Brenda Valentine recently returned from a South African safari where she enjoyed spending time with her family and hunting. She chronicles her adventures at her blog, “Brenda Valentine – The First Lady of Hunting.“
Africa is a place that is hard for me to describe. It is such a diverse place there is no quick or complete manner to tell of the Africa experience. It is a land of contrasts that must be experienced to fully grasp. It has been my good fortune to visit this land many times. I have bowhunted most of the plains game species as well as dangerous game. It had been my dream to share the mystic of Africa with younger members of my family so they could have a bank of memories to last them long after I am gone. This was the year that my daughter, Scarlet, and grandsons, Justin and Caleb, comprised the small expedition that would travel halfway around the the globe to witness things they had only seen in books or movies.
Our good friends, the Osmers family, own and operate Dalerwa Ventures for Wildlife near Hodspruit, SA. I have hunted several times with Siegfried and his lovely wife Elize. He visits the US each winter and has generously donated a safari or two to the NWTF auction for many years.
When in Africa I have bowhunted from trees, holes in the earth, pop-up blinds, elevated towers and all sorts of places. However, on this trip we quickly chopped and piled brush for make-shift “hides” in several locations where I was able to take hundreds of photos and wait for an opportune shot with my Hoyt bow. This hide was very close to a waterhole where lots of cape buffalo drank and hung out. My escape plan, if charged, was up the tree at the back of the brush blind.
To view more photos from Brenda’s safari, visit her blog.
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Africa is definitely something we can’t even imagine. For me, it’s very different from what we have now and what we are used to. I admire the people who have the strength to go there.