Backyardsniper
AH elite
As I am sure not everyone is interested in spending a great deal of time reading my ramblings about this hunt in order to get the information they are looking for as far as whether or not they should be interested in booking a hunt with Dalton&York, or book their future hunts through Buchanon Hunts, I will do a very brief review of all that up front here. Now, for those who have the patience, or are simply bored and wish to subject themselves to what I am sure is a very sad attempt at writing an entertaining report of a very fantastic first safari, to those individuals I would say, stay tuned, as I will do this in installments of a day or two at a time. Since this was my first safari and I have no other first safaris to compare it to I can only assume that not all first safaris go as this one went. All of the facts I have written herein are in fact facts. While I have tried my best to add a little artistic flare to the writing and also tried to convey the true emotions and feelings of the moments as they felt in those moments, the facts remain the facts. If I say leopard sawed, then a leopard did in fact saw, if a tsetse bit then a tsetse did in fact bite, and so on and so forth, you get how this works.
The short version of the review:
Dalton&York, should you book with them, are they professional, courteous, honest, can they put you on the animals you want to hunt, will they put forth the extra effort to give you the hunt that you want? Yes, the answer to all the above in the experience I had with them is a very confident yes on all accounts.
Buchanon Hunts, should I use them to book a future hunt? Also a very solid yes. Michelle answered more questions than any one person should have to answer. Always available, always happy to help, genuinely cares about you having a great hunt. One of her past clients commented on the Facebook post when we were leaving and said "100%enjoy 0%worry" That is about as accurate as I can describe what Buchanon hunts does. If you need more details on this feel free to PM me and we can chat.
Qatar Airways. They seem to go to great lengths to make sure you and your gun are in the same place at the same time. This is a plus. They don't do this because they care about you, they do this because if you and your gun are separated then they have to deal with a gun and they don't want to do that. Either way it's a win for you. Other than that, if you have to fly cattle class like I do, then it is what it is. The flights were on time and the flight attendants were nice. The seats are small and I am not, the other people on the plane are annoying and you are just gonna have to deal with it for 16-30 hours depending on where you are going. On the upside the Chicken Biryani is pretty damned decent for airline food.
Amanzi lodge in Harare is very nice. If you have to overnight in Harare I highly recommend it. Nice rooms, excellent restaurant.
That pretty much sums up the review portion. There was not really much to complain about on this trip other than the taxi driver who didn't want to turn on his meter when we left DFW for the 2.2 mile drive back to our hotel that lasted about 4 minutes and then told me I owed him $55. He did not get $55 and he left with his feeling hurt very badly. Don't use the taxis at the airport, I knew this and I did it anyway, thinking that there might be some shred of decency left in humanity, there is not, but if there are no cameras and you are bigger than the taxi driver then it works in your favor.
The short version of the review:
Dalton&York, should you book with them, are they professional, courteous, honest, can they put you on the animals you want to hunt, will they put forth the extra effort to give you the hunt that you want? Yes, the answer to all the above in the experience I had with them is a very confident yes on all accounts.
Buchanon Hunts, should I use them to book a future hunt? Also a very solid yes. Michelle answered more questions than any one person should have to answer. Always available, always happy to help, genuinely cares about you having a great hunt. One of her past clients commented on the Facebook post when we were leaving and said "100%enjoy 0%worry" That is about as accurate as I can describe what Buchanon hunts does. If you need more details on this feel free to PM me and we can chat.
Qatar Airways. They seem to go to great lengths to make sure you and your gun are in the same place at the same time. This is a plus. They don't do this because they care about you, they do this because if you and your gun are separated then they have to deal with a gun and they don't want to do that. Either way it's a win for you. Other than that, if you have to fly cattle class like I do, then it is what it is. The flights were on time and the flight attendants were nice. The seats are small and I am not, the other people on the plane are annoying and you are just gonna have to deal with it for 16-30 hours depending on where you are going. On the upside the Chicken Biryani is pretty damned decent for airline food.
Amanzi lodge in Harare is very nice. If you have to overnight in Harare I highly recommend it. Nice rooms, excellent restaurant.
That pretty much sums up the review portion. There was not really much to complain about on this trip other than the taxi driver who didn't want to turn on his meter when we left DFW for the 2.2 mile drive back to our hotel that lasted about 4 minutes and then told me I owed him $55. He did not get $55 and he left with his feeling hurt very badly. Don't use the taxis at the airport, I knew this and I did it anyway, thinking that there might be some shred of decency left in humanity, there is not, but if there are no cameras and you are bigger than the taxi driver then it works in your favor.