About to book my first African Safari

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Nipigon Jack

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I went to the African Hunting Events show in Mississauga a couple of weeks back just to check things out and to see what kind of money I was talking about to do a safari of some sort. When I told a friend of mine that I was going, he asked to come along. He was there an hour before he asked when we were going to book a trip. So needless to say I wont be spending the next year reading and doing research. We are both wanting to go.
What else do I need to ask or to plan for before I start sending deposits?

We are about to book 7 days to Namibia for May of 2015. 1 PH for 2 hunters. A total of 6 animals for both hunters, 2 Kudu, 2 Oryx, 1 Blue Wildebeest, and 1 non trophy Impala. Cost for each hunter would be $4,650 for the hunter taking the Wildebeest and $4,050 for the hunter taking the Impala.
Additional information provided is
Airport transfers is $200/person once off.
I will not charge tax on your hunt. No other charges.

What else do I need to ask before we start sending off deposits?
I know we will have to add, flight, tips, dip and ship, brokerage charges, health insurance and taxidermy
Is there anything that I'm missing?

I've travelled extensively but have never felt intimidated like this before.
 
Lots of experienced Safari hunters on here and my one trip by no means makes me an expert but I did learn a thing or two from my experience.

First of all six animals between two guys over a week will likely not wet your appetite. Plan for extra trophy fees. Remember you pay for what you wound so take only shots you are comfortable with. Be prepared to spend a significant amount of money getting your trophy's home. I only took four animals on a short hunt I squeezed in while my wife and I were in South Africa last year and so far I have spent over $4000 just to have them dipped, packed, and be shipped here. Once they arrive in Canada is when it really got frustrating and expensive. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency held my crate for about four months and I had to pay a daily storage fee, of course customs took their share and then every time someone, or an agency, inspected my crate I had to pay. Then there was the disinfection process and more shipping fees. I just found out yesterday that my trophies are finally on the way to my taxidermist of choice.

I honestly had no idea it was this expensive to have trophies cleared through customs here in Canada. I expected to pay dearly to ship them here but so far, since my crate arrived in Calgary last August, I have forked out over $2000 just to get it shipped to my taxidermist ( taxes, inspections fees, brokerage fees, handling fees, storage fees, permits, shipping, disinfection fees).

Call and speak to an importer here in Canada before you go. I ended up dealing with Dale of Talon Distributors in Edmonton and he was a life saver. There is no way I could have waded through all the red tape without him.

Also speak to your taxidermist and decide what you want done before you go. If possible pick a taxidermist close to a major Airport that is approved by the CFIA to disinfect imported trophies. My taxidermist was not and it cost me extra. Sadly the Government has made it almost cost perhibitive for Canadian hunters to have trophies returned to Canada to be mounted. If I had of known I believe I would have had everything either euro mounted there or tanned first and then shipped over Having your capes shipped here dried will cost you both time and money and money.
 
Take 3 times the money and half the clothes that you think you need. Practice shooting off sticks, shoot everything through the shoulders, use good bullets and a rifle that you would be happy to use on elk. Don't smile at the local girls. Take lots of pictures.


Use Dale Warren at Talon distribution. He knows his stuff.
 
dogleg said:
take 3 times the money and half the clothes that you think you need. Practice shooting off sticks, shoot everything through the shoulders, use good bullets and a rifle that you would be happy to use on elk. don't smile at the local girls. take lots of pictures.


Use dale warren at talon distribution. He knows his stuff.
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killjoy..................
 
Take extra money, you can shoot pretty much anything you want after you get there, if you have the trophy fee in hand. When my boy went he had his list and money in hand and they still talked him into 3 or 4 more animals. He told them he had no more money, and they just replied "send us a check when you get home". What he didn't tell them was that when he said I have no more money he didn't just mean on him, he meant he had NO MORE MONEY IN THE WORLD. They gave him terms and let him pay them over the next year or so I believe.
 
Have a pocket full of $5 and $10 American bills for tipping in airports....etc

Find a CFIA taxidermist close to where your trophies will be shipped to, to do the secondary treatment. They can likely recommend a good broker too.

Take the time the enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of Africa.

Realioze that you will be planning a return trip on the flight home.

Practice shooting off sticks until you are sick of it and then do some more.

Learn the anatomy and shot placement for the animals you will be hunting. The Perfect Shot is a great fresource.
 
c-fbmi said:
Aren't we a lot of f**king help to the poor guy trying to get serious info for his first African hunt?
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Actually, he's getting the real goods this way. He can get the glossed over, nicey nice stuff from the brochure.;) Things like "tipping optional". That one just cracks me up. Its better that he is warned that there might be 30 people standing in a line with their hand out on tip day when there were only 5 in camp the whole hunt. Or that the ATM he walked past in the airport spits out rands and he should have some of those before he's stuck with a money belt full of 100s and someone with his hand out for holding a door open.

To the OP; keep your optics in your carry-on and have enough clothes in your carry-on that you could hunt in that if none of your luggage makes it. A small back-pack is a handy thing to have on the hunt, some use one for your carry-on. Its cheaper to wear your boots then to weigh them, but no matter what you do make sure that what you have on your feet are fit for hunting. Don't be surprised if you find running shoes are more appropriate than your hunting boots.

When travelling with a partner carry half of his ammo and give him half of yours. That way if one of you loses a bag he will still have some ammo. Switch back before going through SAPS. SA air is starting to enforce having your ammo in a separate locked case so look into getting one, even something that could be checked separately if they decide it needs to be. It doesn't matter what the rules say, the rule will be whatever the counter person says it is. Go above and beyond.
 
I spoke with Advance Taxidermy today and now feel as if I have that covered. He can handle everythng from the customs clearance to the finished product. A one stop shop.

Tomorrow I'll start contacting the dip and ship company that the PH says he deals with to get an idea of what that is going to cost.

The responses stating to take extra money is exactly what I am afraid of. I dont want to be finshed the trip and have to limit what I can do because I'm paying for the Safari for another year. Considering that I can go moose hunting and be very happy being party to one kill in a week, I should be happy with 3 trophys in 7 days.

What does everyone consider appropriate for tips? From what I've read to date, 5 -7 % of the cost is average.
 
Why not consider some of the more inexpensive species just to keep you hunting. Blesbok, springbok, steen buck, warthog are all great challenges. One animal a day is a pretty relaxed pace on a plains game hunt.
 
Hi Nipigon Jack,

I have not hunted in Namibia, but am married to a Namibian (blonde) girl, and did a 4000km trip there in September 2013 so perhaps I can share some ideas.

1) Get yourself a copy of the book "ask the Namibian Guides" by Diana Rupp (Safari Press 2013). It list several Namibian outfitters / PH operators, and also gives some general advice.

2) Try to include springbok and warthog as part of your hunt. To me the prices listed in the OP seemed high, but this is just an opinion.

3) If taking your own rifle, take sensible calibres (243 Win, 270 Win, 308 Win, 30-06, 300 Win Mag, 9,3x62 Mauser, 375 H&H) for which you can get ammo almost anywhere. Get used to animals not just falling over when shot, and if you can take your own ammo, invest in premium grade bullets for your ammo.

4) Ensure a decent hat (not a cap on backwards to keep sun off your rear), water supply (irrespective of what your PH says, take lots of water), get used to walking in sand or over rocks, find out about ticks, tablets for sunstroke, malaria (perhaps not needed), own supplies of personal medication. Also ensure that you get inoculated if needed.

5) Keep personal valuables close, but avoid carrying too much goods while out hunting. Clothing must be thorn resistant (tears or noise). Foot wear may vary from sandals to high boots, but must be good quality and well worn in.

6) When at the SAPS (South African Police Services) at the OR Tambo Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, there are usually free copies of some older editions of "Outfitter" magazine. It has great info. The shelving is off to your left as you enter the office, staff off to the right.

7) The exchange rate is commonly seen as 1Nam $ = 1 South African Rand. One US $ is seen as about 11 Rand, one $CA = 10 Rand. Elsewhere (Botswana and Zimbabwe) local people were very happy to trade 1US$ for 10 Rand (just to get business and money). Ask around, you may often get a much better price, but be fair. Some very poor locals try to make an honest living, and do not screw them for a few Rand. For the price of a Starbuscks, you may feed a whole family of local people for a day or two.

8) Find out from your PH if he needs anything which you can bring him from this side. On my previous hunts in South Africa items such as Lee ZipTrim, dies (e.g. 300 WSM), cases (e.g. 375 Ruger) small video camera in sunglasses, etc., were items greatly appreciated by our PH, and easy enough to take along. Also take pictures of staff and make prints for them, and make sure they get these.

9) I refuse to pay bribes, but in places such as Zimbabwe it seems to be the national sport. I know EQ says sometimes it is better to pay, but trust your PH on this if you have any doubts.

10) Never waste any food. You will find enough hungry people willing to accept clean left overs.

11) As said by others, draw money when you can and keep smaller bills, never pass a clean toilet, and always fill up with clean water when you can.

Hope this helps.

RSA1
 
BigUglyMan said:
Not even close. But thanks for playing.
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Really? After working with a master taxidermist with 30 years in the business I have heard plenty of horror stories from him he encountered or heard about. Whole creates full of animals torched because someone ####ed up along the way and a bug got in there.
 
Nipigon Jack said:
I spoke with Advance Taxidermy today and now feel as if I have that covered. He can handle everythng from the customs clearance to the finished product. A one stop shop.
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Glad to see you are willing to spend the extra money on getting them mounted by someone that knows what they are doing. Their work is amazing!!
 
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