Into Africa...

[rjm]

Well I just got the list of vaccinations I'm gonna need for my S.Africa trip...

Thought I would share.

Anyone mind if I start a blog here on my preperations for this little adventure?

Hepatitis - A
Hepatitis - B
Malaria
Rabies
Typhoid
and of course upto date on my tetanus, diphtheria, measles, and polio. Hmmm... remindes me of my 1st week at boot camp... Walkn' the line...

Here is where I am going...
http://www.tjsafari.com/khs-4.cfm

Currently I am looking at my vaccinations and getting the trigger pull on my Remington 700 down to 2.0 - 2.5lbs. Local gunsmiths wont take it down below 3.5lbs for "liability" reasons. So I think I will need to buy a trigger pull gauge from Midway (unless anyone here has one I can borrow for about 30 minutes). Cheaper than paying someone else to do it anyway.

More to come later...

[TiredIronGRB]

Of course not, and be sure and upload a bunch of pictures :!:

[rjm]

Of course not, and be sure and upload a bunch of pictures :!:

But of course I will.

I'm gonna try and post here at least once a week with updates and provide tidbits of information from time to time.

The site from my first post didn't detail what was what in the pictures.
Gemsbuck are the largest with the long straight horns.
Springbuck have the curved horns
Steenbuck are the really small ones

[Mtn_Rover]

Dude, thats so awesome im trying to go on a mission trip to central africa this summer. Hope all goes well and god bless.

[Bluegill]

Dude, thats so awesome im trying to go on a mission trip to central africa this summer. Hope all goes well and god bless.

x2 :!:

I remember getting all my shots for deployment to Saudi & Japan - I felt like a pincushion after that :lol:

[BroncoMike]

Dang man you are one lucky mamma jamma!!!!

As George said..........LOTS OF PICS!!!!

[rjm]

I do feel blessed with this opportunity to go on this trip. The dates have not been totally nailed down yet, but will happen in July 2007. We plan on spending about 20 days out there. 1 week on this management hunt and then 2 weeks self-drive 4x4 exploration through southern Africa. Should be pretty cool...

Last night I went to the Cherokee Rod and Gun Club meeting to check it out. (www.cherokeerodandgunclub.com). I wanted to take this time to thank George for offering his shooting range to me. I think that for now that when working up my load and the amount of practice I am going to get in, it would be better to do it at a range that I can get to whenever I need. I didn't want to inconvenince George everytime I wanted to shoot. Perhaps when I get my load down and I need to practice out to 300-400 yards I can take advantage of George's offer. Plus they have a youth shooting program that I can take my daughter to every other Sunday afternoon when I shoot at the range, she can shoot too.

We will be flying into the town/city of Upington in the northern cape of S. Africa and then driving to Namibia.

The Northern Cape:

This vast and barren wilderness stretches from the west coast north to the Namibian and Botswana borders and east to the Free State and North-West provinces. The southwest features spectacular carpets of wild flowers in early spring, while the south is part of the Great Karoo and the north intrudes into the Kalahari Desert.

In 1866, a boy found a shiny ?pebble? at Hopetown, 128km (80 miles) south of Kimberley, allowing a primitive and sparsely populated settlement to become the diamond capital of the world. Kimberley is not one of the world?s most exciting places, but it does have enough attractions to warrant a stop, chief amongst them the Big Hole, which is the largest manmade excavation in the world, and the Kimberley Mine Museum, with its replicas of 19th-century Kimberley at the height of the gold rush. The De Beers Hall Museum houses a display of cut and uncut diamonds; here can be seen the famous ?616? ? at 616 carats, the largest uncut diamond in the world ? and the ?Eureka? diamond, the first to be discovered in South Africa. Other interesting museums include the William Humphreys Art Gallery (fine art), Duggan-Cronin Gallery (photography) and McGregor Museum (a fine old mansion, with Kimberley?s history displayed).

Near Kimberley is the Vaalbos National Park, a small reserve containing the extremely rare Black Rhino, and the Bultfontein Mine, offering guided tours of a working diamond mine. For those with a military bent, Magersfontein lies to the south of Kimberley, site of a catastrophic defeat inflicted on the British by the Boers early in the Boer War.

Northwest of Kimberley, Kuruman was a missionary center used by Robert Moffat and David Livingstone. It has a gushing spring known as the ?Eye of God? and is near the Wonderwerk Cave, an archaeological site of great importance where some of the earliest evidence of the use of fire has been found.

Uppington is a pleasant town on the banks of the Orange River, on the way to the Augrabies National Park, centered on a series of dramatic waterfalls plummeting 56m (184ft) into a narrow ravine carved through the desert. The park is home to many interesting species of desert plants while local animals include baboons, vervet monkeys, rhino and antelope.

Further to the north is the vast Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, which is one of Africa?s first ?peace parks?, administered jointly by South Africa and Botswana. It is the largest nature conservation area in southern Africa and one of the largest unspoilt ecosystems in the world, supporting fauna and flora in bewildering variety. To the west, Namaqualand is a vast area of seemingly barren semi-desert, harboring a treasure-house of floral beauty, appearing after sufficient winter rains: daisies, aloes, lilies, perennial herbs and many other flower species. The flowers are best seen from July to September, depending on when the rains fall. Calvinia and Niewoudtville are good locations for flowers.

In the far north, on the Namibian border, is the remote and rocky Richtersveld National Park, accessible only by 4-wheel drive, with an extraordinary lunar landscape and wide variety of rare desert plants.

I like that... "accessible only by 4-wheel dirve" Woo hoo!

[SurferSami]

remember S africa is southern hemisphere so July is winter down there. :wink:

[rjm]

I don't know if anyone here is into reloading thier own ammunition, but if anyone has a tumbler that would be able to clean about 300 cases of .270 I would greatly appreciate it.

[Derrickalda]

haha ive had to have several shots for all of my traveling. it probably saved my life when i was in Thailand.

God bless buddy

[Ray VanBuren]

Be careful down there. I've been to Africa twice on mission trips. Been to Johannesburg in S. Africa, Dakar, Senegal, and mostly in Malawi where Hands On Missions has a farm and orphanage. Watch out for black momba snakes. If they bite you, there's no cure.
Also, be careful that you don't fall in love with Africa. I did and struggle daily about moving there as a full time missionary.

[Rtaylor]

Be careful down there. I've been to Africa twice on mission trips. Been to Johannesburg in S. Africa, Dakar, Senegal, and mostly in Malawi where Hands On Missions has a farm and orphanage. Watch out for black momba snakes. If they bite you, there's no cure.
Also, be careful that you don't fall in love with Africa. I did and struggle daily about moving there as a full time missionary.

We have a couple from our church (Billy and Sarah Turner) that just returned home from a three year mission trip to Africa. They were stationed in Malawi. A mission team from our church went to Malawi this past summer. It's a small world...

[Ray VanBuren]

Be careful down there. I've been to Africa twice on mission trips. Been to Johannesburg in S. Africa, Dakar, Senegal, and mostly in Malawi where Hands On Missions has a farm and orphanage. Watch out for black momba snakes. If they bite you, there's no cure.
Also, be careful that you don't fall in love with Africa. I did and struggle daily about moving there as a full time missionary.

We have a couple from our church (Billy and Sarah Turner) that just returned home from a three year mission trip to Africa. They were stationed in Malawi. A mission team from our church went to Malawi this past summer. It's a small world...Yes, very small.

[rjm]

Well As promised a quick update....

Dates are set. Leaving Jul 9th, arriving back here 26th.

In all my preparation so far, my girls have shown an interest in learning to shoot as well. I have them signed up at a youth program over at Cherokee R&G. I was thinking of getting a small air rifle or two for them to practice with here at the house in the basement/backyard. If anyone has a small kid size air rifle that your kids may have outgrown and it is just taking up space, let me know. I may be interested in taking it off your hands for a resonable price.

I've been asking around on some of the reloading boards, and I think I have decided that a 140 gr Barnes TSX BT will be my best choice. Now to start working up loads for accuracy... fun fun fun...

and now FYI...

ORYX or GEMSBUCK

Oryx are large antelopes with a black and white body pattern and a sloping back. They have long slim horns that are used for digging. The shoulder height of the Oryx is 46 to 54 inches and they weigh between 395 and 530 pounds. The female Oryx is a bit smaller than the male Oryx and features thinner horns. These animals live in fairly large, male dominated herds. They are active near dawn and just after sunset. They eat grass, fruit and shrubs. Gemsbok are found in Southern Africa in savannahs, open bush, and semi-desert areas sometimes far away from water. One of the most popular species to hunt in Africa. The largest Oryx in the world occur in the Kalahari desert in Namibia and Botswana. These are tough animals that may be hunted using a spot and stalk method. One of the most exciting ways to hunt them however, is with the assistance of the famed San trackers of the Kalahari. These native Bushmen are incredibly adept at tracking animals for miles through the sand and there are even stories of them tracking an individual bull within a herd of over one hundred other gemsbuck. They make an outstanding trophy for any hunter.

SPRINGBOK also spelled SPRINGBUCK

Springbok are medium sized gazelles. They have a reddish fawn coloring with white underbelly and rump. Their heads are white with a brown strip from the eye to muzzle area. The shoulder height is 26 to 35 inches and they weigh between 45 and 100 pounds. They live in large herds. Males tend to be solitary or they may be part of bachelor herds. Springbok are most active in the early morning and late afternoon. They dig for bulbs and roots. These animals can be found in the open and dry grasslands of Angola, Namibia, Botswana and South Africa. Some of the largest specimens of springbuck are found in the Kalahari desert in Namibia and Botswana. They make a wonderful trophy and are hunted using spot and stalk methods. They may also be tracked in the Kalahari by the famed San Bushmen trackers of that region.

STEENBOK also STEINBOK and STEENBUCK

Steenbok are small antelope with short heads and long legs. The smooth, short coat is usually bright reddish fawn but there can also be brown and gray variations. The shoulder height is between 20 and 21 inches and they weigh around 24 pounds. Steenbok are solitary animals that only pair up during breeding season. They are browsers and grazers who feed any time of day. These animals live in the dry open areas of southern Angola, southwestern Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa and southern Mozambique. Although this is a small antelope they can be very difficult to hunt as they are hard to spot and move very quickly. They make a wonderful trophy and are usually hunted utilizing spot and stalk methods.

[rjm]

Not too much to report...

Got my 1st two vaccinations... yippie...

[Tracker021605]

ouch

[SamuraiGuyTN]

:sad5: Killing all those animals wahhhhhhh and I wasn't invited. Hey have fun. bring home some jerky. mmmmmmm :mrgreen:

[rjm]

Been a while since I have added anything new...

Went to the range last weekend...

This was the last 10 rounds in less than 3 minutes...


http://webpages.charter.net/rjmorawski/Group.jpg

[Want2Wheel]

How far away were you? Nice grouping.

[pplblazerdude]

What caliber also?

[r1ng3l78]

and what was the windspeed. and if you know, what's the airspeed velocity of an unladen african swallow :lol:

[rjm]

This was at about 75 yards, .270 Remmington, no wind, light rain.

150Gr Speer with Hogden 4350 powder (I forget how much, I was just putting rounds together to form fire them to the chamber).

If it wasn't raining I could reach out to about 150 yards with no problem where I was shooting.

[rjm]

and what was the windspeed. and if you know, what's the airspeed velocity of an unladen african swallow :lol:

African swallows are non-migratory though....

Ni!