Written by Richard Lendrum

It was just over 20 years since I last sat down and had dinner with Johan after his life-altering buffalo attack.

Much has changed in Johan Calitz’s life since then; and what a treat to catch up and spend five whole days with this extremely impressive, but unassuming member of the hunting and tourism industry. “I owe everything to the elephants,” is something Johan said in our time together. Even the logo of the luxury photographic camp, Qorokwe, was what he specifically wanted incorporated, subtly paying tribute to these African wonders of nature.

Johan started hunting because of his father who was, and remained, a passionate hunter. Johan shot his first elephant at 14, and then by 19 he had taken the Big Five. Whether that is something the average teenager can even comprehend, let alone absorb and appreciate, is debatable. What is not up for debate, is how that laid the foundation for his future career. Johan has gone on to respect and revere these creatures more and more, eventually running Africa’s greatest elephant hunting operation along the way. This kind of success could understandably go to one’s head – over 120 bulls in one season when at its peak. Hunting Africa’s greatest animal, the ultimate in big game, certainly in age and size, was something Johan took in his stride, while remaining the humble person he always was.

And then it stopped.

An area Johan had had since 1999 was, fortuitously, ideal for photographic safaris. And as the industry has grown and evolved so, too, was the timing right for change – in particular, given the then President’s stance on hunting. The opening of Qorokwe in 2019 was something of what dreams are made. A truly magnificent camp that is simply impossible to describe in the limited space – but this link will give you an idea of what I am talking about.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is heaven on earth.

Johan’s son, Cobus has hung up his rifle after 20 years with his father and is now spearheading the growth and expansion of Qorokwe. And to cater to different opinions (those of hunters and of photographic / eco- / non-consumptive tourists) – father and son are not mixing businesses, and so Johan is focusing on where it all started for him – the hunting aspect.

What Johan is most excited about is that of the community upliftment in his Mababe Depression area. Few people even knew of the area he hunts, let alone realized its potential. Sometimes a person has a vision of what could be, and only afterwards others see in hindsight it all come together. This was Johan’s talent. And this year, this Calitz Safaris hit the Holy Grail of elephant hunting, not once, but twice. However, we saw the challenges faced announcing such achievements.

had flowed till then. Horizon-to-horizon waterfowl; buffalo and elephant by the thousand, literally everywhere. We passed one herd of around 800 buffalo – it spanned about a solid kilometer. Lion, elephant, eland – and the eland are enormous there. It was simply an absolute abundance of everything.

Deeply spiritual, and a humble man is Johan. Whether it has been the sixty-plus years of life and what that’s thrown at him – nearly being crushed to death by a buffalo; seeing his business go from being the greatest on the continent for African elephant, only to have some laws passed to force a change, either way, his slightly stiff, somewhat beat-up body – courtesy of that buffalo – is his reminder of how fortunate he is to be alive to appreciate each day. Having supported the community for so long, it is obvious everyone loves him. He is employing second-generation staff, transporting stranded pedestrians like one old lady who needed to get to Maun… you get a sense of what this man believes in.

His photos do the talking. His record and experience speak volumes. The results, while no guarantee of what could happen when you book with him, certainly give one a sense of extreme comfort. They set this man and his operation completely in a league of its own.

To use a cliché – for me, it truly was a once in a lifetime experience.

By Valerio Ventriglia

My hunting life began in in Zambia, at a very young age. I used to go for my school holidays to Zambia, spending three months at a time. I used to pester my father to let me go with him when he went hunting, but as I was too small, I used to be left behind. I was six or seven.

My brother Danielle is older than me, so he used to get to go with my dad and uncle, but without me. You can imagine the emotions, the feelings, the crying. And eventually, year after year, my dad couldn’t take it anymore and he said, “You know, you’re ready to go, let’s go.” So at the age of nine he took me for the first time, and I remember the first trip was in southwestern Zambia, and we spent 10 days in the bush. For me it was like living a dream. And the talking was non-stop, you can imagine. I wanted to know more, and I wanted to get the knowledge all in one trip, which, of course, is not possible. But that was my idea.

So, this is a thing that I’ve had since I was a kid, and obviously with time, year after year, every school holiday for me was not going to the sea in Europe, but going to Africa to see my dad and spend time with the family there, and obviously looking forward to our trip in the bush.

And then, with time, growing up, I shot my first buffalo. Obviously, you climb the ladder slowly. The leopard came, the lion after that, and then the elephant. By the time I was 17, I had already done four of the Big Five. That was a big achievement for me at a very young age.

Then in 2007 I registered my company in Zambia and it was a challenge, because obviously – you’re new, you’re young, you’re not well-known in the industry, and regulations around the world had started changing already. So, it was hard, but I put in the time, the effort, the passion especially, to achieve this goal. Unfortunately, Zambia closed its big-game hunting for a few years, so that was a big opportunity for me and my brother to move to Tanzania. We opened up a company there, and we got a few hunting blocks between the Selous and Kilombero Valley – fully licenced also there – and we started hunting and bringing our international clients to Tanzania.

It worked very well. It was a very hard experience – new country, we didn’t know the national language, which is Swahili. Very tough. Stayed there two years. It made us strong, I would say. And then when things stabilised again in Zambia, we came back home and then started hunting around, bringing my clients in the odd hunting game-management areas in Zambia. And then finally the opportunity came up and I got my own block in 2017.

As I’ve said, I started hunting in Zambia as a kid, so I had shot quite a bit of game already at a young age. When I moved to Tanzania, I did that there, too. In the recent years, I would say I’ve taken a trip every year to different countries in Africa, like Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo Brazzaville; gone back to Tanzania, and at this stage (early 2022) I’m in South Africa now to live this different experience with its indigenous species that are found here, and I am looking forward to it.