In 2004 Dale and I traveled to Southern Africa for a bird hunting/fishing/sightseeing safari. We went with three other couples, all of whom are friends and fellow members of Burge Plantation, a shooting and hunting club near Atlanta. All four women were shooters and became bird hunters on this trip.
We started by touring Capetown and its various attractions, and then flew to Victoria Falls Airport and onto the Inchingo Lodge on the Chobe River in Namibia. We fished for Tiger fish, a vigorous fighting fish with barbed teeth. But we quickly discovered a more attractive option was to simply explore the Chobe and Zambezi Rivers by boat and be amazed by all the wildlife, viewed from the water.
From there we drove to a camp in Botswana, from which we hunted francolin, guinea fowl and doves with great success.
We then flew back to South Africa and drove to the Zululand Lodge from which we hunted guinea fowl, francolin, pigeons and ducks and geese. We collected specimens of guinea fowl, red and yellow billed ducks, spur-winged goose and Egyptian goose, which are on display in our home today.
We took a morning to travel with a history professor to the site of the famous Isandlwana battle in the Zulu War of 1879, dramatized by the movie “Zulu” starring Michael Caine, Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins and others.
On our way back to the flight home, we visited Victoria Falls and felt and saw the great power and majesty of this natural wonder.
It was a unique experience to both view wild game and to hunt on the ground in the middle of the veldts of South Africa and Botswana. A true voyage of discovery.
The music is exceptional. Turn your volume to full. The photos were taken by a small point and shoot camera and at a time when I knew little of photography.
