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How many of you have smelled the smoke from this fire, or been mesmerized as you stared into it at the end of the day, while the flames dance before you like the memories in your head, and before it is even time for you to leave for home you are wondering how long it will be until you return...

Well for those of you who have, then much of this will seem familiar, but for those who have not yet been, perhaps this will help convince you to go. It was June of 2008 when I went on the what was easily the best hunt of my life. We flew South African air (exit row - and (sorry) no, I won't divulge how I do it) to Johannesburg, spent the night at Afton, and somehow ended up in first class to Vic Falls the next morning. There we met up with Belinda Cooke, wife and partner to Richard Cooke, and we chartered to Sijarira with a freckle-faced 19 year old pilot who really didn't look old enough to drive, but to be fair he did a great job, especially considering the way the wind was blowing that day. The runway at Chete had been condemned, so we had to fly to Sij and then take a boat.

At Sij we had some drinks while we waited for the wind to settle down. It was a beautiful and very well maintained camp.

Eventually we made it to Chete, and coming into the gorge we could see the chalets in the camp high overhead. It was a great camp, perhaps not quite as manicured as Sij but that's understandable given it's remoteness. There was also a hippo that would come into camp at night and eat the grass, and I got him on video which I posted on youtube.

This was the view from the camp looking back down (south west) the gorge towards Sijarira.

And this is the view of the moon going down in the morning. I also posted this photo in the Africa Pic of the Day forum.

Hot water was always available.

This was the dining area. I wonder how many hunters have sat here over the years.

No two ways about it, we walked for miles every day. We saw lots of game, especially elephants, and we actually saw leopard(s) on 4 different occasions, but we had a hard time finding buffalo. We had agreed to ignore all herds unless we somehow came right up to one, and we were trying hard to find an old loner or a small bachelor group. I used my Krieghoff .470, and Richard carried a Blaser in .416

Silas the tracker carried my .505 Gibbs as a backup or in case I changed my mind about which rifle i wanted.

On the sixth day we connected in the afternoon, but before that we took an extended lunch and a nap.

We were high on a hillside when we spotted them. You can see a sandy clear area at the center of the picture, and just to the right was where they stood. They had heard us but they held still listening. It seemed to take hours for them to settle back down but they did, and with binoculars we got a good look at them. The best one of the group eventually stepped to the left into the clear and stopped giving us a good broadside presentation. I took this picture (the next day) from where I fired my first shot, and we ranged it at about 75 yards.

This is my favorite picture. From the first shot which broke the leg, until this picture was taken less than 5 minutes later, I had shot him 5 more times. He ran a bit but not far, and he seemed to just stand there as the solids passed through him. Other than his leg wind-milling as he ran, he seemed fine, but eventually he went down, and as we moved up behind him he turned his head and Richard took this picture.

When we got up and behind him, Richard told me "If he gets up you shoot him." and that's exactly what he did. As he stood broadside I gave him one more, and then as he turned and ran straight at us, and as his head went down i put one in his spine, which was not exactly where i was aiming but it worked out in the end.

The next few days we went fishing and we took a boat up the Ruzi river for a day also. We caught many Bream which the chef fried for us, and Vundu and Barbel, all of which we released. I wanted to catch a Tiger fish even though I was told it was the wrong time of year, and eventually I did catch one about 12 inched long, but this one I caught with my hand in the shallows.

One evening Richard and Belinda had arranged a celebratory dinner for our 14th wedding anniversary on the sandy beach not far from camp. It was a truly memorable evening. You can actually see this beach on Google earth if you zoom in.

Most evenings after dinner we would sit on the patio overlooking the gorge.

After the hunt we spent a couple of days in Victoria Falls. We had been there once before and we had a great time at the Safari Lodge, but for this trip we stayed at the Vic Falls Hotel.

This was a great trip. The accommodations were rustic but very comfortable. The hunting was hard as it should be. The food and the staff were excellent. I will be the first to admit that after being self-employed for so many years I am not always an easy customer, so it means a lot when I say I would highly recommend Richard Cooke Safaris. Richard and Belinda were very attentive and we are returning to hunt with them in 2012.

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