zim safari

[TOM]

Wayne,

I can see where you are coming from. But at the same point, the truth of his experience is what he has portrayed. From what I can tell, he has no "agenda" to push or protect, allowing freedom of information in his response.

 

[tap]

Ahhhhhh, the famous wayne van den berg. I got an earful about you buddy. and let me just tell you not one ounce was negative. Grahm is a great guy and apparently he loves the heck out of you. I would like to personally meet you one day as I consider grahm a friend of mine now. I understand grahm does quite a bit of work for you. I appreciate you helping him out as I know jobs are hard to come by in zimbabwe and grahm is one of the few ph's I could honestly say I would send my kids alone with.

Wayne, I am sorry if you don't like my interpretation of Norman. I'm sure back in his day norman was a good guy and a great hunter. That I have no doubt of. But if you could have just seen his clients face when he refrenced the "blacks" you would have died. Lets just say the man was purposely disrespectful toward all "blacks" and if he would have called them as such his client would have had no problems. Even my wife was a little upset with his insessant use of the "N" word. Normans clients face said it all every time he said it. In addition I can honestly tell you that I had to make grahm and every single one of my zim ph's drink after a kill to celebrate. They thought it was unprofessional and would have no such thing. Grahm had 2 beers our entire safari and that was when I made him have one as a celebration drink. Grahm Mayjer was a prim and proper man and i pray to god I share a camp with him in the future. In addition I would absolutely consider you for a safari one day as well as his words, when rarely spoken, carry a lot of weight with me. As for Norman I just cant say much about a ph who can barely walk merely hours after picking up his client from the airport because he is absolutely stumbling drunk. I asked his client if he was drunk when he was picked him up and he shook his shoulders and looked puzzled and a bit worried when he told me "I honestly am not sure". Wayne, if you consider Norman a friend that is fine. I have tons of friends just like him. However on a business side I have personally fired many employees who have showed up to work drunk. The point of what I referred to earlier in my post was that drinking has its place and in the field with a client while you are working is not the correct place. Its unprofessional in my books. Let me reiterate a last time wayne. If I have offended you because Norman is your friend I am sorry. I'm sure he's a blast to watch race his harley and go fishing with but as a friend you might want to tell him to cut back on the beers a bit when he's working. I never meant to offend anyone but when I give a report I want everyone to know exactly what to expect when they hear names of people they may or may not be hunting with. I can honestly say I would hate to be stuck with Norman as my ph and if I save anyone that experience and aid in their hunt then I am glad to do so.

Finally, Peter I understand you are getting a lot of flack from your boss's because I called norman a drunk. It is past the period at which I can edit that post and I am sorry if I have caused you any hardships. I did try to go back and edit said posts but it is too late. In addition I don't regret doing so. It wasn't speculation on my part as I spent enough time around Norman to form the opinion I stated above. If he truly is the goto guy for cats as the hunting magazines seem to portray i think everyone should know a little more about the man that the magazines don't mention. One has to remember that when any hunting article is written or a tv show is filmed that most of the time the stars of the story are getting their hunts for free. Does anyone think a bad review will ever come of such advertising? That is why I mentioned the real Norman.


wayne i hope to keep in contact with you in the future and could you please tell grahm hello for me, hes a good man. One last thing wayne, would you please do me one favor? Please ask grahm how the fridge is doing. Please try not to crack a smile when you do so as well. Just tell him Tony is wondering. hahahahahaha

 

[firehuntfish]

Wayne,

I can see where you are coming from. But at the same point, the truth of his experience is what he has portrayed. From what I can tell, he has no "agenda" to push or protect, allowing freedom of information in his response.

Tom beat me to the point and I agree with him completely...

As a client, you have the right to express your experience good, bad or otherwise. Obviuosly, no outfitter likes to get a negative review, but that comes with the territory when you are in business. Making sure the client gets the experience that was promised should be the ultimate responsibility of every outfitter in business. Hopefully, a negative review will motivate them to improve and save the next client that hunts with them.

I also got the impression that the client giving the report does not appear to have an agenda. I also don't think he is trying to insult black Africans or any race for that matter. He is merely identifying them for the purpose of accounting his experience. If the report of his experience is damaging to the reputation of the PH or the host outfitter, so be it....Isn't that what reputations are built upon? Track records and past experiences?

Any unscrupulous outfitters that may be reading this need to realize that there are social media outlets like this forum that will hold them accountable. It protects the hunting client and it promotes heatlthy competition among the outfitters in the business.

 

[tap]

I would like to clarify one thing. I refrenced the blacks as a regional group and not a race. The "locals", if you will, have zero ability to manage natural resources. blacks in the united states have a completely different mind set. I was merely pointing out the lifestyles of the locals and that I don't agree with them.

I will admit that I am not racist. as for a group of people the only group I am prejudice towards are the stupid! I can't stand stupid people regardless of color so let that be my lable for myself on race issues.

 

[NYAMAZANA SAFARIS]

Hi Tom

I do understand where you are coming from, and like I said I was not there , I just don't want people to paint Zimbabwe as a whole with the same brush that is being portrayed that's all. I know that there are always 2 sides to every story and before everyone makes a judgmental decision, it would be best to hear the other side if possible.

Zimbabwe is a great place to hunt, and sure we have some problems like every other country in Africa with poaching , but we who are here to stay and work with the locals try to educate and we try to preserve and teach the value of wildlife for future generations. Some of these locals do understand and they have their own way of dealing with poachers who kill game that would otherwise generate revenue to the whole community and not just a few individuals. I live with it all the time and if you hunt outside of a national park you will experience netting of fish and poaching , it's being going on for ever and it will continue unfortunately throughout Africa not just Zimbabwe. We just have to make the best of it and do the best possible.

Look I am not trying to stop anyone from submitting a hunt report , maybe just with a bit more tact that's all. What is said is said and the individuals and the outfitter who are portrayed negatively must deal with it in their own way. I am not defending anyone just Zimbabwe and what it has to offer, and that is great hunting with good people.

Wayne

 

[Diamondhitch]

the only group I am prejudice towards are the stupid! I can't stand stupid people regardless of color so let that be my lable for myself on race issues.

LOL. The problem with that is you cant pick stupid out of a line up. Stupidity needs to be experienced to be identified and "appreciated"!

 

[NYAMAZANA SAFARIS]

Hi Tony I am sure Graham is over exaggerating about me. I do agree he is a good man and try's hard. I have yet to speak to him as he is still away on a hunt. I do know about the "running fridge" and it is hard not to crack a smile.

I am sorry Norman made such a bad impression on you. I can not defend Norman or comment on him as I was not there as I said from the get go. I just wanted to mention that possibly it might have been best to take a moment before writing something especially when quoting people personally as it seems you do realize now as Peter is getting a bit of Flack for it. Look what is said is said and you said it and more, I hope that no major damage has been done and that you will look back on your hunt and realize how fortunate you were to get the trophy's you did especially the 2 Leopard.

I have never hunted Doddiburn and can not comment on the game numbers there or the poaching or the out fit. Just please realize not all of Zim is the same . What I did not want portrayed is that Zimbabwe is not a place to go as many people read this on the forum and I am sure many people who have hunted here in Zim will agree that it is one of the better places to hunt as a whole and for the money.

Wayne

 

[tap]

I am completely with you in that I don't want people to think zim is a bad place to hunt. Doddieburn is not a place I would recomend for plains game but I would recomend it over any place I can think of for leopard. I had an absolutely great time and the hunt of a life time. My problem is that typical hunt reports say how good the food was, how good the lodge was, the hunting was great and so on and so forth. What people really need to know are the downfalls so that they don't get there hopes set too high. Personally I only like to hear the bad on things so I can plan accordingly. Going into my hunt i expected poaching outside the fence and I got exactly what I expected. What I did not expect was to see such a beautiful landscape that the local population can take for granted. I was simply saddened that anyone could take for granted such a gorgeous area. I also know that other areas of zim have people with the "bushman" attitude. The bushmen in my opinion have some of the best mindsets towards conservation that can be imagined.

Finally, when it comes to Norman I understand he has had some hardships but I really didn't like the way he treated the guys doing all the work. His skinners and trackers were amazing people and I found it hard not plant one square on normans jaw. I just kept smiling and shaking my head and biting my tongue. My wife was appauled and Normans client was appauled. I'm sorry I mentioned it but who on this website would ever want to hunt with a guy like that?????

place your clients with grahm or any other of the guys I personally hunted with and they would have a good time and if I contribute to at least one person avoiding a train wreck then I consider it a story well written. I don't write on here to save some poor guy whos having issues but I write to save the poor guy who saved his entire life savings just so he can go on a safari. I don't think most people living in africa realize how hard we work back home in order to make a safari happen. I can't imagine some poor man working himself to death for 30 years to save the money for one safari and then he gets stuck with someone like norman. That would be a shame. I write to make sure that man has as much knowledge as possible so that he can make an informed decision and have the trip of a life time.

I do see your side Wayne and you don't want to cause your fellow ph's harm. However I want to make sure people are booked with men like yourself so as to reward both sides of the safari.

 

[Bobpuckett]

Thanks Tap for the info that is the reason I like this forum so much, its the openess and honesty of everyone's input I can see where wayne is coming from but at the same time I want to hear what you have to say as well that way if I deside to book a hunt I know what to expect and if I'm disappointed in my Safari then its my own fault I was warned again thanks for your openess and keep up the good writing. Bob