Buffalo and Plains Game on the Delta

On arrival at OR Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg, you will be met by a representative from Zambezi Delta Safaris to help in clearing of guns and any other question you might have.

You will then be assisted to your hotel across from the airport arrival hall.

The next morning make your way to the departure hall where you will depart on a flight to Beira.

After a well needed rest, the next morning you will take a 1 ½ hour flight to Beira, MOZ where you will be met by a representative from Zambezi Delta Safaris and he will help you clear your guns and all of the customs formalities.

At this point, you will need to transfer your guns into a soft case to cut down on weight for the charter. The representative will store your hard cases in a locker for your return after the hunt.

After clearing customs, you will take a 1 hour charter flight on Safari Air to camp.

When you arrive in camp, Mark or one of his staff will go over the hunt with all safety precautions and what to expect, then you can site your rifle and relax before evening dinner.

The next nine days will be full hunting days for Cape Buffalo, one of Africa’s most dangerous animals and part of the Big 5. These animals can grow up to 1,800 lbs. and are one of the most aggressive and curious of all African wildlife.

You will be hunting the Zambezi River Delta known for being one of the richest areas for large buffalo. This expanse of varied terrain has grass & palm savannahs, forest & swamps providing the perfect habitat for wildlife to thrive.

This is a true hunter’s hunt and will involve a lot of stalking, running and crawling on your hands and knees. Your PH will help you identify the trophy class of a buffalo by the horns these animals are so well known for. A good set of horns starts with a thick heavy wide boss, running outwards and downwards (the deeper the curl the better) well past the ears before curling upwards and back in again. The points then raise upwards and backwards, the higher the better.

As a rule, the further past the ears the outer upward curls of the horns are, the better the trophy. The Zambezi Delta will provide opportunities to harvest a very nice trophy buffalo on a high adrenalin hunt.

The hunting day starts with an early wakeup call where you will eat breakfast before departing with your Professional Hunter by vehicle in search of buffalo where, if you find signs, you will proceed by foot.

These animals can cover vast amounts of ground in only a few hours and the PH’s know exactly if the spoor and tracks you find are fresh or not. Seeking shade from the heat of the day, the buffalo usually bed down for a few hours before rising again after midday. I

f by noon you have not seen signs worth tracking, you will head back to camp for a wonderful lunch and rest for about an hour. The PH’s take bagged lunches and refreshment along for the morning hunt should you get on a herd and cannot break for lunch.

After the heat of the day has passed, you will go back out with your PH to search for promising tracks and fresh spoor again. Should you find any, you and the PH will follow the lead on foot until the herd appears.

Hopefully it will be a few Dagga Boys which refers to an older buffalo who are very intelligent and usually have the attitude to go along with it. Be prepared to run then crawl on your hands and knees as your PH will hastily get you in position.

He will hopefully have a chance to set up the shooting sticks where the shot might only present itself for a split second. Squeezing off the round, you quickly will need to load another trying for one more shot on the massive beast before he disappears in the bush.

It is very unusual for a Cape Buffalo to go down after the first shot, but will normally signal death with a characteristic loud bellow.

Most of the hunting will be done in what is referred to as the “Swamps”. This is an area that is full of sawgrass and papyrus stalks that the buffalo like to wade in to cool themselves.

This can be difficult hunting due to much of the stalking being done is waist high water, but is well rewarded most of the time with a trophy buff.

Make sure to pack lightweight camouflage coveralls (mechanic style) to protect your legs and arms from the sawgrass. A good pair of mechanic style gloves is a must along with swamp shoes (high top canvas converse are the best). Your hunt in the swamps will be a story told many times over and a memory you will never forget.