Africa

KK........that is a big topic.........so I am going to give you a breakdown for how things work in South Africa and Namibia, as that is where you are going to find the $10,000 hunts. Every country is a bit different as you head north and then west on the Dark Continent, with prices escalating and 'extra' not included fees increasing as well.

To start with lets look at airfare. Hands down South African Airlines (SAA) is the way to go. Direct flights from the US to South Africa will be around $2000 return, give or take a couple of hundred. This will not cover any internal commuter flights you may take once you get there, but if you book in advance at the same time as your main flight across the pond they are relatively inexpensive. There is a booking agency in Texas that buys blocks of seats in advance from SAA and thus usually offers the best deals.

With the hunts, typically you will be paying a daily rate.....a flat fee per day that typically covers your accommodations, meals, transportation, trophy handling in the field, professional hunter, trackers, daily laundry and local beer, wine and spirits in moderation. Daily rates are based on either 2x1 (two hunters per guide) or 1x1 (one hunter per guide).

At this point in time the daily rates in RSA and Namibia for plains game hunts are generally in the area of US $275 - $350 per day per hunter for 2x1 and $300 - $450 for 1x1. So for our purposes lets use a $350 a day daily rate for 1x1...........and I would recommend 1x1. This would mean that a 7 day safari for plains game would cost $2450.

Next are the trophy fees, and these are payable per animal including anything wounded and lost.......and they are very sticky about this, draw blood and you pay. Period. Trophy fees vary quite a bit, even for the same species. As an example lets use greater kudu. I know a safari company in Namibia that has a trophy fee of US $750 for kudu and then there are a number of places in RSA where the trophy fee for kudu is anywhere from $1800 to $2200.

Trophy fees are based on a number of different things, initial gov't fee, what a landowner is charging the safari company for an animal if taken on his private land, and the added money the safari company tacks on to the aforementioned fees to fluff up there profit from the hunt. So you need to real look hard at the trophy fees and daily rates quoted and compare things closely. Quite often the places with the low daily rates have higher trophy fees and the outfits with higher daily rates have more moderate trophy fees......but not always. There are literally hundreds of safari companies in these two countries offering plains game hunts so you need to do your homework.

Now to give you an idea, here are some species and what would be mid range trophy fees for them as of 2008/9. US dollars.

kudu $1200
gemsbuck 1000
waterbuck 1800
lechwe 1800
nyala 2200
eland 2200
hartebeest 800
blue wildebeest 900
black wildebeest 1100
zebra 1000
impala 600
springbok 500
duiker 300
steenbok 300
warthog 400
bushbuck 750
common reedbuck 800
mtn. reedbuck 800
blesbuck 650

These are but a few of the more common ones. Not all of these species are available everywhere.

Now over and above this you will of course have any tips you want (should) be leaving for the PH and staff. Normal would be in the $500 to $1000 range with a big chunk going to the PH and lesser amounts to the trackers, cook, camp staff.

Dipping, crating and vet documentation is extra for your trophies and will probably work out to about $50 per animal. Then there is the shipping and air is the best way to go. Depending on how many animals you take and the weight of the shipment, you could expect to pay between $800 and $2000.

There will be a few hotel bills and meals in Johannesburg, Cape Town or Windhoek, etc. depending on where you hunt and those will set you back about $200 a day per person. So if you decide to tourist around for a week you need to count that over and above what you are planning on for your safari budget.

Count on spending another $500 - 1000 on trinkets, bobbles and Africana items to take home with you and always factor in a $1000 of extra money for emergencies or problems. You usually will not need it but it should be there in case you do.

So by now you will see that a $10,000 plains hunt is possible but only if you carefully select the trophies you want before hand and stick to a pretty rigid, unwavering plan.

There are at times special packages offered. They are usually 7 days and 4, 5, 6 or 7 animals. These can work for you as long as the species offered fit with your 'have to have' list. But even these, by the time you add in the airfare, hotels and meals, etc...........will be a tight squeeze to fall into the $10,000 total package price.

We have been talking about plains game only hunts.......there is the odd place where you can add in a leopard if opportunity knocked and you could expect a +/- $3500 trophy fee...........but typically as soon as you add in any dangerous game the daily rates rise and the minimum number of days goes up. Typically if you add in leopard in RSA or Namibia the daily rates go up to $450 or $500 a day and the minimum length of the hunt goes up to 14 days.

And last but not least, do not forget about the taxidermy bill once you get home. That can vary a lot by what you have done with your trophies, but you can count on a few grand for this minimum.

Hope this has been of use to you KK. Remember this was aimed at plains game only hunts in RSA and Namibia and we have used middle of the road prices. Most operators require 50% of the daily rates for a deposit, the balance of that fee is due on arrival usually and the trophy fees are payable in full at the end of the hunt. This can vary a bit from operator to operator.