From: Nitro (Original Message) Sent: 10/16/2002 1:19 PM
Hi Everyone

Back from hunting in South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Had mixed results, some great hunting in both South Africa, thanks to "BigFive" and some good hunting in Zimbabwe. Took eight different animals in total including a smallish buff but an old one with good bosses.

Unfortunately also had a run-in or run-off to be more accurate with some Zim "Warvets" and their Police lackeys/cronies. Was turned off the outfitters property, along with his family at gun-point, but ended up hunting buffalo on another concession after a gap of several days.

Will report more soon along with some photos. Have to drop them off at the film lab today and pick them up in a couple of days.

Nitro

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From: safari Sent: 10/16/2002 10:45 PM
Great to have you back and in one piece. I look forward with the greatest of interest in hearing what you have to say. And I am looking forward to seeing the pictures as well.

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From: Nitro Sent: 10/17/2002 4:00 PM
Just to keep the information flowing. Below are the animals I took.

I will be picking up most of my slides and photos alter today and tommorrow and hope they turned out well. Even if they were X-rayed six times at the Perth DOMESTIC airport (the idiots!!!) - as well as once in Zimbabwe, at least twice in Jo'burg and again in Perth International airport once.

I hunted with Dantri - alias BigFive - of African Bush Safaris in the Limpopo region, the Limpopo River is part of South Africa's Northern border with Botswana and Zimbabwe. Near Thabazimbi and the Crocodile River.

We successfully took a very nice Impala of greater than 24 inches. After drying out it may make the Rowland Ward record book, if that sort of thing is of interest. We also took a very nice Limpopo Bushbuck in unusual hunting conditions for bushbuck. From memory about 14 inches. I completely missed a good kudu, but the shot was a running shot and the next day I found that the front screw on my rifle was one and a half turns loose (excuse ). We also hunted very hard for a red hartebeest of which we had sighted a good trophy bull. We hunted this beast for several days but in the end the "hellbeast" as I started to call him, beat us. A very enjoyable short 6 day hunt. I could have taken extra animals eg warthog, wildebeest, gemsbok, kudu etc but either didn't want to, or set higher standards than the animals I already have.

I enjoyed hunting in South Africa and visiting it for the first time and plan to do so again. Lots of different game animals still there to chase - Nyala, Black Wildebeest, Springbok etc etc plus Gemsbok, those damned red "hellbeasts" (hartebeests). The list can go on and on.

********

In the Gwayi Region of Zimbabwe I hunted right on the Shangaani River which is a lovely area to hunt. I took a waterbuck trophy, another impala (I like impala - but this one is not as good as the South African one taken - about 21 inches). I took a zebra and an excellent Chobe Bushbuck. I also hunted Cape Buffalo and approached herds four different times (with only one herd spooked by us - already spooked by lions in the area) but failed to get a shot at any trophy bull for various reasons.

Then unfortunately we had a very serious run-in with gun toting police and "warvets" (read this term in Zimbabwe as organised criminal thugs and bandits - not Wartime Veterans at all). We were forced to leave the private property basically at gun point. The outfitter/PH owned the land and is still trying to get it back even though he has never been served with a valid legal notice to quit the land.

The outfitter/PH then phoned around while I visited a safari lodge and photographed some excellent animals including a large herd of buffalo, good numbers of elephant, some very photogenic kudu bulls among other animals. Plus some very pleasant cruises on the Zambezi right on the border with Botswana, Zambia, Namibia as well as Zimbabwe.

The PH managed to set up a new short buffalo hunt for me at very short notice (for the outfitter) at another outfitters concession in the Matetsi Safari area. This is a government area and theoretically should be safer from interference, but today in Zimbabwe anarchy approaches and when rule of law is collapsing anything can happen. I had to pay again for this hunt, though my initial payment will cover the actual days I hunted at Gwayi plus the trophy fees of the animals already taken (assuming the outfitter can recover them and get them to a taxidermist - time will tell).

At Matetsi I hunted a couple of blocks, one of which had a lot of game but no quota for Sable or Buffalo which was my main targets. The other was very big and very rough country but had only small numbers of game, but we found two herds of buffalo, herds of sable but no trophy bulls, lots of giraffe (but I didn't WANT a giraffe!!), quite a few elephant plus some other game eg warthog. I had a high minimum for warthog and this was a tough area for warthog.

After an exciting little stalk I did take a representative cape buffalo bull. Lesser horn length than my original minimum length, but an old beast with good solid bosses (which was my main stipulation). A single shot from the 375 worked pretty well but a second shot was made a little while later as it was right on dusk. They still take a while to die as they are beasts of great heart and vigour.

After that bull we continued to hunt for a second cape buffalo bull trophy, a good sable trophy and I took a second zebra. I took this one for a shoulder mount. My first was supposed to be a shoulder mount, but I wounded it in the neck and paid the price of many hours of follow-up and luck in securing it. I will be telling that story soon. So it became a flat rug instead.

No luck on the second buffalo or the sable but that's the way it goes sometimes. Tom from Texas another client in camp took a very nice 42" sable while I was there, plus a lioness. Lucky b******! On a different block (Unit 1) where there was better sable numbers.

An interesting trip and some very enjoyable hunting. Very sad situation in that country of great promise which is being squandered by a madman and criminal thugs.

The proverb "may you live through interesting times" is one thought to keep in mind.

Nitro

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From: Nitro Sent: 10/29/2002 9:39 PM
Some of you may be interested in this. This is the JAG Sitrep on the happenings on the day and days when I was in Zimbabwe and the Gwayi region and the areas of Matabeleland from Bulawayo to Victoria Falls were invaded by the "warvet" filth. JAG stands for Justice for Agriculture Group. A lobby group in Zimbabwe attempting to combat the illegal seizure of private farms.

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JAG SITREP 3rd October 2002-10-03

MATABELELAND

Matabeleland has been through a torrid time in the last 24 hours.

The number of farmers who have been warned to leave their farms immediately or within the next 24 hours has increased to 45, and the police have been taking action throughout the area to evict farmers, regardless of their legal position. The Member in Charge of Nyamandhlovu police station went round last night checking that people had left their farms, and informing them that anything left behind was now property of the state and would be auctioned off as such. 13 farmers have so far been evicted, and although the three who were arrested last night were released either with no charges or on bail with no conditions, they have not been allowed back on their farms. Leefie Cahill has sever bruising from being carried in the back of an open truck, and is badly sunburnt (Errata: The other two arrestees reported yesterday as J. and E. Rosenthal are actually J. and E. Rosenfels. Apologies.) Jimmy & Ruth Chatham (a 76 year old couple) were manhandled and handcuffed by the police, who had broken into the yard, and then into the house. The police (only four of whom were in uniform) removed three rifles from the house, and discharged one of them. The Chathams were driven away in the back of a vehicle, then returned and told to pack suitcases, before being escorted off the farm. Both have bruised and bleeding arms as a consequence. They were allowed back on to the farm today to pack up their house. Many of the labour on the farms have been beaten or abused when they attempted to assist the owners. In one case, several of the labour were barricaded into a fenced enclosure until the farm owners handed over the keys for the house. Another man, Elias Mlilo (65) was beaten up by war veterans who demanded he hand over a hand held radio, whilst a pump attendant on the same farm was beaten up for the radio he held. In most cases, the workers have been told that they must collect their packages and leave within the next few days.

Furthermore, a number of foreign nationals have been caught up in the violence. On Thys de Vries' property in Lion's Den, two German hunting clients were warned to vacate the premises yesterday. They did not wish to do so, but in the face of verbal abuse and threats by armed police support unit, left for Victoria Falls today. Two Australian nationals holidaying on the same property are now in Bulawayo, and stated that they were sincerely afraid for their lives. The de Vries have since been forced to leave the property. This morning, the ZRP broke into the homestead of Pier van Wyk, and threatened him and his Australian hunting client, John Hahn. Pier advised John to take his vehicle and drive to Victoria Falls. The police then demanded that van Wyk produce the keys to his gun cabinet, but he informed them that the keys had gone his client.

Current information indicates that this campaign is being directed from as high up as the Governor (Obert Mpofu)'s office, and certain police were informed to use force to get rid of the farmers "court papers mean nothing".

THE JAG TEAM

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From: Nitro Sent: 10/30/2002 1:59 AM
This is my personal account of the farm invasion and other incidents during my safari

*****

Had a good 3 1/2 days hunting. Some problems on the first day. Missed an animal, and wounded another. Second day, managed to recover the wounded animal through sheer luck and shot the animal I originally missed! Then started hunting buffalo. I will leave the hunts to more pleasant hunting stories.

Hunted buffalo on the morning of day four and returning to camp on the 4th day at midday we encountered some poachers and during the apprehension of one, two shots were fired into the air. As we drove back to look for snares two Landrovers came tearing up behind us on the dirt track and police armed with SLRs/FN FALs jumped out and somewhat covered our vehicle from each side, while numerous other persons also alighted. I decided to wait in the vehicle while the PH, Pierre went back to talk to them. My first thought was the police anti-poaching squads are very fast here. But alas it quickly became apparent that they were a "warvet" group to throw the PH off his property. They had heard the shots and located us that way.

The Member-in-charge Police Officer or the "Warvet" informed the Pierre he was on a list of properties that were required to be vacated (section 8s). Pierre informed him that he had never been issued with a section 8. He was told, "you are on the list". Pierre also asked who had issued the orders for them to force him off his property. The answer was "from the top" and "the department" etc. No name could be given. The PH also said "I am in the middle of a safari currently, what am I to do, stop immediately and drive the client to the airport?" He was told "yes, get off the property". The PH was just told time and time again "get off the property" "get off" in ensuing discussions etc. I did not see this but they also stripped his bullets off his belt while he was "discussing" the issue. His rifle was actually being carried by a tracker who was taking the poacher back to camp on foot (not far away).

Another "warvet" approached the vehicle and spoke to the driver about the nature of the shots and the driver obviously said we had been sighting in a rifle. Unfortunately the PH later said we had apprehended a poacher and fired two shots into the air as warnings to stop. This did get the driver into some trouble with some verbal abuse. He indicated that we had fired at the target earlier in the day. A smart and quick thinking man.

Pierre informed the police MIC about the poacher and he was told "it is not my problem or duty."

Getting back into the vehicle Pierre informed me I should start packing just in case we needed to go. We arrived back at the compound and I carefully removed my rifle from the rack as the police were very edgy and one when he saw my rifle which I purposely held away from my body in a non-threatening manner one cop definitely readied his rifle. I returned to my chalet and started packing.

Pierre and the "mob" retired to a garden furniture setting to "discuss" the issue. I noticed two police officers standing on each side of the PH, obviously in case of "trouble". Police officers also walked to the chalet to check me out several times.

Eventually Pierre came to my chalet and said we would have to go. I said OK getting there and to look after your own gear. A few minutes later he returned and said we needed to go very soon as the "warvets" were getting agitated and could become violent soon. Note this was within 30 minutes of returning to the camp. Luckily the Van Wyks had already moved a lot of personal stuff to a rented house in Bulawayo so his shifting was quick, though large amounts of furniture etc was still there, let alone all the farm machinery, fuel, supplies etc .

We started leaving the property in a car while Pierre's driver driving the hunting car with two trackers on board. The leading "warvet" approached our vehicle and he started mouthing off about where the keys were for the safe. He was informed him his girlfriend had them and she was away. The warvet obviously suspected this might not be the truth and carried on the abuse for sometime before just saying "get off, NOW". I was told when driving, they wanted to take his rifles into "safe keeping". Plus there were also had other valuables in the safe.

These "warvet" filth have the appearance of common criminals and thugs. If you saw them in the streets you would hold your camera a little tighter. One was dressed all in denims, jeans, jacket, denim "slouch" hat and had the appearance of a violent man . Another was dressed in daggy tracksuit with a bug gut. He used to attempt to swagger but instead managed to twaddle, so I referred to him as the "swaddle" ie he "swaddled around" and the other as "denims". There was a lot more of them, plus armed police with their "boss", the Member-in-charge. Plus numerous others who I do not know if they were police not in uniform or more thugs.

We headed to the Bulawayo / Vic Falls road and Pierre then informed me his girlfriend was still on the property at a photographic camp and he was worried about her. He asked me when our "escort" left us if I could drive the car back to Vic Falls so he could return by back roads to get her out. I said yes as this wasn't a problem.

Arriving at the main Bulawayo to Vic Falls road we turned to Bulawayo believing the warvets would turn towards their camp to the North. After a couple of kms we pulled over and a lot of gear was transferred to the car. I then continued to Vic Falls and checked into a hotel there where Pierre and Kim were to meet with me later. The drive there was uneventful except for a police road block at Hwange where I played happy stupid tourist and was let through with no problems. Even with Mozambique tourist signs on the car. I found out later than Kim driving another car also went through OK, but Pierre's vehicle was thoroughly searched for firearms which were no longer in his car.

Along the way I noticed a farm which gave the appearance of a "clearing sale", but in reality was a family's entire possessions being moved onto the roadside. Numerous vehicles, vehicle parts, furniture, clothing, machinery etc, all lining the road. Some other local farmers were assisting these unfortunate people to shift their lives probably with an hour's notice if they were lucky. This family also had a young family including a baby.

Another incident including the bashing up of an elderly couple during their "eviction". I suppose the "warvets" felt tough enough in numbers to molest a couple in their eighties.

Pierre later told me he returned to the property and planned to return via a back way, but the police vehicles again came across him and various mouthing off again occurred. Kim meanwhile had been dropping off a poacher to another police station, a different one, and had returned via the photo camp eventually to a near deserted main camp. The camp staff though were very worried that I had left without some of my clothes (the daily laundry) so I got even that back. Getting out of there she met up with Pierre and later that evening joined me for dinner at the hotel.

*****

Pierre managed to arrange a favour with a different outfitter to do a short buffalo hunt on their concession at a short buffalo hunt market price. Later during this hunt in the Matetsi Safari area, warvets hyjacked the Landcruiser of one of this outfitter's PHs. The American client, who killed a buffalo with a 45/70 by the way, and the PH were hunting the hills and the "warvets" hyjacked the car from the driver and drove it to Vic Falls. The PH who wasn't very happy on return then tracked the car through numerous villages and eventually came to another police man who informed him the car was being returned. Luckily the cash, the clients camera etc were not stolen.

The warvets then demanded papers from this PH to prove he was a poacher! Believe it or not another Outfitter/PH had told them this PH was poaching and had no papers. After some "discussion" the papers were presented and the warvets left.

It appears that due to the f***ed country's corruption or other administrative confusion that another outfitter alledgedly had obtained a quota for the same concession area as this outfitter ie two quotas, possibly through the influence of the regional governor. So now part of this concession area had "warvets" on it, another competing outfitter, the outfitter that had let us on, plus us. Not an ideal situation!

Anyway we managed to take a nice old buffalo. Also took a zebra on another concession block. Hunted hard for sable and a second buff for the remaining days but little game was on this block.

Please note even though this account shows a shambles, I don't blame Pierre for what happened. Pierre did his best to correct a mess not of his making and I would hunt with him again. These bloody "warvets" do what they want and are basically criminal thugs and thieves. What they do is beyond the control of the outfitter. All in all I enjoyed the hunting. Certainly a different sort of safari, but if you go on safari in that place the way it currently is, there is a good chance of less than ideal conditions. Other clients came and went with no problems. If I hunted a week earlier, I would have had no problems either! I decided to "buy" a second buff hunt, as with mass starvation being a distinct possibility and the civil instability, well its not ideal conditions for buff hunting for a while.

It is unfortunate that these sorts of things also hurt the outfitters. They are victims of the current bullshit as well, loosing business and possibly their businesses as well.

Hope you find this account interesting. Some pictures on the way soon.