FAQs
Both South Africa and Namibia have stable, and democratically minded, governments. The people are friendly and, everywhere you go, you will be met with a smile. Of course, we have our problems with crime, just like anywhere you go on this planet, but it is “normal” crime and not the politically inspired incidences that are so frequent elsewhere in Africa. The very fact that so few people even know much about the area should tell the prospective traveller something. So much of the publicity Africa gets is negative, dealing with political upheaval, crime, etc. that Southern Africa actually shines by comparison. We do not get publicity, simply because we do not experience that kind of problem!
Southern Africa has an excellent infrastructure. The airports are modern and efficiently run, and the staff there are all very “visitor friendly”. You will be met at the airport by your guide and will be delivered back there, safe and sound. Most visitors will require no other travel document than their passport. There are no visa requirements for visitors from the USA. The roads are in excellent repair and travel around the area is no problem. Most travel is by road. Just keep in mind that Southern Africa is a vast area (the countries will cover the entire Eastern Seaboard of the USA) so travel takes up a lot of time. The countryside is spectacular, though, so you are not likely to get bored.
We have been working with Elaine Pretorius from African Odyssey for many years now and she handles most of our clients travel arrangements. She is a South African now operating out of the USA which gives her an in depth knowledge and understanding of the challenges you might face when travelling to Southern Africa, with or without firearms. Fill in the flight information form under the Travel Information section and she will contact you to arrange your international as well as local flights. So sit back, relax and leave it all to us.
Two ways. One is obviously word of mouth. Talk to people who have toured or hunted with us and get their feel on the quality of the trip on offer. Second – Meet with us and decide for yourself. There is no substitute for your own judgment.
No, we don’t. Basically, your arrival/departure days are included in the inclusive package price created for you.
We have excellent private hospitals in the country. We carry emergency insurance, which will ensure that you can be airlifted to hospital, should it become necessary. What you could do is to take out some insurance yourself, should it happen that you need a medical flight back home.
You do not require any inoculations. If you are visiting the North of the country, say anywhere above Etosha Game Reserve, it is advisable to see your doctor about malaria prophylactics and to start a course about two weeks before your arrival date.
Yes, paradise has its serpents! The incidence of snakebite is so low, though, that to worry about it is to worry too much. Always remember, snakes are more scared of humans than humans are scared of snakes. In any unforced encounter, the snake will get out of your way so fast, you will probably never even know it was there! Insects also don’t present much of a problem. We have some trophy sized scorpions, but a general awareness will be enough to ensure you have no nasty surprises.
When we finalize your booking and have set final dates for your trip, a specific payment schedule will be included.
All payments will be by either credit card, electronic transfer or through our payment portal on the website under Travel Information.
As a rule, deposits are non-refundable, but is movable and transferable. If, for some reason, your trip cannot take place on the dates booked, we will allow you to rebook new dates and your deposit will become applicable to those dates. You are also free to transfer your deposit to replacement clients. Should you wish to completely cancel your booking, it is your responsibility to obtain trip insurance to cover this eventuality. Such insurance should be obtained as soon as possible after starting the booking process.
All guides are required to pass a government sponsored qualification process and apprenticeship. This ensures that your guide will be well versed and will be able to take care of you!!
Although most guides will have books available, it is strongly suggested that you invest in books for yourself. Copies of a) A Field Guide to Birds of Southern Africa and b) A Field Guide to Mammals of Southern Africa are readily available from Amazon.
For Hunting Neutral coloured clothing (faded green, brown or khaki) is best. Shirts should be medium to heavy weight 100% cotton. Make sure you have a pair of well broken in, ankle height boots. (No Goretex!! – leather and canvas boots.) A broad rim hat to protect your neck and ears from the sun is essential. Warm jackets for the early morning and late evening will be needed.
For Photo and Adventure Safaris any clothing you feel comfortable is good. Make sure you have a good pair of wore in hiking boots as well as something comfortable to wear, sneakers or sandals will do. For winter months (May to August) bring some clothing to layer up in, early mornings and evenings can be chilly to cold but it heats up at around 9am to t-shirt weather. A good hat and sun glasses are also recommended.
For Angling Safaris just bring your favourite fishing gear together with a broad rim hat and good sunglasses.
Make sure everybody has a pair of binoculars and a camera!!
Yes – all camps have electricity. (On Adventure tours this might be unavailable, so invest in some extra batteries!)
Our power supply is 220volt. Most cameras, laptops, tablets and cell phones have their own inverters built in, but make sure. 110 volt Hair dryers and curling irons will unfortunately not work in Namibia. Please inform us if you require a hair dryer on Safari and we will gladly provide one.
Yes – we will have those available. DO NOT purchase them in the USA – the stuff sold here as “universal” does not work in Africa!!
Bottled water will be available everywhere. Most camps are supplied by borehole - the water will be fine to use!!
WILL I BE ABLE TO CONTACT MY FAMILY OR BUSINESS VIA E-MAIL, PHONE AND FAX WHILST IN CAMP OR ON TOUR?
Both our own Guesthouse and Hunt Camp have wi-fi available. The Guesthouse also has a phone and fax line. Most but not all of the accommodation establishments we will be staying at during your safari will have wi-fi available.
Namibia has an excellent cell phone network, you’ll be surprised at where you will have signal. Feel free to bring your mobile device along but make sure you have roaming enabled.
Alternatively you can give the below contact details to your family and friends if they need to get hold of you.
Tel: +264 62 500429
Cell: +264 81 355 0859
Email: jaco@africandays.com
We will then relay the message to you and make sure you are able to contact them back.
No visa is required by USA citizens for entry into Namibia and Botswana. You will need only your passport. For Zimbabwe you will need to purchase a tourist visa upon entry into the country either at the airport or at the border post. The visa cost is USD 30.00
At the Immigration desk when entering the countries, you will be required to hand in a completed Arrival form. Most of the questions are straight forward, but they will want to know where you will be staying while in the country. Use the following address:
For Namibia: Khaya Guesthouse, 507 Voortrekker Road, Okahandja, Namibia
For Botswana: Chobe Safari, Kasane, Botswana
For Zimbabwe: The Kingdom Resort, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
Combining Going2Africa safaris are entirely possible. Talk to us and let us tailor make your trip for you!!
The area where there are Ebola problems is over 3 000 miles away from where your trip will take place. Your chances of being exposes are virtually nil.
If you are doing a hunting trip laundry service is available and we will wash and iron your clothes every day. Because of this, three changes of clothing (in addition to the clothes you are traveling in) will be sufficient.
If you are booking an Photographic, Adventure or Angling trip you will only be able to have laundry done if we are overnighting at one location for more than one night, have a look at your itinerary or speak to us to determine laundry possibilities during you’re safari and pack accordingly.
Always pack a couple of changes of underclothes extra - you never know when a lion might scare you into having an accident!!!
Cross pack!! In other words, if you are travelling in a group - everybody pack half their clothes in everybody else’s suitcase. In that way, if one suitcase goes missing, nobody is left with no clothing!!
NEVER pack any valuables in your check luggage - to avoid theft at the airports. Pack all valuables (camera’s, binoculars, etc.) in your carry on luggage. Also have at least one change of underclothes in your carry on.
On Adventure and Safari trips, recharging batteries is difficult - so invest in some extra batteries or a backup charger.
The time we rise each morning will be discussed the evening before and will greatly depend on what we will be after that day. Whatever the time decided on, we will wake you with a cup of steaming hot coffee! Breakfast is per your preference: Breakfast cereals and/or bacon, sausage and eggs. Fruit juice, coffee or tea, just as you prefer. Depending on how the morning hunt progresses, we will either lunch out in the bush (from prepared lunch boxes) or we will be back in camp. Mostly, we prefer staying out there until we are successful. The evening meal is our main meal for the day. We will sit around the bar and fire (engaging in the day’s bragging session) until Makkie calls us. Evening meals are accompanied by a range of great South African wines. Pieter Stofberg grew up in the wine producing Western Cape in South Africa and still has many friends down there. After dinner, a few cocktails around the fire tends to end the day on a high note.
Namibia offers everything Africa does (with the exception of region bound species, of course) and probably has the most affordable plains game hunting available. We have two species that are exclusive to Namibia, being the Hartmann’s (or Mountain) Zebra and the Damara Dik-Dik. Our hunt product is one of the best to be found in Africa and you can rest assured that you will have a good time.
This is a rather sensitive issue with hunters, especially after the whole “canned lion” saga. What you should understand is that ownership of game, in Namibia, rests with the landowner, as opposed with the State, as is the case in most of Africa. Our landowners stock their land with game, which has resulted in the numbers of species, as well as the number of animals per specie, increasing dramatically. This is a very, very expensive exercise and it stands to reason that the landowner has to take steps to protect his investment. The result is that most of our hunting, other than on traditional land concessions, takes place on land that has been fenced. Here you must keep the size of our country in mind. Most of our ranches are so big (on average around 20 000 acres) that the fact that the land is fenced does not affect the question of fair chase. Believe me, the animals has a much bigger chance of eluding you than you have of finding them. You will have to hunt hard! Also keep in mind that hunting is the sole reason why our landowners are stocking their land with game. These animals eat the same vegetation that livestock does and, if they had no value, you can rest assured that our ranchers would have gotten rid of them long ago. The fact that you are willing to pay to hunt these animals is the only reason they are surviving and increasing.
Absolutely no problem! When you arrive at the airport, you will be handed a rifle import/export permit application. (We will send you this form beforehand.) The customs official will inspect your rifles, to ensure that the serial numbers correspond, and then issue you with a permit for the time period you will be in the country. When you leave, the same process will take place and they will take back the permit. As I said, absolutely no problem! In general, keep in mind that you will be allowed only eighty rounds of ammunition per rifle. No handguns will be allowed and semi-automatic rifles are taboo.
Our travel agent will supply you with all the information re documentation you will need to take care of and, where available, they will supply the application forms for the documentation.
Please inform us ahead of time if you need to rent a rifle and what you intend to hunt. We will then inform you if we have a rifle available for you. Rifles are rented at USD50.00 per day excluding ammo.
We do however prefer you bring your own rifle as you are comfortable and confident with it.
Something in the 300WinMag or UltraMag range will do fine for all our plains game species. If you are bringing two rifles, keep in mind that you cannot bring two of the same caliber.
Your guide and trackers will break their backs trying to find the animal. At some point your guide might turn to you and ask you to take a decision - if it is his opinion that further searching would be fruitless and will seriously compromise the rest of your hunt.
Your guide will follow up on your shot if he thinks there is a chance of the animal taking off wounded. We do not give you a choice in this - if the guide feels your shot went wrong, he will follow up. This is part of the ethical hunting code - we do not want to take a chance on having an animal suffering needlessly.
Animals that are wounded and lost are deemed as successfully hunted and are payable in full.
Yes - absolutely! If you come across something really special, you will be free to add that to your list. Be sure to discuss this with your guide.
The time we rise each morning will be discussed the evening before and will greatly depend on what we will be after that day. Whatever the time decided on, we will wake you with a cup of steaming hot coffee! Breakfast is per your preference: Breakfast cereals and/or bacon, sausage and eggs. Fruit juice, coffee or tea, just as you prefer. The evening meal is our main meal for the day. We will sit around the bar and fire (engaging in the day’s bragging session) until the cook gives us a dirty look. Evening meals are accompanied by a range of great South African wines. Pieter Stofberg grew up in the wine producing Western Cape in South Africa and still has many friends down there. After dinner, a few cocktails around the fire tends to end the day on a high note.
Our fishing taxidermist has molds for most of the species we will be fishing for, in various weights and sizes. It becomes pretty easy to order a trophy mount from him for whatever it is you want to display. Costs for this (taxidermy work and shipping) will be for your account.
No – come as you are! We will supply all gear, bait, etc. that might be needed.
We have several species of edible fish, as well as several species of shark. Access our Specie Info page for more detailed information on each specie. Mainly, come prepared for some SERIOUS fun!
We make very sure that everybody enjoy themselves. Shopping trips are available. Short, local sightseeing trips can be arranged. We also have a full menu of sightseeing excursions around Namibia available through our touring company.
Because we do not do bus tours and never mix groups, all our vehicles are smaller, air conditioned mini vans or 4x4 Land Rovers - fully equipped and comfortable.
Yes - all our itineraries allow for this.
Make very, very sure you have a pair of good boots!! Make sure they are well broken in before the trip.
Pack a waterproof bag for your electronic equipment.
Pack some extra underclothes - there won’t be much opportunity to do laundry.