Coming to an End

I can't believe this is my last post I will be coming here in Africa. This trip has went beyond my wildest dreams and it has changed my life in so many ways.

The last week or so with our clients, the Chadwells has been great. Both of them were extremely nice, easy going, and just fun people to be around. We hunted on Brian's property and they both got every animal they wanted plus they each got a bushbuck as an added bonus. Both of their bushbucks had massive horns and were beautiful animals. Jordan also got an impala and Skip got a zebra. Then they also got 2 kudus, which was the top animal on both of their list. They both had an absolute blast here from the hunting to sitting around the fire at night listening to the Makalali lions roar. I hope as time goes on I stay in touch with them and things continue to go well for them as the time passes.

After the clients were gone the other PH, Nico, and I took some local clients hunting. They all together shot 4 impala and one kudu cow. It was a long day, but a good one. We got Saturday night off and we celebrated by going to a street party in front of Makalali. There were fires set up and some music and everyone just having a good time in the middle of a dirt road. I got to hang out with some good people and make a few friends as well. The only downside to the night was that all the beer was warm :/ 

There are so many things I have learned here and so many amazing memories have been made. It's hard for me to sum up what all I have done and learned. I am definitely feeling a bit weird about having to leave. There will be no more walking or driving around seeing wild giraffes or elephants standing a few feet from me. No more will I be able to sit around a campfire at night listening to lions roars or hyenas calling. I am definitely going to miss this place, it is like nowhere else in the world. I just want to thank everyone who took the time to read the blogs, it means a lot and hopefully I will be able to tell everyone some of the stories when I get back. I don't want to say it, but goodbye Africa. I am truly blessed for getting this opportunity and will never forget this adventure.

The Past Week

We recently just had some new clients join us here. The 2 new clients consist of a father and son, Skip and Jordan Chadwell. They are from Alaska and they are both extremely good men. Nico has joined us to help out as the second PH for the hunts and him and I headed up to Schoonwater Monday afternoon to get the place ready. The clients arrived late and the next morning we started our hunts. 

The first stalk was originally to go after a red hartebeest, but Jordan ended up shooting a nice springbok that presented itself nicely. He was extremely happy and his dad couldn't have been more proud. Next we decided to stalk a black wildebeest, and Skip took him down with a 250 yard shot. Next we drove through some beautiful terrain and once we reached the top of a ridge we spotted a nice red hartebeest. We stalked it perfectly through some lone trees and Jordan shot him at about 130 yards with a beautiful shot. The morning was going amazing up there with 3 animals by noon. We headed in for a quick lunch and a short break and then Hannes proposed that Nico, Jordan, and I do a bit of crawling to stalk some nice blesbok. We had about a 200 yard stalk, but it wasn't too bad. We came up on him perfectly at about 160 yards and after steadying himself, Jordan took the shot and dropped his 3rd animal of the day. After loading that one up we decided to treat Skip a little and try to get him a nice big eland bull. After searching for quite a while we found a group worth going after. We stalked it and got within 200 yards. It took a lot of noise to get these big bulls to stand up, but once they did Skip took his shot. He hit it perfectly, but the beast wouldn't drop. He eventually took a second shot and it headed towards a cliff side. Everyone was freaking out because we didn't want it to go off the edge of the mountain and lose it. We lost site and eventually after a long search and careful steps not to fall off the cliff side we found it and Skip finished it off with a neck shot right next to a waterfall. It was a great start to their hunt and the Alaskans couldn't have been happier. 

The next day was a traveling day as we headed down the mountains and took it easy that night. The following day was going to be their first hunt in the lowveld. They both wanted a kudu and a gemsbok, and also an impala and a zebra. The first day was a lot of walking, probably close to about 8 miles. I was told to follow Nico and Jordan to be their camera man, and although no animals were shot I still got some good footage. I would have to say the most exciting part of the day was when we were driving and out of no were a huge bull buffalo popped out of the bush and started charging our vehicle. 2 more followed and Hannes stopped the vehicle. Luckily there was a fence between us or our vehicle probably would have been flipped. This thing continued to chase us as long as it could and it was pretty awesome to watch. As the chase went on the buffalo's eyes got so red that it looked like a creature out of a horror film. That defiantly topped off the day with a nice meal and a couple beers to finish the night.

It wasn't the most successful day, but at least it was still interesting. The clients went with Hannes to Kruger today and then it's back the hunting. Hopefully our clients have some luck and I continue to enjoy my last 10 days here in Africa!

Kruger Round 2

After a busy and somewhat stressful weekend, Darin and another intern, Yolanda, showed up here at Mahlahla. They came on Monday since Susie was leaving on Wednesday and they needed to take her to the airport. Before she left though we headed to Kruger for our second time on Tuesday. We got there around 7 am and the first animals we saw were some notorious impala. We decided to take a different route from when we went with Mandi and headed north. Not long after the impala we saw a fairly large group of elephants on the side of the road. They were busy breaking and eating trees and eventually crossed right in front of us. After the elephant crossing we saw some zebra off in the distance and decided to take a little side road to get a little closer. To our surprise when we got back there we spotted 2 lionesses! They were lying in the tall grass just watching the zebra, hoping for an easy meal. We got up very close to them and watched them for about an hour and a half waiting for the most opportune moments to take pictures. As time moved on the lions didn't so we decided to continue on our adventure. As we left we saw the amount of cars by the lions increase from about 3 to 23. We traveled for quite a ways hoping to get some food and not seeing much of anything. We stopped at a restaurant were we all ordered a bacon cheese burger, I ordered a double. After we ate we walked over to some scenic view points where we watched elephants playing in the water as well as a few swimming crocs. After some time there we were on the road again. We made a couple more stops seeing buffalo, hippos, zebra, and some very cool birds as well. I have to say, since I've come here my interest in birds has increased and I hope to do some more bird watching when I get home. The day was going pretty good, but things were getting late. Just as we thought our day was over we came across what I'd been hoping to see. No more than 10 feet off the road a small leopard was lying in the tall grass. Even with it being so close it was very hard to see. I was ecstatic when it turned its head for a split second so that I could snap a photo of its eyes. We stayed as long as we could, but knew we had to get going. We snuck out before it got too crowded and continued towards the exit gate. We came across one more traffic jam, where there were large amounts of baboons and impala, but we had no time to stop since you have to be out of the park by 5:30. We were a little late getting out of the park, but luckily they let us by with ease. Later that night Susie, Yolanda, and I stayed up and played some pool while listening to music since it was Susie's last night here in Africa. The next morning everyone said their goodbyes and the crew left. 

From this point on I will be extremely busy since we have clients all this weekend and then more coming on Monday for 2 weeks. We will start out with 2 days of hunting up in the mountains and then come back down here for the remainder of the hunts. If I don't get many posts or photos up I apologize, but I will try to do my best. Bring on the hunts!