Location: Blaauwkrantz Ranch, Eastern Cape north of
Port Elizabeth, South Africa

PH: Philip Dixie

Tracker: Neville

Dates: July 3 to 9, 2012

Rifles: Dad used his Remington Sendero 7mm STW and
hand-loaded Barnes TXSs; Nick (my brother) and I used my
Ruger No.1 .300H&H and hand-loaded Woodleigh PPSNs.

Animals killed: Four kudu, three impala, two warthog, one
zebra, one blesbok.

Comments: I apologise for the brevity of this report; I
would like to attempt writing a magazine article of this
hunt. This was our first-ever guided hunt, and for my
brother and I, our first trip overseas. Flying with SAA was
a positive experience with good meals, entertainment and
service. Our firearms and ammunition were taken care of and
all went smoothly. We found officials in both Australia and
South Africa to be very helpful. Being collected by a
representative from Afton House with our permits already
completed made it much less stressful than it would’ve
been. Afton House provided wonderful, friendly hospitality
with terrific food and lodging. The Rudman / Dixie family
of Blaauwkrantz made us feel like part of their family,
extending a warm welcome and beautiful hospitality. It was
a pleasure to spend time with them. Their operation is
first class. We also enjoyed spending time with the other
clients there, two wonderful couples from Texas – Karl and
Becky, and Doug and Debbie. The lodge, and over 80,000
acres of property, was more than big enough to handle us
all. Our eyes were wide-open as we took-in the amazing
sights and sounds of the African bush for the first time.
The bush there is incredibly thick, and has to be seen to
be believed. The whole experience was incredible, from the
abundance of wild game to the camaraderie at the lodge. Our
hosts took good care of us, especially with a couple of
important items that we’d forgotten and when Dad came down
with severe bronchitis – the medical care in South Africa
is excellent and quick, and he was soon on the mend and
enjoying walking and stalking in the bush again. Our guide,
Philip, was patient and encouraging, and was as excited as
we were when we enjoyed success. He and Neville worked
extremely hard to give us the best opportunities. Also, the
tracking dogs are simply amazing to work with, and saved us
from lost animals on two occasions. That in itself was an
amazing experience. The weather was mostly pleasant,
although we did experience one rainy morning. Being from
Australia’s north, I found the temperatures to be mostly
quite cool, whereas my brother and Dad found the
temperatures just fine. As well as plenty of kudu, warthog,
blesbok and impala, we saw zebra, blue and black
wildebeest, eland, nyala, bushbuck, duiker, steenbok,
porcupine, dassies, vervet monkeys, lechwe, ostrich, and
grysbok – there may’ve been others that have slipped my
recollection at this hour. In addition, we saw many
interesting, magnificent birds. I learned quite a bit about
my own shooting limitations and am giving serious thought
to how I can improve – my Dad and brother were good, and I
was lucky. We also enjoyed a visit to the nearby cheetah
farm that also had baby lions and leopards; and, we enjoyed
a visit to Addo Elephant Park. The main objective of our
hunt was to spend quality time having an adventure with our
Dad, as well as to hunt kudu, an animal which has captured
our imaginations. We achieved all this and more, and are
truly grateful to our hosts for opening our eyes to Africa
and fuelling the fire to return someday. I can’t wait to
take my wife and little boy back to Blaauwkrantz! And, it’s
only 11.5 hours flying time from Perth to Jo’burg, and 8.5
hours back with the prevailing winds! Darwin to Perth is
almost four hours. Jo’burg to Port Elizabeth is only 1.5
hours or so. Thank you for reading.