Trad Gang
Main Boards => The Dark Continent => Topic started by: OBXarcher on June 25, 2010, 05:57:00 AM
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My son and I are planning on going to Africa next year for his graduation present.
For those of you who have gone, could you please let me know who you used and where you went.
We would be going over the summer months.
Thanks
Mark
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I went with Dries Visser Safari's in South Africa and had a wonderful trip. I think the thing to do is figure out what kind of hunting you want to do (waterhole/blind) (stalking) and if you want to be on a place with a highfence or not and what your primary wants are as far as what species. South Africa has species that won't be avaiable in Namibia. You should get plenty of responses to your query here and this is also a good place to a search. Have fun and take journals with you to record the days happenings in. Joseph
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good advise to take a journal, force yourself to srite in it at every opportunity. I'm surprised when I read mine a year later, it brings me right back to Africa.
There are some outfitters who will do a mixed bag for two hunters to share. That might be a good option for you and your son.
Take lots of time to practise with your kid before going, getting prepared is half the fun. Do lots of weird shots when you practise, uphill, down hill, out of a blind etc.
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We are not opposed to water hole hunting. We want to spend most of the time together, probably 7 out of 10 days. He's funny, his number one animal is a baboon??? Mine would be a zebra.
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I hunted with Flippy and Wilham Frost at Matlabas Game Hunters in 2008 and my wife and I are going back in 2 weeks. We took a side trip to pilansburg on the first trip but will be going to Krugar on this trip. Its a family run bowhunting only op in sfa. Great place.
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Contact Neil Summers at Bowhunting Safari Consultants and tell him what you're looking for in detail. There is no mark up for his services (he gets paid by the outfitter) and the benefits are too many to list. I've been to both Melorani and Tshepe and they're both way different but I recommned either one. Tshepe has tons of zebra.
Where ever you end up you'll have a great time!
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Neil Summers would be an excellent place to start.Zebra was my number one choice also and baboons are really cool trophies that are very wary. Joseph
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Depends on what is the most important to you.
Dries Visser has pretty much unlimited land with lots of game but with only 2 of y'all going you will be sharing a camp with others.
Dare to Bowhunt is a smaller operation but you will most likely have the camp to your selfs.
either one will keep you in critters to shoot
There are alot of great deals out there right now.
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I hunted with Benito van Leuvven at Letsatsi safari last year and he and his wife Babs are the most friendly and service minded people I`ve ever had the pleasure to visit. The farm is big with a LOT of trophy animals.
I`ll highly recommend this place. If you want more info and contact info just pm me!
Margly
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X2 on Matlabas Game Hunters. Great operation and wonderful people.
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I've been 3 times. Driess visser is pretty hard to beat...if not impossible. However...I have been to south africa twice and namibia once. While south africa has a wider variety of species...I prefer Namibia. Namibia is much less sparsely populated, and just feels wilder to me. The next time I go will probably be with Allen Cilliers in Namibia, but for sure I will be back with Vissers in South Africa at some point. Vissers does have a concession in Namibia now, so that may be something to look into.
I guess my best advice would be to go with someone that has been recommended on this site. Also...go for as long a time as you can afford. In my opinion...a 10 day hunt is great...but not enough time.
I would go for a minimum of 14 days. I know it is more costly but it is worth the effort and expense...especially if you believe this will be your only time there. You can always spend a few days just relaxing in camp if you want, but in my opinion...you are already spending big money to go and hunt there. Make it worthwhile by adding extra days. By the way I am talking about 14 days in camp. You will have to add travel time to this, but I have never met one person who said "I wish I would have cut my trip a little shorter!" Be prepared to be spoiled!
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I have hunted whit Lowlands Hunting safaris in KWN seven times over the last 6 years. And trust me, there is a reason that I keep going back to the same place every time, you will love it. There is a good population of Bushbuck and other small antelopes like mountain reedbuck and common reedbuck. Most of their hunting is walk and stalk, but they also have blinds and tree stands available. Most of their hunters are hunting whit compound bows, but the last 3 hunts I haw hunted strictly whit a longbow. The concessions we hunt are very good for stalking in close.
http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=27;t=000252
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You guys are great. I have contacted a couple of the groups mentioned here.
I can't wait.
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I highly recommend Reon von Tonden owner of www.AfricanBarefootSafaris.co.za (http://www.AfricanBarefootSafaris.co.za)
He is a bowhunter first and foremost, and has more than fifteen years experience. He is in South Africa. He understands how things go, and has some fantastic properties to hunt on.
Rich
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Think about how long you'll be on that darned plane and waiting in airports, not to mention about 2k each for flights. The people who have recomended a longer hunt are right on the money! You might be able to negociate a bit of a lower daily rate if you make it a longer hunt talk to the outfitter and see what he has to say about that. also everyone who has been over will think that "their" PH is the best. Nothing wrong with that just be sure to do your own homework too.
Take TONS of pics and keep a daily log.
have fun!
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Do not schedule a flight that takes you through Dakkar for a refueling stop. That sucked!
I went with Visser on the recommendations here. Good outfit but get one of his elite PHs if you can. My next trip will be Namibia.
Spend time on a side trip either before or after your hunting. Kruger, Pilanesburg come to mind.
Make sure if you are blind hunting that you practice out of blinds.
Watch out for baboons. There are stories of them hunting the hunter.
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Right now Visser looks very good. BTH why did you say next time you'll go to Namibia.
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Another stupid question, any secrets to travel ? The flights will cost more than the hunt itself from what I am seeing.
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The travel is horribly expensive and ther's no way to avoid the high costs. Airmiles might work for you maybe not. That's why you might as well stay a couple weeks or more ;)
We had an 8 hour lay over in Germany and were able to take the train downtown, that was nice! The Pastries were to die for.
Use a take down bow and put it in your suitcase with arrows etc. I brought two of everything in two suitcases in case one was lost. Bring some ASAT cammo-take this tip for sure. You don't need tons of equipment and two or three dozen arrows are enough.
Any agent can book the flights for you Gracy Travel is a good one. If you need to stay overnight in Johannesburg stay at the "Afton Guesthouse" they will pick you up at the airport and drop you off again.
There are porters in the airport with orange shirts on. They will help you get where you need to go. Be very careful with these dudes. Use one and pretty soon they will pile on you like rats, so tell them all to bugger off except your one or two chosen ones. They will want a tip and if you don't get rid of the others they all want a tip...they get aggressive too.
Get out of Johannesburg as quickly as possible, we're not cut out for that level of danger and we don't understand how to avoid trouble. Don't hire a car and drive anywhere. Let the PH get you around or he can suggest a local dude to drive you.
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Afton house is nice. I plan on going in '11 for second trip and again will fly SAA. They have a few inches extra leg room - makes a huge amount of difference for a trip this long. Also suggest you get a donut to go around neck and a sleeping pill from Dr. Be sure to get up and stretch every so often and drink plenty of water. Custom and security personal will drive you crazy for $. I did not give any and had no problem. Security is the same as in most of Latin America.
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http://www.ivysafaris.com/
get in touch with mark he has one of the nicest places to hunt in south africa with big kudu's. we have been booking hunts in africa for local guys for the last 15 years. another is http://hstrial-cvanzijl.homestead.com/
johnx safaris is another great outfit, they are down in the cape area. we have used both these guys and have had great trips. john x is where we like to send the bigger groups we have had 25 guest their at one time where at marks he likes to keep it to a max of 8. i personally like marks place the best he likes to stalk animals not just drive around and he is very educated and know a ton about the wildlife and the habitat in south africa. this year the airfair is high because of the world cup but we hope that it comes back down after this year. if you have any questions feel free to pm me or get in contact with my dad paul at http://www.gotoadventure.com/html/taxidermy/index.html
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Travel to SA is SAFE. Just like most big cities worldwide be awake and don't avoid locals, ask for advice, go into tourist info offices or major outlets for cellphones etc. Listen to what they say and don't be ultra suspicious, just do some homework. We just had the world cup and there were no big dramas. I run a BnB and also do lots of local guiding, city and safari. Without exception ALL the people I had as guests or took on tours commented that they were blown away by the friendliness of the locals and the safe and efficient airports etc. They also said they found it easy to get around and locals were happy to help. Not every stranger is a crook. They all networked and got a spectacular range of options in a very short time. Case in point, I picked up two guys from USA at nine pm Before we left the airport they purchased a cheap local cellphone it was active before we got home. I took them home , introduced them to two other guests who took them off to the local pubs. They came in after three am after a great night out and had their next several days organised; cab drivers, contacts in JHB, Soweto, Cape Town, PE, Durban. Happy campers.
Call it SA going all out to disprove the nay sayers but the local and international press had the same views. Now of course there will be posts of guys telling of how this one or that one got ripped off. We had over half a million foreign visitors here for the World Cup. Check out their comments. I just took two guests to the airport this morning and asked them for their comments on their trip. And back it came, " It was fantastic and nothing we read about it back home was true, it was exactly the opposite" Would you come back? " Oh yes, we want to go to ....." there followed a long list of places they would return to and others that they wished they had had time to see.
One other thing, if you have not been here since april and have a comment about roads or congestion you are wrong! All the major construction is done and traffic flows easily. A trip JHB to Pretoria that took two hours now takes 45 minutes.
Johannesburg is a great place to stay over for a few days. We have fabulous restaurants, shopping centres, interesting places to go and museums, craft markets, music and pubs. Oh and pretty cool stadiums and sports to watch! Soweto is a total blast and people cant believe what fun they have there. Same with all the other major cities.
Enough of my sales pitch, google the world cup and SA and talk to people who have been here recently, there are probably some near you!
Chrisg.
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Originally posted by chrisg:
Travel to SA is SAFE. Just like most big cities worldwide be awake and don't avoid locals, ask for advice, go into tourist info offices or major outlets for cellphones etc. Listen to what they say and don't be ultra suspicious, just do some homework. We just had the world cup and there were no big dramas. I run a BnB and also do lots of local guiding, city and safari. Without exception ALL the people I had as guests or took on tours commented that they were blown away by the friendliness of the locals and the safe and efficient airports etc. They also said they found it easy to get around and locals were happy to help. Not every stranger is a crook. They all networked and got a spectacular range of options in a very short time. Case in point, I picked up two guys from USA at nine pm Before we left the airport they purchased a cheap local cellphone it was active before we got home. I took them home , introduced them to two other guests who took them off to the local pubs. They came in after three am after a great night out and had their next several days organised; cab drivers, contacts in JHB, Soweto, Cape Town, PE, Durban. Happy campers.
Call it SA going all out to disprove the nay sayers but the local and international press had the same views. Now of course there will be posts of guys telling of how this one or that one got ripped off. We had over half a million foreign visitors here for the World Cup. Check out their comments. I just took two guests to the airport this morning and asked them for their comments on their trip. And back it came, " It was fantastic and nothing we read about it back home was true, it was exactly the opposite" Would you come back? " Oh yes, we want to go to ....." there followed a long list of places they would return to and others that they wished they had had time to see.
One other thing, if you have not been here since april and have a comment about roads or congestion you are wrong! All the major construction is done and traffic flows easily. A trip JHB to Pretoria that took two hours now takes 45 minutes.
Johannesburg is a great place to stay over for a few days. We have fabulous restaurants, shopping centres, interesting places to go and museums, craft markets, music and pubs. Oh and pretty cool stadiums and sports to watch! Soweto is a total blast and people cant believe what fun they have there. Same with all the other major cities.
Enough of my sales pitch, google the world cup and SA and talk to people who have been here recently, there are probably some near you!
Chrisg.
Me, my wife and kids haw been to S.A on several occasion over the last 6 years and we low it. We haw also brought a lot of our friends and family down there whit us and they all low it. It is a fantastic place whit fantastic people. I haw been there twice this yare and must say that the airports and roads are getting better and better. :archer:
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ok see?! Now back to topic. Guides.. get referrals from friends and others, same principle of doing the homework. The outfitters mentioned are well known and have been at it for a while, the comments posted attest to their abilities. check out Tradtusker for more info. also the South African Bowhunters Association or 'SABA' Web page SAbowhunters.co.za for outfitters that are bow friendly.
chrisg
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I have a friend who hunts his own farm in Namibia. Gert is set up for two hunters at a time so you will not have to share the hunt with anyone else. As a bonus he is overrun with baboons, so your son could have all of the shooting he wants. Gert and Lin are two of the best people I know and the hunting is fantastic. Send me an e-mail [email protected], or call 208-853-0555 if I can help.
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OBXarcher...I seriously doubt that Vissers can be beaten by any outfitter. I have hunted with them twice, and it has always been amazing. However, I prefer Namibia simply because it is much less populated by humans, and...well...I just love it there. South Africa has a wider variety of species. But Namibia offers an experience in a wilder area. I WILL hunt with Vissers again...hopefully many more times. But my next time over there for plains game will be in Namibia. If and WHEN I decide to tackle cape buffalo, it will most likely be with Vissers and will be in Mozambique. It is all about your own preference, but I can tell you that Vissers have always treated me like family. On the second time I went there, I brought my wife for our honeymoon, and I can say that everyone there went above and beyond to make our stay absolutley perfect. It simply could not have been better. We met great people...had excellent accomodations...food that is to die for...lot's of south African beer, excellent hunting, and memories that will be ingrained in our minds forever.
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OBXarcher, Have to agree with Jon, Dries Visser is hard to beat. I have been twice to South Africa and am going next year with Dries to his new Namibia concession. Did you hear that Jon? I have also been with Ken Moody and his operation is pretty darn good as well. Hard to beat the value of his superbow package.