I have a short story to tell you today!
In the 1970’s when I was still just a snapper my parents Theo & Diana used to visit a game ranch joining the Kruger National Park owned by friends of theirs. The ranch I am talking about is the current upmarket Mala Mala Game Reserve which has open boundaries with the park. Flock Field as it was then known had the big five and many species of plains game free roaming on it. They spent many a day viewing Lion, Leopard and Elephant, but the one animal that was extremely shy and elusive was the beautiful Sable Antelope. The story they tell is that Lion and Elephant were easy to find but to catch a glimpse of a big Sable Bull was extremely rare and a real find.
This is an interesting story, as we forget how far we have come with the conservation and development of wild animals in South Africa over the years. Just yesterday I took a picture of a huge Sable Bull in his prime Just 10 miles from base camp. We have thriving herds of resident Sable Antelope right here in the Eastern Cape and this is all thanks to the hunter. Conservation through the sustainable utilisation of our wildlife. Pat yourselves on the back; it’s you the hunter that we have to thank for the explosion of wildlife numbers in our country, especially in the more rural areas.

 The season is in full swing here at Lalapa. What a month we have had, over 70 trophies on the ground. It’s not possible to share all these pictures with you via newsletter, but here is a sample of the wonderful memories our hunters went home with. We are so proud of our trophy quality and the PH’s have certainly worked hard so far!
My friends Gabor Palos and Gyorgy Zedborsky from Hungary visited again this year and took close on 25 trophies. Gyorgy’s Cape Bushbuck was shot on the Beautiful Eastern Cape coast line near Port Alfred. Where in the world can you hunt in such splendour! 

Gabor got a nice 15 inch Karoo Springbuck, an exceptional Scimitar Horned Oryx, a Beautiful male Cape Grysbok and a monster Barbary sheep. 

Trey Gill from Sheridan Wyoming in the USA hunted with me and got a 40 inch plus Cape Buffalo on the second day! His Red Hartebeest was one of the biggest shot in this area over the last couple of seasons! What a great hunt Trey!!

Jerry & Susan Bien, Gregg & Candyce Carswell visited us from Canada on a 10 day hunt; they both took some great trophies with Gary Birch & Patrick Fletcher as their PH’s. Their Kudu’s bare testament! Jerry’s measured in at over 54 inches!

My Friends Doug Giesbrecht & Randy Gilchrist and wives from Alberta Canada have just left camp after 10 days of successful hunting. Doug got his wish for a “two horned” Cape Bushbuck and a Beautiful Red Deer Stag. Randy got a nice tall Nyala and this 35 inch Cape Eland amongst other great trophies. 

All the safari pictures will be posted on Lalapa’s Facebook page soon. Please visit our website at www.lalapasafaris.co.za and click on the Facebook link to see some great stuff. Like our page and you have a chance to win a Zebra skin rug. Only 19 more likes before the draw!
Look forward to hearing from you for your African Safari next season! Don’t leave your dates too late! Keep checking the site for special deals on certain hunts. Email me anytime with queries or special requests, I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours in hunting
Ray Kemp