By Surihe Gaomas ROOIKRAAL Together with his wife Marina and three children, Joof Lamprecht runs the internatio-nally well-established and reputable Namibian premier outfit under the name ‘Hun-ters Namibia Safaris’. Sitting in a huge wooden armchair around the fireplace puffing his pipe, owner of Hunters Namibia Safaris and Rooikraal Game Ranch, Joof Lamprecht, a professional hunter, recalls how he became interested in trophy hunting ever since he was a young. “During my childhood I dreamt of hunting the wide opens spaces of Africa and owning part of it. So it is not surprising that every spare moment of my youth was spent in the bush, hunting and exploring,” he says putting his pipe down to sip wine from a champagne glass. It seems from the onset he was the only one in his family that had a passion for bush life and educated himself in the art of bush craft and hunting. Born in Pretoria, South Africa on the 21st of May in 1948, his first break in successful hunting came at the tender age of 12 years. “I shot a leopard with the only Zulu hunting buddy by my side,” he reminisces about the good old days. Ethical trophy hunting and a career in trophy hunting and the tourism industry has always been his lifelong dream. And indeed has become his ballgame. Even though he completed his training in Construction Management at Witwatersrand University, and established his own construction company at the age of 25, Joof knew that trophy hunting was always his passion. His dream became a reality four years later when he met his lifelong partner, Marina, who encouraged him to leave his construction business altogether and begin his career in the safari industry. Looking affectionately at her husband, Marina is happy to be his better half in all aspects of her life. “I first saw him when I was in Standard 9 (Grade 11) and I knew that this tall good-looking man would be my husband one day. Outdoor life and nature has always been his passion,” says Marina gazing smilingly into the crackling fire. Joof qualified as a professional hunter in 1979 but after a three-year partnership in Omaruru Safaris, he decided to go it alone. He established a sporting goods store in the form of “The Gun Shop” in Windhoek to complement his safari activities. As well as selling brand name hunting rifles his highly qualified, imported German master gunsmiths have turned out some of the finest custom made rifles for clients who enjoy the finer aspects of life. ” I even made a special hunting rifle and gave it to the Founding Father Dr Sam Nujoma as a gift to him,” says Lamprecht. Soon afterwards the Lamprecht family sold the gun shop business to buy the much- talked about Rooikraal Game Ranch, east of Windhoek in the Omaheke region. They started the Hunters Namibia Safaris in 1985. Since, they have been marketing their safari mostly outside the country, especially in the United States. Today the camelthorn vegetation of the Rooikraal Game Ranch is considered one of Southern Africa’s most attractive nature reserves with a rich diversity of wildlife for many foreign trophy hunters. An experienced professional hunter for years, Lamprecht’s extensive hunting expeditions have taken him beyond Namibia to South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Angola and Mozambique. His eldest son, Jofie Junior, was so inspired by his father that he took to trophy hunting at the age of 23. Lamprecht has today earned the accolade of ” most serious and ethical professional hunter” from those close to him in the industry. ” I firmly believe in the laws of fair chase, respect for the game and nature and therefore hunt only on foot,” he