If you’re bowhunting and would rather spot and stalk than sit on a water hole or bait, you can have that experience, just speak up. PH’s are usually highly effective at helping you get your animals, but if you prefer to walk all day and glass or track, or you prefer to travel to vantage points to glass and plan stalks, they are usually happy to accommodate you when possible. Each hunt and species varies in terms of how they are hunted. If you want the most out of your hunt, be sure to communicate your hopes with your PH and tell them what you want out of a hunt. On any new hunt, a person naturally brings their own expectations and preferences. Bring Comfortable Boots-And Leather Gaiters Being flightless birds, an ostrich’s feathers are unique, with very soft barbules that don’t lock together light flying birds. Even if snakes don’t terrify you, learn what snakes are present in the region you visit, pay attention to where you walk, sit down, and where you put your hands, and you’ll be just fine. Puff adders, though, are a lazy snake and tend to get stepped on, and thus, bite more people. Typically, the cobras get out of your way long before you see them. On my trip, we encountered two cobras and a puff adder-both are deadly. I wouldn’t say that I’m terrified of snakes, but Africa has lots of poisonous ones and their abundance varies upon the area and time of year that you go. I would imagine that I fall somewhere toward the middle of the spectrum when it comes to Ophidiophobia. Whatever you do, have all your ducks in a row long in advance so that there’s are no surprises and you can relax and enjoy your trip. Should you wish to bring your own guns, any quality outfitter should be able to tell you exactly what you need to bring your gun into the particular country, and sometimes even which airports to avoid and whether or not to plan long layovers while booking your flights. That means no lengthy waits in customs, no routing your trip through the most firearm-friendly airports, no BS, just travel. But if you aren’t particularly attached to using a particular firearm, ask your outfitter whether you might be able to rent or borrow a gun once you get there. Granted, many of us want to use our own rifles on a hunt, because that’s a special part of the hunt to us. I can tell you that traveling without them is a cinch. However, I have heard some terrible ones. I can’t give you firsthand stories of traveling to Africa with guns, because I haven’t done it. Our transportation in Africa, these land cruisers are amazing machines, made to go just about anywhere in the dry, rocky terrain. Impala, zebra, wildebeest all seemed cool, but I didn’t much care, frankly. Although I had nothing against hunting in Africa, I would not have never gone out of my way to go there. I was that guy-the one who was perfectly satisfied with the hunting that I had at home. Africa Is Incredible (even if you don’t know it yet) I was a complete greenhorn in a strange new land. With some initial reluctance, I went, and had the time of my life. It was to be a completely new world for me, and literally almost as far on land as I could get from my home in Alaska. That all changed when I received an invitation to go on a hunt on the Eastern Cape of South Africa for plains game with Frontier Safaris. Because it seemed such a remote possibility, Africa never really made my bucket list. Talk to anyone who has been fortunate enough to have hunted there and they will wear your ears out telling you about it. There is no place in all of hunting lore as iconic as Africa.