It all started in the US when Chris and Bob Beck from EOL introduced me to Bob’s MOA rifles business partner Ken Cox…
One or two Gin & Tonic later in Dallas and I end up changing all my flights between 2 shows to spend some time with Ken and Shannon. First we went snow biking in Montana, that was just an amazing experience to ride those dirt bikes in deep snow, swapping wheels for a ski in front and a track at the back.
Then we moved to Alberta where Ken took out a few MOA rifles for us to play in his large garden. I managed an unreal 3 inch group over 3 shots at a 1000 yards and some change in a 60km cross wind! That was an other experience hard to forget.
A few month later, Jackie and Brian joined Shannon and Ken on a “Sea, Hunt & Sun” Grand Safari option, combining hard traditional hunting and some leisure hunting from our sea resort bordering the Indian Ocean. This is something we have been thinking about for a long time, testing the idea with a few of our guests over the last 2 years, and the enthusiasm has always been so high that we have decided to make it a set trip. This is what our Canadian friends are about to discover.
We are in June 2015. After a few flights from Calgary to Amsterdam, Johannesburg and then finally landing in sunny East London in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, a very nice winter day with 18°C (65°F) welcomes our friends. The Indian Ocean is beautiful today and it would have been a very nice fishing day. I know the guys are very keen for a bit of fishing when we get back on the coast, but first we will spend some time hunting Cape Buffalo and plains game on one of our private concession in the Stormberg mountain range.
We get to the lodge about 4 hours later, the sun is going down fast at this time of the year, so is the temperature at 1200m (4,000 ft) above sea level. A few welcome drinks around the fire at the lodge will warm everyone’s up.
Buffalo hunting is on the agenda, some of our bulls have given us lots of trouble for the last few months, escaping all the time, breaking all fences and chasing staff in neighboring properties. They just love going into the thick reeds growing in the local river, spending the day in narrow tunnels and grassing in farmlands at night. They lost all fear of human and need to be taken out before someone gets hurt. We will track them for 2 days in very thick vegetation, before a big bull with a very thick neck decide to turn on us. Brian gave it a good shot in the chest when the bull lifted his massive head, Grand Safari PH Jarryd just had the time to squeeze one in with a follow up shot, as discussed with Brian, before the reeds closed up on the bull again.
Belling call finally came, calming hunter’s adrenalin rush…
The lodge is set in the middle of over 15,000ha of hunting play ground. It lies in a little valley surrounded by very scenic mountains and cliffs. It offers a central area where the dining room and the bar are to be found. We have 4 fireplaces in this area, creating a warm and friendly atmosphere after a day’s hunting in winter. Stuck away doors open up the main pit fire area to the well stocked bar and leather couches lounge. Home made gourmet meals are served each day in the dining area. The accommodation is made of 5 en suite bedrooms in the garden. Swimming pool and thatch roofs add to the unique feel of the place. For larger parties, the walk way over a little wooden bridge will take you to the second lodge with 7 en suite bedrooms and all facilities.
“How cold does it get?” should be the question asked before travelling to South Africa. Remember our seasons are flipped over with North American and European’s. We do get some frost inland in June / July, with temperature warming up quick as the sun raises.
Back to Buffalo hunting with Ken, the bushmen tracker whom spotted the 2 bulls yesterday, think that the second one will be back in the same reeds today. Fresh tracks from the nearest farmland indicate that the bull was here for an early breakfast and went back in the thickest reeds he could find for a snooze. We are now real close to him and yet can’t see any signs of the beast. We try to provoke him with a calf call and he gives away his position by standing up. We spoke in length about the potential bad behavior of those dagga boys and Ken is ready for a charge. It sounds like the whole herd is moving when the bull takes off breaking reeds and crossing the river. We have a glaze of him, Ken’s .458 WM comes up but the bull disappears. We rush on the other side of the river and walk on the bank overlooking the waterway. We soon find our boy trying to climb up the bank, a bit too steep so he turned around jumping over the water to get back to the thick stuff. Ken has half a second to shot, that is enough for this well experienced hunter and the 475 gr solid penetrate between the shoulder blades towards the vitals. Noises of breaking reeds again, then nothing… 2, maybe 3 minute later, belling call comes from the thickets, our dagga boy is done. No more getting world record gumboots sprints out of farm workers and trying to modify some land cruisers driving pass for him, the old warrior has just won a one way ticket to Canada!
We have a few days in this magnificent area and now that we have the buffaloes in the salt, we will spend the remaining time enjoying the outstanding sceneries and harvesting a few plains game species. There are over 30 to choose from.
Shannon does long range shooting with Ken back home, so when we managed to get her at 107 yards of a magnificent Zebra, it was almost too close! She squeezed a 160gr bullet of the .300WM just right and got herself a beautiful “pajama donkey”. Being her first kill in Africa she had to have a bit of blood on her face! Shannon also harvested an old white blesbuck ram and a Mountain Reedbuck both at close to 300 meters. Jackie also got busy with a very nice blue wildebeest and then a good waterbuck that PH Jarryd spotted a few safaris ago.
Brian will get an old Black Wildebeest, a Mountain Reedbuck and a black Springbok while Ken will get a Black Wildebeest under the only rainy day we had the whole trip and a Black Springbuck, just before heading back to the coast.
Our main premium hunting concession is merely 3 1/2 hours away from our coastal operation. We will get on the beach lodge after dark missing the view from the rooms. We could hear and smell the sea from the balcony. The weather prediction for tomorrow is great and the party decides to go deep sea fishing. June is the time of the year when sardines migrate from South to North, swimming inshore to avoid the strong Agulhas current flowing down the East coast of Africa. Skipper Wayne has his boat on the water when we get to East London harbor at daybreak, the water is very warm today at 19,5°C (67°F) as we’re heading out on the Indian Ocean. The sea is steaming with life, not only we caught some bottom fishes but we had the privilege to cruise pass a Southern Right Whale as well as hundreds of dolphins and cape gannets sea birds. They are all after the sardines. It turns out to be a magnificent day. On our way back to shore, we even have the great opportunity to find a bait ball. This is when dolphins push sardines in a tight ball leading to a feeding frenzy with sharks and birds. An amazing show the sea is giving us today… whoaooo…
Back at the sea resort where Grand Safari has beautiful en suite rooms with outstanding Indian Ocean view. Buffet of fine cuisine is served each day, tables are dressed inside and outside around the swimming pool or on the upper deck. The view over the bay is breathtaking.
Sundowners around the campfire are a safari tradition.
Biodiversity is what it’s all about. South Africa has 7 biomes resulting in numerous species of animals to be hunted. Various biomes means large specs of various species that Grand Safari likes to translate to lots of different hunting experiences to offer.
Leaving new hunting experiences isn’t it what it’s all about?
The Eastern Cape province of South Africa, even narrowed down to Nelson Mandela Bay, represents a large percentage of South Africa’s biological diversity. It is a meeting point for 5 of the 7 South African Biomes, namely the Thicket, Grassland, Nama-Karoo, Fynbos and Forest Biomes. The area also boast a significant amount of endemic species i.e. species that are only found here and nowhere else in the world such as Bontebok, Black Wildebeest, Cape Bushbuck etc. Such a concentration of biomes is unparallel in the world and results in an extraordinary diversity of landscapes, plants and animals.
Up until now, combining a hunting trip with a family vacation was an issue, often to the detriment to either or. Grand Safari has been offering extensions on the “Sunshine Coast” of the Eastern Cape for the last 20 years on a very small scale, but never really believed this could turn to become such a popular safari option. Time changes, needs desires and expectations too, safari options have to follow.
This is a very refreshing idea where serious hunting and sea vacations with all its goodies (white sand beaches, SPA, golf, horse riding, deep sea fishing, cocktails) are now compatible.
Today, we will be hunting an open area (meaning no high fences) for nyala, bushbuck, pigs, impala, blesbuck etc.
Outstanding sceneries again with a good nyala for Ken and some blesbuck for Jackie and Brian.
One of our private game reserve concession has a very old giraffe bull that needs to go. Despite driving around and looking at the bull’s favorite spots, Murphy’s law, it is not to be seen at all. Brian will take a very good nyala and Shannon an impala. Hunting with sea view over the Indian Ocean, does it get any better than that?
After lunch at the lodge, we are going back and finally found the old bull. Jackie will drop him with a .300gr bullet from a .375 H&H Magnum, he is a very dark giraffe and must be close to 25 years old. Jackie will also harvest a good zebra stallion later that day.
Next morning, we hunt some more open areas where we will cull a few warthogs and impalas. Ken will also get a very nice duiker and Shannon a blesbuck with exceptional thick bases.
Nice break for a picnic on the bank of the Kei river before heading to some farmland on different properties, also open areas, where we are hoping to find some Cape Bushbuck.
We walk for about 3 hours and found lots of bushbuck. We actually passed on 2 rams before Shannon harvested the old boy. Jackie and Brian will also see a few rams and about 12 ewes before she squeezed the trigger on this old Cape Bushbuck ram.
Jarryd has some bushpig on bait just outside the beach lodge and a large boar was feeding every late afternoon. Just not enough time to get to them, nor to try a caracal with hounds.
But there will be a next time …
The last day will be spent leisurely with some game viewing, SPA treatments and interaction with the elephants and the cheetahs.
The Grand Safari “Sea, Hunt and Sun” safari option is the ideal solution to combine good hard hunting and sea vacation. You get picked up at East London Airport for a road transfer to the main hunting area about 3 1/2 hours driving inland. Premium hunting lodge in the heart of a private concession offering great services and big country sceneries of the Stormberg Mountain range. The terrain is suited from bow hunting, with a few dedicated areas set with ground and elevated blinds, to long range hunting for the MOA enthusiasts. Over 30 species can be hunted from 10 to 3000 yards, from Cape Buffalo and Sable to Mountain Reedbuck and Steenbuck. Not to mention Cape Kudu, Gemsbok, large Cape Eland, Black Wildebeest etc…
Spend a few days packed with hunting action in the Stormberg Mountains before reaching the Indian Ocean coast in Chintsa Bay (30mn drive from coastal “Buffalo City” of East London). This is where slogan “Seafood, Seaview, See for Yourself” says it all. Discover unspoiled white sand beaches, world-class SPA treatments, golf courses or simply do nothing around the pool but sipping cocktails… Interact with cheetahs, lions and elephants in neighboring private game reserves and sanctuaries. Fish from the rocks or deep sea from a boat, play some horse, ride a horse on the white sand beaches…
If you are one of the lucky one to visit this little paradise between May and August, you may be witnessing one of the most spectacular ocean show on earth, namely the “Sardine Run”. It is then massive schools of jumping dolphins, diving sea birds and breaching whales performing endlessly.
And of course, this is also where Grand Safari has hunting rights on various concessions, including on some Big Five areas. There is a total of over 25 000 ha of hunting ground half an hour away from the beach lodge.
Fair chase on a great nyala bull on the morning and whale watching on the afternoon anyone?
For more details, contact Christophe Beau at cb@grand-safari.com
