Albert GRANT
AH elite
Today marks 3 weeks to the day that I will be heading to Africa for the first time! As some of you know I was booked with Wik at @Game 4 Africa Safaris In my first post after making this decision I commented that I hoped booking this year instead of next wouldn't bite me in the backside. Well it did- we have had many unexpected expenses in the 6 months since I booked the hunt including having to replace our only vehicle after many costly repairs to the "old" one ( A 2012 model) It became apparent I was not going to be able to take anything home with me, and the reason I booked with Wik was because he gave me a great deal on a package for most of my top animals. I realized taking those animals and not being able to bring them back would greatly bother me. I asked Wik last week if we could change things up. He told me because of how they do things there wasn't much he could do, but graciously offered to refund the full deposit and hold the package price for 2 years in case I can go back. I took him up on the offer and have nothing bad to say about this outfit in any way. I really want to hunt with them and hope to take advantage of his generosity 2 years from now. As the flights were non refundable, I immediately sent out mass messages to our AH sponsors in the area hoping to get a single response of someone who had an opening. Surprisingly only 4 weeks out I had several responses. Even though I decided not to go with them, I would like to give a special thanks to @KMG Hunting Safaris and @Leopards Valley Safaris for making extra efforts to work me in. In the end I had to choose between Beans at @Tootabi Valley Safaris or Andri at @Andri Fox Safaris , which became a bit awkward when I realized they were not only good friends but neighbors as well. After reading @gizmo report about his time with Andri and a quick call with Andri, I knew he was my choice. He agreed to a lower priced package so I only needed the cash I had already saved up and offered more photo safari time to parks and reserves so I could make the most of my first time in Africa. His main emphasis was that he would make sure I had fun and enjoyed the whole trip. Beans was very helpful and eased my anxiety about having to decide between the 2 of them and I am looking forward to meeting him while there. Completely changing your hunt a month out isn't generally advisable, but I got lucky and in this case it worked out for the best I think. I already have it paid in full now, so no money worries. And though I am excited to hunt the species I will be going after, I have no special feelings towards them, so there will be no pressure to wait for big ones or to make sure I shoot all the package animals. Nor will I be bothered by not bringing anything home. It should be a stress free time now where I can just enjoy being in africa. 3 weeks should go by fast now and I can't wait!!
