FAQ'S
Hunting vs. Non Hunting Days Arrival and departure days at any airport are "NON-HUNTING" days. All travelling days, without hunting, are "NON-HUNTING" days. Vehicle expenses are added according to distance per number of vehicles used, divided by the number of clients travelling. Hotel accommodation needed on travelling days, will be extra at cost price. If any hunting takes place on a travelling day, it will be regarded as a "HUNTING" day. Sunday are normally "NON-HUNTING" days. On Sundays, we go some place interesting. We do not stay in camp, unless the client wants to rest and not go anywhere. If special reasons require hunting on a Sunday, these Sundays are then "HUNTING" days. The rest of the days will be hunting days, until the hunter COMPLETES his hunting wish list. However, if he tells us before the hunt begins that certain days will be non hunting, he/she will be charged accordingly – that means he takes NO rifle along with him on those days – only a camera or a fishing rod. IMPORTANT: A PH is hired for the entire duration of the hunt of any foreign passport holder and therefore non-hunting days can only be taken AFTER completion of the hunter’s hunting wish list or before commencing with the hunt. NOT in the middle of the hunt. (Not applicable on Sundays). PLEASE NOTE: If the hunt is interrupted by bad weather, or circumstances beyond our control, it does NOT result in that day changing into a non-hunting day, providing the PH is available to commence with the hunt as soon as the situation clears up. Such occasions are VERY rare as our raining season is usually between November and March. 1 Hunter : 1 PH or 2 Hunters : 1 PH If choosing a hunting partner on a 2:1 hunt, please take note of the following facts: Any 2:1 hunt, where the one hunting partner changes to “non-hunter” status after completing his hunting list, will result in the changing of the hunt to a 1:1 hunt, for the remaining hunter. It will result in the changing of DAILY FEES for both. This issue must be cleared amongst the partners themselves. Visa Requirements USA citizens need NO visa to visit SA. SA citizens need a visa to visit the USA. Clothes List & Laundry Laundry is done daily Monday - Saturday. Place all laundry in the basket provided in your chalet, before 08h00 and you will receive it back by 19h00 the same day or brunch time the following day. (Weather permitting) No laundry or ironing is done on a Sunday. Normal day temperatures at Zeekoepan: In mid-winter, during May, June and July it is about 15 – 25 C (60 – 80 F). Spring and fall during March, April, August, September and October could be about 25 – 35 C (80 – 95 F). Warm clothes, gloves, and waterproof jacket, for hunting plains game on concession. The temperature could go down to 1 - 5 C (32 - 40 F). Mid-Summer, November thru February could be hot with 35 – 45 C (95 – 115 F) and high humidity. We suggest packing hunting clothes, in camouflage, green or DARK khaki, for 3 days. SHOES: Please bring comfortable, soft shoes that do not make a noise in the bush, for hunting. Sneakers will do just fine. Comfortable clothes to relax in around the campfire (track suit recommended). The winter nights might be cold as the camp is situated on the banks of the Mkuze River. Blue jeans are perfect for visiting most places + shirts with a collar. For the rest of your trip we recommend mostly informal clothes - South Africa is very laid back. 1 pair of normal pants + open neck shirt, in case we go out for dinner or lunch or for hotel stays etc. Swimwear for possible visit to the beach or using the splash pool in summer. Gratuities We are often asked to recommend the tips to all staff members such as trackers, skinners, camp cooks, and domestic servants. Although they do not work for tips alone, the 10 people we have in permanent service are very grateful if the clients acknowledge their hard work. The tips are mostly left to your own discretion, but we recommended a collective tip at a minimum of $10 per day per client (hunting and non-hunting) as a guideline. Professional Hunters gratuities at own discretion. No Payments By Cheque Accepted South African Banking Law has changed in 2004 and we regret that we no longer can accept any cheques - Personal or Business. PLEASE NOTE that not even a bank guaranteed cheque could be accepted, because of a delay in payment of such a cheque. The delay is in such instance is minimum 16 weeks = 4 months, but it could be longer... It is VERY IMPORTANT that payment is done in HARD CASH. (US-$ or Euro or Pound.) TRAVELERS CHEQUES (please do NOT date these) are welcome. We regret the inconvenience that this law might cause. We hope you understand that no exceptions can be made, because it is out of our hands. Phone Calls Please arrange that with your own cell phone company to open your phone for INTERNATIONAL ROAMING. If you are asked by your cell phone company as to the best local network to link up with, please tell them MTN has the best reception locally. Cingular, T-Mobile and Verizon from the USA, should not have a problem. All phones from Europe should work here. We have a telephone in the MAIN LODGE and the best times to phone is around 11h00 to 12h00 (brunch time after the morning hunt) and in the evenings 18h30/19h00 to 21h00 +. This is normally dinner- and campfire time and everybody is together. (Mentioned times are South African times - please take the time difference in consideration) Unfortunately, we do not have telephones in the chalets. We sell calling cards for making calls. It is inexpensive and R50 will give you 50 minutes talk time to the US. The LODGE # for INTERNATIONAL calls: + 27 - 34 - 4141131 Example: From the USA you should dial: 011 – 27 – 34 – 4141131 The LODGE # for LOCAL calls: 034 - 4141131 Inoculation, Medication & Medical Attention In spite of what your doctor might tell you, South Africa is NOT the same as the rest of Africa. You do NOT need any inoculations for South Africa. Some diseases they inject people for, we have not even heard of. People arrive here with sore and swollen arms for absolutely nothing. Tetanus is always a good shot to have if you have not had one recently. Not all mosquitoes carry malaria. Our area is officially malaria free as the Anopheles mosquito that carries malaria, does not occur in our area. A good insect repellent after dark is enough safeguard against mosquitoes. Some malaria medication causes sleeplessness, hallucinations and makes it harder to detect malaria in the blood if it happens that you contract it. If you plan to visit the Kruger Park area or the lakes at Kosi Bay, you might need to take precaution against malaria if you do not trust the insect repellent alone. Once again, if you go north of our borders - Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia - you will need to take malaria precaution. Tick bite fever might be a problem. It does not respond to antibiotics not containing tetracycline. Ask your doctor to prescribe antibiotics containing TETRACYCLINE, like Doxicycline, to bring along. Just do not take it with antacid medication as it neutralises the tetracycline. At the first feeling of flu symptoms with a headache and accompanied by a bite mark – red with a black centre – take the antibiotics and you will feel better within 24 hours. It is not a deadly decease, but it causes pain in the joints and it feels like aggravated flu symptoms. If you could suffer it out for 21 days you will be immune to the decease for the rest of your life !!! South Africans also have to take hepatitis shots and some of the other shots if we go north of our borders - Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia and more north – but all of that is NOT NEEDED for SOUTH AFRICA. In Pongola, we have a very well equipped hospital and 5 good doctors. The pharmacy in Pongola has all the medication you might need. Pongola is 37km (23 miles) from Zeekoepan. Therefore, there is NO need to bring loads of medication for “in case something happens”. Taxidermy Procedure Normal procedure for us would be to do the field preparation of the trophy at Zeekoepan. Usually on the last day of the hunt, the hunter is taken to the taxidermy where the hunter discusses the mounting or export of the trophies with the taxidermy, in private. The hunter would then discuss with the taxidermy when he wants his trophies done, because it may stay in the country for up to 2 years, before it has to be exported by law. Please note: If the hunter decides not to export the trophy within the said 2 years, the trophy is no longer regarded as an export product and will be taxable by a government tax of 14%. No trophies may leave the country within the first 3 months after the hunt due to regulations. When the taxidermy is ready to start on the work, a 50% deposit is required, before they will start. The balance is due on completion before the mounted trophies leaves the taxidermy shop for export. Then the hunter will go home and once the skins are dry, we take it with the horns across to the taxidermy. It takes about 3 weeks for the skins to dry. The taxidermy opens the skins up and checks them for hair slip or any problems which we never have. We sign it off to him. Then we are done and he will communicate directly with the client from there onwards. We do give assistance both ways if a party does not responds on e-mails or whatever, which is rare. The actual shipping is done by a independent shipping agent. The taxidermy can recommend reliable shipping agents to all destinations and will arrange the shipping with the agent. If the client wants to use a shipping agent of his choice, it can be arranged.	Plains Game Hunting: Oryx (Gemsbuck) Bush & Plains Game Hunting: Porcupine Bush & Plains Game Hunting: Reedbuck, Common Plains Game Hunting: Reedbuck, Mountain Plains Game Hunting: Springbuck Bush & Plains Game Hunting: Steenbuck Bush Game Hunting: Vervet Monkey Bush & Plains Game Hunting: Waterbuck Bush Game Hunting: Warthog Plains Game Hunting: Wildebeest, Black Bush Game Hunting: Wildebeest Blue Bush & Plains Game Hunting: Zebra, Burchell's Special Game Hunting: Klipspringer Special Game Hunting: Sable Recent Hunting Photos