Hunting Zimbabwe and safaris payment

[Sivie]

Just wanted to ask the best way to go about safaris payment . Is it best to wire a bulk of the money before you leave for the hunt . Do people caring that much cash on them or do most use credit cards to make final payment . The hunt will be 15,000 plus .

 

[375Fox]

You need to talk this over with your outfitter. Most hunts I have paid all daily rates up front then wired the trophy fees on return. If it’s a buffalo hunt, paying all daily rates and buffalo trophy fee up front would be acceptable too. I would not consider carrying that amount as cash, only tips.

 

[Red Leg]

I typically reserve the hunt with a wired deposit - depending upon the outfitter that will be 25-50% of the known costs. Somewhere around ninety days before the hunt, I will wire the balance. Whatever trophy fees I accumulate above the cost of the contracted package, I wire those immediately upon return.

Should you be using an established consultant, you would simply pay him rather than do the wire transfers.

 

[wesheltonj]

I wired the daily fees in advance to the outfitter before I left. While in “camp” I used the WiFi and wired the trophy fees on the day before departure. The outfitter was standing right there when I made the WiFi call, and he knew his money was in the bank.

The tip money for the PH and cook, I brought in Dollars. The balance of the tip money for the rest of the staff, I stopped at an ATM for local currency.

At least when I was in Zimbabwe the ATM dispensed USD. Not sure about now.

 

[WAB]

I typically reserve the hunt with a wired deposit - depending upon the outfitter that will be 25-50% of the known costs. Somewhere around ninety days before the hunt, I will wire the balance. Whatever trophy fees I accumulate above the cost of the contracted package, I wire those immediately upon return.

Should you be using an established consultant, you would simply pay him rather than do the wire transfers.

Exactly

 

[booker]

I have been on hunts with 2 different outfits and both were almost the same.

• Small deposit
• 30ish days out send the rest of the contracted fee (daily rate and trophy fees)
• last day given an invoice with extras I accumulated (extra animals, tips, curios, random crap)
• was able to pay then with a card or was given the option to pay once I got home.

I prefer to wire transfer. My bank only charges me $5 per transfer. And both outfits have a bank in the US I can transfer to.
My buddy uses a business credit card of his to pay for everything for the trip. His card has a trip protection plan in it to help protect if stuff goes sideways. He pays off the card every month and avoids interest and gets points to go toward his next hunting trip flight. I just hate the 3% charge most places will charge you.

 

[Tanks]

My experience is as follows:
The reservation is usually 15-20 % of the daily rate. Rest of the daily rate is 60 days before the hunt. Trophy fees and incidentals are wired after I get home. Now, in a lot of cases I will wire about half of the trophy fees etc. a week or so before the hunt. This year I have a full charter and a cameraman so I will wire those costs before I arrive.