If the financial and logistical hurdles were not a problem, would you go on an African safari?

[huntfishtrap]

If the financial and logistical hurdles were not a problem, would you go on an African safari?

[Okwaho]

I don't think so. I have very little interest in any of the animals there, and even less interest in heat, thorns, bugs, snakes, etc. Also, hunting for me has a lot to do with connection to the land I'm hunting, and obviously I have nothing of the kind with anyplace in Africa. There are places I want to see, and perhaps animals I'd like to hunt (and fish I'd like to fish for) in several parts of western and northwestern North America, but there's nothing overseas that really draws me. If I had the means and it had to be outside North America, it would be something in one of the northern countries, maybe salmon-fishing in Scotland or visiting Sweden or Norway. Lots of good wild country there, or so I've read.

[pineywoods]

In a heartbeat. I'd love to kill a kudu, an eland, a cape buffalo, a bush hog, a warthog, an ornyx,a leopard and any number of lesser plains game. Hey, this is a wish and a dream, right?

Wouldn't want to shoot an elephant or rhino---maybe a hippo.

Whoa---I need a bunch of new guns! Better start checking catalogs.

[JM]

I don't think I would want to hunt in Africa, but I'd love to go on a safari to look at everything Africa has to offer. That's why you going on the elk hunt with your brothers without you actually hunting sounds so appealing to me...just going to look and capture memories without actually holding a weapon sounds like a lot of fun to me.

[jcarlin]

I have no interest in being out and about in that continent in general, but..
Petzal's recent articles have it on the brain and I picked up and re-read most of "Something of Value" this weekend.. I've read the first 3/4 of it which, if it doesn't inspire a desire to go on safari you may not have a pulse. I'm up to the descent into the Mau Mau rebellion, which stirs up a lot of primal anger and disgust and in no way makes you want to visit Africa.

[jcarlin]

I don't think I would want to hunt in Africa, but I'd love to go on a safari to look at everything Africa has to offer. That's why you going on the elk hunt with your brothers without you actually hunting sounds so appealing to me...just going to look and capture memories without actually holding a weapon sounds like a lot of fun to me.

There is definitely something to that.

[jcarlin]

In addition to the previous answer, I don't think I've really scratched the surface of what North America has to offer yet.

[pineywoods]

I have no interest in being out and about in that continent in general, but..
Petzal's recent articles have it on the brain and I picked up and re-read most of "Something of Value" this weekend.. I've read the first 3/4 of it which, if it doesn't inspire a desire to go on safari you may not have a pulse. I'm up to the descent into the Mau Mau rebellion, which stirs up a lot of primal anger and disgust and in no way makes you want to visit Africa.

I'm glad I didn't have to experience something like the Mau Mau rebellion. From the news that comes out of the Dark Continent, the tendency toward atrocity is still thriving.

[Ontario Honker Hunter]

Financial and logistical issues are not a problem for me but the more I know about it, the less inclined I am to consider a hunting trip to Africa in the current environment. I prefer tracking and stalking to drive around and shoot or sitting in ambush till something comes to bait or water. I also prefer to hunt alone. It's the way I have always done it. Hunting pheasants on publicly accessible land in Montana with my dogs is a tough act to follow. I think I have found nirvana. Getting guns, ammo, even money in and out of Africa has become too complicated. And then there's the dangerous lack of security in some of those places ... and just about every airport in between!

[jcarlin]

I have no interest in being out and about in that continent in general, but..
Petzal's recent articles have it on the brain and I picked up and re-read most of "Something of Value" this weekend.. I've read the first 3/4 of it which, if it doesn't inspire a desire to go on safari you may not have a pulse. I'm up to the descent into the Mau Mau rebellion, which stirs up a lot of primal anger and disgust and in no way makes you want to visit Africa.

It's an odd sort of racism that we concentrate on certain things but claim that some parts of the world are essentially peaceful. The reality is no one looks closely at happenings in places like the Congo because half of the world just understands the reality and the other half doesn't like reality. The ME gets slightly more play because we entangle ourselves in it.
When something even remotely close happens in say, Bosnia, then suddenly we're aware of the atrocities of man again.

[jcarlin]

I have no interest in being out and about in that continent in general, but..
Petzal's recent articles have it on the brain and I picked up and re-read most of "Something of Value" this weekend.. I've read the first 3/4 of it which, if it doesn't inspire a desire to go on safari you may not have a pulse. I'm up to the descent into the Mau Mau rebellion, which stirs up a lot of primal anger and disgust and in no way makes you want to visit Africa.

And to make a point, I don't like the term racism. Genetically.. I don't believe much that we're disposed to behave a certain way regardless of race. But man some of the cultures have problems with hair on it.

[huntfishtrap]

I don't think I would want to hunt in Africa, but I'd love to go on a safari to look at everything Africa has to offer. That's why you going on the elk hunt with your brothers without you actually hunting sounds so appealing to me...just going to look and capture memories without actually holding a weapon sounds like a lot of fun to me.

Amen. If I make it out there and back alive, I will post some photos here for you guys.

[6phunter]

Hell yea,Cecil 2 would be in trouble

[Happy Myles]

Keep in mind, Africa is a huge continent with different places to hunt, and ways to hunt. Just like here in the States. For example, I will not hunt behind high fences, or from a permanent blind overlooking a water hole or a feed trough, just like here in the U.S. That is what suits me, may be right or wrong. Interestingly, I cannot think of anyone who did not feel their African Safari was a hunt of a lifetime whether on a South African ranch or in an Equatorial forest. Logistics takes patience, as do crowded airports and government regulations. No one seems to regret the experience

[jcarlin]

Keep in mind, Africa is a huge continent with different places to hunt, and ways to hunt. Just like here in the States. For example, I will not hunt behind high fences, or from a permanent blind overlooking a water hole or a feed trough, just like here in the U.S. That is what suits me, may be right or wrong. Interestingly, I cannot think of anyone who did not feel their African Safari was a hunt of a lifetime whether on a South African ranch or in an Equatorial forest. Logistics takes patience, as do crowded airports and government regulations. No one seems to regret the experience

I completely believe that. I will admit I'm getting stodgy and do not have patience for certain things. For one, I really hate going anywhere where I have less choices on what I can carry on my person than I do in my state of residence.