Charges for Arrival and Departing days?

This is a question for anyone out there hunters and outfitters.

What is the normal practice for charges on a safari to a hunter on the night they arrive. Will be late so no hunting?
Also on the day that they leave?

Thanks for your help.

I am sure each outfitter will have a different way handling this, for me it is simple i do not charge the day of arrival nor do i charge for the departure day just because most of the time i hunt out of my own camp and do not feel the need for that extra. And when i hunt using a friends camp i pay the rate for the first night.
Johan
Ps i also complete all the paperwork ( free ) regarding the rifle permits at the airport i still can not see why the client need to pay x amount for completing a form with only a few question.
Johan

My experience: One outfitter is charging for the arrival day. He is also driving me from the airport to the concession/ranch. So his time has to be worth something. I will also be arriving early enough to try to hunt the first day at least. Departure day is the same.
So actually chalk it up to transfer costs.
Second outfitter, just the observer rate on the first day of arrival. Basically an accommodation and meal cost. Unless I am lucky enough to get in an try and use the bow at last light.
Departure day is no cost here.
I have seen many more alternative arrangements than this in my searches though. So make sure that you have an agreement and understand it.

It all depends on the outfitter. Some think they should get a daily rate day on both ends, some charge a pick-up fee, others work it into their daily fees and trophy fees, and some don't charge at all. You should definitely check with the outfitter before booking a hunt.

Some outfitters do charge for arrival and departure days, which frankly I dont like and will avoid. If you schedule a ten day hunt, you should pay for those days as full hunting days and nothing for arrive and leave days. Often if driving some distance to and from the airport there will be a fee of some amount depending on the distance involved and this seems reasonable especially at current fuel prices and this is usually spelled out beforehand. Nobody like surprises. When I landed in Botswana some years ago I was informed that I should cough up another 1400 dollars to pay for a concession fee that was raised on the outfitter by the govt. before my arrival. I refused to pay this fee as did others. A little off topic perhaps but it does illustrate the surprise factor.

Here are some of the common practices used by hunting outfitters regarding charging clients on arrival and departing days, many scenarios possible but I do not believe that there is a normal practice within the African hunting industry...

• The hunter will be responsible for his own accommodations prior to and after his hunting safari
• Hunter not being charged any daily rate for both arrival and departure days
• Charging hunter for both arrival and departure days at a fixed price
• Charging hunter for both arrival and departure days at the a non-hunting guest/observer daily rate for both days
• Charging hunter for both arrival and departure days as one full hunting day
• Charging hunter for both arrival and departure days as one full non-hunting guest/observer day

As already has been mentioned, each outfitter has their own policy. Some outfitters that are relatively close to your airport of arrival charge no transfer fee and the day of arrival and departure have no specific charge associated with it. If you are being picked up by the outfitter and have a good distance to camp many charge a transfer fee from and to the airport. This fee includes the time for the outfitter to perform this service as well as expense. If you were to charter into this same camp there would be no fee for the arrival and departure days as the oufitter did not have any expenses of a day on the road at each end of your hunt. I know there are probably exceptions to this but this is the more common practice I have seen. If you are comparing prices of safaris these fees need to be factored into the equasion as they can sometimes be substantial.

As with all businesses, there's no such thing as a free lunch and if there were, the company would go out of business.

It all depends on how each company decides to price the package they're presenting but rest assured that it's EXTREMELY rare for someone to want to rip you off.... it's just that some will include all the costs in the price per hunting day and some will not....

As for other additional charges, assuming you have a safari contract, that should detail all the inclusions/exclusions and any variables etc.

Shakari. 100 percent agree with you.

i dont have a problem with an outfitter charging for arrival and departure days. after all, he is picking me up at the airport, providing transportation to the lodge, meals , booze and accomadation for the night. that has to be worth something.

wswat,

We don't work with anyone in Africa that charges a full hunting day rate for arrival and departure days even though in some cases some hunting is done on those days. Generally you will pay a road transfer fee on the arrival and departure day if a road transfer is practical. In many places a charter flight is the only practical way to get to the hunting area so you would pay charter costs but no fee to the safari operator. In any case as long as you know all fees up front you have the option of accepting them or not.

wswat

Jerome has this one well covered...

Your task is to find out what the PH or outfitters you are looking at are doing.

Then you will have your bases covered.

Shakari. I also agree 100% with you.

wswat, Try running a remote business sometime, Everything cost money and there are no free lunches...you either turn a profit or you close your doors...