African Safari: More Than Just the Hunt
African safari. Images of elephants, lions, buffalo and kudu come to mind. Stories by Hemingway, Capstick and the archetype of all things manly – Theodore Roosevelt himself, continue to electrify the imagination of anyone who has picked up a rifle in the search of connection to the way our forefathers lived and provided. In the hunting world, African safari is a bucket list item. Anyone calling North American continent their home has to travel 20 to 30 hours on average for the experience. The expense is a whole different story. And time, climate and culture change and the experience is one to be taken seriously. But regardless of challenges or may be precisely because of them – selecting the right guide/outfitter/lodge for you is just as important as deciding what game you are going to hunt.
Why? Because African safari is about people as paradoxical as it may sound.
People that greet you at the airport and drive you to the lodge. People that set up your camp and make your daily meals. People that take you into the field to find and ultimately hunt the animal that you came to pursue.
From Dream to Reality
GRITR team connected with Tino Erasmus from TG Safaris (http://www.tgsafari.co.za) via Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation banquet. Tino and his company are regular contributors to RMEF, helping the organization raise funds by donating safari packages to the cause.
Mikhail Orlov, CEO of GRITR Sports and Outdoors, happened to be at a banquet in 2019 (right before COVID) and purchased one of the hunts, having dreamt of going to Africa since he was a little kid. While COVID and other uncertainties caused the trip to be postponed several times – Tino and his team were very accommodating in moving the trip to May of 2022.
Since launching GRITR 12 years earlier, this was the first time, the three partners, Igor, Alex and Mikhail, were able to go hunting together. And the trip would not disappoint. Tino, his wife Amanda, his son Ruan, who is a PH himself, and their staff of TG Safaris created an experience like no other. The amount of work that goes into maintaining the hunting grounds, the animal habitats, the animals themselves, the husbandry and the forethought into making it sustainable is impossible to describe. It has to be experienced. The positive impact on both the wildlife and local communities can not be understated.
From home cooked meals to sharing hunting stories by the fire at the end of the day – GRITR crew was welcomed as if we were family. Collecting our trophy animals was simply a bonus to getting to know a great family that is doing a tremendous job in caring for and perpetuating the African safari hunting traditions. As our trip came to an end and we were driving to the airport, we could not shake the feeling that “we will be back.”
TG Safaris (www.tgsafari.co.za) is a family run operation owned by Tino Erasmus and his wife Amanda that’s been serving international clients since 1998. Their family centric approach creates an unforgettable experience for both, hunters seeking the ultimate trophy and families wanting to experience their first African safari, even if it only involves shooting animals with a camera.
GRITR Sports and Outdoors (https://gritrsports.com) is an omni channel retailer, located in North Richland Hills, Texas that operates a shooting sports retail facility focused on hunting, shooting, fishing and other outdoor activities.
