Some trips start with careful research, a travel agent and a beautifully organized plan.
Ours started because nobody was bidding on an African safari at a gun bingo.
Becky and Marcel were working a Ducks Unlimited gun bingo for River Valley Arms & Ammo when they noticed the safari was just sitting there without much interest. They called us, and after what I’m sure was a very thoughtful and financially responsible conversation, we decided to just friggin do it.
Africa had always been a bucket-list trip for me. It was also a dream trip for Dad and, I’d say, Marcel too.
Eventually, Becky decided it was not the right time or the right trip for her. She is not a hunter, and this was a pretty major adventure built almost entirely around hunting. It made sense that this was probably not the ideal place for her to pop her hunting cherry.
My brother, Zach, took her place.
That left us with a group consisting of my dad, Steve, my brother, Zach, our good friend and business partner, Marcel, and me.
We spent the next three years preparing for the trip.
Planning a South African Hunting Safari
We watched videos. We read reviews. We studied packing lists. We talked about animals, travel, rifles and what the experience might actually be like.
The safari was through Kuche Safaris, which operates hunting camps in South Africa. Our package included five full hunting days, accommodations, meals, laundry, guides, trackers and transportation within the hunting areas.
Despite all the research, I still did not really know what to expect.
The term “game reserve” made me picture something more controlled and probably easier than hunting at home. We also knew the hunting properties were fenced, which added to that assumption.
That assumption did not last long.
In South Africa, everything is fenced. Even the roads are fenced. But the parcels of land inside those fences can cover thousands and thousands of acres. Kuche’s information describes hunting areas ranging from roughly 3,000 to 25,000 acres.
There was no shortage of space for animals to disappear.
The Long Way to Africa
The travel was easily the most challenging part of the experience.
On the way to South Africa, we spent 19 hours and 22 minutes in the air.
Coming home was worse.
We logged 24 hours and 55 minutes of air time, and from the moment we left Kuche Safaris until we finally pulled into our driveway at home, we had been traveling for approximately 41 hours.
Dad says the travel alone is why he will never go back.
I get it.
It was rough.
I would absolutely do it again.
Our First Night in South Africa
We flew into Johannesburg and stayed overnight at Avant Garde Lodge.
Kuche recommends that hunters arriving in the evening stay near the airport before making the long drive to camp the following day.
Avant Garde was nice. The beds were comfortable. At that point, after all that time on an airplane, a horizontal surface probably would have earned a five-star review from me.
We did not spend time exploring Johannesburg, so it still felt like we were mostly in transit.
At the same time, I think arriving at Avant Garde was when it first hit me that we were actually in Africa.
It just looked like South Africa.
I realize that is not a particularly helpful description, but it did.
The Drive to Kuche Safaris
The drive from Avant Garde Lodge to Kuche Safaris took about four and a half to five hours.
The roads in Johannesburg were fine.
Once we got into the rural areas, all bets were off.
Where the roads were paved, there were so many potholes that we spent a surprising amount of time driving on the shoulder. There were also miles of dirt and sand roads that had become washboarded.
I do not know how anyone maintains a vehicle there.
The farther we drove, the more the scenery changed. Towns became smaller. Roads became rougher. Fences stretched along both sides of the highway.
Eventually, we reached Kuche Safaris.
After three years of planning and nearly an entire day in the air, we had finally made it.
Arriving at Camp
The accommodations were simple, clean and comfortable.
Marcel and I each stayed in a single room with a twin bed and a small en suite bathroom. Dad and Zach shared a small cabin with two twin beds and a larger bathroom closer to the lodge.
The main lodge became the gathering place.
That was where everyone came together at the end of the day to have a beer, compare notes and hear what the other hunting groups had experienced.
Our First African Meal at Camp
Our first supper at camp was zebra steak.
It was friggin amazing.
Five stars. Highly recommend.
Honestly, if you put a good beef steak and a good zebra steak in front of me, I am not sure which one I would choose.
It was a fitting start to a week in which we would spend nearly every waking hour hunting, eating, talking about hunting or preparing to hunt again.
The next morning, we would finally head out.
And Africa wasted no time reminding us that this was going to be a real adventure.
Next in the Series
Part 2: Five Days Hunting in South Africa
Cold mornings, thick thorn brush, difficult shots, hard lessons, successful stalks and five days that went by much too quickly.