RScott:

That was one of my worries. Could you expand a little bit about what we can expect at Unit 4? Coincidentally, our PH just wrote us to say that tuskless elephants are on a 'first to reserve' basis, and that I should consider committing soon. That done, of course, and I'll be obligated to hunt and take one - and obviously the concession holder wants the best chance of receiving the much larger fees that an elephant would represent. What I don't want is to spend a lot of time chasing game where there is very little chance of an encounter. A reasonable amount of time, okay. But not a quixotic quest.

But frankly - on this trip anyway - I would be happy to supplement my buffalo with a hyena, warthog, and of course my wife's zebra first, and then see if there's time for the tuskless. On this safari the elephant is not the priority; maybe the next one. Plus, I know that to do an elephant hunt properly, you need more than just a few days - and after the buff, that's really all we'll have. Maybe if there were large and well dispersed herds to be found (like we encountered near Binga) I would have more confidence in booking the elephant now.

Based on your comment, though, maybe it would make sense to wait and see if a tuskless is available on our arrival; if so, we can set aside whatever time we may have at the end of the hunt and see what the fates might bring ...

Kim