GARY EATON & KATHI NOONAN

The first part of April saw the arrival of Gary Eaton & Kathi Noonan from Rhode Island.  Their safari got off to a great start when on the very first day Gary took a record book Blesbok.  With the breeding season just around the corner they were fortunate to be able to see 5 Blue Wildebeests sparring among themselves for their breeding position in the herd.  At Cruiser’s we have some unusual camp pets and among them is a young female Warthog named “Pinky”.  As with any wild animal these “pets” can sometimes cause unexpected problems.  It turns out that one afternoon the door in their chalet had been left open and “Pinky” decided to do some investigating of her own discovering Kathi’s cashews and making a pig of herself with them.  When Kathi walked back to the room Pinky knew she was in trouble and dove under the bed.  Pieter & Lizelle were summoned to the room and removed the wayward pig.  After Pinky was evicted everyone couldn’t help but laughing when they looked back into the room and saw the mess that Pinky had made.   That same day was a very special day also for Kathi.  Prior to their arrival Gary had said that he would like to have Kathi given some instruction and be able to hunt her first ever animal.  That morning Pieter had taken her to the rifle range for her first shooting lesson.  She was a great student and before long she was comfortable

and proficient with her rifle.  That very afternoon Pieter took her on her first hunt.  Planning on sitting at a waterhole for this event was interrupted when on the way they spotted some Red Hartebeest.  She told Pieter, “Sure.” when asked if she wanted to hunt these animals.  This turned into a very hard stalk through the thorns and the brush (she actually got stuck at one time).  Finally crawling through the tall grass they were able to get to a good place behind a tree for the shot.  Kathi said, “When Pieter was teaching me he told me to squeeze the trigger slowly.  I thought for sure that I would be shaking, but I wasn’t.  I lined up the crosshairs on her shoulder and slowly squeezed the trigger.”  It was a perfect shot and the Red Hartebeest dropped in its tracks.  Much celebration took place upon her return and Gary couldn’t have been more proud of her accomplishment.  “I now have a hunting partner for life,” he said.  Kathi has already expressed a desire to return to Cruiser’s for a full package hunt of her own.  I think on the next trip Gary will be taking over the filming task.  During his safari Gary also took a Kudu, Gemsbok, Zebra, Impala and a Warthog.  Their last night in Africa was spent with a candle light dinner in the bush under the African stars complete with linen table cloths and champagne.

Click HERE to see photos of Gary & Kathi's hunt.
 

LYNN & CINDIE RICE

Joining us in mid-April was Lynn & Cindie Rice from Alaska.  This safari was planned as part of their silver anniversary and to celebrate Lynn’s 50th birthday.  Lynn started out his first day on a great note taking both a Blue Wildebeest and a Kudu but found that they can be very difficult to bring down.  On the second day a Blesbok also proved to be a challenge and Carel (his PH) thought he was helping out Lynn with his wounded animal.  It seems that Carel forgot that Lynn had another round left in his rifle so he proceeded to wrestle with it attempting various methods to finally subdue it.  After dragging the Blesbok to the trail Lynn proceeded to remove the round from the chamber of his rifle.  Carel looked at Lynn in complete surprise and asked if he had another bullet in his rifle to which Lynn replied, “Yes!”.  Carel said, “Why didn’t you say something?” and Lynn smiled and said, “Because I had a lot of fun watching you and the Blesbok play, that’s why!”  Pieter as usual was up to his normal pranks and loved to touch Lynn and scare him while he was

sleeping.  Lynn was trying to catch a nap in the truck one day when Pieter reached over and touched his leg.  Lynn jumped so high that they say he almost made a sun roof in the Bakkie.  He also got a fright one day while sitting at a waterhole.  It seems that a huge orange butterfly came flying straight in to him.  Lynn was sure that it was an African Killer Bee!  He also wanted to warn everyone not to let Pieter carry the shooting sticks when it was time to relieve yourself in the bush.  When you’re busy and not looking Pieter loves to touch you on your backside with the sticks and make a loud Warthog squeal.  You can imagine the mess this can make on your clean, pressed hunting pants.  Cruiser’s helped them celebrate their anniversary with a very special dinner for them in the bush and at the same time completing our “Honeymoon Suite” lighting the Jacuzzi room with candles, prepared a bubble bath complete with wine and glasses for the 2 of them to enjoy.  Happy Anniversary Lynn & Cindie!!!!  During his stay Lynn also took a Gemsbok, Zebra, Warthog and a huge Impala.

Click HERE to see photos of Lynn's hunt.
 

JIM, ROXANN & LAURIE FONGER AND ADAM WEEMS

The third week of April was when Jim Fonger, his sisters Roxann and Laurie from Wisconsin and their nephew Adam Weems from Minnesota arrived.  This safari was Adam’s high school graduation present and it couldn’t have gone to a nicer young man.  Even though Roxann and Laurie weren’t hunting they had a ball going along on the hunts and ended up taking “a ton of pictures” and had Adam and Jim laughing all of the time.  There is something special about sharing these experiences with your family.  Although there was no real competition between Adam and Jim, it turns out that of the Kudu and Gemsbok that they both shot, Adam’s were both larger.  With only Adam’s Impala left to go Jim kept giving Adam a hard time saying that there was no way that all of his animals would be bigger as Jim had already taken a record book Impala.  On his last

day of hunting Adam took along his good luck charm, his aunt Roxann.  They came across a large bachelor herd of Impala and searched them thoroughly and Adam was ready to take the largest one that they saw but his PH Jacques told him to wait as there was another one lying down and he couldn’t see how big it was.  As soon as it stood up Jacques said, “Shoot him!!!!”.  Adam made a great shot and it turned out to be the largest Impala ever taken at Cruiser’s (26”).  This was a perfect trophy for a fine young man to end his African safari with and it may be quite a while before that record is topped.  Congratulations Adam!  To finish their African experience they all took a trip to both Marakele and Pilanesburg National Parks.  Upon arriving home Jim later said that it was priceless watching the look on his face while showing his mom and dad the pictures of his trip.

Click HERE to view photos of Jim & Adam's hunt.
 

GARY SEAMAN & MIKE HACHEZ

The end of April saw the arrival of Gary Seaman & Mike Hachez, friends from Alaska.  Hunting in Africa in short sleeves was a great change from the temperatures back home.  Mike started out his safari with an outstanding Blue Wildebeest.  He remembers realizing how great this experience was and what a great trophy he had taken for his first African animal.  Both of them had similar experiences with their Kudu’s.  For Gary, they had only spotted a female Kudu and then a few minutes later his bull stepped out from behind a tree.  Mike says his Kudu was one of the greatest adrenaline rushes that he had ever experienced.  His Kudu walked out of the bush only 50 yards away and made the fatal mistake to just stand there looking at him until he shot.  One day they wanted to do a little sitting together at a waterhole and they were amazed and amused when the PH and tracker fetched up an old couch that we use for just such an occasion.  One day on their return to the camp they

saw 2 Warthogs fighting with each other.  Upon stopping Gary jumped out of the truck and ran towards them.  The Warthogs had quite a fright when they saw Gary bearing down on them. Everyone except the Warthogs thought it was very funny.  Both Gary and Mike took a Kudu, Gemsbok, Blue Wildebeest, Impala, Blesbok and a Warthog.  Gary also took a beautiful Red Hartebeest and Mike took an excellent Waterbuck.  To end up their safari in Africa they both took a tour of Kruger National Park where they also saw a large number of animals.  They even were able to take a night drive while they were there and were able to see a Leopard.  To relive their trip they made a DVD in a slide show format along with music.  I want to thank them for sending me a copy of it and as I watch it I also am taken back to all of the memories that I personally have had there.  They also sent quite a few other pictures of their adventure and soon you will see a lot of them on the new wildlife picture gallery that I will be adding to the web site.

Click HERE to see Gary & Mikes photos.
 

PETE BUIST, DAN FIELD, ROSS FERGUSON & GARY ASHMEAD

Pete Buist from Alaska arrived the first week of May.  Pete hunted with us in 2003.  This year he was joined by 3 of his friends from Australia, Dan Field, Ross Ferguson and Gary Ashmead.  Pete, Dan & Ross have hunted together before and Gary was a friend of Ross’s.  This safari was one that almost didn’t happen as Pete had just had prostate surgery the month before and Dan had a heart attack just a little over a week before he was set to arrive.  Their doctors both told them to take it easy while they were there and we put the 2 “sickish” hunters together for their stay.  From the sound of the stories that I received, I better not tell their doctors everything that I heard while they were there.  There are actually so many stories that I could add here, it could become extremely long so I will just mention some of the more interesting ones.  Pete, when he returned, sent me his daily journal and it is great to read the moment to moment adventures that he wrote about.  It seems like the joking around started immediately and on the first day while they were having lunch in the bush a couple of Waterbuck charged right through the middle of everyone.  Jacques, already caught up in the joking, yells out, “The first one looks good!”.  He was shocked when before he knew it Pete chambered a live round in his gun.  “No, No!” Jacques yells, “It’s just a joke………”  Lucky PH & Waterbuck!  Gary started out his day 1 by taking a nice Blue Wildebeest and a Blesbok while Ross took a Gemsbok.  Pete and Dan used the excuse that they were saving themselves.  After the safari is over the 3 Australians are planning a trip to Kruger Park and the surrounding area.  Because of this malaria medication is required.  It turns out that the type that Dan was taking ends up giving him some side-effects.  He woke up in the middle of the night screaming that something was “touching me arm”.  After waking Gary up Dan realizes that what he has felt is just the mosquito netting over the bed.  These side-effects showed up again for him on the 3rd night when he again woke Gary up.  It seems that he was dreaming that he was being chased by a Rhino and ended up screaming again and racing around his room to escape the “Rhino”.  Dan had brought video taping equipment with him and ended up taking quite a bit of film including some excellent “kill” shots of both him and Pete.

After day one both Pete and Dan’s hunting success improved and the video that they took proves their success.  On day 4 Ross took the largest Kudu that was taken all year at Cruiser’s measuring just over 57”.  Dan wasn’t impressed with the smaller animals that are available and he was in the habit of calling them names.  One day a very large Steenbok appeared, which was one of the trophies that Pete really wanted to take.  It seems that while Pete was preparing for his shot Dan was whispering, rather loudly, “Look!  It’s a dicky duiker!  Shoot the dicky duiker, SHOOT THE DICKY DUIKER…..!!!!”.  It takes all of Pete’s concentration not to start laughing and make a great shot.  It turned out to be a magnificent Steenbok which will make the record books for both SCI and Rowland Ward.  Dan & Pete invented a new game while they were there also.  They named it “Trampoline Lizards”.  The way it is played is that while sitting at a waterhole utilizing a tarp for shade, little lizards will appear from time to time on the tarp.  They then launch the lizards with a flick of their fingers on the underside of the tarp.  Naturally this doesn’t cause any harm to the lizards and points are obtained with how the lizard actually lands.  I don’t know how it happened but one day Dan got hung up on a thorn bush inside the blind that he was sitting in and ended up with a face full of bloody cuts.  When he shows up at the dinner table that night he insists that it was caused by a rabid squirrel that ran into the blind.  Naturally no one believed him.  One of Gary’s main trophies that he was looking for was a Zebra.  He and Carel had been hunting hard for 4 days in pursuit of one.

One day Dan decides to hunt one and the total hunt only took about 20 minutes from start to finish (which by the way is a record for a Zebra hunt).  To get back to camp with the trophy the most direct route is past the area where everyone usually has lunch in the bush.  As luck would have it Carel and Gary were there having lunch and taking a break in the shade.  As they pass them, they can obviously see parts of the zebra sticking out of the back of the Bakkie.  They don’t stop but just slow down a little and Dan hollers out of the window, “We’ll be back in a little bit mate, we don’t have time right now as we got to get this Zebra in the fridge……….!!!”.  Dan and Pete both said later that it was worth a million bucks to see the looks on their faces.  As I mentioned earlier Dan took a lot of video while he was there and not only that but both him and Pete took literally hundreds of still pictures which they sent to me.  Not only were they of the scenery but some of the most amazing live photos of the animals.  Pete had sent me earlier his photos and I have included his best scenery pictures on our new “photo gallery”.  I will be including Dan’s scenery pictures in this gallery soon and when I put the “live” animal photo gallery on the web site there will be quite a few that you will enjoy from both Dan and Pete.  The number of animals that they saw while sitting at waterholes was enormous and the quality of their pictures shows it.  For example, one day for just the afternoon period they say 44 warthogs, 12 kudu, 3 blue wildebeest, 3 gemsbok and 4 waterbucks all while they were playing “Trampoline Lizards”.  Ross said that he saw many different animals himself during his hunts and that included a Rhino up close, a Gemsbok that didn’t know they were there and that just laid down in the grass while they were watching and a Genet in a tree in broad daylight (they are nocturnal and almost never seen during the day).

And by the way, Gary did end up getting his Zebra but that was not until after he had a little fun with Carel.  It seems that one day, probably out of zebra stalking boredom, Carel kept feeling things falling on him.  He finally discovered that Gary had been tossing Eland droppings his way.  I guess that may be a new way to get your PH to find you the animal that you are looking for.  I may have missed a couple of trophies but Pete ended up taking a Steenbok, Duiker, Zebra, Blue Wildebeest, Red Hartebeest, Waterbuck, 2 Impalas & 2 Warthogs.  Dan took a Kudu, Blue Wildebeest, Zebra, Blesbok, Impala & 2 Warthogs.  Gary took a Kudu, Blue Wildebeest, Blesbok, Zebra, Blesbok and also 2 Warthogs.  Ross took a Kudu, Gemsbok, Blue Wildebeest, Blesbok, Impala, Red Hartebeest, Jackal and only 1 Warthog.  When the Australians departed camp for Kruger, Pete decided to stay in camp for a few extra days.  On the next to last day that he was there he got a shock when he came back to his room.  Just thinking about a hot shower and a change of clothes he walked into his room and all of his gear was gone and the picture window was broken and there was glass all over the floor.  He found out that one of Pieter’s dad’s bulls was wandering past his window when he saw his reflection in the glass.  It seems that the bull simply head-butted what he thought was an adversary.  Pete spent that night in a new room.

I want to take this opportunity to again thank Pete and Dan for all of the pictures that they sent and you can be assured that they will be seen all over the web site in the future.  I want to add a special thank you to Dan who sent me 3 videos.  The first 2 were all of the video that he took while he was there (total length is longer than a standard motion picture) but also another shorter one that was very professionally done and we may even use in the future as a promo video (with a few beeps added).  I have to admit that when I get depressed for Africa I just sit down and watch his films and I am immediately drawn back to the wonders that are available at Cruiser’s.

Click HERE to view photos of Pete, Dan, Ross and Gary's hunt.
 

JOHN SZULCZEWSKI

I have to feel a little sorry for our next guest.  John Szulczewski from Wisconsin arrived in camp just a couple of days before Pete Buist’s group from above left.  Arriving in Africa for the first time and then being thrown into the lions den with an outfitter from Alaska and 3 vocal people from down under must have been a huge culture shock for John.  But even though he got a little extra sun on his face the first day John started out his safari on a high note by taking a nice Impala that day.  Hunting Kudu seemed to be quite a different thing though as he was having a difficult time with them.  Everything seemed to go wrong at the last minute and he ended

up missing a couple of them.  One day Pieter was with John and he couldn’t help but play one of his pranks on him.  While walking along Pieter suddenly yelled, “Shoot that Kudu”.  John looked in vein trying to spot what Pieter was talking about. All during this episode Pieter kept describing the location of the Kudu but John just couldn’t see it.  Naturally there wasn’t a Kudu there but Pieter ended up having a good laugh watching John trying to spot the phantom Kudu.  I don’t think John thought it was quite as funny as Pieter did.  John ended up taking some nice animals including his elusive Kudu and a Zebra, Blue Wildebeest, Gemsbok, Blesbok and a Warthog.

Sorry, we have no photos of Johns hunt.
 

MARTY & CLAUDIA ANTHONY

Arriving the 3rd week of May was Marty & Claudia Anthony from Mississippi.  Their plans were to film their safari for an upcoming video that they were producing and wanted to get some good footage for it.  Claudia was not a hunter and was in charge of the filming.  There is something about Africa that happens quite often and that is a non-hunting companion gets so caught up in the excitement of a safari that they turn into a hunter themselves.  That is exactly what happened in this case and on

day 6 Claudia took her first animal, a very nice Impala.  Naturally Marty was extremely proud of her.  The next day she also took an excellent Blue Wildebeest and I think the role of filming on their next safari will be given to someone else.  From the video clip that they sent me they did get some excellent footage and Marty’s shot on a record book Gemsbok was outstanding.  Marty also took a very large Impala and a nice Warthog.  I am looking forward to seeing the completed video of their safari.

Click HERE to view photos of Marty & Claudia's hunt.
 

TOM SKELTON

Tom Skelton from Mississippi had hunted previously in 2003 with Cruiser Safaris.  Knowing the excitement of Africa, this year he brought his daughter Jennie with him to share with him the experiences.  We know how rewarding and memorable this can be as in 2002 we had also brought our own daughter along with us.  As I’m sure Tom saw, just seeing the smiles on our daughter’s face was proof enough for us that this was a family vacation whose memories would last a lifetime.  One of Tom’s goals this trip was to hunt an Eland.  Not only was he successful with this goal but he ended up taking the largest Eland that anyone hunting with Cruiser’s had ever taken.  It was over 39”.  He also took a Waterbuck that was almost the largest that we have ever taken.  Along with the hunting Tom and Jennie also took time out to just sit in some blinds and took some very nice pictures of the animals.  To round out the total African experience they also visited Marakele National Park and Pilanesburg National Park where they were mocked charged by a young elephant bull.  They were also able to see some elephants up extremely close as they came within 10 yards of their vehicle.  During their safari Tom also took a Zebra, Red Hartebeest, Steenbok, Warthog, Caracal and a Kudu.  I am confident that when sharing their pictures with friends and family that both of them will be seen with big smiles on their faces.

Click HERE to see photos of Tom's hunt.

STEVE, KENNETH, KENNY & BRANDON JOHNSTON

Joining us the first part of June was Steve Johnston.  Steve is a master guide from the state of Arizona and has hunted Africa before.  This year he wanted to bring along other members of his family for their first African safari.  Joining Steve was his father Kenneth (who is 70 years young), his son Brandon and his brother Ken.  Everyone was so comfortable during their stay that it wasn’t long before the pranks started flowing both ways (I’m sure Pieter started this routine but he sure found out that he had met his match this time).  One of them involve a monkey but I’ll leave out the details for now as I will talk about it in the story about the next group of hunters that were in camp at the same time as the Johnston’s.  A relatively mild one was one where Brandon liked to go into everyone else’s room to use the bathroom and other’s candy seemed to disappear when he was around.  But the best prank was one that they pulled on Pieter which I think is the best that anyone has ever done.  It seems that one day they killed a snake and brought it back to camp.  They placed it strategically under Pieter’s truck.  When Pieter went out to his truck he almost stepped on it and jumped out of the way and (they said) screamed “like a girl”.   I would love to have a video of that moment and when I went myself later this year, Pieter wouldn’t scream like that for us.  Kenneth did something that I have never heard of anyone ever doing before.  It seems that while hunting Kudu the brush was very thick and he had a tough time spotting the animal.  When he shot it was a little far back.  As a matter of fact, he actually shot the tail right off of it.  They ended up tracking the Kudu for quite awhile and luckily the next day  

they were able to catch up with it again and he finished it off.  I must include a story here that Kenneth related to me.  While sitting at a waterhole one day a group of Warthog’s came in.  His PH told him that it was a big one and even his son Ken said that it looked like a big one to him.  Kenneth said that he didn’t come to hunt a Warthog and that “mom” would never let him hang it in the house anyway.  Ironically even Ken, who isn’t a hunter and  “wouldn’t kill a living thing”, told his dad that he should take it.  All of this encouragement was all he could take and finally he went ahead and shot it.  It went down on the spot immediately and didn’t move or even make any kind of a sound.  When they checked out the trophy it turned out to be a very old Warthog.  Kenneth said that, “It probably died of a heart attack when the rifle fired and if I hadn’t of shot it, it probably would have died of old age by tomorrow”.  Brandon showed everyone how to do it and every one of his trophies were one shot kills.  During their hunts they were able to observe a lot of the different wildlife that aren’t hunted.  They came within 30 yards of 2 bull rhino’s that were sparring and saw a female Cheetah with 6 babies and another unusual sight of 2 Brown Hyena’s.  A night time Spring Hare chase was something that everyone enjoyed.  Steve ended up taking the 3 animals that he came to Africa this time for, a Kudu, Gemsbok and a Waterbuck.  Brandon took 2 Blesbok (one over 16”), a Zebra and an Impala.  Besides Kenneth’s grandpa Warthog, he took a Kudu, Gemsbok and an Impala.  We are looking forward to other members of Steve’s family joining us in the future.

Click HERE to view photos of the Johnston's hunt.
 

TOM GILLETTE & AL LIWUSH

Tom Gillette and Al Liwush from New York arrived the same time as the Johnston’s.  It’s great when 2 different groups who are in camp at the same time mesh together so well.  From the group photos that I have received, they all look like one huge happy family.  On their day of arrival after a great dinner, Tom decided to retire early to bed to catch up on some sleep after the long flight.  As he slipped under the covers his feet touched something “warm & furry”.  He jumped out of bed and let out a scream!!  (I wonder if it was anything like the scream that Pieter made from the above story.)  On cold nights the staff at Cruiser’s places a hot water bottle in the bed to warm it up and Tom was unaware of this.  The next morning Pieter asked if he had a problem last night.  He explained what had happen and he thought that Pieter was going to die from laughing.  Thus Tom has earned the nickname “Water Bottle”.  As I mentioned in the Johnston’s story, the pranks around camp during this time included everyone.  Brandon placed a dead male Vervet monkey in Tom’s shower.  You can imagine the surprise when Tom stepped in to take a shower!  One of the characteristics of the male is their turquoise blue scrota.  Thus there were many references during their stay to blue balls in the shower.  Poor Tom………  On one of Al’s hunts on  one of our mountain concessions they heard something coming towards them from the foot of the hill.  It turned out to be Bushpigs coming right for

them and passing only 10 yards away.  They sent me pictures of them and that is the first time anyone at Cruiser’s has gotten a picture of this normally extremely wary animal.  Al did a lot of hunting in the mountains and this really paid off for him.  Along with 2 Kudu’s he was able to take a record book Klipspringer which is an accomplishment it itself.  I personally hunted for one for 3 years.  At the end of the hunting day Al liked to grab a beer and head over to the skinning room.  One day they were skinning Brandon’s Zebra and he noticed something on the floor.  He asked what it was and was told that it was the Zebra’s male member.  He was shocked to see Carel’s dog Bruno eat it though.   On his last day hunting he was sitting at a waterhole when a Duiker came in.  Hans told him that it was a big one but at first Al didn’t believe him and thought he was joking, but after thinking about the size of the Klipspringer that he took he shot it.  It turned out to be a record book animal.  All of Tom’s animals, a Kudu, Gemsbok, Blue Wildebeest, Red Hartebeest, Impala, Blesbok and Warthog ended up qualifying for the record book.  Al also ended up taking an Impala, Gemsbok, Blesbok, Blue Wildebeest, Warthog, Steenbok and a Jackal that made the mistake to stop and take a look at him.  After their very successful safari, Tom and Al headed to Cape Town to enjoy the local sights.  They took some wonderful pictures while they were there and you will see some of them in the future on the web site.

Click HERE to view photos of Tom & Al's hunt.
 

FRED GETTY

The 3rd week of June saw the arrival of Fred Getty from Virginia.  It’s normal that nicknames are given and received during your stay at Cruiser’s and there were plenty during Fred’s stay.  Because of the hat that Fred wore his PH, Jacques gave him the nickname Captain Smurf.  Fred gave him the nickname “lips” of which I never heard the reason for and even the trackers got in on this custom by calling him “Mr. Kudu Man” for the dance that he did after getting his Kudu.  I don’t think Jacques liked his nickname but his wife, Beatrix, loved Fred as he was always able to make her laugh and left a very generous tip for her.  Fred had a good laugh one

day when they were sitting in a blind that was basically a thorn bush.  It seems that every time that Jacques moved to pass something he would sit back down on a different thorn.  Hunting in the mountains for Kudu can at times wear you out from climbing up and down all of the time.  One day Jacques asked Fred if he would like him to carry his rifle for awhile.  Fred responded “The heck with the rifle, carry me!”   Besides Fred’s record book Kudu he took a Gemsbok, Impala, Blesbok, Warthog and a Blue Wildebeest.  By the way Jacques, Fred told me that the next time he comes he will be wearing that hat again.

Click HERE to view photos of Fred's hunt.
 

PHIL PALERMO, BILL PALERMO, BILL ANDRADE

Joining us the first week of July was Phil Palermo from Connecticut, his son Bill from Florida and Bill Andrade from New Hampshire.  Bill A’s hunt for Blue Wildebeest turned out exactly the same as the one that I had made.  It seems that they passed up several bulls when this one snorted at him.  They were going to pass him up also until it turned broad side and snorted at him again.  I don’t know what it is that goes through our heads when they do that but Bill did the same thing as I did when this happened to me.  We both “whacked” the loud mouth.   Bill was able to observe a very unusual creature, a Pangolin, during one of his hunts in the mountains.  The name Pangolin is a Malaysian word for “rolling up into a ball” which is exactly what it does to protect itself from its enemies.  This unusual animal looks like a lizard shaped pine cone, with tiny ears and a large tail and is completely covered with scales.   This year has been a very good one for seeing unusual animals and Phil was able to take a unique video of a Jackal.  While they were at a waterhole a Black Backed Jackal  was trying to make something his meal, even tormenting some of the larger animals.  Phil got some amazing footage of the Jackal killing a Bat Eared Fox.  This is something that is rarely seen by anyone and to have captured it all on video is remarkable.  Before they

left the waterhole that morning, Phil added this Jackal to his trophy collection.  Good job, Phil!  Bill P. was hunting one day when they came across a nice Steenbok that was grazing.  As they stalked him he ran but made the fatal mistake to stop.  When they went closer to examine his trophy they saw another one running away.  Now it seems like even his PH Hans had a sense of humor that day as he told Bill “There goes your Steenbok”.  Bill was ready to shoot again when Hans stopped him.  It turns out that there was another Steenbok in the same area that they hadn’t seen that was the one who ran away.   All 3 of them were able to do some bird hunting while they were there and I can’t help but mentioning a notation in Hans log.  It says that Bill got 2 Guinea Fowl and a mouse.  Now I like my Amarula as much as the next person but I have to admit that I have never seen a mouse fly.  Anyway, nice shooting Bill.  They all ended up taking some very nice trophies.  Bill Palermo, beside the Steenbok, took a Blue Wildebeest, Gemsbok, Kudu, Blesbok, Impala, Warthog and a Zebra.  Phil also took an excellent Duiker, a Gemsbok, Impala, Warthog, Kudu, Red Hartebeest and a Blesbok.  In addition to the loud mouthed Blue Wildebeest, Bill Andrade took a Warthog, Impala, Gemsbok, Kudu and a Blesbok.

Click HERE to view photos of Phil, Bill & Bill's hunt.
 

BILL FREEMAN

     Arriving in mid July was Bill Freeman and his wife Gayle.  Though Gayle had been on her college rifle team, she had never actually hunted previously but wanted to hunt a Gemsbok.  One the very first day they did some stalks on a few herds of Gemsbok and before you know it Gayle had taken her first animal ever.  A beautiful record book bull Gemsbok that turned out to be the largest bull that we took all of this year.  Eating some of her Gemsbok grilled for lunch one day made the whole special experience even more memorable.  Even though the wind ended up defeating some excellent stalks that Bill made, there is one stalk that really stands out from the others.  They did a successful stalk, crawl and then leopard crawl through the bush on a Blesbok.  When they finally got into position the Blesbok was standing on an ant hill overlooking the herd after it had just defeated some of the other males.  Bill took this dominate male animal as his trophy.  Bill also made Pieter extremely happy as he brought some special hand loaded 7 X 57 ammo for him to try.  Pieter told him that it was the best ammo that he had ever used and it was perfect for his rifle.  Now he’s spoiled and trying to figure out how he can get more of it.  One of the goals that Bill had set was to take a Warthog with his pistol and if you look at the pictures of their safari you will see a very happy and successful handgun hunter.  Bill also took another Warthog, a perfect frontal shot Zebra, a Blue Wildebeest, Impala and a Kudu.  After their safari Bill and Gayle rapped up there perfect trip to South Africa with a trip to Kruger National Park.

Click HERE to view photos of Bill' & Gayle's hunt.

BRYAN BURR & STEVE HORROCKS

Getting into South Africa just before the major cancellations with South African Airlines was Bryan Burr and his wife Leslie along with their friend Steve Horrocks, all from Utah.  Prior to arriving Bryan had contacted me and said that he wasn’t looking for record book trophies but just representative animals.  I am a firm believer that this is the perfect mind set for your first trip to Africa.  It seems that with that goal in mind you usually end up with very good trophies and Bryan once again proved this to be correct.  As a matter of fact on his very first day of hunting he took the biggest Gemsbok so far for the year and the 2nd largest Kudu of the year.  His Kudu was close to 56 inches.  As the way hunting seems to go, his second day was not a repeat of his first.  It seems that Bryan wounded an Impala and a long tracking job then took place.  Finally late in the day they put Carel’s tracking dog Bruno on the task.  Bruno was up to the task and located his Impala and Bryan finished it off.  Bryan’s wife Leslie was most impressed with this and said, “God Bless Bruno!”  If you’re not watching where you go sometimes there is

a good chance that you might fall into a Warthog hole.  Everyone had to laugh when one time Bryan was warning Leslie about a hole to avoid when he stepped into another one himself.  One of the nightmares that sometimes faces hunters is that when they get ready to shoot there isn’t a bullet in the chamber.  This is exactly what happened to Steve on his Kudu hunt.  Luckily the Kudu was trying to figure out what was going on which gave Steve the opportunity to rack in a bullet and take his trophy.  On the other hand sometimes lady luck is just with you.  On one day while Steve was in the bush having lunch, in walks a very nice Warthog and Steve interrupted his lunch long enough to take this fine trophy.  There is sometimes talk as to how tough African animals can be but Steve was amazed that this also applied to birds.  He shot a flying dove one afternoon and was amazed that at the shot the bird actually did a complete roll in the air and then continued to fly off.  During his safari Bryan also took a Blue Wildebeest, Blesbok and a Warthog.  Steve also took a Gemsbok, Blesbok, Blue Wildebeest and an Impala besides his slow to react Kudu and lunch time Warthog.

Click HERE to view photos of Bryan & Steve's hunt.
 

CARLOS MARIN

Arriving the end of July was Carlos Marin and his wife Rosario from Spain.  Luckily he was flying on another airline and didn’t have to worry about the South African Airline strike.  Our Ph Jacques seems to like to make tree stands and hunt out of them.  As Carlos was hunting with him he was able to see first hand his construction skills.  One day they were sitting in one of these “famous” blinds and Carlos asked Jacques who the engineer was.  Proudly Jacques announced that he was and Carlos said that he should export the patent for them.  Now I have seen these engineering marvels and I sure wouldn’t

want to see them catch on in other countries.  One day Pieter called Jacques and Carlos to come to one of the properties as there was a crippled Blesbok there.  Carlos came and dispatched the Blesbok and it turned out to be one of the largest of the year.  Thanks Carlos and congratulation on the excellent trophy.  During his safari Carlos also took an exceptional Gemsbok and a Red Hartebeest, 2 Impalas, a Warthog and Kudu.  After they left Cruiser’s they spent some additional time sight seeing in South Africa before returning home.

Click HERE to view photos of Carlos's hunt.
 

TIM HERALD

Tim Herald from Kentucky is a black powder hunter and also an outdoor writer.  His goal was to write an article that goes into detail on how to plan a muzzleloading safari to Africa from the very beginning through the actual safari itself, that occurred the first week of August.  I’m going to forego Tim’s story here and let you know that he did  

just that.  Part one of his article is in the Winter 2005 issue of Blackpowder Guns & Hunting and the conclusion will be in the Spring 2006 issue that is due out in February.  Please pick up copies of this magazine for his complete and well written safari.  Blackpowder Guns & Hunting is published by Grand View Media Group, P.O. Box 698, Birmingham, AL 35201.  Subscription Service – 800-260-7323

Click HERE to view photos of Tim's hunt.
 

LEE & SUZANNE TEAGUE

Arriving at the same time as the Dipaola’s were Lee & Suzanne Teague, both of them hunters from Colorado, although on this trip Suzanne was only planning on hunting a Gemsbok and leaving most of the hunting up to Lee.  After a long morning of seeing many animals, numerous stalks and even finding Cheetah tracks on the road by lunchtime they were both very hungry.  In jest Suzanne ask Hans if they were going to McDonald’s for lunch.  After a puzzled look on Hans’s face they arrived at a waterhole where table and chairs had been set up.  They named the place McDonald’s.  When Lee took his Wildebeest they had it all set up for picture taking when Suzanne stopped the whole process saying there was a rock showing from underneath the animal.  She got a lot of friendly ribbing when they pointed out that the rock was part of the animal’s anatomy.  Suzanne redeemed herself the next day by taking a record book Steenbok.  Each night at dinner was a grand time with all of the couples.  They enjoyed walking over to the skinning room with their after dinner wines and tales of the days successful hunters.  As usual there were the numerous jokes and one night Lee & Suzanne brought out their Gatorade to drink to help with their leg cramps.  The others ended up calling it powdered Viagra for Old Folks!  One evening before dinner Pieter came in and excitedly told everyone that they needed some help to find a Leopard that a neighbor had just spotted.  Everyone grabbed a coat and piled into the back of the bakkies.  With Carel sitting in the front of the bakkie shining a spotlight they came to a clearing and laid out before them was a beautiful dinner setting including lovely set tables and a huge bon fire.  Everyone had a great time visiting there that night and every hunter took his turn telling of their favorite moment.  It was very late when they got back to camp.  Finally on the 5th day Suzanne found the Gemsbok that she was looking for and proved her shooting ability by taking it off hand with one shot.  This even impressed Hans who later told Jacques, “That lady can shoot!”  Lee found out the hard way how challenging Zebra hunting be and how resilient they can be.  Even after his first well placed shot, it took 3 more to finally bring his trophy down.  Almost all of their trophies, including both of Suzanne’s, were record book.  Beside the record book Blue Wildebeest and the tough Zebra that Lee took, he also took a 25” Impala, Warthog, Blesbok and a Kudu.

Click HERE to view photos of Lee & Suzanne's hunt.

DAVE RAHN & VALENE

The 3rd couple for mid-August was Dave Rahn and his wife Valene from Michigan.  As sometimes happens, Dave’s safari started out on a slow note as he didn’t get anything the first day but he really made up for it later.  Bad luck struck the 3rd day when he wounded a Waterbuck, however Pieter recovered it later while tracking another clients Impala and Dave ended up with a very nice trophy after thinking the chances of recovering it was slim to nil.  Day 4 he missed a Red Hartebeest that was standing broadside at 60 yards but when it ran off Dave got his shooting legs back and made a perfect running shot on it and really showed his shooting ability after that.  He took a record book Kudu in the mountains with a perfect shot at 221 yards and then made a spectacular shot on a Baboon at 256 yards.

Great shooting Dave!  Every animal from that point was a 1 shot kill.  He mentioned that the trackers really didn’t talk much but he found that candy was a great motivator.  Dave related to me that his most memorial experience was taking a 13 minute video of a herd of Zebra coming into a water hole late one afternoon.  He ended up taking the large stallion that was bringing up the rear.  Beside the memorable dinner in the bush one night, Dave and Valene were able to finish the safari on a high note their last day with a game drive on our next door neighbors property.  They are planning a return visit as soon as possible and we are looking forward to their return.  Beside the animals listed above, Dave also took 2 Impala, a Warthog, Gemsbok, Blue Wildebeest, Blesbok and a Black Backed Jackal.

Click HERE to view photos of Dave's hunt.
 

IKE IKEGUCHI & KATE

And last, but not least, of our 4 mid August couples was Takumaro (Ike) Ikeguchi and his wife Kazuko (Kate) from New York.  Luckily they already had nicknames as I know Pieter would never have been able to pronounce their names.  They stayed overnight in Johannesburg on their arrival for their 11 day safari in order to be rested before they started hunting, and hunting they did taking more animals than anyone has ever done on a safari with us, 19 and a lot of them qualified for the record book.  And hard hunting they did.  On the very first day they went to the mountain property to look for Kudu.  Ike stumbled and bruised his leg very bad.  In the following days he walked, stalked and even leopard crawled on several occasions and never once complained.  If you have ever hunted with Pieter you will know that he likes to sing from time to time.  Now there is nothing wrong with that, however personally I am not overly impressed with his renditions, but Ike said that he was a very good singer and they had lots of fun.  I have to wonder just a little bit if he didn’t also fall on his ear.   Ike has hunted all over the world and even though this was his first trip to Africa he wanted to introduce Kate to the hunting world.  She was coming as an observer but would probably want to try hunting one animal.  Ike bought her a new gun and they spent considerable amount of time practicing before their safari and she became quite proficient with it.  And that proved to be the fact when on their first day Kate shot a Kudu.  Ike also took a record book Kudu earlier that first day and he said when he heard the shot from the area that Kate was hunting, he prayed for her success.  When he got there he was overjoyed that she had also shot a record book trophy.  The Kudu’s were their first African animal for both of them and even though Ike had shot many nice trophies in the past he couldn’t help being overcome   

with joy as he walked up to his trophy with tears in his eyes.  Congratulations to Kate and welcome to our sport.  And by the way I just wanted to mention that they have already booked another safari next year with Cruiser’s and Kate is coming back as a hunter in 2006.  Naturally after that first day of success Kate wanted to hunt just a little more.  She decided to hunt a Blesbok also.   During the hunt Pieter was setting her up for the shot and it seemed like she was searching for the animal in the distance.  Kate couldn’t believe it when Pieter turned her just a little and there was her trophy, a beautiful White Blesbok only 18 yards away.  Another perfect shot and Kate had another African trophy.  Kate doesn’t speak much English and in the evenings and at dinner Ike would translate the stories and especially all of the jokes to her, which I understand she really liked.  Ike also taught Pieter a little Japanese while he was there and  he was very proud to use his new found knowledge when Leesa and I came later in the year.  Ike, I must mention that some of those words that you taught Pieter, well… he really didn’t need to learn those.  Even though Ike shot many animals I am going to conclude with just one story that happened near the end of his safari.  They came across a Gemsbok bull in the open field one day and they were both just standing there admiring it.  Ike looked at it through his telescope and even though he had a larger one hanging in the skinning room the temptation was just too much for him.  The next thing you know Ike said “The heck with it, I shoot it” and he pulled the trigger making a perfect shot on the bull that they were just going to look at.  Kate ended up also taking a Red Hartebeest on their safari.  Beside the Kudu and the 2 Gemsbok, Ike also took 2 Steenboks, 3 Impalas, 2 Zebras, a Blesbok, Waterbuck, Blue Wildebeest, Red Hartebeest, Warthog and an Ostrich.

Click HERE to view photos of Ike & Kate's hunt.
 

KIM STUART, JIM GEFROH,
IKE GEFROH, TOM TEWS,
KEN CEREGHINO, TOM TOLKAC

Arriving the end of August was Kim Stuart & Ken Cereghino from California along with Jim Gefroh, Tom Tews, Tom Tolkacz from Colorado and Jim’s brother Ike Gefroh from Florida.  Kim and Jim (who makes quality flintlock rifles) have hunted all over southern Africa and specialize in hunting with black powder rifles and have taken most of the Big 5 with them.  Although Jim’s brother Ike, who also hunted with black powder, has been to South Africa previously, their friends Ken, Tom & Tom were making their first African safari.  On previous trips to Africa Kim had developed quite a fondness for Biltong (similar to our jerky) and on the way to camp they stopped and he bought about a $100.00 worth.  Ike (from the previous group) had seen an unusual Gemsbok on one of the properties and given it the name “Blue Fish”.  On Tom Tolkacz’s first morning he spotted this non-typical animal and decided that he must have it (see Tom’s Tolkac's Gemsbok picture).  Tom was having a little trouble with missing some of the animals he shot at and Pieter felt he needed something to help out.  One day, after some very hard hunting, he stopped at a local shop and bought Tom a local beer called Chibuku (see photos) and this local cure worked perfectly for him.  After that he earned the nickname “Chibuku”.  It must really have made the difference as Tom ended up taking a total of 9 animals.  Just a short question for Tom.  Pieter, who seems to always be up to some kind of mischief, wants to know if you ever found the rock that he added to your backpack while you were in the mountains.  The other Tom, Tom Tews, earned the nickname “Great White Hunter” during his stay.  Even though a couple of times when it came time to shoot, he didn’t have a bullet in the chamber, he was able to take one of the largest Impala’s of the year.  It measured 25¾”.  Having a female Rhino and its calf come very, very close to them one day at a water hole made for an exciting and at the same time a   nerve racking experience for him.  Even though he has collected many African animals on previous

safaris, Jim has a passion for Warthog’s and took 3 during his safari.  He thus earned the nickname “Warthog Willy”.  On one of these hunts Jim, who was using an 8 bore black powder rifle, was not braced well and when he shot he ended up loosing his balance and falling backwards.  This caused quite a bit of laughter as when the smoke cleared and there was Jim on the ground with both feet sticking up.  Ken, the “candy man” Cereghino started his safari off on a perfect note with the taking of a record book Kudu on the first day.  His luck held up when one day after walking through some brush they came to a dirt road.  While standing there taking a breather some Impala’s wandered onto the same road.  Most of them continued on to the brush on the other side except the big ram who made the fatal mistake to stop for a minute on the road.  This is when Ken added another record book animal to his trophies.  What a rush it must have been when he was getting ready to shoot a Warthog and up walks a Kudu bull to within 10 feet of them.  At that distance he could even see the eye lashes on the bull.  The priority animal that Ike was looking for on this safari to Africa was a Waterbuck.  He discovered that this trophy could sometimes be very elusive as he hunted for 5 days for it.  He was about to give up on achieving this goal when Pieter convinced him to give it at least until noon on the next day.  They did manage to see several nice bulls and some were in shooting range of his muzzleloader, but Pieter recommended that they wait for a larger bull.  Even though they didn’t get one by noon, with seeing all of the animals that morning he decided to give it one more try that afternoon and after enduring flies chewing on their legs as they stood motionless while being caught in the open when a bull Waterbuck turned to look at them.  Ike ended up taking a very nice Waterbuck later that afternoon.  Our congratulations go out to Kim who took an exceptional White Blesbok that may prove to be the new #1 taken with a muzzleloader and that entire hunt was captured on video.  A great safari for everyone, taking a total of 22 animals.

Click HERE to view photos of Kim, Jim,  Ike, Tom, Ken & Tom's hunt.
 

STANLEY SILER, STEVEN SILER & WILL MESSER

The first week of September saw the arrival of Stanley Siler from Alabama, his son Steven Siler from South Carolina and Will Messer from Georgia.  Will was a childhood friend of Steven’s and has always been considered a son and brother by all.  Before he arrived Steven had mentioned that he would like to cook everyone a good old southern breakfast.  The perfect opportunity came one morning when the power went out.  Steve gathered the wood himself for the braai.  Even though the power came back on just as the fire was ready, everyone was able to enjoy their breakfast barbeque.  I understand that his wife had put a bunch of notes in his pockets for him to find when he arrived.  I wonder what they said.  Stanley earned the nickname Amos Moses while he was there as anything he liked he would say Amos Moses about.  It  seems that Steven was always just about getting

run over.  One day while they were walking near a Warthog hole the Warthog came flying out and really gave them a fright.  On a another occasion they almost got ran over by an Impala ram and ewe.  Stanley’s first shot on an Impala hit it in the family jewels but he quickly followed up with a perfect second shot.  Will was with Stanley when he got his Kudu and to be able to share this experience made it a very special moment for him.  After seeing the Kudu’s of Stanley and Steven, Will was bound and determined to get a larger one.  Even with a brace on his knee he hunted hard and  was able to take a record book one that was almost 54”.  He also took a very nice Blue Wildebeest and a record book Impala.  Steven took a Kudu, Gemsbok, Duiker and an Impala and Stanley added a Blue Wildebeest and a Warthog to his trophies.  They had a great last day when they all did a little bird hunting.

Sorry, we have no photos of Stanley, Steven & Will's hunt.
 

WADE & CINDY WILLIAMSON AND MATT & ANNE WILLIAMSON

Arriving the same time as Jerry & Jim were Wade and his wife Cindy and their son Matt and his wife Anne, all from North Dakota.  Wade and Matt are both avid bow hunters and along with their rifles they brought their bows also.  Their first night at camp really set the stage for all of their stay.  Matt had a wrestling story that he wanted to relate and used Pieter (who is never on the receiving end of good jokes) as his subject.  I can’t tell you the joke here but it is by far the best joke that had ever been played on Pieter.  This episode was entirely priceless to the PH’s who were there to enjoy it and Jacques said he almost wet his pants laughing so hard.  To tell you the truth, Jacques was still laughing about it a month later when we arrived.  Matt immediately earned the nickname “Father Nelson”.   Wade and Matt both demonstrated their expertise with not only their bow but their stalking ability by both taking their Kudu’s by this method.  Wade’s stalk involved crawling for 45 minutes to get within 30 yards.  This has only been accomplished one other time at Cruiser’s and both of their Kudu’s should also qualify for the record book.  Everyone was very impressed to say the least.  Congratulations go out to these two hunters.  Another round of applause goes out to Cindy.  Even though she wasn’t planning on hunting she couldn’t resist going for a Waterbuck.  Jacques worked very hard for her and she took one that also should qualify for the record book.  Cindy said that even though she has hunted for 20 years, she was still shaking with excitement 4 hours after that.   One day Wade and Jacque were returning to the road when they flushed a boar Warthog.  Quickly thinking, Jacques imitated the sound of an aggressive boar and the Warthog stopped immediately and turned back.  This is when Wade dropped it.  They all took a day off on day 8 and took a very enjoyable trip to Pilanesburg National Park.  Beside the Kudu that Matt took with the bow, he also took a Warthog with his bow.  His other trophies included a Zebra (which he took on his very first day), 2 Impala’s, a Gemsbok, Blue Wildebeest and a Jackal.  Wade also took 2 Impalas and a Warthog with his bow and he also took a Blue Wildebeest, another Warthog, a Zebra and a Gemsbok.

Click HERE to view photos of Wade & Matt's hunt.

DAN ADKINS

Dan Adkins from Ohio hunted with Cruiser’s in 2004 and couldn’t wait to return for another safari the first week of October.  This year Dan wanted to pursuit a Bushbuck.  He only had limited time for his safari this year and he learned quickly that a Bushbuck can be a very difficult animal to hunt.  He hunted the first 3 days without any success.  On the 4th day they went to a concession that is on the Limpopo River which is the boundary between South Africa and Botswana.  As luck would have it they came upon the largest Bushbuck that anyone had ever seen in the area and as lady luck can quickly make your day, she can also take it away from you

immediately.  It seems that Dan’s shot at this huge Bushbuck hit a tree limb that was partially blocking it and they never saw that animal again.  He did end up taking a very nice Bushbuck just a little while later to save the day.  Again lady luck seemed to be on his side that day.  Pieter mentioned this huge Warthog that he had tried to take and Hans took him out looking for it.  He was successful and it turns out to be the largest Warthog shot all year, a 14½” monster.  Before he had to return home, Dan was also able to take a Blue Wildebeest.  We hope to see him again soon and he said that Waterbuck was next on his list.

Click HERE to view photos of Dan's hunt.
 

Our last group of the year in mid October were from Argentina.  They included Nestor Bavasso, Juan Bollero, Eduardo Vidal, Jorge Iglesias, Juan Ercolano and his son Luis.  Although the language differences were a little confusing it wasn’t long before everyone learned how to communicate with each other.  Nestor, who organized the safari and who spoke a little English earned the nickname, "Professor".  He loved to have his picture take on video and was very competitive with some of the sports.  Hearing of a race in the bush that some member of the party had, he challenged Pieter and one of our trackers to a race.  With Juan as the starter for the race, Pieter, Nestor and Isaac our tracker took off at the same time but Pieter got the best of them (Pieter has had a lot of practice in this sport trying to run down Spring Hares).  I must let Nestor know here that he actually would have won the pool game with Pieter, but when Nestor wasn’t looking, Pieter cheated.  Nestor also ended up with his own cheering squad and if I wasn’t there the week after they left to hear it myself, I wouldn’t have believed it either.  For some ambiance Pieter had captured some frogs and added them to the waterfall area next to the pool.  At night when they started croaking it sounded like they were croaking NES TOR, NES TOR.  I really don’t know how he got frogs to say his name.  Nester hunted hard for a White Blesbok and wasn’t having much luck when one day while they were out the Blesbok had chosen their direction and they came walking straight towards them.  Nestor took a record book White Blesbok that measured over 17½”.  In all of our  

vehicles we have 2 way radios in order to keep in touch with each other and the base camp.  Juan Bollero loved these radios and spent considerable time singing on it.  I wonder what the camp staff thought when they heard this for the first time.  Juan hunted with Jorge for their Kudus and they ended up taking 2 very nice Kudus within 2 hours of each other.   On Jorge’s stalk, his PH Jacques heard the Kudus but couldn’t see them so he tossed a rock in their direction.  The Kudus didn’t know where the noise came from and walked right into the open for Jorge.  Eduardo loved Warthogs and I’m really not sure how many he ended up shooting at and taking but it was quite a few.  Juan Ercolano also had a passion for pigs and requested that he be allowed to slaughter one of his to prepare for everyone for dinner.  He made 3 meals out of it.  The first 2 nights they were prepared over the braai and the 3rd in a stew.  Everybody got their fill of Warthogs.  The hunting season ended on a great note with Nestor taking a Waterbuck, Impala, Blue Wildebeest, 2 Warthogs and also a Jackal.  Jorge took besides his Kudu, an Eland, Blue Wildebeest, Waterbuck, 2 Impala, Gemsbok and a couple of Warthogs.  In addition to his Warthogs, Eduardo took an Impala, Gemsbok, Blue Wildebeest, a huge Waterbuck and a Red Hartebeest.  Juan Bollero took a record book Kudu, Gemsbok, Impala, Warthog, Blue Wildebeest, Waterbuck, Zebra and a Blesbok.  Juan and his son Luis took a couple of Impalas, 4 Warthogs, a Blue Wildebeest and a Blesbok.

Sorry, we have no photos of this group's hunt.