Manuel Gomez and his family, have joined Induna Safaris for his 2011 Hunt Africa safari. Manuel will be hunting with us from the 4th August untill the 12th August and has brought his wife Carmen and his daughter Anna along for the experience. So far it seems that they are all having a wonderful time, and have settled into our family with great ease. We are thoroughly enjoying their company, and their enthusiasm and passion for hunting and life makes them a fantastic group to have in our home. Their itinary so far is as follows:
04 August – After a late arrival at Port Elizabeth airport, it was a short drive to the lodge to get everyone settled in. We had a late dinner, and spent the evening getting to know each other around the fireplace.
05 August -We decided to have a slow start to the day, giving the Gomez’s a chance to sleep in a little after their long travels and delays. It also rained most of the day, and so we thought the day would be written off as a non hunting day. But the rain stopped at about 3 pm so we decided to go out and see what we could see. Much to all of our delight we managed to put a beautifully executed stalk on a great trophy Impala ram, and so Manuel has his first trophy of his safari.
On the way back to the lodge we came across a Bushbuck ram feeding in the wet grass. Manuel managed to execute yet another great stalk and place yet another great shot for his magnificient Bushbuck ram. Manuel demonstrated excellent hunting skills and shot placements in both hunts. What a great day! 2 excellent trophy animals in a day that we thought was going to be a write off, the surprises and joys of an African safari!
06 August – Put a stalk on in the morning for a Waterbuck bull but the bull managed to elude us. He seemed to have his own personal body guard, as he had an impala between us the whole time, and that spoiled our chances for the shot! The challenges of African hunting!
In the afternoon he decided to go and look for a kudu bull and managed yet again to get in a fantastic stalk, and Manuel got himself a really spectacular “grey ghost” – a kudu bull!
07 August – Sunday is a non hunting day for the Spanish family so they decided to spend the day at Addo Elephant Park together. Everyone had a wonderful time sightseeing at Addo. They saw many herds of elephants, and Carmen managed to take some beautiful photographs for her album.
08 August – Another great day was had by the Gomez family. Manuel managed to bag himself an excellent Steenbuck, Cape Springbuck and another great kudu bull. The rest of the family had a good day visiting the various craft shops in Port Elizabeth.
09 August – Manuel got to experience an hunt in a completely different terrain, in the heart of the Karoo. After an adventurous drive there, he was able to execute another brilliant shot where he hunted a magnificient Black Springbuck ram. The ladies spent the day riding elephants, on an elephant back safaris. This was a very enjoyable and memorable experience for Ana and Carmen. They also went for a tour at the Daniell Cheetah Breeding centre, where they were blown away by the experience of being able to touch the cheetahs so close up. Ana was very excited and just loved playing with the lion cubs!
10 August -The day began with the intentions of looking for a bshbuck, however this elusive animal managed to escape Manuel, but on the way home he shot himself a smashing Duiker ram, that he was thrilled with. And at least he didn’t go home empty handed. Carmen and Ana, spent the day in Graaff Reinet, they took some magnificient photos of the Valley Desolation, Carmen was very impressed by the views in the valley. They then had a lovely lunch and did some shopping before heading home.
11 August- The girls decided to stay at the lodge and spend their time relaxing around the fire, and getting all their paperwork and packing done for their flight tomorrow. Manuel went out for the last day, and he ended his hunting trip on a high note, he shot a spectacular Waterbuck bull, that he was very happy with.
Induna Safaris would like to thank the Gomez family for hunting and holidaying with us, we thoroughly enjoyed your company. Your enthusiasm for life, and hunting was evident and very contagious. We spent many evenings laughing so much around the dinner table that we all went to bed with sore stomach muscles. We wish them all the best for the rest of their holiday, and hope to see them again soon.