ZIMBABWE: African Trails Safaris & PH Shingi - Don't Let The Website Fool You!

[Ontario Hunter]

I can understand the PH telling the client to shoot from the truck if he's not in shape to walk. That's a liability issue. The bit about paying for gas makes no sense to me. We did a LOT of traveling when I was hunting RSA and my PHs always paid for fuel with cards. Perhaps Zimbabwe is different? The national currency is such a joke from day to day that maybe buying with a credit card is not possible? Anyway, it is hard to believe either PH or operator would count on client having enough cash on hand to get the vehicle down the road. That really sounds incredible to me.

 

[Philip Glass]

I Am sorry to hear this tale but it has been told before. Sadly we have heard many bad reports of black PH's and the terrible areas they take clients to. I am sure Martin had some insight to share with you when you met.

 

[Betterinthebush]

I booked a hunt with an outfitter who advertises on BYH. But I found that out after research. Also, I did not book through BYH. I researched him thoroughly on here and through contacts in the business and booked directly only after weeks of work.

His communication was exemplary and he sent me a complete itinerary which I sat on for a while before committing while I had a chance to call his references and complete my research. He didn’t act “hot” for a sale. I didn’t act needy for a deal. Desperation for a deal or a sale seems to be a sure recipe for failure.

I’m only one hunt into my Africa hunting efforts. Now that I got wet, I’ve learned a lot, both here and personally on what to look for, specifically; what area(s) are going to provide me with the maximum opportunity for success, which operation(s) control/hunt/manage those areas, and which PH’s are most successful in pursuing the quarry I want to hunt in that area. Africa, IMO, is wildly different in all respects from my Alaska experiences, but only in location, climate and game. Clients that have never been to Alaska before are stunned to learn that you don’t have to kick a moose in the ass every morning to get it out of the way so that he can get out of the tent. Bear aren’t behind every tree and tussik. Caribou aren’t covering the tundra every day. Sheep get diseased. Some beautiful country is devoid of wildlife simply because of habitat or hunting pressure or winter die off. Same thing pretty much goes for every hunted animal in Africa.

So, research. Quarry first, area of abundance’s second, outfit and PH last. If it’s truly important to be successful, then you should be prepared to pay your good money for excellent service and success. For my money, skipping any of these steps and going after a deal before going after the game will lead to failure.

FWIW, I learned all this the hard way on an Interrior grizz hunt in the Alaska range. Despite my own years of experience I went for a cheap hunting deal with a guy I didn’t know and got exactly what I paid for. That’s on me.

 

[WAB]

Firearms hunting etiquette, or safety depends on where you come from. And where you actually are.
In my country, (EU), rifle is empty in car, transported in bag or case empty, unloaded in safe, loaded only in a hunt, or on the range.
Besides, that is the local law. No choice

But in Africa, if you have elephants or buffalo passing near camp in the night, perspectives are different.
It is not surprising that PH is asking for loaded rifle to be chambered and locked during DG hunt.

I have hunted Africa fairly extensively. My experience is quite different. Our rifles are NOT loaded in the vehicle.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

The whole issue of how a gun is carried and the loaded condition of the gun while hunting is between PH and hunter.

The issue about ATS as a safari or hunting trip booking agent is different. I was curious so I started to read through their website this morning. Got through a couple of their bullet point presentation categories and it became obvious… the entire site is one big, dripping, “slathery slick”, buzz word laced sales pitch. Even beyond “To good to be true”. Huge red flag if I were considering them for planning a hunting trip. They could just as easily be a China-based, eco-safari shill using AI to generate an advertising website. Sadly, these operations reflect poorly on the whole industry and do an injustice to established and reputable companies like Atcheson.

I looked over the website and didn't see anything that looked terribly slimy. Appeared very well done. The orphanage fund angle seemed "unusual" but other than that I didn't see anything glaringly off base. Didn't care for the "we reserve the right to change anything at any time" clause but we have seen that in many operators. Perhaps more of a reflection on the instability of Zim in general than the outfitter. The PH reserving the right to declare an animal wounded and lost without blood seemed iffy but I'm not experienced enough with safari shopping to know if this is unusual. For my operator a lost animal required confirmation from PH and tracker that blood was on the ground.

 

[mdwest]

I have hunted Africa fairly extensively. My experience is quite different. Our rifles are NOT loaded in the vehicle.

My rifles aren’t loaded in the vehicles ever, anywhere… just not something I’m willing to do… if I don’t have 100% control over the weapon (I.e. my hands on it), there’s no round in the chamber…

I’m perfectly comfortable with a hot magazine and a cold chamber.. I’ll leave my rifle in that condition from the moment I start a hunt until the last moment of the last day of the hunt…

But if a round is in the chamber, my paws are on the gun…

The only exception(s) are my personal defense weapons… my ccw pistol and my home defense rifle stay “hot” 24/7/365..

 

[Smitty]

I can only go off what thar OP wrote. If bookyourhunt was going to pull their listing I’d hope they’d look into the accusations.

I had a problem on BookYourHunt last year, with the same outfitter! It involved charging booking fees and the quoted price changing by several thousand dollars. I sent BYH( bookyourhunt) the whatsapp conversation and Elephant Trails was removed from the site..... less than a week later they were back on. BYH sent me a message simply stating that BYH has spoken with Elephant Trails and they admitted their mistake and were warned and they promised not to do it again, so they were re-instated. I spoke with a previous hunter who had used them and was very upset with them as well, with similar problems about fees being raised AND not hunting in the promised area.
Ultimately, I decided not to hunt with them because I felt they were deceptive. NOTE: all my interactions were with the co-owner who lives in Florida and handles the bookings. I never interacted with Shingi. Still, I feel I dodged a bad experience.

 

[analog_peninsula]

I Am sorry to hear this tale but it has been told before. Sadly we have heard many bad reports of black PH's and the terrible areas they take clients to. I am sure Martin had some insight to share with you when you met.

In all fairness, I had a black PH on my Caprivi hunt for hippo, croc, and buffalo, and he was very competent and a skilled hunter. He also was on great terms with the locals, who treated him with great respect. I won’t say he was a sterling conversationalist, but his hunting and guiding skills were 100%.

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

At that stage, it was too late!
With that red flag suddenly hoisted, the only option was - to take what Africa will offer next, and hope for best.
But this detail is very illustrative for any future clients.

Disagree, a call/couple messages to the “booking agent” gets you some insight quickly and cuts out the BS. That is predatory behavior on the outfitters part knowing many won’t call to “verify” he got his share from the booking agent. Additionally, if they are slow to pay, it’s his business he needs to have a solution and work around.

I also disagree on it being too late. You can always cut your losses at anytime and say bring me back to the airport. Knowing how/when to cut your losses is what sets great product managers, engineers, entrepreneurs, investors, business owners and leaders a part from good ones. No one wants to be out their deposit, or any money they’ve invested but we’re all going to be faced with some no win situations in life and our ability to avoid bias when looking at it an say this is a dead product & it doesn’t fit the market, or too many red flags I need to walk away and start fresh elsewhere will ultimately cost us less in the long run.

As for the Black PH/Operator comment unless you’re an experienced African hunter (more than just RSA/Namibia) I feel you’re going to get burned more than you’ll be successful. I can name 1/2 a dozen Black PH’s/Operators in Zim that are all extremely shady. Nixon is one of the exceptions, but his hunts aren’t a fraction of market value and he was hunting prime areas. Proper research would lead one to the areas and trophy quality first. Peter Chipman in Zambia is another exception. I think Zim has a little more of an issue than many other countries because of the 51% laws, the corruption, the number of “once” white farms, and the ministers ability to circumvent Zim Parks issuing licenses to those who don’t necessarily know a lot about hunting. One doesn’t need to be a licensed PH in Zim to be an Operator.

 

[DieJager]

After @Smitty his story this is becoming a pattern so this is a boost to the credit of the OP.

 

[BJH65]

I also disagree on it being too late. You can always cut your losses at anytime and say bring me back to the airport. Knowing how/when to cut your losses is what sets great product managers, engineers, entrepreneurs, investors, business owners and leaders a part from good ones. No one wants to be out their deposit, or any money they’ve invested but we’re all going to be faced with some no win situations in life and our ability to avoid bias when looking at it an say this is a dead product & it doesn’t fit the market, or too many red flags I need to walk away and start fresh elsewhere will ultimately cost us less in the long run.

I strongly disagree with you. During our Mozambique hunt 30 years ago, we were the second group to hunt after the end of their 17 year long civil war and the country just reopened for hunting. It would require a very lengthy separate story, hell I could write a book about it, but demanding to be taken back to the airport probably 700 miles away wasn’t even remotely an option.

Actually, the backgrounds you mentioned would probably be extremely ill prepared to handle the situations we faced but a military background would help. Sometimes you have to make the best of a bad situation and that may involve sticking it out, in third world countries, making demands like, “take me back to the airport “, that isn’t always an option.

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

I strongly disagree with you. During our Mozambique hunt 30 years ago, we were the second group to hunt after the end of their 17 year long civil war and the country just reopened for hunting. It would require a very lengthy separate story, hell I could write a book about it, but demanding to be taken back to the airport probably 700 miles away wasn’t even remotely an option.

Actually, the backgrounds you mentioned would probably be extremely ill prepared to handle the situations we faced but a military background would help. Sometimes you have to make the best of a bad situation and that may involve sticking it out, in third world countries, making demands like, “take me back to the airport “, that isn’t always an option.

Your situation is VASTLY different.

The OP flew into Vic Falls, he hunted in Matetsi ECA. It’s a 45 min drive on blacktop from the Airport to the last filling station before turning into the camp at the ECA. Additionally there are countless filling stations in and around Vic Falls Airport the PH should’ve used prior to pick-up unless he was planning that. That’s hardly a 700 mile drive through a war torn country like you describe. In the OP’s situation are ZERO mitigating factors preventing him from saying bring me back to the aimport compared to your Mozambique experience. Trying to compare the two is naive and asinine, especially when numerous members on here have driven that same tar road, and passed through the same communal lands and filling stations hunting other nearby destinations.

I do agree there are certain times when “take me back to the airport” isn’t a viable option anymore, however this wasn’t one of those times. However in almost every conceivable instance that Hunter doesn’t have the “airport option”, the Hunter will have had ample opportunities before that point to pause and make a calculated decision if they still want to go through with it.

In your Mozambique instance
1) You knew of a recent 17 year long civil war. I’m sure that caused a little pause and think before booking
2) Dept. of State warnings were (and still are) ample concerning travel to Mozambique
3) Surely your outfitter and other hunters/outfitters warned you about what was going on/just went on
4) You had to have see some warning signs as you landed and/or crossed into the country and even more as you traveled into the “country” away from civilization to give a little pucker
5) I can almost guarantee you went through multiple armed checkpoints, passed rubble and destruction from the war WELL before you hit the 700 mile mark
6) I’m sure your travel agent (if used) cautioned you
7) You probably had to go a very unique route and firearms/ammunition import was a precarious issue (if allowed)
8) Even at 700 miles away if shit went sideways there are ways to get to the airport. After all you’re here meaning you got back to the airport. Whether or not it those costs are worth it is up to each of us.

I get what you’re saying though. I’ve been through more than one post reconstruction war torn country, as well as involved in combat in a country actively at war. Even as a soldier at war, there are points through out the military decision making process to stop and reevaluate/cancel or change plan. Plans get changed/scrubbed all the time as the situation changes. Ones ability to acknowledge, process, and pivot on that info/intel (sometimes very subtle) are what separates a great leader from a good leader. In my experience VERY rarely are there no signs and all hell breaks loose when you’re at the point of no return.

That said, would love to hear about your experience in Mozambique just after the civil war. I have a significantly higher risk tolerance than most and would’ve booked that trip in a heartbeat. Sounds like the OP isn’t a risk taker, and also isn’t one who does a lot of due diligence, or learned their lesson and now does given their hunts in the BVC

 

[Finprof]

My best buddy, his wife, and I hunted with Elephant-Trails and Shingri during the first week of July 2025. My buddy posted a very positive review shortly thereafter that received little attention. I also provided some input that was generally positive.
Two items up front relative to the original poster.
1. My buddy wanted a difficult hunt. No fences. No easy game. We are both 75 but he could probably still do a sheep hunt in his condition and I could probably still do a backcountry elk hunt We got it. There were two days we did over 10 miles a day in very challenging terrain. At one point I told the PH that I could not go down a steep bank that was almost a sheer cliff and had to have one of the trackers steady me. We were also doing 20-22 minute miles over harsh terrain every day. My wife and I do 16 minute miles on pavement and 30 minute miles hiking in the Poconos or National Parks. My Apple Watch Ultra tells me that this effort is "Moderate". At one point it told me that my effort was "All Out"
2. Prior to arriving in Zimbabwe I only conversed with Marco, who is in Miami and set everything up. My first conversation with Shingri was at the airport. I suspected that they did not share a lot of information about the hunt and the Marco was unaware of a lot of the local hunting rules. Originally, Marco told me that two buffalo would be difficult unless we looked for the second in Unit 5 since it would take 3 or 4 days to get the first buffalo. Later he told me that hunting in Unit 5 was shut down completely. There was no reason except that some politician had changed the rules.
My buddy and I both brought our open rifles. In my case, I hadn't shot anything more than a 30/06 and needed to get over the intimidation of a 375 H&H. I got a Ruger Mark II Safari Magnum after reading and hearing Kevin Robertson's comments. He didn't mention the terrible trigger that required replacement with a Timney, that in turn required some filing in order to get it to fit. I bought dies and overstock brass and bullets from Midway cheap so that I could get used to the recoil and not flinch.
My buddy got a new Ruger Hawkeye in 416 Ruger because the thought a 375 was not enough gun.
Our guns had magazines loaded but chambers empty and carried in cases on the truck. I had brought a case and my buddy borrowed one from Shingri. We put one in the chamber when we got off the truck. Neither of us were planning to shoot from the truck and we would not have had an opportunity anyway.

It appears that the original poster was using a camp gun because he complained that the safety was too weak. If that is the case, he probably had little opportunity to practice with that gun before using it.

Here is chronology:

I got picked up at the airport got into camp and went to a makeshift shooting range to check the gun. I shot off sticks -actually a Primos Tripod at 50 yards and put a shot in the middle of a bullseye. Shingri was smiling. We drove around the rest of the afternoon and saw nothing but a duiker.
The next morning we came across buffalo tracks in the road and started following the tracks. About a mile or so into tracking, the tracker spotted Kudu. He was travelling from right to left angling toward us,, walking steadily. Shingri set up the sticks at least half a dozen times but the kudu kept walking steadily from one bush to another we would be only between bushed for a few seconds and was moving. I could make that shot but didn't tell Shingri. Finally the kudu stopped and faced us giving me a frontal shot at around 125 yards. Shingri said that the way it bucked it was probably a heart shot and we found it about 10 yards away. Somehow Shingri got the truck to the kudu and got it loaded and hauled back to camp. That shot the morning.
In the afternoon we didn't see much.
The next morning we barely got out of the truck when one of the guides, not the tracker spotted a bushbuck behind a bush. He told me to shoot right away, so I shot it offhand at about 50 yards. I could only see the left shoulder but hit the left shoulder and the bullet came out the right ham. I was an easy drag back to the truck and back to the camp.
That afternoon was more eventful. First, the tracker spotted an Impala less than 100 yards from the truck and the road. we only walked a few yards from the truck when Shingri set up the sticks and told me to shoot the brown thing behind the bush. I could not see a shoulder and did not shoot. Eventually the impala ran off. About an hour later, the tracker spotted a sable, but I thought he said "Sabu" and watched a sable's butt disappear into the bush. In less than 5 minutes later a herd of buffalo was crossing the road in front of us. I stayed with the truck while Shingri and my buddy went after the herd. In the meantime, the rest of the herd crossed the road right in front of me, moving deliberately to join the rest of the herd. My buddy did not get a shot because there were too many cows in the way.
The next two days we hunted the dilapidated farm described by the original poster. This was the area with challenging terrain. It is much like North Central Pennsylvania with a series of short, steep mountains. The elevation gain on each is only about 400 or 500 feet but it is one after another. We followed tracks of three buffalo, for in sight of them once and eventually spooked them. The wind was swirling around in those hills.
Repeat for the second day on the farm. Followed, saw twice, spooked them.
The next day we barely got out of camp when the tracker spotted 3 buffalo tracks across the dirt road near camp. We followed the tracks for about an hour when my buddy got a chance to shoot. His first hot was on the shoulder but it took eight more shots from him and one from Shingri before it finally went down. It was a nice old bull, about 42 inches. my buddy was ecstatic.
We changed area again to closer to Victoria Falls airport the next and last day. We chased warthogs in the morning and waterbuck in the afternoon. I got to within 300 yards of the waterbuck but Shingri didn't want me to shoot and thought we could get closer. It didn't work out.
At the end of the last day, we saw a young male lion with a collar outside of the park in the hunting area. It crossed about 20 yards in front of us and continued to the right, basically ignoring us or maybe even acting like we should feed him. It was definitely memorable.

Overall we had a good trip. the only glitch I had was losing electricity in my hut one night that was restored the next day. I was concerned about the state of the Land Cruiser. It was old and not in good shape. If it had broken down we would have been screwed, but nothing bad happened to it.
We finished with four days of touring around Victoria Falls that I described elsewhere. Those were also four great days. Everything was set up by the hotel where we stayed.

To summarize, I had a good trip and could leave a positive review. My buddy, who is a trained wildlife biologist and has done a lot of sheep and goat hunting was very pleased.
I would be happy to answer any questions.