To and From Afton
Many South African safari adventures begin and end with a stay at the Afton Guest House, and that's how it was for me and my hunting partner Jerry Hnetynka. Around the dancing campfire flames—which always seem more breathtaking on the Dark Continent—we shared hopes and, later, tales of the hunt with Richard Lendrum whose passion is to promote Africa and to assist hunters. And having seen taxidermy work at Afton, we chose Cradle of Man to collect our trophies scattered throughout the countryside, and Richard's AHG trophy shipping service will be seeing them through to our doorstep.
Our adventure began with a pandemiccrazed series of WhatsApp messages to African Dawn outfitter Stephen Bann of SB Hunting Safaris at a time when border closures made such a hunt seem a distant wish.
When the first flights got the green light, we were on our way from Chicago to Johannesburg where Bann and his cameraman were waiting. Bann's motto is, “Not about quantity, but quality,” and he has a track record of delivering in spades, so to find him free for a month was a boon. We shared the camp and did all hunting with Bann, and half way through the venture, his delightful family joined us, and we set off
