I slept pretty well that first night, despite the jetlag. But rather than sleeping until 8, I was up with the blaze-orange sun at 6. Still feeding in the dim morning light not 70 yards from my window was a herd of blesbok and a duiker; a pretty cool start to my safari. After a hearty breakfast served in the open-air dining area, we loaded into the Toyota Land Cruiser in typical safari fashion and toured a portion of the hunting grounds, passing a family group of giraffes and a herd of impala, zebra and kudu. Not bad for the first hour!

My first evening in the mamba pit blind (named for the black mamba snake, an occasional visitor) was spectacular. The pit blind is dug into the ground some 5 feet. The weird part about it is that from the in-ground vantage point I felt like I was shooting up at the animals.

My African safari was unfolding as I had dreamed about so many times! In fact, at one point during the evening I was looking simultaneously at seven giraffes, a zebra, numerous monkeys, half a dozen eland and several warthogs. I passed on a tempting 28-yard broadside shot at a zebra — only because it had been earlier decreed by my wife and daughter that I would not shoot a zebra on this hunt (more on that later). We also passed on what was wrongly determined to be a non-shooter warthog. Turns out it was bigger than the one I eventually shot — oh well.

A Typical Day: As became the routine, Harry woke us each morning at 5. After eating something light we’d load into the Land Cruisers and head for the blind around 6. Typically we’d hunt until 9:30 or so and then return to camp for a big breakfast. With appetites satisfied, we’d return to the blind by noon and hunt until dark, around 6 p.m. We hunted hard and spent long hours in the blind each day. On days that game was actively moving, we’d see something most every hour and the time passed quickly. On days that it was slow, a good book was essential to pass the time. Some of the guys took turns sleeping while the other guys watched for game. Pete (my PH) and I chose to hunt the entire time.

Tip: The guys that slept in the blind soon discovered they had trouble sleeping at night!

MORE STORIES: You can find the rest of the story as the days become live on the Feature Listing Page >> HERE <<

As a convenience and to best help United States clients, Jurie Meyer has asked Dick Scorzafava to be his U.S. representative and to answer questions related to hunting with Jurie. Dick lives on the East Coast. He can be contacted at (413) 568-5604 or at scorzafava@aol.com. Jurie will be attending the Safari Club International show in Reno, Jan. 26-29 and the Eastern Sports & Outdoor Show in Harrisburg, Pa. on Feb. 5-13.