If you read the title as “A freakin Trip of a lifetime” then you’re off to a good start.
Two years ago, an Africa trip was not really a realistic idea for me. I had pondered on the thought of going many times. I just never really thought it would happen.
While cruising the classifieds back in Sept of 2017 I came across an ad for a TBH special thru Adansonia Safaris. I followed the ad for 3 months and the more comments I read the more interested I got.
I called three buddies that are not TBH members and pitched the idea of an Africa trip. After calculating numbers, discussing dates and convincing our wives that this was a great idea, I contacted Diamond S (Scott Smith) and set into motion what is now the best hunt I’ve ever been on in my life.
I could sit here all night, typing, and not cover a fraction of details that has taken place the last 14 days. So here is a quick summary of my experience on my first African hunt with Adansonia Safaris.
After contacting Scott, getting the run down on the operation, and a thousand questions answered, there was one statement made in our conversation that sealed the deal for us to book this trip. “I’ve hunted with Adansonia Safaris 11 times in 22 years.”
I figured if a man had been back to the same Outfitter that many times, there was a dang good reason for it. So deposits were sent and a July-August 2019 Trip was booked. That year and a half flew by!
I found myself contacting muddyfuzzy @ Valhalla Bow Works and having a dozen arrows built specifically for this hunt as I wanted to take as many animals off my list with a bow, but also had the option to swap over to a gun if need be.
I then ordered a dozen 100 grain red DRT Broadheads from Dirt Nap Gear. I normally shoot mechanical broadheads, but wanted to try a fixed blade on the bigger African trophies. My sons and wife have killed deer and turkey with these heads so I already had a little history with them.
My 3 buddies, Nimesh, Randall & Zak would all be gun hunting. They chose to use guns that Andasonia could furnish to speed up the wait times with customs at the arrival in Johannesburg.
Finally the wait was over and we were off to Africa 2 weeks ago on July 29. We met our group (10 total) at Houston and flew Emirates to Dubai, and then to Joburg. I was fortunate enough to meet 3 TBH Members that would be hunting with our group. Flights were great. The airline was fantastic. We had a very easy process with luggage, bows and firearms.
There were 2 drivers at the airport to pick us up and haul luggage. So accommodations were off to a great start.
A 3.5 hr drive to the lodge and we were shaking hands, grabbing a quick bite to eat, writing down a target list down, shooting guns,bows, introduced to Moff, (Owner) and all the PH’s and just like that, we were in Africa!!!!
Now we really didn’t have any kind of expectations as we had never hunted Africa and didn’t have any animals on our wall to compare sizes to what we wanted to kill. We had done some research and new what animals we wanted, but mostly we were there to have a good time and make some memories.
Our first evening on stands & in trucks proved that we were hunting with a superb outfit. A huge variety of Animals were seen that evening as well as the rest of the week and the one thing that stood out to us all was the encouragement to pass animals that we would have loved to shoot, because the PH’s felt we could kill bigger. This was a huge deal for us because as first time African hunters, we could have easily been told to shoot below average animals and never known the difference until it was too late. None the less our animals killed proved to be above average and there were zero complaints.
I’ll let the pics speak for our hunt.
I had to swap to the long gun for my Gemsbok & Springbok being that they don’t have to have water for up to 2 weeks in the Summer time.
Our group of 4 killed 29 animals out of the total 54 animals that were taken over an 8 day hunt. We each killed more animals than we had planned on shooting. We had an absolute blast and will definitely be going back to hunt with Andasonia Safaris.
I honestly can’t say enough good things about Andasonia Safaris. Mof and Minnie run an outstanding business and are great Christian people. Their children and their staff’s respectful attitudes and politeness speak volumes of what kind of people, parents and employers they are. All of the PH’s were very personal and lots of friendships were made in the short time we were there.
The food and accommodations were outstanding as my waist line can vouch for.
The only regret we had about the trip was having to pack up and come home.
I highly recommend them to any one interested in an African Safari hunt. They have a Facebook page. Scott Smith (Diamond S) can also get you in contact with them.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Two years ago, an Africa trip was not really a realistic idea for me. I had pondered on the thought of going many times. I just never really thought it would happen.
While cruising the classifieds back in Sept of 2017 I came across an ad for a TBH special thru Adansonia Safaris. I followed the ad for 3 months and the more comments I read the more interested I got.
I called three buddies that are not TBH members and pitched the idea of an Africa trip. After calculating numbers, discussing dates and convincing our wives that this was a great idea, I contacted Diamond S (Scott Smith) and set into motion what is now the best hunt I’ve ever been on in my life.
I could sit here all night, typing, and not cover a fraction of details that has taken place the last 14 days. So here is a quick summary of my experience on my first African hunt with Adansonia Safaris.
After contacting Scott, getting the run down on the operation, and a thousand questions answered, there was one statement made in our conversation that sealed the deal for us to book this trip. “I’ve hunted with Adansonia Safaris 11 times in 22 years.”
I figured if a man had been back to the same Outfitter that many times, there was a dang good reason for it. So deposits were sent and a July-August 2019 Trip was booked. That year and a half flew by!
I found myself contacting muddyfuzzy @ Valhalla Bow Works and having a dozen arrows built specifically for this hunt as I wanted to take as many animals off my list with a bow, but also had the option to swap over to a gun if need be.
I then ordered a dozen 100 grain red DRT Broadheads from Dirt Nap Gear. I normally shoot mechanical broadheads, but wanted to try a fixed blade on the bigger African trophies. My sons and wife have killed deer and turkey with these heads so I already had a little history with them.
My 3 buddies, Nimesh, Randall & Zak would all be gun hunting. They chose to use guns that Andasonia could furnish to speed up the wait times with customs at the arrival in Johannesburg.
Finally the wait was over and we were off to Africa 2 weeks ago on July 29. We met our group (10 total) at Houston and flew Emirates to Dubai, and then to Joburg. I was fortunate enough to meet 3 TBH Members that would be hunting with our group. Flights were great. The airline was fantastic. We had a very easy process with luggage, bows and firearms.
There were 2 drivers at the airport to pick us up and haul luggage. So accommodations were off to a great start.
A 3.5 hr drive to the lodge and we were shaking hands, grabbing a quick bite to eat, writing down a target list down, shooting guns,bows, introduced to Moff, (Owner) and all the PH’s and just like that, we were in Africa!!!!
Now we really didn’t have any kind of expectations as we had never hunted Africa and didn’t have any animals on our wall to compare sizes to what we wanted to kill. We had done some research and new what animals we wanted, but mostly we were there to have a good time and make some memories.
Our first evening on stands & in trucks proved that we were hunting with a superb outfit. A huge variety of Animals were seen that evening as well as the rest of the week and the one thing that stood out to us all was the encouragement to pass animals that we would have loved to shoot, because the PH’s felt we could kill bigger. This was a huge deal for us because as first time African hunters, we could have easily been told to shoot below average animals and never known the difference until it was too late. None the less our animals killed proved to be above average and there were zero complaints.
I’ll let the pics speak for our hunt.
I had to swap to the long gun for my Gemsbok & Springbok being that they don’t have to have water for up to 2 weeks in the Summer time.
Our group of 4 killed 29 animals out of the total 54 animals that were taken over an 8 day hunt. We each killed more animals than we had planned on shooting. We had an absolute blast and will definitely be going back to hunt with Andasonia Safaris.
I honestly can’t say enough good things about Andasonia Safaris. Mof and Minnie run an outstanding business and are great Christian people. Their children and their staff’s respectful attitudes and politeness speak volumes of what kind of people, parents and employers they are. All of the PH’s were very personal and lots of friendships were made in the short time we were there.
The food and accommodations were outstanding as my waist line can vouch for.
The only regret we had about the trip was having to pack up and come home.
I highly recommend them to any one interested in an African Safari hunt. They have a Facebook page. Scott Smith (Diamond S) can also get you in contact with them.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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