- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
I'm getting excited, and well why not - this will be the trip of a lifetime. The preparations are interesting: organizing flights, passports, shots, bullets, loads, last minute work on the rifle, scouring maps, reading and rereading everything I have on Africa in general and Tanzania in particular.
This started more than a year ago. There was a post on CGN with a link to a video clip from a Mark Sullivan video at Nitro Express Safaris. Well I watched it, then I watched it again, and again. Then I ordered the all the videos and the book. I watched all the videos and I read the book. Then I emailed Mark Sullivan and told him that despite claims of unethical hunting practices, I saw nothing of that in his work, which I considered the best I had ever seen in any format, and that he raised the bar for all hunters. Some may agree or disagree, but that was my impression and I told him so. Well, next thing I know Mark Sullivan emails me, thanking me for my kind words, and says why don't you come along?? I'm thinking - yea right...like I can afford that, but anyway I email him back - "How much?" He responds, " $16,000.00 door to door for a 7 day safari, $65,000 for a 21 day safari." $16,000!!! for 7 days!!! 2 buffalo, impala, wildebeest, hartebeest, and warthog!!! I can do this!!
Now a year later, both my wife and I are going, the safari has been lengthened to 10 days. We've dropped the plains game so we will have 10 days of buffalo hunting in the Selous Game Reserve!
After the hunting we plan to stay a few days at the Ngorongoro Crater - the remains of a sister volcano to Kilimanjaro, 12 miles across and full of game (all protected) and a few days at Taragire National Park south of Lake Manyara. We had looked into climbing Kilimanjaro, but to do it right is a 21 day trip in itself. While at Ngorongoro we may get to the Serengeti and to Olduvai Gorge, but these side trips would be secondary for us. We had wanted to see Victoria Falls, but we were warned that personal security is an issue in Zimbabwe, and that July is a poor time to view the falls due to low water. In the coarse of a phone call I told Mark we would like to hike across Ngorongoro he said "No, you can't!" "Why not?" I ask. "There's lions!" "Of coarse there's lions, it's Africa, and I've got a gun," I said. He replied, "If you shoot a lion in there, you'd be better off letting it get you!" We can hike in Taragire, and we can hike the highlands surrounding Ngorongoro.
This trip is still a few months off, but the excitement builds daily. I'm sure we will have lots of pics and stories to share when we get back.
This started more than a year ago. There was a post on CGN with a link to a video clip from a Mark Sullivan video at Nitro Express Safaris. Well I watched it, then I watched it again, and again. Then I ordered the all the videos and the book. I watched all the videos and I read the book. Then I emailed Mark Sullivan and told him that despite claims of unethical hunting practices, I saw nothing of that in his work, which I considered the best I had ever seen in any format, and that he raised the bar for all hunters. Some may agree or disagree, but that was my impression and I told him so. Well, next thing I know Mark Sullivan emails me, thanking me for my kind words, and says why don't you come along?? I'm thinking - yea right...like I can afford that, but anyway I email him back - "How much?" He responds, " $16,000.00 door to door for a 7 day safari, $65,000 for a 21 day safari." $16,000!!! for 7 days!!! 2 buffalo, impala, wildebeest, hartebeest, and warthog!!! I can do this!!
Now a year later, both my wife and I are going, the safari has been lengthened to 10 days. We've dropped the plains game so we will have 10 days of buffalo hunting in the Selous Game Reserve!
After the hunting we plan to stay a few days at the Ngorongoro Crater - the remains of a sister volcano to Kilimanjaro, 12 miles across and full of game (all protected) and a few days at Taragire National Park south of Lake Manyara. We had looked into climbing Kilimanjaro, but to do it right is a 21 day trip in itself. While at Ngorongoro we may get to the Serengeti and to Olduvai Gorge, but these side trips would be secondary for us. We had wanted to see Victoria Falls, but we were warned that personal security is an issue in Zimbabwe, and that July is a poor time to view the falls due to low water. In the coarse of a phone call I told Mark we would like to hike across Ngorongoro he said "No, you can't!" "Why not?" I ask. "There's lions!" "Of coarse there's lions, it's Africa, and I've got a gun," I said. He replied, "If you shoot a lion in there, you'd be better off letting it get you!" We can hike in Taragire, and we can hike the highlands surrounding Ngorongoro.
This trip is still a few months off, but the excitement builds daily. I'm sure we will have lots of pics and stories to share when we get back.
