Download
this article 13KB
Who is My P.H. and What
Camp am I In?
You have booked your safari with Chifuti
Safaris, the dates are on the schedule and your quota
is assigned. Great! You are no doubt excited, and we
are looking forward to having you in camp hunting with
us.
But what camp and with who will you be hunting? Two
important questions worth asking. Here is our attempt
to answer them.
CAMPS
Chifuti Safaris operates in a huge area comprising
some 2,300 square miles of the best country in the
lower Zambezi Valley.
In order to spread our hunters out without putting
pressure on one particular area, Chifuti runs numerous
camps of various size and designs throughout our hunting
area.
Some
of our camps are on the Zambezi River, while others
are far inland. Some are considered main camps,
while some of our more remote areas have smaller, but
equally comfortable ‘fly camps.’
The most important element of the safari, in our opinion,
is assuring that you have the best chance at the game
you came to hunt.
If croc or hippo are a primary focus of your safari,
then you will undoubtedly camp on or near the river.
But if, for instance, you were hunting leopard or lion,
you might be booked into a camp up in the hills.
The point is the Chifuti management team tries to
maintain a large degree of flexibility as to where
various parties are based.
We know from experience that booking a particular
camp for a client one or two years in advance can be
a big mistake.
What
if you requested a camp, let’s ay up in
the Chewore hills because maybe you saw it on a DVD
or TV show. You’re after buffalo for instance,
and booked for late August, which is a terrific time
to take a big bull. But what if it’s a dry year
and the springs have quit running up in the hills?
Buffalo are mobile animals and they will go to the
water, wherever it is. So you end up in the camp you
demanded with few buffalo to track.
Flexibility
is the key! Our team knows the area, it’s
game, and is better suited to assess the weather, bush
conditions, and game movements than you are at the
SCI convention.
Trust them to make the right decision as to where
you will be camped. Of course party size must be taken
into consideration if a big group comes and wants to
hunt together, but that is the exception to the rule.
Our
office receives hundreds of calls from booked clients,
(sometimes three years in advance of their
safari) with the desire to know ‘exactly’ which
camp they will be hunting out of.
Our
standard answer is, and will continue to be, “that
decision will most likely not be put into concrete
until your safari is close to starting.
In fact, depending on your bag and game movement you
may even change camps at some point of your safari..
A final word on camps - Chifuti Safaris will put you
into comfortable safari camp that will give you the
very best chance to enjoy a successful big game adventure.
Who Will My Professional Hunter Be?
This is perhaps the most common question answered
by our office, and until the start of the season, one
nearly impossible on our end to answer.
Certainly
many clients have seen TV shows or the Boddington
DVD series and are familiar with some of the Chifuti
professional hunters on staff, and tell us at the SCI
shows “I would like Ivan or Mark for instance,
as my professional hunter.”
Chifuti Safaris employs many of the finest professional
hunters in Zimbabwe, and in fact, in the whole of Africa,
The
qualifying process necessary to obtain a full license
in Zimbabwe is without question the most arduous
and difficult one in the entire hunting world. No other
African country requires more apprenticeship, testing
and on the job training for its professional hunters
as does Zimbabwe.
This assures that your safari, regardless of who your
PH is, will be run by an extremely qualified professional
who knows our area, our game, and how to conduct our
hunt in a professional manner with the goal of giving
you a fun, and successful safari adventure.
All
of our PH’s use top equipment, have their
own trackers, and are experienced with the game you
will be going after. No company in Zimbabwe has better
team of professionals in their stable than Chifuti
Safaris.
The matrix for assigning professional hunters to such
a large number of hunting clients is an unbelievably
challenging one. As we have acknowledged, the safari
business is by necessity one which requires the ability
to adjust and remain fluid as the safari season approaches.
Schedules must afford off days and travel days between
safaris for the PH,, take into account dates already
booked with staggered start dates, and sometimes sickness
or other unforeseen circumstances,
The Chifuti management team are experts at pairing
our clients with professional hunters with game sought,
and length of safari all playing a part in that selection
process.
Heres the bottom line .Unfortunately no matter how
badly the client wants to know who his professional
hunter is in advance, we will not know the answer to
that question as the Chifuti management cannot provide
it before they prepare their master client/Professional
Hunter matrix.
But, please be assured, you will be in the care of
a top PH, ready to assist you in your safari experience.
