Sad to drop off our car on Monday morning at the airport because I know it means the exploration and sightseeing part of our trip is almost over. However Bill is excited because now the reason for this trip begins.
We met up with our professional hunter Kobus Hayward (PH) at the airport and he drove us to their farm where Bill will hunt for a week. The house is lovely and a sunny covered porch looks over the hills and bush. There really isn’t anything nearby. The closest town is Kirkwood, a 15 minute drive. And Addo Elephant Park is about 30 km away. However the hunting is quite close. The hunting area includes over 15,000 acres which are filled with “plains” animals such as kudo, impala, blesboks, wart hogs etc.
Our stay includes breakfast, lunch and dinner, all prepared by Madeline and quite good. Before dinner and afternoon hunt, we meet in the bar for cocktails in front of a blazing fire. When the sunsets it gets quite cold and fires are nice.
Bill and Kobus and Zimmie the tracker head out around 7 each morning. The first two morning hunts have been successful with a Blesbok and an Impala. I tagged along yesterday afternoon with my camera for a climb up the hill along the ridge. We saw lots of animals with the binoculars but nothing close enough for a decent photo. So all my pics are of guys, shrubbery a full moon rising over the mountain.
Mostly I am reading and taking naps. I take a walk each morning along the dirt road. Its very quiet with typical bush terrain – hilly, low growing trees and huge cactus bushes as well as trees with two inch thorns. Fences line all the property (to keep game in, not people out I think).
Tomorrow I am headed for a full day of game viewing in two nearby game reserves. Hopefully I can find a wifi connection to upload this blog and and check my messages. Being offline for a week is hard, especially since I don’t have much to do.
I just realized that today is July 4th but no one here knows that. Hope our family and friends are having a good celebration.
Bill and Kobus
