Bonde,

I am aware that you are thinking of a self guided hunt on foot. A Land Rover is simply the only method to get from A-B in some regions, just as a barge is needed to get up the Congo river from Kinshasa.

"Public" transport is not a problem in most places in Africa, although it can be far from comfortable to be stuffed into an overloaded Toyota mini-van, or sit onboard an overloaded motorized canoe on an African river.

But the difficulties involved in being on your own in west/central Africa all boil down to the same things really, independant on how you get to where you want to go. Logistically and otherwise.

Per various info I have from a friend who has spent quite a bit of time in DRC, searching for viable hunting grounds, you should be aware that you might have to walk for a week or two away from any travelled road or river in order to find "virgin" terrain that hasn't been poached. And the sad reality is that very few places in Africa are secluded enough to have kept poachers away. There aren't many river where you won't find any kind population to one degree or another.

I have the same impression from a recent magazine article regarding an experianced "Chasse Libre" hunters recent self guided hunt in Cameroon.

(I don't remember off the top of my head if it was in Hatari Times or African Hunter???)

Having studied various maps of Cameroon earlier, I'd think you would need to get far down into the southeast corner, towards the Congo-Brazzaville and DRC border.

The trouble with west/central Africa is that you'd be suprised to see how many logging roads are being constantly built into new, untouched areas. And with this, the reach of the poachers expand... Keep in mind that Reinald von Meurers book is almost a decade old now, and things change fast down there!

But if you are truly prepared to come back empty handed, then you'll win anyway since the experiance itself will have been worthwhile IMO.

Whatever you decide to do (even though I still suggest you go on a tuskless ele or simular "cheap" hunt first to get a feel for Africa and elephant!), you should start out with finding some decent maps of the countries and regions that are of interest. And you will find that this is not always as easy as you'd think.

Also, if you are not up to date with taking care of yourself or others when it comes to diseases and medical emergencies, make sure you find a doctor who will teach you how to take care of such things as stitching wounds, and diagnosing tropical diseases. Having the correct type of anti-biotics, and knowing when and how to use them is vital when help is days or weeks away. I can assure you from my own experiances that this is necessary. I'd also recommend a book called "Where there is no Doctor" . It's written for health personel working far off the beaten track. I found it very helpful when trying to diagnose various illnesses my wife and I have had throughout Africa. It has lots of drawings, so it even helps you find out what kind of intestinal worms you're inflicted with.

And you will very likely find that you need this kind of information!

Erik