Preparing for first South African safari

[Art Lambart II]

Make sure your outfitter has a quality firearm in camp for you to use if your guns don't make the same flight you do. I have been to Africa twice, both times I flew Delta and both times they left my guns in Atlanta.

Download the Delta app on your phone so you can check the status of your flight and your luggage.

 

[Beaufort]

Make sure your outfitter has a quality firearm in camp for you to use if your guns don't make the same flight you do. I have been to Africa twice, both times I flew Delta and both times they left my guns in Atlanta.

Download the Delta app on your phone so you can check the status of your flight and your luggage.

It used to be you could count on Delta. I was supposed to go last year and they changed my flights about 45 days prior to my trip. They proposed leaving two days later than originally planned and returning a day earlier. Hoping they don't pull that again this time.

 

[Osama Mahdi]

*Do not take a lot of clothes, they do laundry daily.
*Good broker shoes.
**Download WhatsApp and add your PH number and outfitter to the app and let one of your family here do the same thing so they can contact your family member via WhatsApp quickly in case of emergency.
*I took with me candy and gave it to the camp staff.A very good quality chocolate for the outfitter's wife.
*Donated some of the clothes to the camp staff also.
*A sunglasses, as the dust is heavy there.
*A container for drinking water so you can fill it, I paid $12 for a bottle of water in Johannesburg airport, the most expensive water I had.

 

[gizmo]

Hello,
I am taking my first safari this July in South Africa and could use the help of you more seasoned hunters and travelers!

I have Africa Sky guesthouse helping with my rifle permits and getting through customs.

I am using Trophy Shippers to handle shipping my trophies back to the states.

The taxidermist I was planning to use, Taxidermy America, seems to have gone out of business. No website, mentions of them possibly closing on the Internet. So I could use suggestions for taxidermist. Only getting one shoulder mount - the rest are euro mounts. Recently downsized and don't have nearly the wall space I used to have!

Have my airfare squared away with Delta Air Lines.

Passport is valid until well after I get back.

Plan to purchase evacuation policy from Global Rescue

So, what am I missing?

I saw the list on safari preparation. Do I need a hunting license for SA? Hunting permit?

Thanks for your input! Greatly appreciated!

Sir I would love the opportunity to help you. I am a USDA certified taxidermist and the majority of the taxidermy we do is safari work. I can handle all aspects of the taxidermy and work with your import broker. I already basically speak with Tom on a daily basis with imports we work on. Tom is a great guy and is handling my import as well as my client’s imports from our trip last year. Please give me a shout and we can visit about your needs. We do taxidermy work for many many AH members and all would be glad to visit with you about our work quality. Thank you, Erik

 

[Hunt anything]

Most has been said but I wear clothes on the plane that I can hunt in and carry extra underwear and socks in my carryon just in case my checked bags don’t make it. I’ve been fortunate so far, this hasn’t happened yet.

 

[Beaufort]

Yep, I plan to travel very lightly. After many years of traveling the world on fly fishing trips, I've learned not to take too much. I'll wear one pair of pants on the flight, take two additional pair for hunting and a pair of sweatpants to sleep in and lounge about. 2 hunting shirts, a couple of merino wool t-shirts and a warm jacket. I've got an old pair of Russell PH's that have been from Alaska to China, South Africa to Europe. I'll also take some Crocs to wear after the day's hunting is over. You can wear them in the shower and they don't weigh squat. Add in my binoculars, Sony noise-cancelling headphones, my iPhone (which will double as my camera), my .375 H&H and 50-60 rounds of ammo and I should be good. I'll also take my shaving/med kit with Ambien for the flights, Carmex, Nasal moisturizer (the air is pretty dry there), unscented sunscreen, unscented baby wipes (for field use!), Visene, a collapsable water bottle, moleskin for blisters, Band-Aid's, electrical adapters and charging cords, etc.

The outfitter has a gun cleaning kit, paper target to check my scope, etc.

 

[SFRanger7GP]

Hunting in the Kwa-Zulu Natal region - Madaka Game Ranch. Know anything about it?

We hunted there a few years ago. You will have a great time. The ranch has lots of different terrain that makes for challenging and fun spot and stalk hunting. Big nyala bulls, especially in the mountains.

Safe hunting

 

[Trophyhunter01]

3 bandannas, cover your neck, bow your nose, head band, first aid and most important TP. They are small, cheap, don’t mind leaving in the woods.

 

[Philip Glass]

I have zero idea what you are talking about with regards to the rifle and airport and hallways. Gilbert with Africa Sky will meet him right out of the baggage claim area, walk him to SAPS, and take care of anything rifle related from there including checking in the next day or at end of trip if he lets him know. Johannesburg is a modern airport. Rifle Permits should have done exact same for you. We shouldn’t be scaring people before they go.

Correct. He is covered on the rifle with Africa Sky.

 

[Philip Glass]

Yep, have that form courtesy of Africa Sky's permitting service. Been shooting off sticks for quite awhile. Have my packing list down to a single duffle and small checked bag.

By the way, how many rounds of ammo would you take for 10 days of plains game hunting? Any recommended ammo case? I was looking at the MTM cases but know I'm limited to 11 lbs. Assuming that includes only the ammo, right?

I see you're in SC. Same here.

You can’t take a duffel bag through JNB. They clog the baggage system they say. Use a Pelican ammo case. You can buy excellent used ones on EBay for cheap. 40-60 rounds of ammo depending on what you are hunting and how long. The Pelican 1200 will hold 5 boxes of .300Win.
Philip

 

[SFRanger7GP]

Are you connecting through to Durban? We were picked up at Africa Sky and driven to Madaka.

 

[Rare Breed]

Hello,
I am taking my first safari this July in South Africa and could use the help of you more seasoned hunters and travelers!

I have Africa Sky guesthouse helping with my rifle permits and getting through customs.

I am using Trophy Shippers to handle shipping my trophies back to the states.

The taxidermist I was planning to use, Taxidermy America, seems to have gone out of business. No website, mentions of them possibly closing on the Internet. So I could use suggestions for taxidermist. Only getting one shoulder mount - the rest are euro mounts. Recently downsized and don't have nearly the wall space I used to have!

Have my airfare squared away with Delta Air Lines.

Passport is valid until well after I get back.

Plan to purchase evacuation policy from Global Rescue

So, what am I missing?

I saw the list on safari preparation. Do I need a hunting license for SA? Hunting permit?

Thanks for your input! Greatly appreciated!

Jerome provides a great checklist with time line. Also read his tipping guide. Last but not least Phillip Glass has a couple of awesome videos on here for this between these my first trip and second were perfect. I was ready for anything, had the right things and knew what to do when

 

[Rare Breed]

It used to be you could count on Delta. I was supposed to go last year and they changed my flights about 45 days prior to my trip. They proposed leaving two days later than originally planned and returning a day earlier. Hoping they don't pull that again this time.

I gave up on them a while ago. I only take Qatar now through Doha. Yes it adds 8 hours to the trip but I don’t have to worry about my bags, service is awesome and their lounges are great

 

[Beaufort]

Are you connecting through to Durban? We were picked up at Africa Sky and driven to Madaka.

No, I'm flying direct to J'berg where I'll spend the night and be picked up the next day to be driven to Madaka.

 

[Beaufort]

You can’t take a duffel bag through JNB. They clog the baggage system they say. Use a Pelican ammo case. You can buy excellent used ones on EBay for cheap. 40-60 rounds of ammo depending on what you are hunting and how long. The Pelican 1200 will hold 5 boxes of .300Win.
Philip

Yep, I saw that on my last vacation to SA so I bought a duffle with removable straps. I also bought a TuffPak ammo box that will hold 60 rounds.

 

[SFRanger7GP]

No, I'm flying direct to J'berg where I'll spend the night and be picked up the next day to be driven to Madaka.

That is what we did as well. Africa Sky is a nice place to recover from the long flight. We planned a night there prior to our return and we ended up spending several nights due to a hurricane hitting south Florida where we lived at the time. Africa Sky was great. They handled all our ticket and gun permit changes and took care of us during our extended layover.

 

[Shootist43]

You should look into a Global Rescue Policy and a Traveler's Health Insurance Policy. You can buy one month's coverage for a reasonable price. You can also get African coverage for your cell phone or use
"Whats App."

 

[Dianas Favorite]

Alot has been covered. Since you are going to SA with good infrastructure, I will not go with the Malaria meds or the sat-phone etc load out.
All I can add:
- 2 copies of passport, import/export forms, insurance coverage, outfitter Invitation...trust me you might need the and cary all documents in your carry on luggage
- Put the outfitter address in the name tag or else the guns could be sent back to SC!
- Declare your gun (Peli Storm) and ammo cases (peli storm iM2050) beforehand with your airline provider
- Take as much ammo as possible. For PG more than for the big game. If you have standard calibers as 308 or 30-06, you can find it in camp, 375H&H or 300WM might already be a odd chance. The rest, forget it. And dont forget, if you do the Zero-in and your scope is broken, you need to use iron sights or the backup scope of the other gun. Take max and leave the ammo to the outfitter on the way back. They apreciate it.
- Semi-auto rifles are not allowed, so no 556 ammo.
- Camouflage can be a problem in some countries and some custom officials (soly arbitrary)
- 2-3 Zip-off pants like Fjalraven Travellers Mt Zip-off. Due to the bushes and thorns I would not go shorts, but it allows you to open the back side for more venitlation.
- 2-3 Craighopper shirts with Noslife
- Gators are not so necessary as people believe.
- Take enough batteries
- Spare USB cables and adapters
- Powerbanks
- Meds and antibiotics if you are fare from Civilization (but do not declare it or else they can take it for themselves). You could get the rocky road, some TP helps.
- A Leatherman Wave: pliers help with repairs on the sights if needed (JHB handlers will manhandle your cases) or to pull a nasty thorn out of your shoe sole.
- If possible, use on both rifles the same scope in case one gets broken (see point above).
- Sun screen if needed.
- It gets on the landrtover cold in the morning, so a fleece jacket and a beanie is needed
- Beverages are normally on the truck
- Hat/ Cap and a bandana
- Backpack for the truck to put all your stuff in (fleece etc). The same you use for carry on
- I like a ammo belt or pouch for tracking, but it is not nessesary though. You might be tracking some PG like Eland or Zs and some time the opportunity arrises for a nother PG animal you wish you ad the spare mag for. Just do not go clinking in the bush with loose ammo in the pocket.
- Concerning taxidermy, I have them eather made with Highveld near JHB. They are really good and will do everything from dip and pack to full taxidermy and export. They are doing for me and the family taxidermy for the last 30+ years reliably.

 

[Longrifle]

I have zero idea what you are talking about with regards to the rifle and airport and hallways. Gilbert with Africa Sky will meet him right out of the baggage claim area, walk him to SAPS, and take care of anything rifle related from there including checking in the next day or at end of trip if he lets him know. Johannesburg is a modern airport. Rifle Permits should have done exact same for you. We shouldn’t be scaring people before they go.

Unfortunately, they were dealing with multiple parties that day. This incident occurred on our return from Port Elizabeth. We were met at Africa Sky and escorted to the counter, then they had to go deal with a very large party and said they would meet us at the SAPS office. It is not my intent to scare anyone but, to provide information for situational awareness. I highly recommend Rifle Permits and the VIP package. As with all foreign travel, modern airport or not, you must be aware of your surroundings and situation. Especially with firearms.

 

[Philip Glass]

It used to be you could count on Delta. I was supposed to go last year and they changed my flights about 45 days prior to my trip. They proposed leaving two days later than originally planned and returning a day earlier. Hoping they don't pull that again this time.

They are still selling tickets for 7 days a week and cancelling down to 3 in some cases. Completely unreliable and dishonest IMO.