Birds & Flowers of Namibia Video

Mostly Pictures

The not-so-clever wart hog that Jackie helped to get. Read earlier blog.

The way we traveled. Trackers Zachariah, left, and David right. Professional Hunter, center, Dirk de Bod

I'm not a dog lover, but this dog I "fell" for. He was so smart!!

Standing at the top of a dam, built in the 1880's - - amazing that they got the concrete from Windhoek to here!!

Duck hunting. They had a blast figuratively and literally.

Steenbok - 5 or 6 years old.

Blue Wildebeest, came up close to Vern, while he was sitting behind a bush, that created a blind. I think he was catching on.

Gemsbok - beautiful animal

Vern watched this fight while sitting behind some brush.....really something to see!

Impala - - This impala scored the most points. He was within 1/2 inch of Namibia's top 10.

Springbok

Blesbok

Red Hartebeest

Blue Wildebeest

Our home for 2 weeks are tent structure - very nice with king bed and bathroom attached.

First animal harvested - Gemsbok.

Vern's first day of hunting.

He was pumped!!

Last Post

We're in Frankfurt, Germany.

There were six days that no flights went from Windhoek to Frankfurt. Day 7, our day to fly out. The airplane flew and we were on it. We feel so fortunate!! You can imagine it was a very full plane. It felt like a long 10 hour night, but we're safe and it looks like our next plane will be on time. We hope the volcano stays quiet. Our next destination is Philadelphia and then Canton/Akron.

Windhoek is a lovely city. We enjoyed the morning looking around and had lunch at a small German cafe'.

This is probably my last post. If you want to see our pictures, just let us know. We'd love to share them. I'm making up a movie of the whole adventure.

Thanks for reading my blog, and sharing our fun.

Shirley

An even better wart hog story....

You won’t believe this. I have an even better wart hog story, that happened the following day. In the morning, I was up bright and early - 6 AM, and ready for breakfast by 6:30 AM. I’ve started reading another book, at Heidi’s suggestion, “The Art of Racing in the Rain.” I love it. For those interested, the book is written from the perspective of a dog, and now when I talk to Jackie, I really wonder what he’s thinking! Anyway, I find minutes here and there, if I have to wait for anything, I'm reading again, and was even reading at the breakfast table.............between polite conversation, of course. :o)

In the morning Vern got his second gemsbok. Vern has been a great shot, even though he hasn’t hit the target quite every time, and Dirk is using him to get some meat for the camp, their help, the neighbors, an orphanage and a school, plus like I said before, Dirk needs to do some culling.

In the afternoon, I decided to skip the afternoon hunt..........and of course, I missed a wild adventure.

They found a much bigger wart hog, than the one Vern shot. Dirk told him to shoot it (for free) as they need the meat. Vern shot; the wart hog went down.....end of story? - Not quite. Zachie and Jackie headed into the bush to confirm his death.............suddenly, Vern saw Zachie waving his arms to come and come quick!

Vern and Dirk started running and what a sight to behold. The wart hog had gotten up and was running in circles, with Jackie hanging on to his tail. The wart hog was going around fast enough to raise Jackie off his feet........he was almost flying straight out.

Thankfully, this has happened before. Dirk told Vern not to shoot, but be ready. Finally Jackie let go of the tail, and Dirk yelled, “Shoot.” Vern did, and this time the pig went down, and stayed down.

Tuesday:

This morning we had our final hunt. Vern shot two blue wildebeests, once again for meat. He made two very, very good shots, that dropped both of them within about 30 seconds of each other. And then it was time to pack up and say good bye to some very dear people, that will be our friends for life.

About 2:30 PM, Dirk, Vern, and I headed for Windhoek. We gave up a trip to the coast. The winds are bad......just came in, in the last few days. We also felt like we needed to be in Windhoek. If we learn our flight will go, we won't have far to go to get to the airport, to hopefully claim our seats. We know we'll need to be there hours before the flight. We were told tonight's flight would go, but then we learned it didn't go...........it doesn't look good for us, but one can hope.

We're staying with Dirk & his family at the edge of Windhoek. They have lovely guest quarters, and I even have fast internet. What fun!

Windhoek is a beautiful city, and Dirk's wife Rina, is all prepared to show us around a bit tomorrow.

Stay tuned to the news, and pray that the European airports can SAFELY open soon.

Suggested reading from Vern is African hunting stories, which he's been reading most of his life, and he was even reading them during these two weeks. Dirk, of course, has quite a collection. If you want specifics, he'd be glad to loan you a few books or make suggestions.

That's all from Windhoek, for now. I may post a few more pictures.

Love to all.......Shirley

The Clever Pig has been Out-Clevered

Is out-clevered a word? Probably not, but it fits.

A friend of Dirk’s dropped in yesterday - truly dropped in, since he landed his helicopter just about 50 feet from the main lodge. His name is Lambert, but they call him Lammie. He’s a very talkative, interesting guy to have around, however this morning, Dirk admitted to us that his non-stop talking “drives me crazy.” You have to roll all your Rs to the get affect of how Dirk says it.

Dirk had invited Vern to do some culling, and Vern was pretty happy about that. I wasn’t sure I was going to go on the afternoon culling hunt; I was thinking about catching up with my pictures. Vern expressed his desire for me to go, and Lammie quickly sided with him, that “one never knows what we will see today, that we’ve never seen before.” I agreed to go, as I had already skipped a number of afternoon hunts. (I haven’t missed a morning.)

We loaded up on the Land Cruiser, with David driving, Vern, Dirk and myself on the high seat behind, and Zachie and Lammie behind us, standing. We weren’t looking for a wart hog or duiker! We were culling, probably for another gemsbok.........everyone that is except sharp-eyed Zachie.

About two minutes out of camp, Zachie made a sound, that to us immediately means - LOOK! Dirks tapped the window so David would stop. There, to our left, about 120 yards away stood a male wart hog. All we could see was his black face, framed with those white tusks.

Vern grabbed the 270, rested it on a pillow-type thing that Dirk threw on top of the truck. Vern aimed and pulled the trigger. The hog dropped in his tracks.

It wasn’t the biggest one. It ranks in the bronze category, but that’s okay. (Most of Vern’s trophies are in the gold category, with the impala a high gold, just under Namibia’s top ten.)

There was a round of hand-shakes and high-fives. Lammie tried to take credit, since he was the new guy along, but believe me, Zachie gets the credit for seeing that one, as has been the case most of the time.

They hauled him in, loaded him in a big plastic tub and took off, only to have everyone in the back yell! The pig had slid right off the truck, onto the ground. What a laugh. We loaded him a second time and this time he stayed.

Today we learned that Frankfurt airport is still closed. I’m not sure, but I think the airport may have opened and then closed again. The flights from Windhoek are really getting backed up. We’re not sure about our Wednesday flight. We just hope it goes with us on it.

Shirley

Duck Hunting

Vern & Dirk, after the first water hole. In all they got 2 Shell Ducks, 4 Egyptian Geese, & 7 Red Billed Teals.

We see our vacation coming to an end. We're making plans for the last few days and what we need to do to get ready to come home.

It been a wonderful trip, and the most different for me. I guess Vern's trip to WY for elk would have some similarities and yet very different too.

The incredible views we've experienced from valley to valley and peak to peak have been spectacular!

To be continued......sh

The Clever Pig.....

The clever pig is still very clever, and it’s getting almost funny. Vern hunted and hunted for the big wart hog, but his chance at a shot, never came. Last night we did a nighttime Duiker hunt with no results either. Dirk told Vern he had a funeral song ready to play, when he gets that wart hog. I think it’s called, ”Another one bites the dust.”

Last night Vern and Dirk decided to stop hunting for the wart hog or duiker, and just have a fun duck hunting day. Did they ever have a blast, literally and figuratively speaking. They missed a lot, but also hit a lot. Those two were whooping it up like teenagers. We came home with 13 ducks. They’ll make for some very good eating.

So far we’ve eaten gemsbok, kudu, blue & black wildebeest, springbok, red hartebeest, sable, roan, and impala. A lot of this was meat from their freezer, shot by previous hunters.

Jack, the dog. Did I write about him before? I can’t quickly check because I’m writing offline, and I can’t remember if I blogged or wrote in my journal. Those of you that know me well, know that I’m not a dog lover. Jack has really found his way into Vern’s heart and I’ve gotta say, he’s pretty much got me as well.

Jack is about 6 years old; he’s in his prime. What Dirk will ever do without him, is something Dirk doesn’t want to think about. He’s a long-legged Jack Russell. He waits in the back of the Land Cruiser until he’s told he can find the downed animal. He anticipates going, so much his little body shivers and shakes in anticipation. Today, when duck hunting, he waited until Dirk called and while genetically, he is not a retriever, we’d send him into the water, and he’d bring the downed duck, back to shore.

The other night he hurt his foot, when going after a spring rabbit (looks like a miniature kangaroo). His foot swelled up and Dirk put him on antibiotics. He’s been using this foot, to get all the attention possible. He’s a pro at walking on three legs. Anytime Vern is sitting around the campfire, Jack is at his feet waiting to be told he can jump up into Vern’s lap. Vern seldom lets him down.

Today is Saturday. Flora Jean and her family have been in our thoughts and prayers. We will miss not being there to grieve with them. We’re glad Flora Jean has great family, and many other friends that will walk with her.

Love to each of you......... Shirley

Day 12

As it turned out, Vern had not hit the steenbok..........he had shot over it with Dirk’s shotgun, that he had not shot before. Last night, after dinner, we went out with a spot light and Vern got a nice steenbok, 4 1/2” horns with his own 270. (4” is average.) Night time hunting is only allowed for certain animals. It was very interesting. We saw one of those kangaroo rabbits. They are the funniest looking things. Dirk let Jackie go, and he kept the spotlight on him. It took Jackie (the dog) about 10 seconds to catch up to the rabbit and made quick business of him.....I could not believe my eyes.

Today I got a lot of reading done and Vern sat at another water hole. Lots of wart hogs came in, but the papa stayed away - again. We thought the wart hog would be one of the easiest animals to get, but it hasn’t been that way for Vern. The grass is very tall, because they got a lot more rain than usual, and that's reason for the difficulty of getting a wart hog. Also the Duiker is rather small and can hide in the tall grass as well. Tonight at dusk we did the calling thing, but he never came out.

The weather has been so beautiful. We feel so fortunate..........every day we wake up to a beautiful day and watch a beautiful sunset in the evening and we're amazed and thankful!

Our sleeping quarters are a tent, but it's almost like a hotel room - regular door, bathroom attached with tub and shower and even hot water. However we can hear everything outside because we just have tent screen windows. The other night, I stayed up reading a little later and heard a strange noise. I heard it twice. I reached over to wake Vern, but then it stopped so I let it go. The next morning Dirk asked if I heard the noise. He knew I was going to read a while. He told me it was leopard!! Thankfully it was a ways away, but we've seen lots of tracks, so we know he's around.

Uploading pictures is taking forever. Like Dirks say, "It's like watching grass grow!" I'm not sure when I can try again.

Diane, thanks for posting a note from Abe. No doubt he'd love being here!!

To be continued.............

correction & explanation

Happy Day! I was able to upload email. Actually, it's probably been good for me to be without. I'm much too tied to technology.

Explanation: When I wrote that Vern was sitting in a blind, this is not a real blind like one sees on the Outdoor channel..........this is an all natural blind, which means we were sitting behind a bush, and believe me there are plenty of those in this country and nearly every last one has thorns. When were got the Kudu, Dirk thought Vern had more blood on his arms than the Kudu had............really not true, and Vern is not complaining.

Correction: When Vern saw the two red hartebeests fighting they were only about 15 or 20 FEET away - - not 40 yards as I reported on the last blog. Plus they had a wildebeest walk right up to within about 10 feet. He couldn't see them behind the bushes.

This afternoon there will be yet another new experience. This morning Vern shot through some very, very thick brush at a male steenbok. There was simply a comedy of errors, that we don't have it in the bag, but Dirk & David think he hit it. Oh well, it'll make for another story! Now this afternoon we will round up all the help we can find, including some of us women and go see if we can find it..........believe me, nothing goes to waste, when it comes to meat for the table.

To be continued..............

Gemsbok - first animal harvested

Day 11

Loved reading your posts. I have just a few minutes to write.

Heidi, we are so sorry to hear about the possible milk allergy. You're right.......it could be worse. You have such a good attitude. Amanda, we loved the letters from Lillye and we too wish we could just call.

We are going to try to post more pictures later today.

Vern is getting down to the last couple of animals that he wants, so the hunting is getting harder, but each day is new and always a new possibility.

As you can imagine, we are getting to know Dirk and Dirk's brother-in-law Gys, that's the farm manager, and Dirk's sister-in-law, Maryna, that's the cook quite well. Every evening we sit around the campfire and swamp stories and have great discussions. We've heard some amazing stories, of Gys & Dirk growing up in Namibia. I could nearly write a book.

Yesterday Vern had quite an experience. We left him along with the two trackers at a water hole, sitting in a blind, looking for a huge wart hog to shoot. In walked two bull hartabeests - fighting. They came within 40 yards of Vern, fighting like crazy. He got a couple of good pictures.

He had his gun up ready to shoot a wart hog, fingers on the trigger, just ready to pull, when David (tracker) said NO, NO! He had just noticed that the one tusk was very short, or maybe broke. They want Vern to get a trophy too!! Our trackers are a father-son combo, just the nicest guys you could ask for. They are so happy, when we're happy! Zachie, the son, has unbelievable vision. We're amazed every day.

Abe - - are you getting any of these posts?? I hope so. Thanks to everyone who commented. I think we've read them all. It helps if you post your comment on the latest post. If anyone reading this sees Abe, tell him to post something.........Diane will do it for him. Thanks.

Vern is eager to move out this morning, but I may try to post a pic quick if it goes fast.

Love to all. Shirley

Vern's Kudu

More fun & more success

This afternoon I stayed at camp for the later afternoon hunt.........finally I figured out how to connect my own computer, instead of using Dirks. It was a rather stupid mistake. Now I don't have to use Dirk's computer, but the problem with the Internet continues. We're far too many miles from the tower and it's simply not reliable.

Vern would really like if I could upload a photo or two, so this evening I think I will try.

It was so nice to hear from Heidi & Amanda, and I'm glad you finally thought to go to the blog. The problem with email is that I'm downloading too much junk, along with the good, so I probably will not check email until we get to town...........maybe not until next week. And nice to hear from a few others too.

The big news for Vern is that he got an Impala. Oh..........we hunted hard and the wait was so worth it. Dirk thinks he's got one that matches some of those in the record books.

I will try to load a picture, after I post this.

What can I say, in my few minutes? Maybe talk about the African sky?? You must see it to believe it. I can't capture it with camera, but I will try. Blue clear skies will change to blue skies with dotted clouds and the clouds cast a shadow on the plains. It's amazing.

We are enjoying ourselves so much - - many, many more stories to tell. I'm journaling daily in great detail!

I'll post now and see if I can upload a couple of picture.

Love to all, Shirley

Blesbok & Kudu

The adventures continue........... First, thank you for the comments and Tim, for the advice. Marilyn, you can always go to safarisnamibia.com, which is Dirk's website. Look at the pictures and imagine Vern as the hunter, sitting behind the animal. We will post pics as soon as we can. Believe me, we have a ton of them.

Yesterday we had two adventures with a puff hadder snake. We're glad to tell you that both snakes are dead and no one was hurt.

Last evening Vern got a nice Blesbok, shot at about 120 yards.

Today was the most amazing hunt & shoot of all. Vern got a very nice Kudu, which he shot at 323 yards right in the neck, but it is such a tough animal it did not go down. Vern shot two more times at about 350 and then 375 yards. He hit him all three times...........and finally success! The hike to find him was miserable. In fact we could not get him out. The trackers, along with neighboring help are getting him right now. We're done for the day.......nice time to rest a bit, and journal.

Thanks Alice for telliing J and you may be right...........we may get to be tourists. This is the most different vacation, for me, ever, but I'm really having a great time.

Love to all. Shirley

Number 3

Hey! I'm on a roll..............this thing is working quite well.

Alice, will you do me a favor and contact Jay Augspurger to give him this website. We meant to give it to him before we left. Thank you! Right now I'm not sure I'll be able to send email. I was able to read a couple before I lost my site.

Diane, I hope things are going well in the office...........I'm not worrying, but tell every one hello.

Since we arrived so early on Tuesday morning, we first got to ride around for about an hour before lunch. We saw lots of animals and Vern was getting pretty excited.

By evening Vern had a beautiful Gemsbok - 35 1/2 & 36" horns. On Wed. he got a trophy Blue Wildebeast and today he got a Red Hartabeest.

Dirk is a very careful hunter and a conservationist. We're impressed. He's looks very hard for old bulls, first so that it's a nice trophy for Vern, but also it's a smart way to manage the game.

Right now posting a picture would take way too long to upload, but we hope to try later.

Special love to Heidi, Doug, Henry, Reuben, Amanda, Jay, and Lillye. We think of you all the time. We're enjoying the 4 year old to our cook, but her English is very limited.

We have many fun stories. I'm journaling, so this 56 year old mind won't forget.

Love to all. Shirley...........and Vern too.

I'll try again

Hello to all our friends and family.

Our trip went very well...........tight airplane quarters didn't allow for much sleep, but we've had plenty of time to catch up here.

Customs went quite normally. For a bit I thought we weren't going to get Vern's suitcase, but someone had taken it off the conveyor, thinking it was theirs, but didn't bother to put it back on. All this happened while Vern was getting his gun permits. We went through the exit doors of the airport and recorgnized our PH immediately, by the picture we had.

Dirk de Bod is all we could ask for........wonderful fun man. The place is very nice and the cook is fantastic.

To be continued.

We're here in Namibia

We're here and having a wonderful time. I wrote a long blog and when I went to publish it, I lost the whole thing. I'm going to try to a few short ones to see if I can make this work.

Internet is very slow and unreliable.

Vern has three animals already.........all trophies, Gemsbok, Blue Wildebeest & Hartabeest.

Shirley

Check IN - Akron Canton Airport

Here's the crew that took us to the airport. We first ate out at Bob Evans, and then it was hugs, "good-bye" at the airport.

Check-in took a good 30 minutes, but went relatively well. We had a little problem getting our bags checked through to Windhoek, since we'll be changing airlines........just kept wanting us to stay in Frankfurt (which is where Marilyn said she would just stay :0))........finally success!

After we checked in and went through security, Vern said, "The great adventure has begun!"

Getting Started

I've started three times and deleted back to the beginning every time. You see, I've never blogged before, and I certainly have my reservations now. However, I signed up, so I may as well get started.

Two days to go, before we leave for Windhoek Namibia. A trip Vern has dreamed about, most of his life, and a trip we've planned for two years. It's hard to believe that it's almost reality.

We still have a bit more packing to do. Right now I need to clean off our bed, so we can sleep in it.

Good night and sleep well.

sh