Our time in the USA

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Stuck in Minneapolis!

And below is the day before we left South Africa!

Well, here we are again, doing our usual 5-6 week tour of the trade shows to promote our product, meet up with friends and make brand new ones! Things are going very well and we find ourselves almost full for 2018, and filling up fast for 2019. Many thanks to our past clients for taking another leap of faith and planning to come our way again and a big hearty welcome to those of you who are doing it for the very first time.

The weather in Denver was mild and sunny and the show went well. Thanks must go as always, to Chuck and Deb Place, for storing our booth and helping us to set up and break down. Kent Dorr you were an amazing help all round, and we look forward to next time! Our friends Dwayne Drees and Mark Whitley introduced us to the delightful Dave Guhr, who intends following in his buddie’s footsteps, and coming over to spend time with us in 2019. Thanks Dwayne and Mark! Afterwards we got to spend some fabulous time with Russ and Donna Defusco, in Colorado Springs, a first for us. Russ is a retired Airforce Academy graduate and a very talented ornithologist, and could teach most people a thing or two about birds and other fauna and flora, and we very much enjoyed his and Donna’s stimulating company. Then it was off to Sacramento, where we met some very keen travellers, in particular Dave Moitoza, who is amongst some of our new Sacramento Bosbok family. We look forward to showing Dave and his son our own neck of the woods. Mike Gold, it was good to see you again and to meet your beautiful daughter.

After Sacramento we were making our way to Philly via Minneapolis when we were rudely interrupted by a blizzard and after spending 4 and a half hours in the plane on the runway, we finally disembarked to find a hotel and could fly out next morning. We are now in Sweet Valley PA, close to Wilkes-Barre, with our good friends Dale and Shawna Elston. Dale are Shawna are consummate hosts, and truly good friends to have over here. Dale, Shawna and Terry McHenry, our other good friend in this valley, all helped out at the booth in Bloomsburg, which means the world to us. Jim Yost, Gary Ramus, Vicky Loreman, Sam Haldeman, Greg Lane and Jeff Taylor, Thanks you all for your incredible generosity.

We are now preparing for the big one….the Great American Outdoor Show in Harrisburg, now run by the NRA. We look forward to seeing many of you there. I will try to update as soon as we are able. Please feel free to read and comment in the space below, on any or all of the other posts…I need to be sure someone is actually seeing them! We will be at Booth No. 6024 in the Main Hall just off the Maclean Street entrance. Give us a call on 720-207-7838 if you need help finding us😊

Leopard in the garden

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Some of you have been around in camp when we have heard the resident leopard calling. The sound they make is known as sawing, and this is done either to call a mate, or defend their territory. In our case the leopard is usually a male animal. It can be quite unnerving for those who are not used to such things, but for us, it is one of the most beautiful sounds in the bush and it gives us a thrill every time. In early August, we had Troy Sheldon, the ultimate gentleman of travel, visiting us on his own from Denver. During that period, we were particularly blessed and the leopard was very active while we sat around the campfire in the darkening hours when he would often serenade us, coming as close as 30 yards from where we were sitting! Then in September we had the lovely Yost and Johnson families here when he again became active close to camp. One evening, Kate was in the process of putting the final touches to the evening meal, and went out to her herb garden just outside the kitchen door to pick parsley, when she surprised our feline friend who gave two loud grunts and ran off into the dark! Don’t know who was more surprised actually…Kate or the leopard!

Another favourite leopard story, involved our delightful friends, Scott and Shannen Miller. We had completed a wonderful bow hunting and photo safari trip with Scott and Shannen and were staying at a small private reserve just outside Kruger Park before taking them to the Hoedspruit airport next morning to fly back to upstate New York. It was late in the season…early October and hot and dry. We were sitting out at the edge of the pool after dinner, when a leopard started to call very close to our camp. Phil and Kate exclaimed in delight at the sound, but Shannen and Scott were not so sure and we laughed like crazy people when Scott asked…”So is that a GOOD thing??” Our unanimous YES caused more hilarity. Next morning Shannen and I went to look for his tracks to ascertain how close he had been and it turns out he was just 25 yards away! It is incidents like these and many, many others, that add to the richness of the lives we are privileged to lead and share with our visitors.

If any of you have your own leopard story you enjoyed on safari with us, please share it on this forum.

Dung Beetles

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The thought of an insect eating any kind of dung, is probably very off-putting to most of you. But the integral part played by dung beetles in the disposal of animal dung, is vital in helping to erradicate transmittable diseases and reducing fly infestation. Dung beetles are seriously cool and interesting creatures!

Did you know:

  • That they can move a ball of dung up to 10 times their own body weight and size?
  • They feed almost exclusively on dung, but also some decayed plant material
  • Help disperse seeds and improve nutrient quality of soils by burying dung balls and turning the soil
  • Only push dung balls with their back legs
  • The famous Egyptian scarab is in fact a species of dung beetle
  • They mate underground and lay their eggs in the buried ball for hatching and for food storage
  • They are capable of navigating by the stars
  • Have an exceptionally well developed sense of smell

All in all, these harmless creatures are nothing but an asset to any environment. In the late 1960’s the Australian government imported dung beetles to their country from South Africa, to help tackle the enormous fly infestations and associated diseases they had as a result of their growing cattle numbers and unprocessed cow patties. The marsupial dung beetle was only capable of processing pellets like those of deer and sheep, and incapable of handling cattle or buffalo-like dung. This project has been a resounding success.

Fishing Adventures

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For quite some time now, Phil and Kate have been thinking about how they can extend their business and offer more activities for their friends and guest to participate in, on this wonderful continent of ours.

Phil’s passion for fishing a recent trip we did to the Okavango Swamps in Botswana, decided them to do more research in this direction. As a result of many hours spent on the web and speaking to potential partners, as well as two further trips to these venues, Bosbok Safaris can now offer some incredible fishing adventures.

Imagine fighting a big tiger fish (pictured above), from your tender boat while being observed by a herd of elephants, or a pod of hippos frolicking in the water not far away! All of this while an African Fish Eagle gives it’s beautiful call from a nearby tree. This scenario actually happened to us on a few occasions on the last few trips!

These destinations have not only been chosen for the excellent angling on offer, but also for the magnificent scenery, abundant bird life and overall African Wilderness atmosphere. This makes these ideal venues not only for the angler, but also for the non-anglers  who simply wish to enjoy a true adventure. Comfort and cuisine were also considered before making the above choices, and they live up to standard on every score.

It is entirely feasible to combine the fishing adventure with any of the other safaris we offer. Doing a combination of a fishing, hunting and photographic safari is very possible, and we already have a few of these lined up for 2018.

The accommodation varies from staying on a houseboat in the panhandle of the Okavango Swamps in Botswana, to luxury tented en-suite accommodation on the banks of the Zambezi River in Botswana, Zambia and Namibia.

Please check Bosbok Fishing Safaris for more details.