Paying Your PH and Others in Namibia

I'm leaving for Namibia on my first safari in a couple weeks. The safari includes 5 animals for a set price. However, if I don't take all 5, the price is less. Also, I'll hopefully want to have trophy prepartion/taxidermy done. I'm also going on a week long tour to see some other sights in Namibia.

I'm expecting to spend $8-10K. How do you get that much money over there to pay all the bills? Some of the stuff I can put on the credit card, but I don't expect that the PH will take one.

Thanks, SDH56

I was in Namibia 2 years ago and they were happy with travelers checks. Good question to ask your PH or the company that you are dealing with. You may wish to take part of it in greenbacks for incidentals and shopping. Good luck and have a great hunt.

I was in Namibia and my PH requested only US$, so I traveled with the cash. I kept my US passport, my other ID's, my binoculars and my cash very close if not on my person. I figured I could replace the rest of what I traveled with, so I always had a hand on the above. I suspect that many of the small outfitters don't have a US agent or bank that you can deal with, so you must prepare for traveling with cash. I was told that foreign outfitters prefer cash because it allows them to transact in their country when the exchange is beneficial to them and that they had to deal with the taxes in some way if the money went into their bank via wire transfer or something. Don't know about the last part, only what I was told. I wasn't traveling with as much as you mentioned, so it was less of a burden, but I was uncomfortable regardless. Maybe some of the more seasoned hunters have a better method.

I usually wire all the money for the hunt to the outfitter before I go or pay the amount to the booking agent on this side of the pond. If that is not possible then I take the bulk of the money in travelers checks. I have never had an outfitter or PH decline travelers checks but I have had some businesses decline them. I always exchange some of the checks for local currency to pay for curios and tipping the staff. I carry the money in a neck wallet or a Cabelas safari shirt that has zip up breast pockets. Like gillettehunter said, ask your PH before you go and see what they want.

I prefer to wire the bulk of the $$ and take enough cash to cover extra animals that demand to be shot and to cover tips, curios, etc. I would not be comfortable with this plan without personally knowing the outfitter or having very solid references. For a first-time hunt, it's harder. Traveler's checks are OK too, but signing 100 of them on settle-the-account night is a pain.

I've been on two safaris and did it differently on both. On the first, I wired all of the money to the outfitter before the hunt. I did not end up shooting a couple of animals I had paid for, so he refunded me some of the money after the hunt. On my second safari, which was for dangerous game and much more expensive than the first, I wired all of the daily rates and about half of my expected trophy fees to the outfitter. I brought cash to cover the rest. Since I brought so much cash on the second trip, I made sure I had it on me at all times. Both times worked out well. It's all a matter of what you and the outfitter feel comfortable with. I would recommend using a mix of traveler's checks and cash over 100% cash if the outfitter accepts them.