Africa...

Great pics--that dry brush sure does look difficult to maneuver through, but I would imagine the wet delta comes with it's own challenges... like competition from four-legger predators... Looking forward to the next round... love the truck--the images look like they just jumped out of a Hemingway novel.
 
Did you kill Cecil the lion's brother?

Jk, really looking forward to more pictures. Looks like an amazing trip
 
Andy, amazing pics Bro, good times and memories of a lifetime I am sure, Thanks so much for posting them, looking forward to each post!!!
 
Aias said:
Great pics--that dry brush sure does look difficult to maneuver through, but I would imagine the wet delta comes with it's own challenges... like competition from four-legger predators... Looking forward to the next round... love the truck--the images look like they just jumped out of a Hemingway novel.
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.... by afternoon it was like walking on broken egg shells the whole time. Less big cats in the delta than this area (that was a problem for later in the trip though), walking through water (waist or deeper high) is common in the delta though. Here crawling on all fours across a burn patch (Mozambique is always on fire - more later on this as well) to cover 200yds un-noticed is more common here... ;) Moz is wet, they get huge rains, the dry ground remains quiet (comparatively) till mid-morning when the sun starts to dry out the heavy dew.

evilcatfish said:
Did you kill Cecil the lion's brother?
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no ;) but a few of his female cousins (or the "Justice for Cecil Movement" as I started to call them) were on notice that if their behavior deteriorated any FURTHER then we may have issues... ;)

Valeniiman said:
Would that be your trusty BATAC? Thanks also for the great photos...Cheers.
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... your welcome and you are correct it is my BATAC.

breavis5694 said:
Oh and that land cruiser is way cool...
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..... yes the 75 Series is a great truck, they came out in the mid-80s and are still (with some updates) selling here today. My best friend had one and we did many many KMs in it together so travelling in this one was very very normal feeling for me.... the wildlife outside did seem a little unfamiliar however.... ;)

breavis5694 said:
The handle looked thinner, the batac is a great knife.
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it is and a firm favourite... :)
 
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Inside the kitchen...



Typical Camp Staff Accommodation....



Staff Communal Fire Pit/Shelter...



So hunting....

In this area it is all about tracking and trying to predict the movements of the game. I was heartened that on the first afternoon out we managed to walk (and CRAWL...yes LOTS of crawling along the ground while hunting....hours of it in fact) up on a small heard of buffalo about an hour into hunting.... at one point I though this was going to be disappointingly easy...how wrong I was... anyway got to within 80yds of them but no bull at all. So we retreated back to start again in the afternoon (this was mid morning). That afternoon we hunted for five hours.... walk around 9km across and back the forest areas (you can see a buff in there but that is it, it is a buff, not what it is, how old etc). We had managed to be around a half hour it seemed behind the heard all the way along... then right on dark we got between the heard and a small group of stragglers (four cows at least) who winded us and took off...taking the rest with them... that left a long and annoying walk back to camp.

The next four days all fell into a routine of starting before light, getting to an area on the edge of the forest and playing the wind to try and walk in on the heard. It really was cat and mouse each day. Lunch was taken in the field as was a siesta ... ;) I spent a number of hours asleep across the seat of the Toyota or on the ground while I digested the gems the cool box had to offer...



The buff were tough...I can't put it any other way... the slightest hint of wind behind us and they were off...they were constantly watching and very flightily !!! I travels took us further out from the camp each day and finally into lands not technically part of the hunting concession. To be here we had to go into town and touch base with the Administrator to let him know (we were most welcome to be hunting, just a courtesy). The town was called Galinha... this is the administration building... there was also a hospital (basic) and school as well as bases for both "Political Groups" (who in the 90s were still shooting and mining each other)...



River crossing, you could drive on the sand all the way to the Indian Ocean (about 80km) but we saved that for if the hunting went REALY bad...LOL



Me...



On the way back we stopped at a disused hunting camp for a company that is no longer...







I post with my only comment on it being the result of people who are unfamiliar with a western toilet being asked to install it...



Onward hunting...

More cat and mouse....or man and buff really. By the afternoon of Day 3 I was having some doubts.... yep, we were seeing sign...seeing buff...albeit glimpses and arse ends wandering through the forest. I will say the tracker was BLOODY AMAZING, now I can track a bit, but a few times I was walking with him thinking he is finally having me on and we are on a nature stroll, then we would arrive at a fresh (steaming) pile of dung or prints. So I was again convinced. We spent this afternoon planning for the following morning where it was hoped the buff would come out of the forest to graze on some green pick... :)

The boys up a termite mound looking for a spot for the following morning (it was a pivotal mound the next day)...



Me... I photographed the sun getting lower...



Then we started a LOOONG walk back to the truck. Then the FIRST KILL....!!!!!! But alas it was not to be mine... :( ;)

Obano and Thomas (also known as "Smokes Too Much Marijuana") got a bit animated and started in at a log. I saw scales and assumed snake... but no....



It is a Legavaan and was to be DINNER ;) After much effort and a final whack on the head it was over the shoulder and on the way back to camp with us.... (a comment here... they eat everything that runs, crawls, flies, scurries or scampers !!! Mice are a stable part of the diet !!) ... I will also add....the lads shared the kill with us for dinner as well... I have eaten worse things !!!

 
Many thanks Andy; your trip looks amazing. I know that we're all looking forward to more pics!:thumbup::cool::thumbup:
 
Awesome pics! The tilted kilt throne still trumps the hover hole in the floor of the mideast though. :p
 
I thought I was jealous of the scenery for a second, then I saw the restroom situation lol.
 
Very Cool Pic's Andy...Good Luck on your hunt!
Maybe someday before I cash in my chips, I can make it to Africa?
Peter Hathaway Capstick said Cape Buffalo look at you as if you owe them money...
More pic's when you can!
 
Just awesome Andy. The commentary and pictures are just right man. I could read through for hours if it kept going. Can't wait for the next installment :) Seriously, thanks for sharing it.
 
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