Swanepoel & Scandrol Safaris striving for the “Best of the Best” into the future
Dear safari clients,
It is quite a challenge to maintain the goal of being able to provide Swanepoel & Scandrol clients with the finest of opportunities for top quality trophy hunting across Africa. As we have mentioned in previous letters the sands of Africa are ever shifting and it requires constant attention to be able to adjust and adapt in the most effective manner to these changes. Our 2007 season is again a testament to our ability to stay in the position of a leader in industry and offer clients who choose to book their safaris with us truly some of the “Best of the Best”. Across the board some incredible trophies were taken throughout our areas and countries of operation and in almost every case the future looks brighter than ever. This is not to say that 2007 did not have its share of twists and turns from the mid season fee increase issues in Tanzania to constant struggles in all countries to maintain realistic and long term sustainable quotas on all species especially the big cats. All in all we look back on 2007 with great pride as well as anxious excitement for 2008 and the future.
2007 season started out with our safari programs in Ethiopia in partnership with Wildlife Safaris Ethiopia and Thomas Mattanovich in mid February. February conditions were much drier than usual which made for some tough hunting but we took some super trophies in both the mountain region as well as the Afar/Danakil desert area. We were fortunate to access a brand new area for Mt Nyala in the Bale region that will be coming on line for 2008 that is sure to produce some outstanding trophies. We are continuing to pursue other regions and areas for additional hunting opportunities of the unique species found only in Ethiopia.
Our safaris in both CAR and Cameroon were highly successful with several Giant Eland taken in the 50”” class in CAR and for our Bongo trophies in Cameroon the top trophy was 33” and the bottom was 29”. We continue to restrict the annual off take of these highly sought after species to assure continuing high trophy quality. In both countries the success on the secondary species on these safaris also continues to be very good and in most cases the number of additional species taken is directly related to the timing during the hunt on success for the principal specie being the Giant Eland or the Bongo. We are opening 2 new areas in Cameroon during the 2008 season one in the forest and one in the savannah which will enhance our programs for these key species.
Our Botswana season for 2008 found us taking on the operations for the CH8 Chobe area commonly known as “Panda” in addition to our programs in the CH1/2 “Enclave” areas. These programs are in association with Akunamathatha Safaris. We experienced excellent success in these areas for the 2007 season on the primary species being elephant and buffalo. The overall average on the elephant trophies for both areas was 60lbs and Buffalo average was 40” although we were fortunate to take several Buffalo over 44” spread. The entire Chobe region was very dry for the 2007 season especially in the CH8 area which did make for some tougher than normal later season safaris. We are doing further waterhole development in both areas for the 2008 season which will make both these areas even stronger and in our opinion really amongst the best if not the very best Elephant and Buffalo opportunities in Botswana. We had the good fortune to be able to conduct for 2 of our good friends and clients two “Big 4”safaris in Botswana in 2007 taking 2 world class lions in the southern Kalahari KD areas with Yuba Safaris, 1 very big leopard in the central Kalahari Tholo Safaris area, 1 great Leopard in the CH8 area and 2 Elephants in the 60lb class plus 2 Buffalo over 42” in the CH1/2 & CH8 areas. It is a pleasure to be able to do these “traditional” 30 day safaris and we look forward to doing more “Big 4” and “Big 5” type safaris for future. We hope the Lion quota issue gets resolved in Botswana as the finest lion hunting on the continent is found in Botswana and the Lion populations and dynamics certainly are supportive of a trophy hunting quota. We will be developing these opportunities for classic Big 4 and Big 5 safaris for upcoming seasons combining Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Our programs in Zambia continue to be one of the best opportunities for a true mixed bag safari with what we feel to be the very best Lion and Leopard hunting available in Africa today. Our focus in Zambia for 2007 was with our marquee area Mumbwa GMA. We were fortunate in 2007 to be able to be hunting in Mumbwa with some of our oldest and dearest clients and friends. With 100% success on the cats while maintaining nothing short of the very top quality combined with superb hunting for premier plainsgame species like Sable it was a very rewarding and enjoyable season in Mumbwa. On one safari alone we saw 23 male Lions in 17 days and either physically saw or had on bait 19 different Leopards. One Leopard bait alone had a monster male, big female and 4 cubs which was quite a sight to see them all sitting on the branch at the same time. Sable as well as all available species of plainsgame in Mumbwa are producing some of the finest trophies being taken. For 2007 we took a limited number of hunters to the Bangweulu region hunting the Lumbwatwa area and had 100% success on Zambezi Sitatunga averaging 27”. These safaris in Zambia are extremely popular due to the quality and success combined with the limited quotas on major species so it is important to make plans in some cases as much as 2 – 3 seasons in advance.
For the 2007 season in Tanzania we hunted the Ugunda, Longido, Burunge and Rifiji areas in association with Northern Hunting and Game Frontiers of Tanzania. We have had a long partnership with these operators and the trophy quality and availability along with brand new camps in most areas made for some very successful and enjoyable safaris. We experienced high success on quality lions, leopards, buffalo and the unique species of East African plainsgame. We had several serious species hunters this year that we were able to structure complicated safaris enabling them to take the entire range of species from Selous to Masailand to western Tanzania. There were many highlights across the board from a 30” East African Sitatunga to several huge heavily maned lions and a monster elephant. We are always looking for new opportunities in Tanzania and we hope to have some new safaris available in several regions for the 2008 and future seasons. Again please view our web site occasionally for these developments and we will also be in contact with our client base via emails as well.
Our operations in South Africa under the guidance of Pierre Vorster and Lucia Swanepoel continued, as always, to give our clients the finest South Africa has to offer. We are genuinely able to offer S&S clientele the opportunities to collect the complete range of South African trophies while experiencing "5 star" type accommodations and true personal service. In 2007 we developed some new programs for our South African clients to hunt some world class Buffalo trophies in the Klaserie Reserve near the Kruger National Park. We will be expanding these opportunities in 2008 to also include some very affordable elephant hunting as well. Our S&S "team" of staff and professional hunters are again the "Best of the Best".
SwanScan will be offering safaris in Zimbabwe again for the 2008 and future seasons in the RIFA safari area of northern Zimbabwe. This area is being offered through a new venture of 2 of our professional hunters Cliff Walker and Bruce Watson “Watson & Walker” who are both Zimbabwe residents and have extensive knowledge of the hunting blocks in Zimbabwe and hand selected the RIFA area for their new venture. We will be booking SwanSan clients into this area with full confidence of some great safaris for elephant, Buffalo and plainsgame along with a few opportunities for some very good lion hunting. Please contact us for details of this new development.
Swanepoel & Scandrol Safaris goal of high success rates on true TROPHY quality animals while maintaining long term, SUSTAINABLE off take from each area of operation will allow our safaris to continue to be the “best of the best”. We are maintaining some rigid but REALISTIC minimum standards for all species. By booking your safari with Swanepoel & Scandrol safaris a client is assured of hunting in hand selected areas, with the best Professional Hunters available, offering realistic opportunities for high quality trophy animals of the species they desire. Our team of Professional Hunters are all full members of the prestigious African Professional Hunters Association (APHA) and collectively have over 150 years of big game hunting experience. Year after year clients who may have hunted with other operators continue to express that there is not a harder working group of Professional Hunters available and they are a significant reason for our successes. Personal care through our Texas based office to all administrative aspects of your safari combined with our staff in each country of operation assures you of a safe, successful, trouble free experience. We highly suggest that a potential hunter make contact with one of our past SwanScan clients using our extensive reference list. Please review the general details of the programs being offered for 2008 and future seasons as many of our programs have changed. Contact us at your earliest convenience to discuss specific safari requirements and availability.
From South Africa to Ethiopia, Cameroon to Tanzania along with Zambia, Botswana and CAR, we continue to develop strong, well-organized programs that allow us to offer our clientele safaris for 150 different species of recognized, legally available trophy animals across the African continent all under the direction of Swanepoel & Scandrol Safaris. This is unparalleled in the current safari industry. We have an impressive number of clientele who now have taken well over 100 species of African trophy animals with Swanepoel & Scandrol Safaris and in a few cases all with one of our Professional hunters. Many of these clients have recently received some very prestigious awards from both the Weatherby Foundation as well as Safari Club International.
Our goal is to truly strive to provide the “Best of the Best” for our SwanScan clients. In almost all cases we feel we managed to achieve this but in a few cases factors beyond our control which always crop up in Africa being the weather, wild animals or “Lady Luck just did not cooperate but our efforts on every safari are always 100%. Our commitment is to continue to offer our clientele smooth, safe, personally designed safaris that will give FAR better than average opportunities for your priority species. Come and join the hundreds of satisfied "Swanepoel & Scandrol Safaris" clients. Contact us at (281) 334-7691 for details, references and to discuss and plan any of your safari requirements.
All the “Best”,
Doug and Peter
