Want to do Africa, what am I missing?

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yidava25

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In a few years (April 2019 hopefully) I'm planning to head to South Africa or Namibia for a plains game hunt. I was at the outfitter expo in Calgary this January, which was great. I'm trying to get a realistic grip on what it's actually going to cost me. I know from talking to friends who have gone that there can be many hidden/unexpected costs. To those of you who have done it, what else am I missing here?

-Actual cost of the safari: Daily rates and trophy fees, gratuities, rental of firearms, wingshooting ammo.
-Flight, one or two nights in a hotel in Johannesburg or Windhoek or wherever.
-Dipping and packing trophies
-Shipping trophies to me here in Alberta
-Taxidermy

So far I'm coming up with a guess of around $20-$25K by the time I'm home with heads on the wall. I'd like to know before I sign anything how else they're going to try to nickel and dime me dry.

Thanks
 
Good to know, thanks guys.
Now all I need is the money. Good thing big oil is in the toilet.

I'm thinking I'll leave my rifles at home and use one of the outfitters'. Anybody very against this idea? Just seems like it would eliminate half the hassle of traveling.
 
Let's see... food costs (are you really going to Africa just for a week or so)?

You need to plan at least three days to get over the jet lag and be back on top of your game, plus acclimatization to temperature (AB in April to South Africa/Namibia?) and potential food/water acclimatization issues too. Vaccination and medicines? Is the area subject to Malaria, Dengue or some other fun gifts for the tourist?

Visas/Permits as needed, will you be bringing anything back on which there may be duties or export/import fees (I mean aside from the fruit of the hunt, you might want to bring back other souvenirs)? Oh, budget for the souvenirs themselves, too. Is your cell phone compatible with their system (usually basic GSM)?

Depending on the area, plan for the price of your ransom and AIDS treatment? :evil:
 
Take your best guess at trophy/dayrate or package price. Double that for extra trophy fees, then just about double it again for exchange rate to American. Add 5000 for flights, rooms, incidentals, might get your tips into that. Maybe another 5000 for your taxidermy if you get it done there. I've never seen any rhyme or reason to freight or permits but somewhere between $1-2000. A thousand or so for some extra practice offhand and from sticks. That should do it. Ground transfers may be included, and might not be. Weigh that against whether you are paying full dayrate on travel days. Some charge part rates on those days and some charge nothing. Things like that can add up fast, and if you don't see it coming can be unpleasant at settle up time.

I don't know why you'd want to rent or borrow a gun. There's so many things that are out of your control that you may as well have one thing you've seen before. Getting your rifle into SA is easy enough, haven't done Namibia.
 
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Dogleg said:
Take your best guess at trophy/dayrate or package price. Double that for extra trophy fees, then just about double it again for exchange rate to American. Add 5000 for flights, rooms, incidentals, might get your tips into that. Maybe another 5000 for your taxidermy if you get it done there. I've never seen any rhyme or reason to freight or permits but somewhere between $1-2000. A thousand or so for some extra practice offhand and from sticks. That should do it.

I don't know why you'd want to rent or borrow a gun. There's so many things that are out of your control that you may as well have one thing you've seen before. Getting your rifle into SA is easy enough, haven't done Namibia.
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I appreciate your input, I was hoping you might chime in. As I said, I'm thinking of renting a gun to skip any possible problems it could create while traveling. Also, I'm not a huge fan of the idea of the luggage guys stomping around on my precious firearms. I'm still a little up in the air on this point but I have some time to figure it out yet.

It's easy to make a shopping list of all the animals I think I'd like to hunt there, but having never been in the country, it's probably all but irrelevant.

As for the USD/CAD thing, most of the outfitters at the show in Calgary were offering their regular prices but in Canadian pesos as kind of a show special, IF you booked the hunt there or within the following week. I've got a feeling those deals won't always be available.
 
yidava25 said:
I appreciate your input, I was hoping you might chime in. As I said, I'm thinking of renting a gun to skip any possible problems it could create while traveling. Also, I'm not a huge fan of the idea of the luggage guys stomping around on my precious firearms. I'm still a little up in the air on this point but I have some time to figure it out yet.

It's easy to make a shopping list of all the animals I think I'd like to hunt there, but having never been in the country, it's probably all but irrelevant.

As for the USD/CAD thing, most of the outfitters at the show in Calgary were offering their regular prices but in Canadian pesos as kind of a show special, IF you booked the hunt there or within the following week. I've got a feeling those deals won't always be available.
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try to contact the few that came and ask them what deal they can give you and in which currency ... they live because you are going ...

ask your outfitter what can be given as gift. i already suggested pens and book or whte blank pages always useful kids and schools will love it.
 
Take your rifles South Africa is easy, Namibia is even easier. As far as hotels go you may not need one, only used a hotel once in six trips. You are probably better off getting trophies done there, easier to get into Canada with the BS they pull at Customs about bugs.
Doglegs pricing is pretty close to actual cost depending how carried away you get. Try to get a package deal if you can, it should include most of the actual hunt cost. As far as the Calgary show talk to the guys from Wintershoek, good people and they have thier own Taxidermy shop and do very good work.
 
yidava25 said:
I'm thinking I'll leave my rifles at home and use one of the outfitters'. Anybody very against this idea? Just seems like it would eliminate half the hassle of traveling.
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I've had it both ways. While it may be easier to use the outfitter's rifles there is something sort of wrong about not using your own rifle, especially for a dream-type hunt. Personally, the only reason to use the outfitter's rifle is if you're going to a country you're not allowed to take them (example: Zimbabwe). then I would go to another country unless there was a really compelling reason not to. You can take your own rifles to Namibia and RSA so I say do it.

One thing to think about is taxidermy. Particularly what form it will take. Do you have 10 foot ceilings? If not tall mounts like kudu and gemsbok will sit awfully low on the wall. My gemsbok needs about 6 feet of wall from the bottom of the brisket to the tip of the horns. Ditto the kudu. If you choose to go Euro then you can get away with more. I actually am growing to like Euro mounts more and more sine the creation of hangers like the Skull Hooker. I think they look really good and if you intend on being a high-volume hunter then you can get a lot more into your room, especially if you start shooting things that take up a lot of wall space like cape buffalo, moose and bison.

I think that when I did my RSA hunt in 2007 the Dollar was in similarly bad shape. You don't have to pay a fortune for a plains game hunt but with airfare, trophy fees, daily rates, taxidermy and shipping I was into it for a little over $20K. I had my taxidermy done over there. The logic being would I ship a whitetail deer or a black bear to Africa or keep it with the guys that know what the animals look like? Exactly. That said, I had my taxidermy from Zimbabwe done over here and had great results. Probably a hair cheaper to do it there but if you have a good taxidermist over here it could be a chop pot. Make sure that your taxidermist is all up and up with the new (well, a few years old now) rules for importing and "sanitizing" animal products.

Take fewer clothes, more money and someone else to take photos for you while you hunt.
 
Safari Club International has a "bag" program (or at least I've seen Jim Shockey say they do). They have prepared gifts for villages with selected things to give to the headman, the leaders, the women and so on down to the children.
 
Some countries impose a firearm import tax, you should check that out. If you fly Air Canada, they impose a firearm surcharge. If your significant other accompanies you, there will be tag along fees imposed, and those can be quite steep; IIRC, we paid $100/day for my wife to stay in the camp and $200/day for her to wander around in the Selous with us, in an observer-non-hunting capacity. Tips are expected and will probably cost you about $100/day, or a bit more. Providing gifts for the trackers, drivers, and camp staff will be appreciated. I'd advise you to split up your travel with a short stay in Europe before continuing to your hunting location, or spend a few days in country before the hunt to give your system time to adjust to 8-10 hours of time change. This additional time in country represents a cost, but will make the first few days of the hunt more enjoyable. A 10 day hunt is so much better than a 7 day hunt, pay the difference. Be sure you know what the trophy fee is before pulling the trigger. If you fly on a small airline out of a regional airport within country, expect some cretin to suggest that your luggage is overweight, but for a small consideration, they will ensure your bags make it onto the plane. If you refuse to pay, or make a fuss with the airline, don't have anything in that bag you care about, because you'll never see it again. Canadian currency is unknown, so you'll have to convert to USD or Euros, hopefully the condition of our dollar has improved by the time you go. No one will say thank you for a tip in the local currency, they want USD. Our transactions in Tanzania were all in cash. Don't assume you'll be able to use credit or debit cards, although RSA and Namibia are probably more progressive than East Africa.
 
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In RSA I paid the balance of my safari (50% of the daily rates and 100% of the trophy fees) on my Visa card at the owner's butcher shop. Ran over my limit and had to call Visa to boost it up. Other than that small hiccup it was flawless. Don't count on that sort of thing East of RSA.
 
We are headed to Kwazulu Natal in 2 weeks and are entire hunt was negotiated in Canadian dollars. It's the reason we chose the outfitter we did. The paperwork to take our guns was no problem at all to get in order and in my mind why would you not take your own rifle. I can't comment on taxidermy and shipping costs of that yet but can hopefully do so in a few months. Enjoy the planning, it's part of the trip and believe me the day to leave sneaks up on you real quick.
 
My advice would be go to Zim, or Moz if trying to go on a budget. You'll have less polished and touristy experience but a better time. A South Africa trip, while an excellent vacation, is a very sterile experience if done on a budget. Absolute stereotypical high fence hunting farms, and they are without any reservation refered to as farms by the owners and operators, a nice piece of honesty really. I see these as far superior to the alternative, cattle ranches or maize farms, using wild species on land they are intended to be on to derive economic benefit is admirable, and it's no different than fishing a stocked lake. My wife rode along with one operator while I was hunting who was darting sable to measure them, so the exact score was known for a prospective client. A bit goofy when your animal has been tranq'd to measure it, then the hunt is booked based on the numbers. That's the industry there though and you have to admire how seriously they take it.

Zimbabwe on the other hand you'll see a lot less game (will apply for Mozambique too), a lot more snares, a lot more hiccups (I connected on the last day of my hunt for Cape Buffalo, which with the money spent gets nerve wracking, and I still haven't been able to export the trophy six years later), and just a plain wilder experience. I have had GREAT vacations in South Africa, and my wife loves it too, but what I've experienced there (more budget end, but quality operations) is pretty sterile. If you want to drink cold beer around a fire in luxury accommodations with your wife or brother, I've taken both, there's hardly a more relaxing experience. If you want to walk all day, get some form of tick fever, pull said ticks off your ball sack, pull thorns out of the skin frequently, worry about all sorts of insect borne diseases, and have an experience to tell your kids about look elsewhere frankly.
 
What sort of budget is required for a cape buffalo hunt in Mozambique? And do they have a minimum caliber restriction?

Anyone who has been to both Africa and Australia to hunt buffalo willing to comment on differences in price/experience? I think I may prefer the Australia if it isn't too hard to import guns.

This would be years down the line but it would be nice to know a more concrete number on the price of hunt and travel together...
 
conor_90 said:
What sort of budget is required for a cape buffalo hunt in Mozambique? And do they have a minimum caliber restriction?

Anyone who has been to both Africa and Australia to hunt buffalo willing to comment on differences in price/experience? I think I may prefer the Australia if it isn't too hard to import guns.

This would be years down the line but it would be nice to know a more concrete number on the price of hunt and travel together...
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no caliber rules on firearms in Moz.

i do not think Oz is easy on firearms but that is right dogleg is the one to answer.
 
I feel like I was a lot closer to deciding on a location/outfitter a few months ago than I am now after doing a ton of research.
So far I've been completely sold on SA, Namibia, and Mozambique. Tomorrow I'll probably be ready to head for Zambia or Botswana...
 
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