Finding an Outfitter/PH and location
First order of business was to locate an outfitter/PH. Since I had been casually researching trips to South Africa for some time I had narrowed down the list quite a bit. A fellow AO member posted that he was looking for people to join him on a South African bird hunt, with plains game as an option. He had used the outfitter in the past and highly recommended him. I did a bunch of independent checking as well as talking to other past clients and to Stuart Pringle. All the recommendations were positive and the conversation with Stuart went well. I told him in March 2018, I was prepared to go whether the other bird shoot got arranged or not so we set dates, July 26 to Aug 8th, 2018 for me to shoot plains game.
He was fine with taking me as a single hunter. My brother ended up joining us as an observer later on but initially it was only going to be me hunting for 14 days. Stuart was also completely okay with doing a cull hunt. I am not a Trophy hunter and did not intend to bring home any of the skins or heads. All I wanted was a representative animal of the particular species for pictures and meat to try. Cull trophy fees typically run 50% of the regular fee for the animal, or about what the locals pay for meat hunting, so there is some margin in it for the PH but not a lot. The balance of the meat as well as the skins and heads are retained by the PH and sold. Meat sells anywhere from $1 a pound to $10 depending on species and time of year. The capes have considerable value when sold to taxidermist shops for use mounting game where the original cape was damaged or not removed properly. Skins like Zebra and some of the more colorful Antelope are also sold as throw rugs. A complete Zebra A grade throw rug goes for up to $1,500. After trophy cost, $700, and tanning, about $300, there is still a pretty good margin.
We agreed on an observer’s day rate of $200 Canadian, hunting rate of $400 Canadian per day for a single hunter, $350/ day if another hunter joined the group. Trophy fees of $250 for small antelope (Impala, Blesbock, Springbok, Warthog and Fallow Deer), $450 for medium antelope (Black/Blue Wildebeest, Red Hartebeest etc.), and $750 for large (Eland, Kudu and Waterbuck). Varmints like Jackal, Baboon etc were no charge. Gun rental was $40 a day, ammo included and Shotguns were $50 a day plus $15 per box for shells. These were very good rates and were only as low as this because I was going to be the last hunter of the season and was prepared to be flexible as Stuart had a lot of other irons in the fire.
Travel to South Africa and Safety Considerations
Next order of business was to locate flights. Since my brother had now decided to join me my original fight arrangements need to be changed so we could travel together. I ended up with a first class return ticket to Johannesburg on Air Canada/ Ethiopian Airlines that left Edmonton just after midnight on July 23rd, to Toronto via Air Canada, and then via Ethiopian Airlines from Toronto to Addis Abba and then on to Johannesburg arriving July 25th at 13:30. Since there is no date change total travel time is just over 30 hours. The ticket cost me 120,000 Aeroplan points and about $120 in cash for taxes, fuel surcharge etc. I had enough points to get my brother a one way ticket on the same flights and he bought a return ticket in economy on the same return fights as I had, for $1,183. We could have bought two return first class tickets for $4,800 each, at the time we started booking.
So let’s talk the good and the bad of flying on Air Canada’s Star Alliance Partner Ethiopian Air. First off the service on board was top notch, good selection of wine and alcohol but no Canadian Rye Whisky. Food was Airline average with a number of Ethiopian specialty dishes that neither I nor my brother thought were great. Edible, but not great. This is where the good stuff ends. Their phone help desk is past useless, their online application and website are spotty and their organization is not fantastic. Once you are on Ethiopian, Air Canada completely washes their hands of you, even though they are the originating carrier. I could not check in online with Ethiopian but online did work for the first leg on Air Canada. I got to the Air Canada ticket desk in Edmonton to get my Boarding passes for the rest of the trip and they could not print them out. They could check my baggage all the way through but no boarding passes. They told me I had to go to the gate attendant for Ethiopian in Toronto to get my boarding passes for TO to Addis and Addis to Joberg. It took some help from a very nice lady at the Air Canada Lounge counter but we did manage to get the passes sorted in Toronto.
Ethiopian’s Cloud Nine Service, First and Business Class along with their frequent flyers, also enjoy priority security clearance and priority boarding. You need to be pushy and assert your rights to take advantage of these priorities or lots of non-priority passengers will actively try to butt into your space and areas. Canadian politeness is NOT an advantage in this part of the world!
When you get to Addis it is quite an eye opener, the place is complete Chaos. You disembark using stairs, bus to Terminal one, take a medium long walk to Terminal two in high humidity, 80 degree heat and no air conditioning, for your next flight. You need to re-clear security to get back on your next leg as there is no security to the connecting areas. Washrooms in Addis are not something the average Canadian will find comfortable, definitely want to hoover to do your business, unless you go to the first class lounge. We didn’t have time on the way down but made time on the way back. For smokers, the airport has a smoking lounge that we happened to pass by: it is outright disgusting. Since it is outside security anyhow, you might as well pop outside if you need a smoke after 13.5 hours on the plane. Addis also has a big shortage of anyone who knows what is going on and you will often get conflicting info even from people in uniform. Once you have been through there once, second time is MUCH easier and maybe because you have been in South Africa for 2 weeks, had my brother’s carry-on bag ripped off right in the Joberg airport while we were at the ticket counter, it somehow didn’t seem near as bad.
The Joberg airport has the highest rate of theft from checked bags in the world. Get your bag wrapped, lock the zippers or at least zip-tie them both going into and going out of Joberg. Do not let your carry-on bags off your shoulder or out of your hands. The thieves are many, well practiced and very slick. Do not fall for the aggressive tactics of the Porters, even those in uniform and especially those not in a uniform. The uniformed ones want to push your cart for tips and then bitch the tip isn’t big enough. They can become quite aggressive, tell them to shove off but if aggressive verbal doesn’t work, push them physically if you have to. The non-uniformed ones are likely to make off with your bags completely. Do not take a cab that is not known to you, make sure it is a legitimate licensed cab, not one of the many gypsy cabs that try to grab you inside the terminals at arrivals, where the drivers AGRESSIVELY solicit passengers. If you are going somewhere from the airport, arrange a car service to meet you at arrivals with a specific driver. Uber is in many cases far safer than cabs but not as safe as the private car services. No matter how friendly or helpful people at the airport are -
DO NOT TRUST ANYONE YOU DON’T KNOW.
The police are friendly but of no use except to file a case report so you can claim it on your insurance. There are well known blind spots on their CC TV and no efforts are made to patrol those areas, fix the blind spots etc. This type of theft is considered very minor stuff compared to the high rates of rape, violent robberies, assault and murder the police usually deal with. South Africa’s crime rate is extremely high and Caucasians at the airport are prime targets for robbery, car Jacking etc as tourists are known to generally not be carrying weapons when getting off or on airplanes. They are also known to have cameras, phones, IPads and other valuables that are well worth holding them up for. The Private car services are of great benefit because they are packing protection.
You can bring as much cash into South Africa as you want, but have to declare any amount over $10,000 U.S. If you stay over a day or two in Addis the limit for declaration is $3,000 U.S. You can only bring out amounts over $10,000 U.S. if you declared it going in, otherwise you will need Bank verification as to how you came by the cash. Practically however, there is no one checking you when you leave so I have no idea how they enforce this.
When it comes to exchanging CDN to Rand, do that in South Africa. You get a much better rate both buying Rand and selling it back and the best rates are for direct withdrawal from your account into Rand. Canadian currency into Rand suffers a bit of a discount but not huge. The best rate is obtained at a bank: FNB generally has the best rates and you can see their rates online at their website,
https://www.fnb.co.za/rates/ForeignExchangeRates.html as you can with many other SA banks. Next best is the ATM but you are paying quite a bit in fees so it only makes sense if you take larger amounts. DO NOT exchange funds on the street. Not only is it illegal, there is a lot of counterfeit being passed. When purchasing items, especially paying for cab fares etc, try to have as close as possible to the exact change or your risk getting counterfeit as the change. Learn what he currency looks and feels like and check the bills you get back for authenticity.
You are better off not carrying large amounts of cash and do not carry more than one credit card or debit card along with a photocopy of your passport. If you have larger amounts of cash on you, carry only a small amount in one front pocket for purchases, the rest in another front pocket, so you aren’t flashing a big roll. If possible leave surplus cash, passports and extra cards, in a secure vault at the hotel, B and B or wherever you are staying. If there is no safe place to leave your valuables consider a Safe Deposit box at a nearby bank. Remember that you can have no more than 4 numbers in a PIN or they won’t work. Also, have your card that you plan to carry with you limited to $100 for cash advances. That way if a mugger forces you to withdraw from an ATM you limit your downside. The cash withdrawal limit is separate from your purchase limit so it won’t interfere with buying things with the card. If you are mugged DO NOT resist. These people are desperate and while they generally don’t harm their victims they are often armed with knives or machetes and are not afraid to use them to avoid being caught.
Canadian dollars are nearly impossible to pass on the economy but U.S. dollars and Euros are easy to use. Just make sure you aren’t getting shaved on the exchange rate. Business should be easily willing to match or exceed what the bank is willing to give you as this is money they can ship offshore. Also, many places will waive the 15% VAT (Value Added Tax) if you pay in cash, Rand or other. Be aware that you can recover a lot of the VAT you pay for goods, but not services, by applying at the airport. You must do the airport process to ensure recovery.
http://www.southafrica-newyork.net/consulate/vat refund.html
My final thoughts on Air Travel to far away places. I am 62 years old, in very good health overall and overweight. I would not travel this far if I could not go Business Class and I have been of the same mind since I was about 40. The ability to stretch out completely and sleep on a 16 hour flight, or even on a series of 5 to 6 hour flights is a very big plus. Having the extra leg and shoulder room is great. The meal/liquor services and top notch service is a nice to have, could live without that, but the extra room and ability to sleep, to me is a got to have. If I was Thirty years old and as skinny as I used to be, maybe economy would work, but even then, Business class is a whole bunch better. It makes enough of a difference that my brother upgraded his economy return ticket from Joberg to Toronto, at a cost of $2,000 Canadian because he could not face the idea of 16.5 hours from Addis to Toronto in steerage, after 5 hours from Joberg to Addis. All in he could have paid cash for a Business Class round trip from Edmonton and have paid less but it was not a real large difference and well worth it for the added comfort. When saving and budgeting for a hunting trip to Africa I suggest you seriously consider the cost of Business class, at least for the long haul section, as part of that budget process.
If I went to South Africa again I would likely go through Frankfurt, Dulles or Heathrow but Addis does make for a good adventure if you have never been there and I wouldn’t be against going through it again if the price of the flights were right. Also, we weren’t flying with guns, so where you fly through makes a big difference if you are taking your own firearms.
