Group: Members
Posts: 1520
Member No.: 4727
Joined: September 29, 2013
Awesome hunt tanzanite88! Thanks for sharing,beautiful continent. I was there only once in 1977 at the age of 18 in Rhodesia,the transition from Briitsh rule (Ian Smith if I remember, correctly)during the start of the take over by President Mugabe and then changed to what's now Zimbawe. I travelled with a friend who was visiting his Uncle,a Dutch Afrikaner who owned a large farm and many acres. He wanted to see his nephew,my friend for what was probably the last time in his life. We stayed for 3 weeks,it was one of my favorite trips,and also one of the saddest.
Sadly,his uncle was murdered a month after we returnd to Canada,he was not prepared to give his land back to the native people of Zimbawe.
Group: Members
Posts: 235
Member No.: 588
Joined: March 20, 2011
Regarding the cost it was not expensive at all as I have have friends there that knew the farmer / hunt camp operator. I paid Cdn $1,700 for the 3 animals that I shot and paid $25 per night for a cabin. We bought our own food and drinks and cooked our own meals. My biggest cost was the plane ticket over to South Africa and the rental of a vehicle. It's a lot cheaper to hunt there than to hunt moose in Newfoundland. A moose hunt will cost you $7,000 to $8,000 and you only get one animal. In South Africa I can shoot as many animals as I want if I have the money to pay for them. There's also really great bird hunting for francolin, guinea fowl, rock pigeons and doves. You can easily burn through a couple hundred rounds a day on birds. We paid the farmer adjacent to the feed lot that fatten cattle before slaughter Cdn $40 for the day to be on his property. If you go through a safari outfitter it will cost 4 or 5 times what I paid but everything will be catered to you.
Group: Members
Posts: 235
Member No.: 588
Joined: March 20, 2011
The situation in South Africa is quite sad. It's a beautiful country and it's going the way of Zimbabwe. Crime is rampant with a murder rate of over 18,000 in 2016. This is probably understated as many of the rural crimes are not reported. The white farmers are being murdered at an alarming rate. The president of South Africa has stated that he wants to nationalize all the white farms and give the land back to the blacks. A murder rate of 51 murders a day is like a war zone. I only stayed in white areas and we didn't venture out at night. We were always cautious driving at all times. We always left space in front of the car ahead of us making sure we had an escape route. Windows were always rolled up and the doors were locked. At night the streets were deserted and we would come up to a stop sign or traffic light, slow down and drive through. We always kept an eye on the road far ahead to make sure there was no rock or tree on the road. The criminals would put objects on the road in the hope that you hit it and you will stop so that they can rob you. Having said all of this South Africa is a beautiful country, the landscape is very scenic, the architecture is beautiful being built by the Germans, Dutch and English colonialists. The weather is mild in the winter and quite comfortable. The food is amazingly delicious and beautiful in presentation. The people are friendly except for the indigenous people at the airport who were rude and uncaring. I would definitely go back to visit friends and hunt.