Disclaimer: The purpose of the hunt in South Africa is used as a wilderness conservation that keeps the total populations of wild animals to a healthy number. All of the meat harvested during this trip was processed and eaten by the individuals on the trip, and the remainder was donated to a local school in the community of Dwaalboom, South Africa. This trip was the trip of a lifetime so please refrain from any backlash towards Mark Ernster.

The wrestling community is a tight-knit group and unfortunately, youth wrestling coach Dylan Swanson was diagnosed with testicular cancer. His brother, Parker, began brainstorming ideas on how to raise money for cancer treatments because insurance would not cover most. He decided to do a live auction for donated gifts.

“Just about everyone in the area got notified of it, and everyone was able to show support,” said Mark Ernster.

One gift in particular was a hunting trip to Africa. Ernster was accompanied by another wrestling coach at the live auction, and they decided to bid.

“And once we started bidding, we just kept going, and by the end, we won. It turned out to be a trip for six, so we turned it into a father-son vacation,” said Ernster.
Once the planning began, it took about three years to get the trip to fit in everyone’s schedule. Their travel began in the Sioux Falls, SD airport, and they took their first flight to Minneapolis. After an hour layover there, they flew to Amsterdam, which ended up being an 11-hour flight. Those two flights ended up being only half of their travel to South Africa.

“Then we flew to Johannesburg, South Africa, and that was around 14 [hours of flight]. After we landed, we had a three-hour drive to our final destination [at the Wild Wildebeest Lodge],” said Ernster.

After arriving at the Wild Wildebeest Lodge, the group of six had a warm welcome from their caretakers. During each meal, their group had private chefs who would prepare three meals a day for them. All of their meals were cultural and contained something new to try each time.

“The food was fantastic. We had wild game mixed with every meal: breakfast, lunch and supper. Anything from Ostrich to Zebra, Cape Buffalo, Gemsbuck, Eland, Impala, Kudu and Eland, and we were able to try just about anything you could think of,” said Ernster.

The options were endless for new foods to try, and Ernster’s favorite was zebra. The lodge is owned and operated by U.S. citizens but maintained by individuals who were born and raised in South Africa. Before the trip, Wild Wildebeest Lodge provides everyone with a specific packing list in order to be prepared for any excursion. It is recommended to bring a small amount of clothing because a daily laundry service is provided. The lodge also offers separate activities outside of hunting. Such as: visiting cultural cities, day trips to national parks, adventures with elephants, spa packages and more.

The Wild Wildebeest Lodge supplies three lodges in total, each containing an outdoor pool, a fully stocked bar, seven African-themed bedrooms and a library. This lodge has been determined to be a first-class stay.

When planning this trip, they had to keep in mind the temperature differences.
“We went in July, which is their winter, so it was 32 in the a.m. and 70 by noon. Not as cold as it is here, but it was still an adjustment for the season,” said Ernster.
It was certainly a change for preparing proper attire for hunting throughout the day, considering that the temperature had the ability to shift to over 40 degrees midday.
The biggest part of this trip was making the most out of each day. Days one and two were used to travel from airport to airport across the world and arrive at the lodge. The next five days were hunting and safari excursions. Days three and four began the hunting experience.

“We would get up early about 4:30 a.m. to eat breakfast and then head out for the morning. Depending on if we were successful or not, we would go back out after lunch. When the afternoon hunt concluded, we would gather back at the lodge and hang out until everyone got back from their day out,” said Ernster. “When everyone got back from their hunt, we got cleaned up, had supper and would share our stories from the day around the table and later at the campfire. We went to bed around 10 p.m.”

Ernster was able to harvest an Impala, Black Impala and a Wildebeest over that time. Those two days were not only filled with hunting but also with long talks over what everyone experienced from sunup to sundown. They had a large gathering with the other lodges to begin sharing local culture and the cuisine of the native people. The other individuals from other lodges were from places all over the world. A hidden meaning behind this excursion was being able to understand the differences between everyone.

After meeting everyone from different lodges, their group took a break from hunting on day five and was able to travel to an Elephant Preserve. This Elephant Preserve took notice as the number of elephants had decreased by 89% in the last 70 years, and 110,000 elephants have died in the last 10 years due to poaching and habitat loss. The Elephant Preserves’ main goal was to save these elephants from such dangerous activities.

According to Waterberg Tourism, “We are even more thrilled to be able to connect you with elephants through our unique interactions so that you might see them for what they are, and therefore think a little bit more about their future, and indeed many other species, in an ever-changing and modernizing Africa.”

After returning from the Elephant Preserve, their group prepared for their last two days of hunting. Days six and seven were filled with hunting Warthog, Gemsbuck and Kudu. While this wrapped up their South African experience, the group is grateful for the time spent with family. Days eight and nine were used to travel back to the United States and return to the rest of their family.