African Safari 2012 - The update thread

[Rob]

Hello all,  I am planning a trip to Africa in 2012.  I thought it might be useful to others to see what my buddies and I will be going through as we plan out the trip - hence this thread.  I will keep it updated with the good, the bad and the ugly as we go about the planning process.

My goals for this thread will be:
1.  Provide insights to those who may want to do a similar thread
2.  Document the planning process as it progresses
3.  Provide Lessons learned to others.
4.  Obtain insights, recommendations and opinions from the hunting community at large.

I want this to be a positive thread, so I'll not suffer negativity and won't dignify such comments/rants with a response.  I will however welcome and encourage opinions, insights, comments, and questions anyone might have that are constructive in nature.

So to kick this topic off, some background. 

I did my first Safari back in 2007.  My Dad, a good buddy of mine, and his Dad went to Namibia for a plains game hunt (Plains Game is a generic term for hunting antelope, warthogs, etc.  Generally anything that won’t try to kill you while you sleep).  To sum it up, it was the best hunt I have ever been on.  I describe hunting Africa as follows:

Imagine you are hunting trophy Mule deer in an area where you see so many massive Mulies that you are having a hard time deciding which one to shoot.  While you are pondering this, an enormous elk of a life time walks by.  Your Guide (called a professional hunter or “PH”) asks you if you would like to shoot that elk… to which you respond, “why yes…  yes I would like to shoot that Elk.”  Bang!
A typical afternoon of hunting would find us encountering 4-8 different species of game.  It would be unusual to not see at least 2-3 trophy class animals worthy of shooting on any given day.

I have written a robust photo illustrated journal that I am more than willing to share with anyone who would like to see it.  Just drop me a PM.

Based on the fantastic trip of 2007, I am now ready to go back and drag as many of my buddies with me as possible.  So far I have one person who has committed, and 3-4 others on the fence.  Assuming there is interest, I'll continue to share the journey in this thread over the next year and a half. Thanks! 

[Rob]

Costs:  The first question asked by those who want to go on a safari is what kind of costs can I expect?

There are 1,000 different possibilities, but for a plains game hunt, I am using a planning number of about 12-13K plus dip/ship and taxidermy costs.  This is based on the following assumptions:
1.   3,000 in airfare
2.   3,300 in PH Fees (10 day hunt that covers guide, trackers, lodging, food, VAT, transport/airport pickup, trophy delivery to dip/ship facilities, etc)
3.   4,500 in Trophy fees (typical 7 animal package of Impala, Kudu, warthog, Gemsbok, Steenbok, Springbok and blesbok)
4.   750 in tips
5.   1K in extras

I don't want to trivialize the costs.  This is a lot of cash, and a lot of folks drop out right there.  But let's put this in perspective.  A trophy rifle elk hunt in the rut in a place like NM, CO or MT can run 8K.  Add in license and transportation and you are over 9K-probalby closer to 10.  You walk away with a single Elk.  For a few thousand more, you can go to AFRICA and come shoot 7 animals on a 10 day hunt.  To me this seems worth it.  Also consider that this will be paid out over the course of a year or more.  I expect us to need to come up with the following:
1.   Deposit of 2K in the Feb/March of 2011
2.   Airfare of 3K in Lat 2011 to early 2012
3.   Balance due during trip (Planning on August of 2012)

I am not swimming in extra cash by any means, so the long lead time allows me the ability to save up for the trip and pay it out in installments.

I think that’s all I have time to publish today.  I’ll flesh out our thinking on trip criteria, in the upcoming days.

[boneaddict]

Great idea and very helpful thread.   Thanks for the work on it and I look forward to lots more.

[rougheye]

Thanks Rob .  For some reasons African game doesnt get my blood going but i have a feeling you will change my mind    Looking forward to learning more

[ribka]

I have always wanted  to go to Namibia on a bow hunt. The dollar value for the number of animals and the African experience make it very tempting.

Thanks for sharing

[Hyde]

Where are you going this trip Rob?  Tell us al little about your "hit list" and what you will be packing on the safari.  Any non-hunting excursions planned?  (Krueger NP, Etosha, etc)  Looking forward to following your journey.

[Rob]

Regarding it getting in your blood:  My buddy gave me sage advice regarding Africa back in late 2005 when we first started planning the 2007 trip.  This was his second trip, and while planning his first trip back around 2003, he said:
"When I went to the Dallas SCI show I sat at the table with some older guys.  I told them I was planning my first African trip.  One of the older men looked at me and said, here is the best advice anyone can give you regarding hunting Africa.  Don't go.  You will spend the rest of your days trying to figure out how to get back"

Truer words have never been spoken.  There is something about the land there.  It is vast, big and wild.  It c alls you to come back.

So here I am, planning to scrape enough together to return.  I hope to be able to go every 3-5 years going forward.

There are many great Bow hunts Ribka.  African Twilight Safaris in Namibia is who we hunted with before and they have done them in the past.  They would be an excellent choice.  I think it would be good to find an outfit that specializes in bow hunts if that is your focus.  Namibia is wide open country so it might be harder than a place like Zimbabwe which is flatter and more forested.  The Dallas or Reno SCI show is an excellent resource to meet the PH’s and get a feel for how the hunts work. 

Regarding where we are going, what we are targeting, etc.  We are truly at the beginning of the planning process so we don’t have that defined yet.  Our group is in the process of working that out.  Here is what I know thus far:
1.   Focus of the trip:   There are two potential focus’s for the folks on the safari.  For the folks where this is their first Safari, I am highly recommending they focus on plains game.  Fast action, high success, amazing trophies.  I would like to go for either Buffalo or Leopard.  My dad may come along and if so, he wants to go Buffalo.  The ideal outfitter would be one that can run concurrent plains game and dangerous game hunts (AKA “DG” hunts).  I really want my dad to go, so I will be looking at buffalo hunts that offer excellent plains game opportunities. 

2.   Price is an issue.  I can’t be dropping 20K on a buffalo.  I’d like to keep the trip to under 12K for a buff hunt (outfitter and trophy fees) and 3-4K for plains game (not including trophy fees.

3.   Duration:  I think if you are going to Africa, a 10 day hunt is a good time frame.  My buddies may want to do more like 7.  Most DG hunts are 10-14 day minimums.  I foresee us potentially arriving or leaving in waves depending on what kind of hunts we choose.

4.   Safety is important.  Need to have a hunt that we feel like we won’t get taken hostage, our firearms won’t be stolen, we won’t get mugged, etc.  This is after all a third world continent for the most part!

5.   Targeted animals:  So far, the plains game folks have indicated they want to target Kudu, Gemsbok (AKA Oryx), Springbok, Warthog, and Eland. As I said, as a primary animal, my first choice would be Buff or Leopard but Croc or Hippo would be pretty cool as fall backs animals.  I am also interested in a place that would allow me to pick out 2 or 3 of any of the following:  Nyala, Waterbuck, Burchell Zebra, Bushbuck.  And if we could find a place that had Lord Derby Eland, I’d be ALL OVER that…

6.   Fences.  Free range Africa is harder and harder to find.  I understand it is more or less non-existent in South Africa.  Namibia is better.  No idea what Zimbabwe is like.   I am in no way interested in hunting a 500 acre high fence-I personally have ethical issues with that.  For that matter, I am not really interested in hunting a 20 or 30K acre high fence – not so much from ethical considerations, but just because it does not seem as wild to me.  The Save conservatory in Zimbabwe I am told is a one million acre high fence that has several outfitters hunting it.  I have no issue hunting a 1 million acre high fence.  In Namibia we hunted 4 different camps-three were free range and one was a high fence.  It was however a 40K acre high fence and was extremely fair chase in my mind.  We tried very hard to get a Wildebeest for my dad in that high fence area and even though we saw several herds were unable to get a shot that was less than 600 yards so we had to pass.  That said I’d like to find a place that if it has a high fence, is at least 75K to 100K acres.

7.   Accommodations and Extra activities.  The group has mixed requirements for this one.  I only want to hunt and I am happy spending 10 days in a two man tent out in the African Bush if the hunting is good.  One of my buddies is bringing his wife and she is not interested in spending any time in tents.  She also wants good food and some things to do if she chooses not to hunt for a day.  I need to nail down what kinds of things she wants to do while we are hunting so I can have that in my mind as we select locations to hunt.  I think my buddy and his wife will probably plan a side trip prior or after the hunt as well so that will help.  My dad and I went to Cape Town after our 2007 hunt and went cage diving with great white sharks.  That was simply fantastic!


So to sum it up, the outfitter we choose needs to offer quality concurrent plains game and DG hunts, be in a safe country, offer hunts in a no fence or 75-100K minimum high fence area, and offer quality accommodations/food with some options for extra activities for my buddies wife to do while we are hunting.  And all this needs to be at a reasonable price!
Piece of cake!

[Austrian Hunter]

Awesome thread, very good information.  Man can't wait to see your pictures. 

PM Sent

[Rob]

Due to the size of the journal, I can't mail it (28MB in a pdf format)  I posted it to a googledocs location.  For those who want to see it, PM me your e-mail address (as Austrian Hunter did) and I'll add it to the list of those who can pull down the doc.  You may need to set up a google account to be able to view it, not sure.

I really enjoyed writting it.  it is quite long though.

[Austrian Hunter]

I'm through a 100 pages on your journal, wow and wow, that's all I can say.  Thank you very much for sharing.  I think my wife will hate you forever though, I'm hooked Africa is on my list now. 

[Rob]

Glad you like it, and like I said, It's kinda long!  I don't think I get on the plane until somewhere around page 50 or 55...

It ends oddly as I did not finish the portion about the taxidermy after we got home...  It was a bit of a debacle..  here is the thread on my shipment:
http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,28056.msg324359.html#msg324359
Charlie (AKA Bucklucky) did a great job fixing up my zebra and kudu mounts....

And here are the links to the finished mounts.
http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,28448.msg330126.html#msg330126
http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,28339.msg330070.html#msg330070
http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,28340.msg328404.html#msg328404
http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,28642.msg332625.html#msg332625

[bucklucky]

It was my pleasure fixing those for ya.

Great idea on the write up . Its something I will be doing in the future .

[chrisb]

Tag to follow this awesomeness.

[Rob]

Research begins:
I just booked my trip to the Safari Club International show in Reno.  I went in 2008 and I must say, it is a fantastic experience.  I believe the Reno show is the largest one in the world.  Last time I went, I was there for 3 days.  It was not enough time to see everything they have to offer.  The show fills the entire Reno Convention Center.  Actually, the show fills more than the convention center as it overflows into tents they put up in the parking lot. 

They have the top names from the hunting community fly in and many of them give seminars.  Last time I was there I saw a presentation on hunting Leopards by Craig Boddington,  a Survival seminar that was pretty good, a plains game seminar put on by one of the government agencies from Namibia, and a State of California Game and Fish presentation regarding efforts they have in place to provide watering holes for the sheep and deer in the southern portion of the state that was quite interesting.  Last year George W Bush was the keynote speaker, and this year Sarah Palin will be the Keynote (they are sold out though and I am bummed!). 

In addition to great speakers and excellent seminars on hunting, this, they also have what must be thousands of outfitters from all over the world and taxidermy displays that are out of this world.  If you go to the dinners, you get a chance to sit at dinner tables and talk hunting with other hunters.  I had a great time chatting with the guys ant my table, and was able to get a lot of first hand info from them on the trips they plan.   Like I said, I was there from dawn to dusk for 3 days and was unable to see everything I wanted to see last time I was there.  Picture the Puyallup sportsman show hopped up on Mt. Dew, Steroids and crack and you will begin to get a picture of what this event is like.  It is a great time.

This year, I am on a budget and a mission.  I am only going to be there for half a day on Friday, and a full day on Saturday (Jan 28th and 29th 2011).  Because I am forging new ground, I feel it is important to meet the outfitters face to face and get a feel for how they run hunts.  While I can do this to an extent over e-mail, the nuances of language barriers (even though they speak English) often makes it hard to communicate over mail.  And let’s face it, nothing beats meeting a guide face to face.

I intend to walk in with a list of questions based on the requirements listed above, interview a group of guides that I have pre-selected, meet new guides and interview them,  and walk away with:
1.   A target country that will meet our needs
2.   A region within that country that will meet our needs
3.   A short list of outfitters who I trust and meet the requirements of our party.
I will then take all this info back to my buddies and we will decide on an outfitter.  The goal is to book the trip with a deposit in March of 2011 for a trip that is in August of 2012.

Here are some photos from the last trip I took to the SCI show.  (also as an aside, a quick story.  I was walking through the exhibits on one of the days in 2008 and I heard a murmur moving through the crowd.  I turned around to see a burly guy walking by in a full body white leotard and a tutu.  On his chest in huge pink letters were the words “My brother is a better elephant hunter than I am”.  I wish I had grabbed a photo of that!)

[Rob]

Couple cross posted links.

1.  I had some concerns about hunting Zimbabwe so I started this thread on the AR forum last week.  General opinion seems to be go for it, but be aware that elections next year could throw things into a tailspin.
http://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/1411043/m/9581055541

2.  I posted this today to help me get some insight's on what countries I should focus my research on.
http://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums?a=tpc&s=518103&f=1411043&m=8981049541&r=8981049541#8981049541