station7fireman
New member
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2022
- Messages
- 7
- Reaction score
- 35
- Hunted
- Namibia
I mulled this moment over almost as much as I thought about hunting Africa in the first place. For over a year I have been selfish, only taking from this group and never giving back. I thought, who would want to hear about my trip. It took a year of life going by, kids distracting me, and just living for me to finally come to my senses. I owe this group, all af you who put your thoughts into this forum a debt of thanks. From hunting reports, missteps, packing essentials and the occasional good laugh, the contributors here are invaluable.
Unfortunatly, a year has washed some names from my memory but the photos shall endure. This point may be the one I could have most easily corrected based of what I learned here; write some notes at the end of the day during your adventure. Just a few moments and then you can expand upon it when the dust settles. I wish I had followed that advice most of all.
With that said, I went hunting in Namibia and what an adventure it was.
I stalked this forum for months before I reached out to an outfitter way back in 2022. I landed on @KHOMAS HIGHLAND HUNTING SAFARIS and sent my first email. Philip Hennings, the owner, got right back to me. After a few emails, I went dark. Life has a way of doing that. Anyway, towards the end of 2024 I began to plan in ernst. I reacehed back out to Philip and Jennifer Ginn of Travel Express for her help. Including Jennifer and her outfit was $200 well spent. We went over flights, permits, visa's, etc. There were some changes along the way, as the Namibian government made some visa changes, but nothing was ever disrupted on my end. I'll break the process down a little. Both Philip and Jennifer were at the top of their game when it came to communicating with me.
With Philip's help, I settled on the Namibian Explorer package (no longer offered). He recommended 6-10 days to have the best channce for my animals. The package included warthog, oryx, springbok and a zebra or blue wildebeest for $4950. I had flexiblity in my list but really wanted an impala. Philip explained that impala are not common is the Khomas Highlands but there were plenty of other species.....more on that later.
Prior to initiating movement, I had contacted Customs at Newark Airport to get the CBP4457 done a few months prior. This proved to be the right move because the form has to be submitted to get the rifle permit for both Namibia and Germany a few weeks before travel. Getting the 4457 was one of the oddest parts of the process for me. In the area of Newark Airport, there are two additional CBP offices listed aside from the airport itself. Naturally, I didn't want the hassle of going to EWR, so I opted to drive to downtown Newark and go to the CBP field office. Here's what I learned; don't. They won't do forms there. They are more there for processing import paperwork for Port Elizabeth and the like. That said, they sent me down to the port terminal (cargo ships) CBP office. I may as well went to a cattle ranch for some plant based burgers. The final option was the CBP office at Newark Int'l Airport. So of I went, cased and locked to the International Arrivals area. This is the only office that will tdo the form. You walk toward the exit of the International Arrivals and look for the window (shades drawn) and door on the left. Its awkward and feels wrong, but it's the only way.
The officers were great and because I already knew my flight info, they put it in their system and let the office at JFK know. Really steller guys at the Newark office. I left with the original hard copy and the CBP officer gave me five photo copies and reccomended I put them in different bags. I went home and waited several more weeks for my actual departure day to arrive.
Aside from the planning and packing, the pre flight operation looked like this:
Safari Deposit, $500
Travel Express, $200
Nambian Rifle Permit, $0.00
Nambian Visa Filed, $90.49
German (Frankfurt) firearms transit permit filed, $100
Uber from home to JFK, $198.95
Lufthansa round trip booking (JFK-FRA-WDH, WDH-MUC-EWR), $3161 initially.
I upgraded some legs of the flight for an additional $1200 total. I was able to do ths one leg at a time this as I drummed up some extra money, so it wasn't too painful.
This brings me to the business lounge at JFK on May 4th, 2025 with a beer looking at Swiss Air. I'll rest here because there is some turbulance ahead. Just know that anything I plan on using again I left out. There is no need to include the cost of my pelican case, as it is now a forever item, as is my rifle, scope and ammo.
Unfortunatly, a year has washed some names from my memory but the photos shall endure. This point may be the one I could have most easily corrected based of what I learned here; write some notes at the end of the day during your adventure. Just a few moments and then you can expand upon it when the dust settles. I wish I had followed that advice most of all.
With that said, I went hunting in Namibia and what an adventure it was.
I stalked this forum for months before I reached out to an outfitter way back in 2022. I landed on @KHOMAS HIGHLAND HUNTING SAFARIS and sent my first email. Philip Hennings, the owner, got right back to me. After a few emails, I went dark. Life has a way of doing that. Anyway, towards the end of 2024 I began to plan in ernst. I reacehed back out to Philip and Jennifer Ginn of Travel Express for her help. Including Jennifer and her outfit was $200 well spent. We went over flights, permits, visa's, etc. There were some changes along the way, as the Namibian government made some visa changes, but nothing was ever disrupted on my end. I'll break the process down a little. Both Philip and Jennifer were at the top of their game when it came to communicating with me.
With Philip's help, I settled on the Namibian Explorer package (no longer offered). He recommended 6-10 days to have the best channce for my animals. The package included warthog, oryx, springbok and a zebra or blue wildebeest for $4950. I had flexiblity in my list but really wanted an impala. Philip explained that impala are not common is the Khomas Highlands but there were plenty of other species.....more on that later.
Prior to initiating movement, I had contacted Customs at Newark Airport to get the CBP4457 done a few months prior. This proved to be the right move because the form has to be submitted to get the rifle permit for both Namibia and Germany a few weeks before travel. Getting the 4457 was one of the oddest parts of the process for me. In the area of Newark Airport, there are two additional CBP offices listed aside from the airport itself. Naturally, I didn't want the hassle of going to EWR, so I opted to drive to downtown Newark and go to the CBP field office. Here's what I learned; don't. They won't do forms there. They are more there for processing import paperwork for Port Elizabeth and the like. That said, they sent me down to the port terminal (cargo ships) CBP office. I may as well went to a cattle ranch for some plant based burgers. The final option was the CBP office at Newark Int'l Airport. So of I went, cased and locked to the International Arrivals area. This is the only office that will tdo the form. You walk toward the exit of the International Arrivals and look for the window (shades drawn) and door on the left. Its awkward and feels wrong, but it's the only way.
The officers were great and because I already knew my flight info, they put it in their system and let the office at JFK know. Really steller guys at the Newark office. I left with the original hard copy and the CBP officer gave me five photo copies and reccomended I put them in different bags. I went home and waited several more weeks for my actual departure day to arrive.
Aside from the planning and packing, the pre flight operation looked like this:
Safari Deposit, $500
Travel Express, $200
Nambian Rifle Permit, $0.00
Nambian Visa Filed, $90.49
German (Frankfurt) firearms transit permit filed, $100
Uber from home to JFK, $198.95
Lufthansa round trip booking (JFK-FRA-WDH, WDH-MUC-EWR), $3161 initially.
I upgraded some legs of the flight for an additional $1200 total. I was able to do ths one leg at a time this as I drummed up some extra money, so it wasn't too painful.
This brings me to the business lounge at JFK on May 4th, 2025 with a beer looking at Swiss Air. I'll rest here because there is some turbulance ahead. Just know that anything I plan on using again I left out. There is no need to include the cost of my pelican case, as it is now a forever item, as is my rifle, scope and ammo.
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