Dangerous Game Hunting in Namibia, Africa
I had the amazing opportunity to travel with NBA player George Hill to document his 3-week dangerous game hunting safari in Namibia, Africa. We traveled all around the country of Namibia in search of the best game for George to hunt. We had some absolute insane experences. One of the coolest things to see was what ethical hunting does for the local villages and communites in Namibia.
Animals of Namibia
Namibia is full of so much beautiful wildlife. We were blessed with so many opportunites to observe these animals from afar and up close. It was an incredible experience and I can’t wait to return to Africa.
The Hippo
A large hippo had been causing locals trouble for months. The community was waiting for a foreign hunter to come along and help them take care of it.
This was our first full day in Namibia. We traveled the river for 3 hours searching for a hippo that would chase our boat. We finally find it. We passed a large pod of hippos and a large, angry male started chasing us. We knew this was the one. We parked the boat a half mile down the river and took out on foot to see if George could get a shot.
The Impala
We started our day at 5:30am. We were on our way to the river to hunt for crocodiles when our spotters saw a herd of impalas in the distance. After tracking for a couple miles, George was able to take the shot and hit a beautiful, old, male impala. This hunt took place in the Caprivi Strip, Namibia.
The Red Lechwe
This hunt was one of, if not THE most, insane experience of my life. It started out pretty simple. We were on the river and spotted a large, male lechwe. George got out and got a shot on him. Unfortunately the shot wasn’t great so the lechwe was able to run. We tracked this animal for MILES. We even had to swim and wade through hippo and crocodile infested waters. We also came in close contact with a hippo on land, but fortunately the hippo decided not to pursue us. We finally got close enough for George to put a final shot in the lechwe to make it a successful day.
The Roan
The Roan is a very tricky and sneaky animal. We had to track this animal for 9-10 miles over 2 days. George was able to successfully shoot and kill this beautiful old male after a very exhausting hunt. This hunt took place in the Caprivi Strip, Namibia.
Kaokoland
Kaokoland neighbors the famous Etosha National Park. It is full of all kinds of wildlife. While we were in this area George was able to hunt multiple plains animals including a zebra and a leopard.
Panorama
Our final destination on this amazing hunting trip in Africa. Panorama is a privately owned reserve that is full of all kinds of plains animals. George was once again able to successfully hunt multiple animals including wildebeest.
The Waterberg Peninsula
We stayed on this plateau with one mission: Hunt a water buffalo. We were warned that there are few animals more dangerous than an injured bull. After searching and tracking a large bull for 2 days, George was able to get a shot on him. However, this animal was so tough and so big that it took multiple shots to finally put him down. It was a very intense hunt as we had low visibility in the thick desert brush. We were very aware that the bull could get up and charge us at any second...
The Crocodile
This hunt was an awesome experience but resulted in disappointment. While traveling the river in the Caprivi Strip, we spotted a 13-foot crocodile on the bank of the river. We parked the boat a half mile up the river and got out to see if we could get a shot. George took multiple shots, hitting the croc directly. Unfortunately the crocodile gained just enough strength to disappear into the river before George could get to it. We spent the afternoon and next day fishing around with hooks and poles to see if we could recover the body. We never found it.