Safari Vehicle Breakdown and how much did it effect your hunt

[Hunt anything]

Boats have a soul. A very evil soul.

Lon

That’s an absolute FACT.

 

[Ridge Runner]

On my first safari I went with a group organized by a friend who had been there before and acted as an agent for the outfitter. This was in Namibia. I was assigned to a freelance PH who was a nice guy but not the most motivated fellow I’ve ever been around. Out of the 7 vehicles guiding us, mine was always the last to leave every morning. On around day 4 or 5 this was again the case. When we finally got going I was confused when we pulled into the close by small town and stopped at a little garage. We sat around for an hour waiting on a worker before I finally asked why we were stopped. He told me it was to get an oil change and a little more maintenance done. I’ll just say it was as polar opposite of a quick change garage as I’ve ever been to. I sat and steamed in silence until 1pm before we finally got going and it was 2pm when we arrived at our hunting spot. I felt cheated out of 2/3s of my hunting day and stewed about it for a couple of days before I brought it up with our group leader. He discussed this with the outfitter and they had not realized it had happened. Since I only got to hunt for 3-4 hours that day they adjusted the day rate accordingly for me. So I guess in truth it was more a PH reason than a vehicle one as I feel he should have taken care of that during non hunting hours.

Was this the outfitter's or the PH's vehicle?

Glad the outfitter tried to make some consolation.

 

[USMA84DAB]

The day we came out of the hunting concession, the PH instructed us to put all people and luggage into the Nissan bread box van, rifles, trophy skinner, tracker and PH in the Bakkie. As we started out, the PH realized he had forgotten something, and returned to the concession, splitting us up by an hour, at least. It was the RSA BBQ weekend holiday, so traffic was heavy getting back to Pretoria and the Inn.

About 1700 hours we found out the PH had rolled the bakkie on the interstate. He had to be cut out of his seatbelt and revived. Had I ridden with him and my rifles, I would have had my head crushed by the top of the truck being crushed in by the rollover. The trophies were spread all across the highway - as were the rifles.

We got the only white detective in the local police station, and he was out to prove to everyone (all the other black policemen) that he would not favor white hunters from America ignoring RSA gun laws. You see, by being a good/polite hunter/guest and following my PH's orders - the guy who had kept us from being stomped by cape buffalo for 10 days, and fill in the blanks for any other number of things we could have done that were stupid/dangerous, but we didn't know it - I had broken the RSA gun laws regarding keeping the rifles in my possession.

Monday morning (the rollover occurred on SAT), the police CPT started out with "Well Mr. "usma84dab", we thought you had returned to the States on the SUN flight. However, since you are here still, I guess we will go ahead and prosecute you for illegally trafficking your rifles." It took the chief counsel for PHASA until WED to get my rifles returned. They were going to hold them for 6 months to conduct mandatory test firings to insure that they were indeed, functional weapons. The letter from my PH attesting to my trophies kind of took that theft ploy off the playing field. The PHASA lawyer had to go the General of the South African Police force to get the bullshit to stop. The outfitter put me up with a babysitter PH at his expense the entire time past my safari - he genuinely stood behind me and did the right thing. I got 3 extra days in RSA and eventually got the rifles back to take home.

Incidentally, when the police tried to cut the padlocks off of the rifle cases to verify serial numbers, the locks broke the jaws of their bolt cutters. Kinda tough to claim they were unsecured when the police can't get into the case! I am told that I was the poster child for this issue in the country and now ALL outfitters NEVER violate this law, always keeping rifles with clients no matter what. You are all welcome! LOL!!!!!

 

[Mekaniks]

The day we came out of the hunting concession, the PH instructed us to put all people and luggage into the Nissan bread box van, rifles, trophy skinner, tracker and PH in the Bakkie. As we started out, the PH realized he had forgotten something, and returned to the concession, splitting us up by an hour, at least. It was the RSA BBQ weekend holiday, so traffic was heavy getting back to Pretoria and the Inn.

About 1700 hours we found out the PH had rolled the bakkie on the interstate. He had to be cut out of his seatbelt and revived. Had I ridden with him and my rifles, I would have had my head crushed by the top of the truck being crushed in by the rollover. The trophies were spread all across the highway - as were the rifles.

We got the only white detective in the local police station, and he was out to prove to everyone (all the other black policemen) that he would not favor white hunters from America ignoring RSA gun laws. You see, by being a good/polite hunter/guest and following my PH's orders - the guy who had kept us from being stomped by cape buffalo for 10 days, and fill in the blanks for any other number of things we could have done that were stupid/dangerous, but we didn't know it - I had broken the RSA gun laws regarding keeping the rifles in my possession.

Monday morning (the rollover occurred on SAT), the police CPT started out with "Well Mr. "usma84dab", we thought you had returned to the States on the SUN flight. However, since you are here still, I guess we will go ahead and prosecute you for illegally trafficking your rifles." It took the chief counsel for PHASA until WED to get my rifles returned. They were going to hold them for 6 months to conduct mandatory test firings to insure that they were indeed, functional weapons. The letter from my PH attesting to my trophies kind of took that theft ploy off the playing field. The PHASA lawyer had to go the General of the South African Police force to get the bullshit to stop. The outfitter put me up with a babysitter PH at his expense the entire time past my safari - he genuinely stood behind me and did the right thing. I got 3 extra days in RSA and eventually got the rifles back to take home.

Incidentally, when the police tried to cut the padlocks off of the rifle cases to verify serial numbers, the locks broke the jaws of their bolt cutters. Kinda tough to claim they were unsecured when the police can't get into the case! I am told that I was the poster child for this issue in the country and now ALL outfitters NEVER violate this law, always keeping rifles with clients no matter what. You are all welcome! LOL!!!!!

All I can say is WOW!
And glad you didn’t have to spend any time in an SA jail…. Geez

 

[Mekaniks]

Boats have a soul. A very evil soul.

Lon

Yes, yes they do.
I have fixed broken stuff all my life, and there is a lot of truth in that statement right there.

 

[analog_peninsula]

On my last trip, a trailer broke badly enough that the outfitter dismissed any notion of a local repair. Fortunately, we were within 30 minutes of camp so the breakdown had no impact on actual hunting.

 

[Dinsdale]

Very lucky in that aspect, not even a flat tire in 8 safaris.

Same here in the same number of hunts. Did have a slow leak, but the driver changed that himself when we were out tracking.

Actually all the folks I have hunted with have had very good well taken care of equipment, always a spare, most often 2, and once even 3. One Hilux,one Unimog, the rest Land Cruisers.

 

[Sourdough]

If you didn't have a breakdown, or didn't get stuck, was it really a safari? I'm thinking no.

As an aside, in Namibia we stopped at a McDonald's (okay not really but something similar) as we had a two hour drive ahead of us. I enjoyed my burger and fries by my PH couldn't even take a bite cause he was driving. I didn't have the heart to tell him I eat on the highway all the time with both hands, my knees steering the vehicle. But I did offer to help. He was reluctant at first but eventually gave in. He'd never heard of anyone doing this before. He enjoyed his hamburger and fries.

 

[leslie hetrick]

no mechanical problems, but some one forgot to fill up with gas one night. i found out hitchhiking is a poor option.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

I think that can go either way.

In my experience , PH owned bakkie were very well maintained because that is directly related to the PH’s income and livelihood. Usually the outfitter is paying the PH a premium for the use of the PH owned vehicle.
But, outfitters usually have multiple vehicles available (extra) and if one is having issues they can usually get a replacement and generally have more resources to maintain them (I.e camp staff)

All that said and back Lon”s original question…
Outside of the usual flat tires that only take a few minutes to fix I have never had a “walk home” vehicle issue.
But as someone who has spent my fair share of time in boats and airplanes in Alaska I can see where it could be a real issue in very remote areas where you may be far from any support….especially when it becomes a saftey thing….
But at the end of the day it is really just part of the adventure…if it doesn’t kill you…

And if the adventure does kill you, so what? I'd much rather expire exhausted under African stars or freeze to death in the bush during an Ontario snowstorm than die in a full diaper at some "retirement home."

Personally, I like fixing things that are broken almost as much as I enjoy hunting. This is rather evident looking at the 1998 Jimmy I'm still driving (after 330K miles). A few years ago I smacked a muley buck with it on Hwy 2 in Montana. Middle of the night but still drivable. Tossed the buck on the hitch carrier, duct taped the headlamp back in place (go nowhere without duct tape!), and headed on down the road. Two days and three wrecking yards later it was wearing a different grill and headlamp assembly, and a tan hood that contrasts nicely with the fire engine red body.

Finished my Montana hunting season with another very nice buck and full bag of pheasants.

But I discovered the hard way the fold up hitch carrier my daughter gave me for my birthday was junk. With the bigger buck loaded, the hitch broke just as we entered town. Those fold-up carriers extend out too far (so soccer moms can open hatchback). Too much leverage. I dug out a couple more tie down straps (always have a big birds nest of them uunder the back seat), tied the carrier up to luggage rack and drove five hours to my brother's house. The next day a neighbor cut off the carrier hinge, welded the carrier shaft back together shortened up to the bumper, and repaired the broken hitch. Since then it's carried a couple of deer and other stuff just fine.

Yeah, if something doesn't go wrong it's not much of a hunting trip. The misadventures are the adventures we never forget.

 

[Green Chile]

On my last trip, a trailer broke badly enough that the outfitter dismissed any notion of a local repair. Fortunately, we were within 30 minutes of camp so the breakdown had no impact on actual hunting.

Broken trailer you say? I know EXACTLY what you mean.

 

[steve white]

An outfitter/PH in Namibia drove me nuts with an old diesel rig that vapor locked constantly. AND HE HAD A BRAND NEW FORD HE WOULD NOT TAKE HUNTING. Lost at least half a day cumulatively. Tip was adjusted.
TZ had a wonderful hunt but a swamp buggy broke on the back side of an island--took from dusk until late night to get back in a dugout, but no real hunting time lost....until--the boat conked out. PH knew how to fix it, but lost half a day.

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

Other than a couple flat tires and a blow out on a trailer coming back from the Kalahari no issues. PHs trucks are always tip top shape and running smooth.
Now as for comfortable and leg room in some for a big guy that's another opinion

 

[baxterb]

We got a flat in Meru and Borassa took care of it:

Then we got another near Shaba and two friendly Kenya Wildlife Service lads jumped in and wouldn't let us change it ourselves - they just left their G3s on the seat of their own truck, grabbed a jack and went to work:

Then once when we were in the back of beyond near Kula Mawe, we were headed into the nothingness and I noticed something odd with the fuel gauges:



Click Here for the Fun


Turns out the sensor on the second tank was knocked out of commission when we were bundu bashing - Martin knew it, I didn't... we had a great laugh about it when I said,

"Uh, hey Martin...have you noticed the fuel guages?"
"Oh my," he said, "well, no turning back now..."

 

[Ragman]

Wow Ragman...that example is unacceptable. Using your hunt day to get the oil changed at a garage? Wow. Was that indicative of the rest of your hunt experience that trip or just a single issue?

Not really indicative but we were the last ones out all 10 days. There was one day we were a PH short so that hunter(our group leader) joined us. I still got charged a 1:1 rate instead of 2:1 but I never clued in to that until he asked me after we had left.

 

[thi9elsp]

Two remote safaris two breakdowns. Fortunately, both were flat tires and easily remedied. Neither affected the hunt.

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

Had several of the typical flat tires and 1 radiator puncture.

Another using an old vintage Land Rover (for the nostalgia aspect) and the gearbox went out mid buffalo hunt. That required us walking to an area where we had radio line of sight and calling another vehicle to pick us up. Ironically that vehicle had an issue a day or two later but the Rover was back up and running again.

Had a PH break-down and require a trip to urgent care to stitch up a giant cut.

In Zim last year 1st PH got sick and called in a 2nd PH. He was using the first PH’s cruiser until it had an issue. We were heading up to Matetsi to hunt a different area as well, 2nd PH decided, no worries we’ll use his cruiser, get up there pick-up our new game scout from that area and going to load up next morning the game scout tells us we couldn’t use 2nd PH’s cruiser (has Botswana tags) in Matetsi or communal lands, only on Private land. The first PH/Outfitter drove a 3rd cruiser with Zim tags to us for the remainder of the hunt.

TIA ….. break-downs and unexpected events are part of the experience. If you book a long enough hunt these issues just provide a little bit of a break to rest, take notes, and reflect on your trip these far. If you’re trying to pack everything in a short 5-10 day safari it can definitely add some pressure

 

[Spearhead]

I've had better luck with hunting vehicles/boats/horses than I have had with airlines and luggage/guns. Knock on wood.

 

[Tokoloshe Safaris]

In RSA there is no excuse for vehicle maintenance. Part stores close by, parts in stock or 24 hours.
Toyota parts extremely expensive.

Botswana a step down from RSA.

Zimbabwe, whole new ball game. Lets say you need a new starter, maybe Harari- probably RSA cost $1,400.00 now how do you get it to Zim remember your broke down in the Bush. This is where dealing with a operator that have backups in perfect condition.

I have a question that I ask PHs and mechanics. If this was an airplane would you fly in it.

Lon

 

[DLSJR]

Between wet hunts in Botswana’s Linyanti Swamps and Tanzania’s Maswa North in the December 2019 rains (it rained 14 of the 15 days we were in country) I’ve been stuck enough for several lifetimes. If I never get stuck again, it’ll be fine with me.

Broke down - never had much for problems here but in February we were driving back to camp well after dark in Cameroon after a long day hunting and our Landcruiser suddenly just stopped without warning. We couldn’t get it to re-start so after a while the trackers took off in the dark to go get another truck in camp , which was still a few miles further down the two-track. I just went and laid down in a sandy spot a short way from the truck and went to sleep. After an hour or so our driver somehow got the truck to start and we were on our way to camp. We finally got back to camp just as the trackers were there too, around11:00 for a late dinner and off to bed. Other than that, I don’t recall any other breakdowns while out hunting.