After several years of cajoling, I finally talked my antelope and prairie dogging buddy Sam (who is 78) into going to Africa with me. On April 21st we boarded a Lufthansa flight in Seattle bound for Namibia, Africa via Frankfurt, Germany. We landed in Germany after 10 hours of flying and endured a 13 hour layover PLUS an extra, unexplained 1 ½ hour wait while our Air Namibia plane was readied. Another 10 hour flight had us landing at Windhoek’s Josea Katako International airport at 0530 local time. Clearing customs and the police firearms checkpoint took almost two hours due to only one officer available to process some 13 hunters’ firearms.

Once clear of customs and firearms registration, we finally met our host and professional hunter, Bennie Boshoff, owner of Duiker Safaris (www.duiker.iway.na/). Following a seven hour car trip (with a lunch included) we were finally just outside of Grootfontein (Great Fountain in Afrikaaner) at Bennie’s home and base of operations. We met his wonderful family, tossed our gear into our nice looking, well-appointed cabins for the next 10 days and headed out back to Bennie’s rifle range for a quick zeroing in session. Sam was shooting a Winchester rechambered in .308 Norma Magnum with 180 gr Swift A-Frame bullets. I brought along a Browning A-Bolt (stainless) in .270 WSM shooting 140 gr Nosler Accubonds and topped with a Leupold 3X9. I also brought along a Weatherby Vanguard which had been rebarrelled with a fluted Lilja barrel and rechambered in .375 H&H by a previous owner. It was shooting 270 grain Barnes TSX bullets and wore a Leupold 1.5X5 scope. All guns shot to the desired point of impact (we both used heavy gauge aluminum gun cases from Cabela’s).

A note about the .375 H&H. Most folks (me included) seem to think this caliber is a big shoulder thumper. This gun has a 24” barrel and synthetic stock which made me even more wary. I had little to worry about! The gun’s recoil is more like a push rather than the jab my .338 Win Mag gives me. The previous owner had painted the stock to his liking. This can be overlooked as the gun shoots superbly and doesn’t punish me for pulling the trigger.

Sam was trophy hunting for impala, gemsbok, greater kudu and zebra. I was cull hunting for excess animals which included kudu cows, eland, gemsbok, warthog and jackal.

Our normal day began with a 0530 alarm (cabin supplied as was a 220V to 110V converter—thanks Bennie). Breakfast was at 0615 in the big family house and on most mornings consisted of coffee, tea, fruit juice, cereal, milk, yogurt, oatmeal and toast. We also enjoyed scrambled eggs and/or sausage/bacon on a couple of mornings.

We’d be out the front gate by about 0700 and would hunt until 1130 or 1200 when we would return home for lunch. Lunch was a fully cooked meal which was shared with Bennie and his lovely wife Doreen and three children (Ramona 13, Deeana 11, Benjamin 9) in a very nice outdoor thatched roof patio. After lunch was set aside for a siesta, catching up on letters/email, etc. Me? I rested as my morning hunts usually consisted of three hikes of 1-2 miles each along with some time bouncing long on top of the truck. It also allowed me to put my boots, socks and trousers out to dry off from the dew soaked grass we’d encountered that morning. At 1500 we’d meet again on the patio for coffee, tea or a Coke and we’d be out the gate again at 1545. Hunt until 1900 or so and head back home. Upon arrival an adult beverage, a shower and hunting comparisons (not necessarily in that order) preceded dinner.

Dinner consisted of game meat, usually what we had taken the day before, potatoes or pasta, vegetables, etc. I know I ate more at dinner than I did at lunch. Gemsbok fillets and kudu sausage were my absolute favorites. Dessert and coffee finished the meal at around 2100 and I was always ready for the comfort of my single bed by then.

Weather was an estimated 80-90 degrees Fahrenheit and mostly sunny. We experienced some sprinkles during a couple of our afternoons and four nights with rain from ¼ to an inch of accumulation. It never impacted our hunting and Bennie said it was a late ending to their normal rainy season. I religiously slathered in SPF 70 sunscreen and wore my Tilley UPV hat. I brought bug repellant but never used any due to scent management. I never did get a mosquito bite during our trip. I also took malaria meds which intensified the effects of the sun on my hands, in spite of the sunscreen.

So, what game did I take? Three kudu cows (which were extremely plentiful), two gemsbok cows, a warthog and two black backed jackals all fell to the .270 WSM at ranges of approximately 100 to 225 yards. The warthog ran the furthest but our trackers, Augos and Farny (Kalahari bushmen) found him after 175 yards. Only one bullet was recovered and it came from a quartering kudu cow. It weighed 93.9 grains after passing through an estimated 36” of animal and had mushroomed perfectly. A warthog, impala ram, eland cow and a trophy kudu bull (which I paid extra for) all fell to the .375 H&H. The big gun, as Pieter my PH called it, killed big. Ranges varied from 70 to 150 yards and no .375 bullets were recovered. Pieter was extremely selective about which animals he wanted me to take. Some animals were missing a horn while others were just plain old.

We also saw giraffes, blue and black wildebeest, red hartebeest, baboons, several different poisonous adders, springbok, steambok, duikers. Our guides were extremely knowledgeable about the animals and birds we saw. I only wish my camera was better because the birds were stunning.

My kudu bull and a gemsbok cow will be shoulder mounted. The eland cow and impala will be European mounted. All work is to be done there in Namibia.

We also got to participate in an unplanned lion hunt! This was the first lion in that area in 12 or so years and these folks were serious about getting rid of him. Professional hunters came from miles around to help. Three packs of tracking dogs were brought in. After much dashing to and fro we had to call it quits due to darkness. We got up the next morning and started anew. The lion’s tracks were found outbound and that was the end of our lion hunting. We never did catch even a glimpse of him. Oh well, that’s hunting.

Sam took a nice zebra (which he worked VERY hard for), a trophy gemsbok, a trophy impala and at Bennie’s request, a really old eland cow. None of his bullets were recovered. The zebra will become a rug while his gemsbok and impala will both be shoulder mounts.

Namibia allows 80 rounds per gun, two guns maximum. The airlines would allow up to 11 pounds of ammo which needed to be in a locked case, inside of my checked suitcase (NOT in your gun case). We both took our guns (and any other valuables like optics, cameras, watches, etc) to the nearest customs office where they were entered on Customs Form 4457. This would prevent us from having to pay any duty upon our return to the US. Namibia had one gun form which we had filled out prior to our arrival. The police re-issued us another form which had to be kept with the guns and shown upon our departure. And don’t lose this form because it is a criminal offense. Air Namibia muffed up and my rifles didn’t make it from Frankfurt to Seattle. God bless Lufthansa and customer agent Erica, who ensured they were delivered to my doorstep the following day.

We had arranged our travel through Annelise DuBose, who came to us highly recommended. She has since opened up her own travel outfit, Areva Travel and her email is: annelise@arevatravel.com . Our airfare total was $2,613. You may want to ask Annelise what the difference is between refundable and unrefundable tickets. Sam underwent foot surgery some six weeks prior to our trip and it was touch and go whether he would go or not and we had purchased non-refundable tickets.

I got Hepatitus A and B shots, tetanus and malaria pills. Yellow fever was not needed unless you came from an area on the yellow fever list. A passport with six months of validity left was required. No visa was necessary.

Why did we choose Namibia and Duiker? We’d done ALOT of research and ultimately chose Namibia because it had the animals we wanted, less gun related paperwork and an excellent travel reputation. Plus, we could fly directly into the country. Never once were we solicited for bribes by anyone.

We were won over to Duiker Safaris by their referrals. Folks didn’t want to just answer emails but instead wanted to talk on the phone to tell us what a great experience they’d had with Bennie. That spoke volumes to us. And they were totally correct. Bennie and Pieter worked hard to get us onto nice animals. There were no guarantees but, there were good trophies to those who knew their rifles and had practiced.

Neither of us had ever been on a guided hunt let alone a trip to Africa. Our accommodations were not five star nor did we expect them to be. However, we were very comfortable and we wonted for nothing as our hosts made us feel right at home. I consider them my newest friends. While Sam will most likely go back next year, I will have to wait longer. He’s a lucky SOB.