Hunting in Africa - the insiders guide
Introduction
In the mind of the hunter there lies an ancient instinct - diluted in some while in others raging brightly - an instinct which is entwined within our genetic code since day one, an instinct which lies at the core of human evolution, one without which our history would be vastly different.
It is on the plains of Africa, in the dense entwined forests and jungles near the equator, the snow covered peaks of the Atlas and Kilimanjaro and the deep rank humid valleys where this instinct still reigns supreme. Today in its bare naked form the mighty predators exhibit it without compromise and inhibition, they have perfected the art to a science while the others, the reptiles, the birds, the insects all follow suit in their respective adaptations to this ancient ritual.
It is argued that the very first forms of life on this planet developed by hunting and being hunted, the need to move in order to catch or to flee in single cell organisms, created muscular development resulting into what we observe today as the animal kingdom and our evolution there from. Africa, as a continent, dates back to the very origins of life itself, 3.6 billion years, and has remained mostly a stable landmass which has allowed the birth of life on the planet. While the evolution of modern man is thought to have begun 5 million years ago and that of all animal life 670 Million years prior, Africa is truly the cradle of not only mankind but life on earth in all it's forms.
This ancient stability also created a massive hidden wealth, an endowment which still today is only being discovered in its many forms and manifestations as the earth's crust cooled and stabilized - minerals, gold, diamonds, oil - vast natural lakes and rivers, abundant forests and fertile plains, oceans rich in nutrients. However it is Africa's animal kingdom that remains her greatest asset and one which lights the embers of an ancient instinct within, drawing us towards her once again like children returning home to claim the spoils their ancestors left behind millions of years ago.
"Going up that river was like traveling back to the earliest beginnings of the world, when vegetation rioted on the earth and the big trees were kings. An empty stream, a great silence, an impenetrable forest..... You lost your way on that river as you would in a desert..... till you thought yourself bewitched and cut off forever from everything you had known once - somewhere - in another existence perhaps." (Marlow, manning a small steamer up the Congo river in Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness')
Africa is a constant, a landmass, a rock which lies there brooding and perceptive, giving a little, allowing our whims and fantasies but in the end always taking more, as a mosquito draws blood but infects a poison. Our dreams of her are littered with great fantastic adventures where the mega beasts of earth challenge our hunting skill, a skill newly found or learned, a modern adaptation of an ancient form where we constantly strive to make better tools. We embark upon a recount of modern history, calling on the feats of far braver men and toughened characters be they real or fictional, and in the end we always win, our instinct and genetic inheritance sees us through - or at least that's what we make ourselves believe - this is Africa's poison, once instilled it is with you for life.
Yet perhaps it is also the stubbornness of this oldest of landmasses, its knowledge in dealing with the human condition of greed, consumption, the constant want that makes it such a formidable force, such a harsh entity to claim full sovereignty over, to hold down and tramp into submission - and most important of all to remain the last place on earth where that ancient instinct of hunting still manifests itself in the purest form - amidst the great beasts of plain and forest!
Today, we jet across the oceans in triple decker flying machines with fancy showers and king sized beds, we come laden with 20 pound gold inlaid shooting devices, dressed in specially tailored sleeveless African shooting vests wearing genuine buffalo hide boots and elephant hair bracelets, covered by extreme evacuation services and triple X sun block - all en route to Africa, all coming to reclaim the fires that burn within, the urge to hunt.
African hunting today is far from what it used to be and I'm not talking about the ancient 3.6 billion year evolutionary drive, I'm talking about the last 2 or 3 decades where the Safari hunting industry has evolved into a two headed beast - one which profits greatly from the utilization of Africa's strongest resource and the other which stands as a discarded step-brother with a mind full of ethics and conservationist ideals. When working together they are perfect, a family team where every aspect of their manufacture benefits not only Africa but all things hunting, yet as strangers they empower a corrupt and poisoned set of mortal antagonists - hunters vs anti's - pulling down all the good that hunting stands for and inviting in all the bad that can happen.
Today in Africa, despite what you read about the status of the great herds and wildlife populations, hunting is on the increase, being offered in as many as 12 different countries with a great variation in what you can to shoot. In fact in many the list of trophies to bag is endless, costly and sometimes over hyped.
Some countries have gone full circle and reproduced their depleted game numbers to an excess of what originally existed, while others are poor examples of what Africa is or should be. Never the less most countries are experiencing a great demand for their resources almost as if there is a distant understanding that the classical African Safari cannot last, inevitably an end will come no matter what and hunters are clambering over each other to experience the way Africa was!
The most common problem with Africa is that most confuse the continent with the likes of their own countries which paints a picture in their mind that all of Africa is much alike - after all, we live in a homogenous world and so if Africa has paved roads and cell phones, then it must be the same as say living in Colorado or Maine! We further assume that one Whitetail deer in Texas acts very much the same as one in Michigan thus it is with Africa, hunting there must all be similar across the continent - Tarzan's jungle, Marlows' river, Roosevelt's savanna.
So too does it apply to our outlook on the status of Africa's game populations and the regulations thereof - the belief often exists that because there is hunting there, the game populations are well cared for and carefully managed - much like the Deer or Elk population in the US. We immediately assume good governance in the protection and utilization of the wildlife estate and believe in the strong ethics 'portrayed' by those we consider taking a hunt with. In fact we argue, quite strongly, about the strengths of hunting and what it does for wildlife - revenue from licenses or permits, stamps and gear - all goes into maintaining stable populations through quantified scientific research and wildlife enforcement. In theory this should apply to African wildlife management, the text books and scientists, the researchers and the veterinarians are all there doing a job, so it must be sound and above board.
In reality this is far from the truth, the very essence of African hunting is this - the hunting in and of each country, territory and species is different in all aspects not only from a geographical stance but also from a wildlife management stance. Africa is complicated at the best of times so you'll find principles which are time tested anywhere else, fall apart on this continent, corrupted and reshaped to apply for personal benefit. When you're staring down the barrel of starvation (or a huge handout) the welfare of the wildlife you're supposed to protect becomes a dim mist obscured vision. Hunting regulations, political influences, outfitter ethics, PH standards, prices, styles and of course experience all differ from south to north and there is no constant for the term African Safari, there is only the continent Africa and what we believe in our minds that it holds for us - a modern yearning founded on traditions of old.
