Sports Travel: Kenyan Shooting Champs in Ermelo Mpumalanga

**Daffton Mwitiki [Photo by Caroline Obuya]**

Sports Travelling can be a lot of fun if well planned. For the Kenyan Shooters team; Visiting South-Africa for the IDPA –Africa championships 2018, ‘SA’ may have been an easy choice for them for many reasons, though as time went by it turned out that it had its own share of challenges ranging from the weather, to in-flight food portions for some.

Practical sports shooting is fast gaining traction in Kenya. The travel sports industry has grown by a good percentage and this trend doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.

When traveling with a team of 26 shooters from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to OR-Tambo airport in Johannesburg, it is only natural for images of ammo, holsters, massive ranges and difficult targets to easily conjure through your mind.

**Eng Robert Nyamongo- shopping [Photo by Caroline Obuya]**

Talking of customized luxury sports travel, one of the few names that crops up in the mind is that of travel connoisseur Dafton Mwitiki. Mr. Mwitiki the proprietor of Beyond the Wild Safaris Managed the Kenyan Shooters team’s travels with such ease both in Nairobi and in South-Africa.

He takes pride in delivering top quality sports travel packages that take the worry out of travel for individuals and groups, allowing his guests to enjoy special moments like pulling over the van so that people can get out to stretch, snack, take pictures etc.

**Inflight portions [Photo by Caroline Obuya]**

One of the best parts of travel sports is the unique opportunity to visit new places and play against competitors from different parts of the country. The shooters wanted to make sure that they have all their equipment intact ahead of their matches. Therefore, a visit to a gun shop came in handy.

Wildman hunting & Outdoor was the place of Choice. A personalized tour of the place revealed that they have everything you need under one roof including the factory that manufactures the several guns on display and a training center for those interested in learning how to shoot or become shooting instructors.

**Roadside dining [Photo by Caroline Obuya]**

The team spent the entire morning to mid-afternoon shopping for various commodities from Holsters, magazines, clips, storage cases, range bags, eye and ear protection, decoys, Optics, name it!

When shopping around South-Africa, bear in mind that the mode of currency used is the South African Rand. Always remember to change your cash into their local currency before ‘boarding’.

**Shem Moroto bracing the cold [Photo by Caroline Obuya]**

Ermelo Mpumalanga South-Africa is predominantly a coal mining area with most people owning ranges. Weekends are characterized with dinning and partying at roadside Inns after drives from private and public ranges.

South Africa has a good road network. For the most part, infrastructure is almost perfect, most roads and train systems are functional. There however are other roads where you will need a 4 x4 to get you around.

**Gun shopping [Photo by Caroline Obuya]**

Their road signs lingo is a little bit different from Kenya’s. For instance, they refer to traffic lights as robots. On our way to a private training range in East Vaal District, our van got stuck in some massive dry soil in the middle of nowhere, where we found ourselves surrounded by thousands of gazelles, wildebeests, pheasants, and other wildlife. It took the effort of 14 strong men and women and a clown driver to get the vehicle to safe ground.

Away from the travel intrigues, South Africa is such a cosmopolitan country. It has 11 official languages. The country is often termed the ‘rainbow nation’ because of its cultural diversity. English is widely spoken in the country. But it is not the most common language in the area.

**Wildman hunting shop [Photo by Caroline Obuya]**

Zulu is the most widely spoken home language followed by Xhosa and Afrikaans. English comes 5th. Most South Africans are multilingual, which means they will be able to converse with you in diverse languages.

Playing travel sports can be a big time commitment for shooters both financially and time-wise, but the shooters agree that the benefits of participation are more fulfilling than anything else.