip the morning of Friday September 7th. I left Austin on a flight to Washington Dulles Airport and then caught a connecting flight to JFK where I met up with Bob, JR, and Aaron (Roger and his wife joined us later in Africa). After a lay-over of several hours we left for Johannesburg (AKA Jo’Berg). The flight was over 18 hours long with an hour stop in Senegal to refuel (but you cannot leave the plane). That long in coach was not nice, especially on a South African Airways Airbus. They took the "nice" 747's off this route several years back.

We arrived in Jo’Berg at around 5 PM - with South Africa being 7 hours ahead of Austin, that put the total travel time at around 31+ hours... It took us about 2 hours to make it thru the airport. We paid extra to have a meet and great service (about $100/head including tips). I highly recommend this. We avoided many lines, that had we been in the US, the TSA alarms and security teams would have been all over us, but not in South Africa. Money speaks. We also had to collect our bags and clear SAPS (South African Police Service). Although we were at the end of the hunting season and the only ones in the SAPS firearms office, it took nearly an hour. We also burned some time renting cellphones and SIM cards so we could call home. Cell phones work everywhere, I mean everywhere, in Africa. Sprint, Cingular, and all the others here could learn a thing or two from Vodafone in Africa about service area and low costs....!

One thing to note about African travel is that it takes a lot of planning. It’s not a weekend hunt with your buddies nor a guided Elk hunt in the Rockies. It takes a lot of preparation on part of the Safari operator, booking agent, and the individual. You don’t need any shots for South Africa (like other African countries), but it’s a good idea to have your tetanus updated at minimum along with a MMR, Polio, and DPT; a series of shots for Hep A and B aren’t bad either. Also, have your doctor send some prescription meds with you in case you are in the back woods and need some. Doxicycline and Z-Pac are two good basics along with some prescription painkillers in case they are needed. Then there is the paperwork. Use a travel agent for the tickets. It won’t be any extra and it will save time especially if you are flying inside the country to other cities like we were. You will also need to fill out the SAPS 527 gun permit and get it to your meet and great service ahead of time and have the original with you to clear the SAPS office. You will need a letter of invitation, itinerary, return ticket, and "proof of means" to get into the country with your guns. A visa is not required at present, but suspect that will change. South Africans need Visas for the US. The last bit of advice is to acquire travel insurance should you require medical evacuation or you must cancel your trip for a valid reason (critical illness, death in the family, etc.). The airline tickets and 50% of the safari deposit are not refundable. A little of insurance goes along way. Look to spend about $800 or so on the medical and trip insurance with the trip insurance being the share of the expense. I recommend Sportsman’s Travel Insurance http://www.sportsmanstravelinsurance.com.

Once we were done with our airport business, we were picked up by Afton House, the B&B were we stayed the night. The van promptly took-us to the B&B. For those that have not been to South Africa, especially the urban areas, crime is a major concern. All the businesses and houses have walls, spikes, and wires around them. The Afton House B&B is very nice and family run. B&B’s are very popular in South Africa and account for a very large portion of tourist and business accommodations. The service and facilities are typically several notches higher than what you find in the U.S. Each B&B is virtually a self-contained secure oasis with excellent rooms, food, drinks, staff, and very nicely landscaped surroundings - and all for a very low price, often $40 US per night.

Afton House

Once we got to the hotel, around 8 PM, we were hungry. The owner got the bags to our rooms and then took us, along with a retired couple and two of their friends from Seattle, to a Texas steak house. It was pretty darn authentic, except for the one-man-band guy that sounded like the Bee-Gees and knew less C&W music than Jake and Elwood. The food was excellent (South African beef is very, very good and all free range). With appetizers, beers, wine, main course, dessert, and tip it came to around $31 US for two of us - WOW.

After dinner we were back to the B&B for a good nights sleep. We spent an hour or so chatting with some other hunters that were resting between a safari in South Africa and part two in Tanzania. The Afton House caters mainly to hunters so you find lots of interesting people to talk with. One more note, most of the houses in South Africa do not have heating or cooling - they are a usually all stone of some sort (very little wood) and heat and cool with the weather. It is very pleasant as the temperature extremes are often very wide and the humidity is low.

The next morning we were up early and off to Richard’s Bay to meet up with the Stormberg Elangeni team. We got thru the lines fast. I paid Bruce, our escort from Afton House (and the Travel Agency - he works for both), $3 to get us thru the aircrew line at security. Pretty nice. Bruce used to work at the airport and was always in trouble because he was always in places he wasn’t supposed to be. So the Afton House and Gracey Travel hired him. Bruce is an valuable asset. We took a 2 hour commuter flight to Richard’s Bay. It’s located in the Natal province on the Northeastern coast of South Africa.

We were met by the team from Stormberg Elangeni and a PH from the Kwazulu Game Preserve - the place where we would start our hunt. It is located on the Mfuze river and is home to a wide array plainsgame and the "Big Five" dangerous game (seven if you count the hippos and crocs that were there). The total preserve is 120,000 acres.

Lodge Front

The lodge was luxurious. Stone walls, thatched roofs, native decorations and art, etc. It was amazing. We each had a private room and a hot bubble bath waiting for us each night on queue as we returned from each day’s hunt. We had a formal dinner served every night in the dinning room hosted by the husband and wife (Val and Bruce) managers. They were very nice folks. Bruce was a retired finance executive from Jo’Berg and Val was a retired school principal that ran a school in one of the Townships. Many of the kids had no parents due to AIDs, prison, or violence, and were being raised by the oldest sibling.

My Bedroom

Our breakfast and lunches were served outside on the deck next to a small swimming pool and outdoor living room. The couches made for some nice naps. Our schedule started very early, often leaving camp before 6 AM. We were usually back by noon or so as the animals laid up with the mid day temperatures. Then we were back out around 2 or so until around 6 PM when the day had given away to darkness and some very cold nights. It was not uncommon to see 40-60 degree temperature swings on our trip.

Back Deck of Lodge

We made a quick trip to the range (quick if you call an hour+ quick) to check zero on my rifle. It was good. We came back for our first meal and first evening at the Kwazulu lodge. I don’t remember everything we ate, but I do remember it was awesome.

View from Lodge

The terrain we hunted was "Classic Africa" as portrayed by Hollywood: flat grassy plains giving away to gentle rolling hills covered also in grass and acacia trees. These were interwoven with some very large hills and mountains. It was very beautiful. Some parts turned more arid along the river with a bit dryer foliage, less grass, and more exposed rock and soil.

Kwa-Zulu Game Reserve: Part I

Monday: Blue Wildebeest Taken & Several Cape Buffalo Stalks

Our hunt started Monday morning. Six of us loaded into a 4-door diesel Toyota Land Cruiser pickup equipped with a high seat bench, various bars and affixments, a bull bumper and a heavy duty winch. These vehicles are the workhorses of the African safari. While South Africa has the world's highest car jacking rate, these are very seldom touched. The parts are not interchangeable with other Toyota vehicles on the road, they are easily recognizable, and the government frowns upon people that impact the tourist trade. They are also relatively safe in the other African countries. However, Zimbabwe is a totally different story - here Mugabe's thugs (AKA the army) steal them at an alarming rate. While we were there, our safari operator learned that the government had approved their tourism grant and they would receive four new fully equipped Land Cruisers free of charge – a $240K value.

The six individuals in the Land Cruiser were: Justin Stretton, my PH for the Kwa-Zulu; Bob Cunningham, owner of Global Sportsman's Outfitters; Sculk Devliers, another PH and one of the cameramen; Tommy, Justin's head man and tracker; a tracker from Kwa-Zulu, and me. We had a lot of area to cover and planned to drive and glass to find our main quarry - Cape Buffalo.

We started just before sunrise and drove into an area that had alternating areas of thick bush (bushveld), open grassy plains, rolling hills, small mountains, and low-lying bush and rock covered ridges. We immediately came upon fresh Buffalo dung, but decided to keep driving as the amount was relatively small and led into a thick bushy ridge. We were then fortunate to see a large number of Blue Wildebeest, perhaps over one hundred, running across a wide tall grass plain. It was a very impressive sight. At the same time, we glassed a small group of Cape Buffalo high atop a small grass covered mountain. Small groups of Buffs are often old males that have been pushed out of the herd by younger, stronger bulls. These types of Buffs are called Duga Boys - and often have large, old, worn bosses and can be quite aggressive. We slowly worked our way up to the top of the mountains in the Land Cruiser.

Kudu Family

Reedbuck Family

We saw a good number of Blue Wildebeest, Reedbucks, and Kudu during our slow climb. When we got to the top it was essentially a flat-valley like area that was very open. All of the sudden Justin tapped the roof of the truck, which signaled the driver to stop. He had seen a large group of Blue Wildebeest resting and sunning at - as it was quite cold in the morning, perhaps in the 40's. Justin, Sculk, and I climbed up a steep grade covered with large square ice-chest sized rocks. We moved up about 200 yards and then worked our way down to our left until we were in a very jagged rock outcropping overlooking the herd of Blue Wildebeest. We ducked walked about 50 yards and then crawled on our bottoms another 30 or so yards to get into position. Justin picked out the largest of the herd. He was lying down, but slowly stood up to butt horns with some of the other bulls, nothing serious, just some fun and games. Once he was clear I took the shot - about 150 yards from an elevation of 60-70 feet. The shot went thru both lungs and the heart. He ran in a circle and dropped over. The .375 H&H 300 grain Swift A-Square did the trick.

Blue Wildebeest

We got some good video of the stalk up to the point of the shot, footage of the shot, and then an interview where the Wildebeest fell. We proceeded to bring the truck around and take pictures. It was now around 9 AM in the morning. Not bad and we had a 28" Blue Wildebeest on the ground. These animals are called the "poor man's Cape Buffalo" as they are the toughest animal in all of Africa pound for pound. We estimated the hoof weight at around 600 lbs.

We loaded up and were off to look for Cape Buffalo. While driving we sighted a large Warthog by himself. He was grazing on an old field of crops that had many years ago be abandoned, but still yielded some residual harvest. We slowly stalked to within 150 yards or so. Unfortunately, his tusks were not quite big enough so we passed.

We proceeded on our long drive back to camp to deliver our animal to the skinners when we happened upon a herd of Buffalo. We initially saw them from a mile or so away and made our way towards them. We got close enough to glass the herd, but found there were not mature, trophy bulls for us to take. We proceeded closer to the herd and they quickly moved on, alerted by our approach. It was at this moment that we saw several large bulls that were separate from the herd quickly move along side of us in a dry creek bed. At this point all the Buffalo quickly disappeared over a bush covered ridge. We regrouped and continued our trip back.

Again we saw the same herd in the distance. They had left the cover of the bush and moved into a large open green field with a watering hole - natural for mid day.... and the bulls had moved into the herd. Justin, Sculk, and I dismounted and started our stalk. We approached directly towards the herd and water hole with only a small stand of trees between us and them to cover our approach. We evaluated going into the dense bush on either side of the field to approach, but decided not to as there was a large troop of baboons crossing from one side of the field to the other - and our approach thru either side would have set off alarms from the troop. Once we made it to stand of trees, the herd had moved on, just out of shooting range - probably 200 yards or so. We wanted to be no further than 100-150 yards if possible, even closer would be better.

At this point we thought of moving down to our left to hide behind the bank of the water hole when we saw a large Duga Boy come out of the bush and join the herd - a good thing we didn't go down there. About this time we also spied a large bull in the herd with a very wide spread, over 43" from Justin's estimate. Unfortunately the herd continued to move on and soon put some serious speed on alerted by our presence and irritated by the baboons that were crossing amongst them. Bob counted exactly 67. We decided to make our way back before the Wildebeest got warm and look for the big bull and herd after lunch.

Buffalo Herd

After dropping the Wildebeest off with the skinners, we made our way back to the lodge for lunch. While waiting for lunch, Justin and I jumped into the small and very cold pool built into the deck of the main building of the lodge - it felt refreshing - especially given that the temperature had risen from the 40's to the 90's by lunch time. We have a nice casual lunch served outdoors and then took some quick cat naps on the couches and chairs in the outdoor living room. We left camp for the afternoon hunt around 2:30.

Rhinos

We quickly spotted a herd of buffalo grazing on the side of a large hill after we had been out about 30 minutes. We decided to dismount and approach thru the bush to get a better look as they were over a half mile away. On the way there we picked up the sight of a second herd to investigate as well. The stalk was quite easy from the perspective of not alerting the buffalo, but the area we were moving thru had just had the company of a very large single bull elephant. The bush was sufficiently thick as to mask to elephant as few as 20 yards away. Justin, Tommy, and the local tracker were quite concerned with the possibility of a blind charge thru the bush. Everyone loaded up their rifles as we started the stalk. We literally stopped at every noise and made our way slowly. Then we heard something….. what we initially thought was the elephant coming at us was a lone Hartebeest - whew! When we got close enough to glass we spent 20 minutes or so and determined there were no trophy bulls in the herd. We walked back thru the "Elephant's bush", remounted the truck, and proceeded along.

Buffalo Herd Relaxing Above "Elephant's Bush"

Elephant

We quickly came to the same field and watering hole where we had seen the herd before lunch. The herd was not there, but in its place was another herd. We spent several minutes glassing and determined it was a smaller, different herd. After another 30+ minutes of driving we came along a ridge located in the middle of a long line of hills with bush and grassy plains on both sides. We immediately spotted a large herd of Buffalo grazing and resting slightly up from the bottom of one of the hills, right near where a low ridge met the hill. After glassing the herd for several minutes from a distance of over a mile, we decided that it was the same herd with the trophy bull. We continued along the ridge and into the edge of the grassy plain that ran into the base of the hill were the buffalo were. We kept our distance to about 2/3 of a mile of more and slowly moved the truck around out of sight.

At this point Justin, Schulk, and I dismounted and started a stalk half-way up the tree covered ridge that met the hill side where the buffalo were. By this time they had stopped grazing and were lying about - making a stalk any closer than 400 yards nearly impossible. We couldn't approach any closer on our current route due to noise of dry leaves under our feet and the keen sight and smell of the buffalo. So we waited. Our plan was to wait until the buffalo got up and started moving and then planned to move to intercept them. After about an hour, as the sun began to set, they got up and started to move to our right into a large grassy plain. We had initially thought about setting up to cover this angle, but opted not to. We made a plan to move back towards were we parked the truck, take a short-cut across a small bush covered ridge and ambush the buffalo from the edge of the ridge where it met the grassy plain. We had to wait until all the Buffalo had moved off the hill and into the tall grass until we could move and then we hauled ass.

We moved back towards the truck and road in the tall grass to hide us, up the road, and then up and over the small ridge to where the buffalo were crossing. It was probably a distance equal to mile and a half or so. We covered it very quickly. I don't believe we could have covered it any more quickly running as we were walking and sprinting at an incredible pace - even the PH's that do this everyday were getting winded. We made it up and over the small ridge, but the Buffalo were further away than we expected in the grass and it was getting dark. We squatted and quickly moved several hundred yards at an angle perpendicular to the buffalo. With the grass, low light, and wind noise they did not detect us. We got to within 30 yards of the herd.

Unfortunately, at this point the buffalo made a 90 degree turn - in line with our direction but away from us - to head for the bush before dark. They had still not seen us. We setup quickly to take a shot at the big buffalo we had seen before lunch, but for some reason he moved quickly to ahead of the herd, with the other buffs keeping a normal pace, and out of shooting range. Had we made it to our intersection with the herd a minute earlier he would have been on the ground. We got ready to leave when we herd something move out of the grass. A very large monitor lizard, perhaps four feet long. Ah, bad luck as the trackers would say. They would use this as the reason we couldn't get the buff.

Bad JuJu

We made it back to the lodge well after dark. A quick hot bath (the staff always had one waiting) and a nice dinner followed by drinks and replays of the video from the day. It was off to bed.

Kwa-Zulu Game Reserve: Part II

Tuesday: Trophy Cape Buffalo Taken & Hunt for Nyala

Tuesday started off pretty tough. I slept maybe one or two hours Monday night. I had not adjusted to the time change yet and had not taken an Ambien. We were out of camp just before dawn and it was cold again. We started back into the bush to find the same herd. Through luck, we took a completely new route from the previous day. We headed towards an area where some Duga boys had been sighted a week earlier – and the area that could be a logical route for the herd from the night before.

We moved along the rough road through dense bush when suddenly we sighted a cow and calf on the road. They appeared to be by themselves. We slowly made our away down the road and came to the edge of clearing were we saw a herd of around 50 buffalo. Could this be the herd we had stalked twice the day before? We carefully studied the herd, not all the animals were visible. We didn't see the large bull nor the Duga Boy. We kept looking as the herd moved around. Then Tommy sighted the big bull at the back of the herd. Justin, Schulk, and I quickly and quietly exited the truck.

The buffalo were shifting in place like they were anxious. We assumed that their intended route of travel was through our position thus they had not retreated. The previous day we were following from the rear and perhaps this pushed them along – especially with the help of the baboons. We carefully studied the herd. The large Bull started moving towards the front of the herd where we could see him better. He was clearly the leader of the herd. He started to move the herd at a right angle to our position and paused behind some tall grass less than 30 yards award.

He was facing to our right quartering towards us. Justin instructed me to aim about 6 inches left of nose and down into chest. I fired. The 300 grain Swift A-Frame soft point went thru his shoulder, right lung, heart, and left lung and exited. He stumbled and started to fall to the ground. Right before he hit he gained his balance and starting running to his right. I had already chambered another round and placed a 300 grain solid thru his chest area. At this he swung around and ran to our left, back across the road. At this point Justin and I fired in quick succession – he a 500 grain solid from his .458 Lott and me another .375 H&H solid. The buff kept on running, even faster. Luckily the herd ran the opposite direction from him, making follow-up shots easy. We had to make sure that with each shot we were clear behind him as we did not want to have any pass throughs wound another buffalo. As he crossed the road he went to the grass again. He was headed for some thick bush. The first shot was a kill shot, but how long it would take and how far he would get we were unsure – thus the reason for the follow-ups. You definitely don’t want to hunt a wounded buff in the bush. We again each fired a shot – this time into his rump to try and hit his spine or send a round lengthwise down his body. Solids are deadly. At the right distance and velocity they can transverse the entire length of a Cape Buffalo. The two shots put him on the ground after he ran a few yards. He stopped moving. He started to get up and collapsed again. One more round thru his chest area to make sure. 5 seconds and 7 shots, he’s down. It is 6:15 AM.

Cape Buffalo

The fun and work commenced. A lot of pats on the pack, retracing our tracks and the buffalo tracks as we shot, and pictures. Lots of pictures. The trackers field dressed the buffalo where he fell – removing his digestive track, which was full of grass. Five hundred pounds we estimated. This made him lighter, maybe only 1,500 pounds now!. The crew used a combination of muscles and an electric winch to put him into the back of the cruiser. A pivot point was affixed at the center of the truck above the cab and the cable from the electric winch was pulled from the front bumper over the pivot point and to the buffalo – pretty neat trick. Not every hunting trick was invented in Texas. However, I still want to try to Mexican bag of water trick in Africa and see if it keeps the flies away. Maybe someone else has tried, but the locals think its "bad juju" and don’t use it.

Loading

We took the Buffalo to be fully processed, skinned, and caped. We headed back to the lodge for lunch. As usual, first class. Fresh antelope meat, salad, fruits, drinks, and dessert. We Texans could learn a thing or two about hunting from the Afrikaans. After lunch I crashed for 45 minutes. I could have slept through the day and night; no sleep the night before and an adrenaline crash after the buffalo hunt.

Mfuze River Valley

That afternoon we headed back out to a new area. The Mfuze river was at its heart, with steep hills and mountains all around covered in very thick semi-tropical cover. We were only a few miles from where took the buffalo, but it could have well been hundreds. Our next quarry was Nyala – the medium sized, elegant spiral horned antelope. We saw several during our hunt for a buffalo, but nothing extraordinary. The terrain and bush was so steep and thick that we decided to drive to cover as much area as possible. We could only see 20 yards, perhaps, into the bush. We searched for several hours, but were unsuccessful. Night fell and we headed back to the lodge. A hot bath, excellent dinner, drinks, and bed.

Kwa-Zulu Game Reserve: Part III

Wednesday: A monster of a Nyala and late night drive to Durbin

We started before sunrise in the same area as the day before. In the morning we sat up a stalk on a decent specimen. Bob and I thought he was big; Scaulk did as well. Justin didn’t like the shape of his horns. We were looking for a harp shape that pointed out at the top with a deep bell. No luck. We continued along a flatter area near the river. We were stopped by a tree that had been felled by an elephant. The trackers got out and hacked it to pieces.

"Real" Toyota Landcruiser

Breaktime

We eventually moved on to higher elevations and reached a scenic point and with the expanse of the Mfuze river valley to our left. We took pictures and videos for several minutes. Before continuing, we looked to our a right. A Nyala had been standing 10 yards from us the entire time. It was a beautiful specimen, but perhaps only 24-26" inches.

Mfuze River Valley

Curious Nyala

Zebras

We reached midday and the heat had starting to grow. So what did we do? Sat in tall tick infested grass in the hot sun at a small lake in a low wide part of the valley. When we approached we heard a commotion – we quickly ran to the bank and caught the last bit of action as a crocodile tried to catch a large bird. We waited for the animals to starting coming to the water. We spotted and watched 4 Hippos the entire time. We were so still that several wart hogs moved around us without them noticing. We kept watch across the water hole. We watched several areas where we expected to see Nyala. Slowly, they started coming. First a group of 6 males and then a 7th a bit further down. No shooters, but all were nice.

Small Lake

Hippos

The number of Nyala we spotted and stalked grew to a point where it all blended together. I started out impatient, but I became intrigued. I thought to myself there must be some monsters in here we haven’t seen, why else did we keep going? We stopped at the top of a large ridge and glassed for a while. We dropped off one of the trackers (along with a shot gun to guard against lions) to stay and glass while we continued along. We circled back about 30 minutes later to pick him up. Nothing.

Glassing for Nyala

We moved to a lower area and spotted a group of Nyala. We quickly dismounted and started a stalk. We got within shooting range and sized the largest Nyala. He wasn’t what we were looking for. We had one or two hours of good light left.

We eventually came around a thick, brushy area and saw 3 Nyala moving away from us, perhaps 100 yards or so. Justin and Scaulk didn’t need binoculars. They didn’t study his length or the shape of his bell. All they said was, "Shoot!" pointing out the largest one. I wasn’t ready. I chambered a round... Then I couldn’t find them in the scope, I dialed back the zoom – I squeezed the trigger. Nothing. The safety was on. Safety off. "Shoot him now Eric!" The three Nyala were steps away from disappearing into the bush. I pulled the trigger. A "Texas heart shot." 300 grain A-frame bullet from 110 yards went directly into the base of his rear and traveled along his spine to his neck. He took three steps and collapsed hard. And we had everything on film.

Trophy Nyala

It was getting dark. We were done at Kwa-Zulu. We had told our PH’s we wanted to hunt hard.

We had a hard drive ahead of us to the Stormberg Mountains on Wednesday – 13 hours or more. We decided to cut some time off the drive. We met back up with JR and Jeff at the lodge. We loaded the Land Cruisers and decided to drive to Durbin Tuesday night. We left around 9 PM and filled up on diesel and dinner at a roadside station. We arrived at almost 1 AM in Durbin at a Bed and Breakfast. We were exhausted.

Bramstone Lodge

Thursday: Drive from Durbin to Bramstone Lodge in the Stormberg Mountains

The B&B industry is very developed in South Africa. It is the preferred lodging of South African business travelers and vacationers. We were met by a very nice and polite man that someone how remembered all of our names instantly. We were shown to our rooms. It was nice and cool outside. I cracked the window and went to sleep. We were up at 7:00 AM. A fabulous formal breakfast had been prepared for us on the outside patio. The surroundings of the B&B were a tropical paradise – green plants and flowers, birds, a brook, and waterfalls. Only Mr. Rourke and Tattoo were missing. All of the residential and lower story commercial buildings in South Africa (and most of sub-Sahara Africa) are constructed of masonry- stone, brick, concrete blocks, poured walls, adobe, etc. Termites. Wood doesn’t last. Plus the thermal mass of the buildings help regulate the temperature.

We got one the road by 9:00 AM. One Land Cruiser, a small cargo trailer, 3 hunters, 3 PH’s, and one tracker – 5 seats in the Land Cruiser. I was the lucky one, I got to ride in the front passenger seat the whole time. Bob and JR were in the rear seat with a third PH. The PH’s alternated between driving, riding in the backseat, and riding in the bed with Tommy.

We headed down the coast for 30 miles and then turned north. We had been in Natal, but were entering the Eastern Cape. The land we encountered for the first 2 hours or so was farm and timber land. Lots and lots of timber. The trees weren’t planted like they are here in the U.S. They were to orderly, to planned, it didn’t look natural up close. We continued to drive. We stopped for a long break at a gas station. We had several fried pies, drinks, a bathroom break, and filled-up on diesel. We started into the Transgy. Literally translated to mean "This Side".

The Transgy is probably the most fertile area of Africa, but it is wasted. During the Apartheid era many blacks were moved here, much like the American Indians were moved to reservations during the 19th century. However, Black South Africans are subsistence farmers at best. The land that was once a bread basket run by White Farmers is now almost a moonscape. We drove thru this area for nearly 7 hours. Through small road side towns, almost shanty towns. The wealth you see in Johannesburg, along the coast, and on the lands of the White Farmers is not here. This looks like the Africa we see on TV. Amidst all of this are 3 things competing for the little financial resources that the people have: Vodafone cellphone stores, lotto tickets, and funeral parlors – for the AIDs victims. The next time I am in Africa I will not drive thru this area, but fly. We wanted to see what it was like. Once is enough. It is quite depressing.

With about an hour left in our drive we started into the Stormberg Mountains. The land changes. Again you see beauty and few people. The lands are owned by generations old European immigrants. We started climbing through the hills a bit and came into a large valley surrounded by mountains – the hunting area for Stormberg Elangeni Safaris – over 300K acres of land including their family lands (Justin, Jeff, and Robbie Stretton) and those of their neighbors. The mountains surrounded rolling plains. It looked like Montana and parts of the Dakotas. It was like we entered a totally different world. The snow from the day before was gone. We drove to Bramstone Lodge.

Stormberg Mountains

Bramstone Lodge reminded me of a cross between a lodge in the Rockies and an old European hunting lodge. Very rustic, very simple. It’s located near the base of the mountains and sets on a mountain fed stream, full of trout. Trees were planted generations ago create an oasis around the lodge on the plains. Game birds were in abundance, over 30 species. It was obvious that "The Crown" was here many generations ago. It was incredibly beautiful and relaxing. It was also getting cold. Our baggage was unloaded and we were shown to our rooms. I loved this place. One story, stone, thick walls, white, green metal roof, animal mounts and rugs everywhere. It feels like you belong here. Oh how I hoped places like these remain in some parts of Africa for generations to come and are not pillaged like what has happened in Zimbabwe.

Bramstone Lodge

Main Hall

View from Lodge Grounds

View from Lodge Grounds

After freshening up in our rooms we were treated to a feast of a dinner in a formal dining room. Donald Trumph could only wish for surroundings and food as luxurious and savory. Roger, Carol, and Aaron met up with us here. Robbie Stretton, Justin and Jeff’s cousin, joined us for dinner as well. Two of their wives attended as well, while the third stayed back and watched the kids. The company was as fabulous as the dinner. For some reason I was the guest of honor, I guess because I shot the big Buff two days earlier.

After dinner we retired to the bar and living room. There was no heat in the main areas (only space heaters in the bathrooms). We warmed ourselves by the fire, flanked by a Waterbuck on one side and a Kudu on the other. I got to treat everyone to a special dessert, Guinness milkshakes. I had talked about them earlier in the trip. One of the wives was kind enough to find a bottle store (liquor store in Africa) that carried Guinness. I made a batch at the bar by hand and distributed the drinks to everyone. They loved it. They couldn’t believe they tasted so good. Now only if my lame ass hunting buddies back home would step up and try it.

Dining Room

Den

Stormberg Mountains

Friday: Glassing for Common Reedbuck and Red Lechwe Trophy

We started Friday morning with a full course breakfast before dawn. We were in the land cruiser and heading for the mountains by day break. We parked at the base of the mountains and start hiking up to a vantage point to glass from. Vousei (Robbie’s main tracker) had seen a very large Common Reedbuck in the area we glassed. We spent about 30 minutes. We saw Springbok, a lone Eland, and several female Reedbuck, but not the large male. We continued to glass the plains, which may look like plains from a distance, but are more subtle with rolls, draws, rock outcroppings, etc. that an hold incredible amount of animals without the benefit of any vegetation except for low grasses. We started back towards the buggy. On the way we glassed a canyon that ran from our level up the side of the mountain to the top. At first we didn’t see much, but then after glassing we started picking out a number of Mountain Reedbuck – it’s incredible how they blend in and use the terrain to hide. They make Mule Deer look like amateurs.

The Stormbergs Up Top

Glassing Sides of Mountains

Looking for Reedbucks

As we walked toward the buggy we glassed a grouping of three large watering holes ranging in size from 4 acres to perhaps 12. They were about 3-4 miles away. We spotted a large number of Red Lechwe around the water. Some were standing, some sitting. We decided to put a stalk on them. There was little cover except from some gradual changes in plains and a small number of rock outcroppings.

Water Hole in Distance

Enlarged

We walked down to the buggy and drove to within a mile of the watering hole. We walked up an incline to a rock outcropping and tried to get a shot at the Lechwe. We approached carefully and belly crawled on the top of the rock cropping to get into position. The wind had been in our favor the entire time – blowing across the water hole up to our position. As soon as we got into place the wind changed and blew our scent to the Lechwe – they smelled us, but didn’t see us. They started moving off. The one bull we had been watching never got in range. They sped to a gallup and disappeared over several of the low rolling hills. They don’t stay out all day and eventually make their way back to the base of the mountains to bed down for the evening. They could run, but not hide.

We took a break and approximated where we thought they would go next. There was another large watering hole with some trees surrounding it about a mile away. We started the walk. We were lucky to find an outcropping to climb up. The Lechwe were exactly where we thought, but a bit to far to shoot. We made a new plan. We decided to send Vuseoi around on foot from a different angle and see if they would move towards us. It was a good idea, bad execution. The ran away from us, and ran fast. It was time for a new plan.

Again, we tried to guess where they would be next. We couldn’t see them from our vantage point, but the view of a large relatively flat area was blocked by a very small ridge. Again, things looked flat from a distance, but when we got down into the plains it changed. We started another stalk. Another mile or so. For the mountains it was damn hot. We finally worked our way around and got down wind from the area. They were about a mile in front of us and for all tricky terrain I mentioned, it was as flat as could be between us and them. Great. They were moving a bit, but not a lot. If we spooked them here they could have very well ran back into the mountains which were less than a mile behind them. We sent Vusay in the truck to park between them and the mountains – if startled they wouldn’t run towards the mountains, at least we hoped not.

We decided to start our stalk. We kept it low because they occasionally looked our way. These were antelope, not deer. They saw just fine and there were lots of them. All of the sudden they started to disappear. Were they lying down? Was it not flat? We assumed they were laying down. We moved closer and faster towards them. We soon saw they had moved into a low draw, but we were gaining elevation on them and could see them now. We couldn’t get much closer. We were perhaps 500 yards away at this point. We spotted a small termite mound about 200 yards in front of us. We slowly moved towards it and kept it between us and the Lechwe for cover.

We eventually made it to the mound. The plan was to sit behind it and use it as a rest for the rifle, but it was to low to see the Lechwe. We crawled around to the front of the mound and I slowly worked myself up on to the mound to use it as a seat with my shooting sticks in front. We could see all the animals now. They started to move off slowly. We saw the largest male. He was about 300 yards away. I had my scope set all the way to 5X and I was shooting my 375 H&H – which was at pretty much the extent of its practical range due to ballistics, optics, and the size of game. The wind was also blowing hard to our right. The male was walking right as well. I put my cross hairs on the middle of his body – the bullet would drop and shift to the right and hit is heart lung area based on the distance and wind.

BANG! The big 375 propelled the bullet forward. It seemed like an eternity, but then I saw the bullet hit the big bull – he came up off his front legs and then his rear completely into the air – WOW – I was glad we got this on film. He came down, but didn’t fall. He started walking forward and backward, like he was dizzy, but he did not fall. The herd had started to run off and we were afraid he might run as well. BANG! Another round, aimed at the same point, but it missed. (We found out later he moved back another 50 yards or so to around 350 yards after the first shot.) I chambered another round. I aimed for the top of his back above his rear leg. BANG! He crumpled over. The first shot had hit his kill area, but not taken him down right away, the third shot landed 2 inches away from the first – dropping precisely to the right spot based on distance and windage. The total stalk and hunt had latest five and a half hours. What an incredible stalk! It was very hot. We headed back to the lodge. I showered and took an afternoon siesta after a small snack.

Red Lechwe

I found a tick embedded on me later that night. After I returned home a week later, I developed African tick fever. It wasn’t to bad, but it was not pleasant. It was a like a bad case of the flu. I took my antibiotics and was fine. It is nothing like Lyme Disease or Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever - those are bad and are in the Texas Hill Country now. Give me African ticks any day.

Kat River Conservancy: Part I

Saturday: Kat River Conservancy, Nxakwe Lodge, and Cape Kudu

Saturday morning we awoke early. We stopped briefly and glassed for another large Common Reedbuck that had been spotted several times at the base of one of the mountains, but no luck. We saw a dingo very, very, very, very far away running – around 650-700 yards. We lobbed some 375 and 7 mag bullets at him. We missed. A hit would have been sheer luck.

We hit the road for the Kat River Conservancy. It is a large collection of ranches that have been pooled into an awesome hunting area. It has steep hills, rolling hills, and flat areas. It reminds you of the Texas Hill Country a bit. We arrived at the property of the Dankwertz family; with Murray, the only and eldest son, as our host. It was a fascinating environment. Old Boer style farmhouses that the Dankwertz families lived in, an early 1800’s Dutch Fort, and a very cool and rustic Safari camp.

The main camp was surrounding by a tall solid wooden fence with a camp fire and eating area in the center. On one side was a one story building where all the meals were prepared. Outside near this building was a stone oven fired by hot wooden coals for cooking and hot water for laundry. To the left was a two story building. The first floor was a rustic bar with a lounge area and fireplace. Upstairs had a luxury candle lit dining room. There was no electricity here or running water. Everything was by fire, candle, and hand. The meals we ate every night in the dinning were the BEST, repeat the BEST, meals I have ever had. The world’s five star eateries could learn something from the Dankwertz family.

View from Kat River Conservancy

Our cabins were down a tree covered dirt trail lit by torches which gave away to an elevated plank walk-way as the cabins sat atop a small stream. The cabins were very rustic. They had a thatched roof, wooden floors, and masonry walls with wooden doors and windows. Inside there were two single beds, two desks, a wardrobe, and a bathroom with an open ceiling to the inside of the cabin. The bathroom had a shower, sink, toilet, and hot and cold running water. There was no electricity. There were several 12 volt lanterns in the sleeping, entrance, and bathroom areas that run from solar charged batteries. It was really unique and peaceful. We were a bit worried about critters, like Monkeys and Snakes, getting in, but the camp master, Gert, said there were no worries. He said it was still to cool for the Cape Cobras to come out and the Monkeys were harmless. He said if we got bit, they would run us to town and put us on a ventilator to let the poison work thru our body – seemed this was now preferable method to anti-venom and safer. Two days after we left, they found a small Puff Adder in Roger’s cabin. The venom is very similar to a rattlesnake’s and no, ventilators don’t work. Nice.

Path to Cabins

JR's & My Cabin

Gert. An interesting guy. He’s a semi-retired professional hunter in his 60's who still thinks apartheid exists. He has worked with the Dankwertz family for many, many years. He taught Murray to hunt as a child. It seemed he should have been leading a division of German Panzer in World War II or leading a corps of Boer Fighters in the 1800’s. He was the life of the camp. He also informed us he would only drink Windhoek beer from Namibia as it is the only Africa beer available in Southern Africa that is brewed to the German brewing laws. As South African Brewing expanded and acquired companies, they accelerated the brewing processes and took shortcuts. Gert said he would have none of this non-sense.

The drive to the lower elevations closer to coast had raised the temperatures. We would find out later that it had approached nearly 110 that day. Around noon Sculk, Frienda, Ray-Ray, and I set out to hunt. Frienda was a black professional hunter in training. Ray-Ray (I couldn’t pronounce his real name so we gave him the name Ray-Ray) was one of Murray’s trackers. Ray-Ray and locals loved his new name.

It was very hot as we drove out to hunt. We spent about 30-45 minutes driving before we dismounted. We carried two chairs and an ice chest full of drinks and lunch to the edge of a small mesa that overlooked a lower area. Sculk and I parked ourselves under a large shade tree. It was actually very pleasant in the shade with the breeze, regardless of the temperature. Frienda and Ray-Ray made their way back to the truck to wait and scout elsewhere.

It was midday, but unlike deer, antelope move constantly. We saw a large herd of Gemsbuck and various species of Reedbuck. However, we were looking for Cape Kudu. We saw several females and young males, but eventually spotted a group of four males about a half mile away eating. We watched them for about two hours. We saw three of them very well, not trophies, but the fourth one, which we didn’t get a good look at, appeared to be a potential trophy. We decided to go elsewhere and look. We knew where the Kudu were and they would most likely stay in the area the remainder of the day.

We returned to the truck and drove to another area of the ranch. We saw a group of Kudu in thick brush and tree covered hills. We glassed them for quite a while, probably around an hour or so, from over a mile away and decided to put stalk on them. We came upon the Kudu rather quickly. They had disappeared from sight before we started the stalk, but headed in the direction we thought they were moving in the thick foliage. Unfortunately when we found them the sun was right in our eyes. Sculk and Frienda saw them about 80 yards in front of us, but I could not. They heard us and ran off. There was a big boy in the herd. We made it back to the truck and drove to the other side of the ridge. We saw the herd again far up on the hillside, but it was to for a shot. We decided to leave them and come back the next morning. We headed back to the first group we saw earlier.

There were quite a few other animals moving around now. We also found the four Kudu males and the fourth one was indeed a trophy. We decided to put a stalk on them, but had to circle around due to the wind and other animals present. To go about one half mile as the crow flies to the Kudu’s position, we took a circular route of about a mile and a half. Our initial position was up high on the edge of a mesa, so the terrain below didn’t look to bad – pretty open with trees. When we got to ground level the trees swallowed up the landscape and we couldn’t at all due to the loss of elevation. I trusted Sculk’s navigation skills to guide us to. We arrived right on the spot – around 150 yards downwind from him.

We crawled up underneath a low tree whose branches started about 18-24" above the ground. I was going to use the branches as my gun rest. I got the Kudu lined up. There was a narrow shooting corridor and I aimed behind his shoulder. A direct shoulder shot is best with a Kudu, but with all the branches and twigs between my 375 and the kudu, I wanted some room for error in case the bullet caught a twig.

I fired! The 260 grain ballistic tip hit him solid and he took off running to his left. We couldn’t see where he went, so we started forward. We eventually found him about 80 yards to left of his original position. He was on the ground and mortally wounded, but was trying to get up. I didn’t want to take any chances and shot him again.

Cape Kudu

Ray-Ray

Kudus are large, majestic animals. The size of an elk and probably the most prized antelope trophy in Africa or anywhere in the world. They are a challenging quarry, make beautiful mounts, and taste darn good! Their face has three white dots on each side. The Zulu say that these are the fingerprints of God and that He held the Kudu here in His hands when He created them.

This particular species of Kudu was a Cape Kudu. It is closely related to the Southern Greater Kudu, but its neck and face are darker and its horns are on average about 10" shorter on the spiral. There are also several other species including the Northern Lesser Kudu and the Absynnian Kudu. This one was a fine specimen, very mature and very large. Another hunter in our group took a Kudu on the same day. The skulls were side by side later that night at the cleaning shed. While the horns on both were roughly the same, the skull on mine was significantly larger by a wide margin. Ray-Ray commented this is the largest bodied Cape Kudu he had ever seen taken.

We made our way back to camp for some dinner. Sculk and I arrived ahead of everyone else and enjoyed some beers by the warm fire as the night air started to chill. We eventually walked up a set of outside stairs to a first class, candle lit dinning room and awaited the rest of our group for dinner. The food was incredible – the best I have ever had. Complete with appetizers, wine, main course, and dessert. The Gemsbuck was prepared in a traditional African gravy as the main course. I wish I had written down everything we ate for dinner at Kat River – it was truly amazing.

Kat River Conservancy: Part II

Sunday: Long stalk for a Common Reedbuck

When I was at Bramstone, I admired a common reedbuck trophy on the wall. I had never paid much attention to this species of antelope, but looking at it up close I was enamored with it. It was pure simplicity. They have a simple shape, unlike the more complicated African antelope like the Kudu, Gemsbuck, Wildebeest, or Sable for example. It was of one color with no fancy markings or varying lengths of fur. And it had ringed horns that went up, swept out slightly, and then curved inwards. With the exception of its horns, its proportions and color reminded me of a white tail deer. What a beautifully simple and elegant animal I said to myself.

Red Hartebeests

We had looked for Common Reedbuck unsuccessfully at Bramstone, so we decided to stack chance in our factor at Kat River. We went to the house of a local herder who had seen a good Reedbuck. He told us the approximate area where he had seen him. Now, directions, locations, timeframes, etc. enter a whole new reference point in Africa. The area he described was pretty big, but we decided to set-off.

When we arrived in the general area we dismounted and started to walk. This area had very low, slightly rolling hills covered in grass and acacia trees. We had walked about 2 or 3 miles when we came across a herd of Reedbuck bedded down in a draw. We were about 400 yards away when we spotted them. There was a nice large Ram in their midst. I had determined earlier while listening to the PH’s that any male antelope under 100 Kg was a Ram, over, a Bull. We immediately went prone was they were downwind of our position. We made a plan to stalk to our left, down towards the end of the draw, back up to the draw behind him and make the shot from there.

It sounded like an easy plan, but it took us around an hour to make our way due to other animals along the route, mainly Mountain Reedbucks, that would have potentially alerted our approach. We eventually got about 150-175 yards behind the Common Reedbucks. Although the area was above the Reedbuck, it was very flat and we could not hide behind the horizon, so we crawled about 200 yards on our sides and stomachs. Sculk went first. He wanted to make sure we didn’t surprise any other animals. Ray-Ray and I moved forwarded once Sculk gave the all clear signal.

We glassed for another 20 minutes or so to locate the Reedbucks as we did not see the large one anymore. Eventually we found him and moved into a good position. I slowly sat up and got ready to shoot from a sitting position. Just as I got ready to shoot, the big ram stood up and started to move off. BANG! The 260 grain bullet connected in his lung area. He ran off about 75 yards and dropped. He was a NICE Ram. Awesome! We sent Ray-Ray back for the truck. After pictures, we loaded up and headed back for the camp.

Common Reedbuck

Later that afternoon we too off to look for Bush Buck and sat atop a high flat stone mesa above a green river bank. They like water, but unfortunately we didn’t see any trophy specimens. This would be our first of many attempts at a Bush Buck and our fortunes took a definite turn from here on out.