African Adventure Part 1

African Adventure 

Going to Africa has always been something I’ve always wanted to do. I have always thought that it was just a dream and that I would probably not go until I was old. I'm so grateful for the opportunity I just had and to have had an adventure to see parts of this world that many will not ever experience.

This story really starts back in April when my friend Scott and I went to a Pheasants forever fundraising banquet. At this event there was an African Safari up for auction. Scott's wife was there and they decided that if the price was right they would bid on it. Alright it was probably more Scott's idea than Lindasue's. Well Scott bid on it with his wife's permission and he won the bid at a great price. The package included a 7day hunt, 1 hunter, 1 observer and $1,000 towards trophy fees. The plan was for us to take our wives and go. When we started to get serious at setting dates and finding out what the hunt really entailed things changed. The wives changed their minds when they found out that this really was a hunting trip and we would be shooting animals. Plus we would be gone for a long time. Also Scott and his wife found out they would be expecting a little one. So Luck would have it that I would be able to go.

It was not an easy process to try to convince Kim in letting me go for two weeks. I had to do some serious negotiating. She did end up with her dream 5th wheel in this process. All kidding aside she really was very gracious in letting me have this opportunity. I know it wasn't easy for her in all of this. I’ll be in debt for a long time to her.

So the planning continued and we contacted the outfitter who suggested the place to hunt and the time to go. We thought we would be going in 2012 but she said if you can come this August. The rains have been good and there are allot of animals. So we decided why wait and let’s go now. So the planning and preparation stated. We took a couple of trips to Cabelas. We had to go to the airport to get the guns and expensive items claimed for customs. I read as much as I could about Africa. We shot the guns as much as possible. We talked to people who have been there. I tried to do all the research I could to get as prepared as we could. I guess you could say it consumed my life for a few months and now that I'm back it still does.

Skip ahead to August 17, 2011 we fly out heading to Africa. It was very hard to leave the family. There was that unknown feeling between all of us. We didn't know what to expect. We did everything we could to prepare to leave. We wanted to be as safe and secure as we could be but still we prepared ourselves to leave and hopefully return safely.

Our plane left at 730 am so we left our house at 4am. We wanted to be early especially checking in guns. Everything went really smooth and we were off to Washington DC. We had a 5 hour layover in Washington. We were trying to mentally prepare ourselves for the 18 hour flight ahead of us. Not sure if there is anything that can prepare you for that. I tried to sleep, read, watch movies and just endure. My butt was pretty numb by the time we landed in Johannesburg. We did have one stop in Dakar Senegal to fill up with gas. I don't remember much of that as I was trying to sleep. Once we arrived in Johannesburg we got our luggage thinking that we were good to go and then we tried to find out where we pick up the guns at. We were met by the people we were going to overnight with at their house. They said to Scott that they would help him get his guns and took me off with one of them to the house. As we drove through Joburg I was thinking about how all the houses had bars on the window and thinking to myself I'm in Africa now. We had to drive through a security gate and then into a compound where the house was. It was surrounded by a 20,000 volt electric fence. Not to keep the animals out but to keep the not wanted people out. I felt safe. I was wondering when Scott would show up. It took him 2 hours to get there. He didn't have the guns. They did not show up. Scott was on the phone to different people for the next hour or so. We finally had enough of that and ate our Steak dinner and went to bed. We were 7 hours different time wise than back home. We tried to sleep as best as we could to get adjusted as fast as we could. The night went by quickly and we were up and going early in the morning as we had to catch our flight to Cape Town.

We got to the airport and these porters surrounded us and one just took us to where we needed to go. As we were checking in our bags we had to claim the ammo we had. We had to take the ammo box to the police station so they could check it in. They wouldn't check it without the guns. We tried explaining that he guns have not arrived. It did no good. We ended up having to leave the ammo at the police station in the airport. We had pretty much bid it good bye feeling that we wouldn't see it again. So at this point we were kind of discouraged about this whole process. We got on the plane to Cape Town hoping it gets better.

In Cape Town we were met with a sign say Barfuss / Monson. What a great sight. We were met by our tour guide Leslie. She was great right off the bat. She took us in the Cape Town and we told her what was going on with the guns and ammo. Right away she got on the phone and was making calls.

We checked in to our hotel The Commodore. It was a really nice place. It was right on the pier or ocean front.

We had a great room with a great view.

After we checked in and got settled we were off with Leslie for our tour of the Cape. We drove from the city toward Cape Point. Along the way we stopped at a African Penguin Sanctuary. How often can you say you've seen wild penguins? We stayed there for a short time and took a few pictures of the cute little black and white birds.

We then continued our trek towards the cape. Here are the sights that we seen on the way.

Cape point was one of the most spectacular views I have ever seen. When I walked over to an overlook it took my breath away at the steep drop off. It was an amazing sight.

The Cape of Good Hope was just a beautiful.

We then headed down the coastal road. I’ve seen the coast of California, Oregon and Hawaii. The Coast of South Africa has got to be some of the prettiest sights I’ve ever seen. It seemed that there wasn't much tourism there. It was as natural and beautiful as it has ever been.

We got back to our hotel and were hungry. We headed over to the pier front to find something to eat. We ate at the Ocean Basket. We figured we were so close to the ocean why not sea food.

The next day we got up early to catch our ride to head off to our Shark Dive. The dive spot was a 2 hour drive from our hotel. We had to pick up a few other people on our way. We picked up 5 guys from South Africa and one girl from Poland. We made a stop at one area to take in the sight and to watch the whales.

We finally made it to the dive shop to get everything we needed for the dive. We got on our big orange boat and headed out to Seal Island.

They said that they had 7 or 8 sharks on the morning tour. So our hopes were high. We got there and put the anchor out and waited for some action. We sat there for almost 2 hours with nothing in sight. The captain called another boat in the area and he said they had sharks by him. So we loaded up and went over by them. Right when we pulled up we saw the sharks. WOW!!!!! Now I was a little nervous. We weren't there long and they had up getting in the cage. Scott and I were the first ones on the cage. We had 7mm we suits on. As i got in the water I was shocked at how cold the water was. We weren't in the cage long when the crew told up to go down as a shark was coming by. My first sight of a shark under water was unreal. I wasn't scared but was in AWW on how big they were. There was this one time that the shark came within inches of the cage. My first thought was to touch it. But common scents said I had probably not. We were in the cage for about 20-25 minute sharks came by up about 7-8 times. it was amazing. When we were done another group took our place. It was just as amazing seeing the sharks from the boat as it was being in the cage. We tried to get pictures from in the water but the water was murky and we didn't have enough hand to keep us down and to click the camera. We did get some great shots.

After the lst group was done we headed in to shore and then had the long ride back to our hotel. The drive there and back was really pretty. We went through some wine country and in and out of mountainous areas. I was surprised at how much it looked like Utah in some of those parts.

The next morning we were off early again to catch another plane that took us up to Windhoek Namibia. This flight was only 2 hours. We still did not have our guns with us and did not know where they were. We did hear from someone that they got sent to Los Angeles instead of Washington DC. Probably some animal lover sent them the wrong direction. When we arrived at the airport in Windhoek we were met by our Professional Hunters (Guides) Phillip and Herman. These guys were our age and right off the bat we knew we were going to have a good time with them.