Outfitter: African Bush Safaris
PH: Dantri Groenewald (BigFive on these forums)
Agent: Nitro Express Adventures, Australia
Location: South Africa, Thabazimbi area, Northern Province
Game sought: Plains game - specfically bushbuck and hartebeest
Game taken: Limpopo Bushbuck, Impala
Game missed out on: Red Hartebeest - sighted some nice bulls and hunted hard but in the end they beat us
Date: September 2002
Satisfied: Yes
Recommend to other hunters: Yes - so much I am acting as their agent in Australia now

Booked a safari with African Bush Safaris and Dantri Groenewald in order to try out a safari with them prior to agreeing to act as their Australian booking agent.

The plan was to hunt for several days near Thabazimbi and near the Crocodile River for bushbuck and red hartebeest.

The bushbuck hunt was unusual in that we would hunt irrigated wheat fields from a hide in the evenings. Bushbuck would venture out on the fringes of the circular crops and feed on the cereal crops. Night 1 we sighted a nice bushbuck as well as many others from 100 metres away to up to 800 metres away. The good male was spooked by another animal moving through the forest and fled. The second afternoon he again was sighted and a shot of around 160 metres with my .375 secured him.

The mornings and later days were spent hunting on the main property and a record class impala was taken. A running shot was made at a representative kudu but missed.

Hartebeest, which I came to name "Hellbeasts" were tracked, spotted, tracked and hunted hard for many kilometres and the rest of the hunt. We didn't fail to secure one through lack of not trying, that is for sure.

There were also a couple of marauding cheetahs in the area and if sighted would have been freebie shots for photos but the trophies to be destroyed. Unfortunately not sighted. Leopard tracks were found though and the area is also very good for leopard.

Accomodation was in tiled chalets and a nice roofed open dining/lounge area with a fire in front. A highlight is the large numbers of kudu, waterbuck, impala and other game that visit the waterhole in front at night with large floodlights so they can be viewed. One evening a leopard or babboon harassed the antelope on the far side of the waterhole with the antelope coming closer to the buidlings for safety (no shooting is done within a certain reserve near the camp).

The hunt was enjoyable and well done. The service at the camp was exception and the food very top class with the camp manager previously being a chef at a 5 star hotel. Dantri is an eager PH and works hard to assist the client in getting his safari's worth.

As such I agreed to represent him in Australia and NEw Zealand so if you want an affordable hunt in South Africa or at his new area in Tanzania with a good and enthusiastic and very friendly PH contact me here at NitroExpress and enjoy an African Safari to remember

Nitro Express Adventures
Tel/Fax 61 (0) 8 8562 1687
NitroExpressAdventures@NitroExpress.com