To all the hunting clients out there a question.
Is the quality of the Safari less important than the price?
Short answer: no, it's not.
However, over the years I have noticed that it has become somewhat common to purchase items (or services) of a lesser quality for a lesser price and think that one is getting a "bargain" because it looks the same. One only need look at Kmart, Walmart, the various "dollar" stores, and dental, medical, and auto services at department stores, etc. to see what I am talking about.
In my grandparents day, you saved to buy what it is you wanted......and you bought "quality", because you knew it would last. It seems that we've evolved into a people who will accept "less" of something in order to get it "right now", either because we are impatient or we want to best our friend ("I got it at a cheaper price than you") who bought a similar item. Whatever it is, it is usually of poor quality and doesn't last.....or work as well as it should if we would have paid a little more and waited in the long run.....but we buy it anyway. But we've have come to expect shoddiness as "the norm" anymore.
I will give you a personal example. As a kid, I loved to fish. I wanted a tackle box full of tackle, and I wanted it ASAP. So I would take my hard earned money from doing various chores and go to the local sporting goods stores. I would look at lures from Rapala, Eppinger, etc, and look at the prices, then go to Kmart and go to the Sporting goods section.....they had the exact same lures (or so I thought) for quite a bit less, so I filled my tackle box with knock offs from China that looked and worked the same. But as we know, they aren't the same....and I quickly had a tackle box full of rusty lures and hooks, bent hooks, broken hooks, faded/scratched paint jobs, etc.
If I would have learned the quality of "patience", maybe I wouldn't have had to refill my tackle box several times over............
I think that the same holds true for sportsmen wanting to hunt Africa.....it's a dream for many, and we are told that "we can do it", and it is "affordable". I really didn't think I would EVER be able to hunt the dark continent, but doing some number crunching, and comparing it to other guided hunts here in the States, I took the plunge, and was glad I did. I must admit that cost WAS a factor, but I didn't go looking for the "cheapest" I could find, either. I spent 2 years researching, looking for negative comments on outfitters, etc. before I took the plunge and booked a hunt. I must say that I was not disappointed in any aspect of my hunt.
I think another factor is "the hidden cost" factor.......we've all heard horror stories of guys booking cheap hunts (in the States & Canada as well as Africa), where "unforseen costs" that were unknown (such as export permits, dip/pack, taxidermy costs, VAT, etc) drove the cost of the hunt up as much as double as what the poor sap was expecting to pay......and for those on a tight budget, that can be as devastating as a sledge hammer between the eyes! I think a lot of people look for the cheapest hunt they can find in anticipation of those "hidden" charges that will pop up that they are unaware of.
I think that the outfitters who advertise here do a pretty good job of defining what is included in the price of their hunts/packages & what is not, and the websites such as Africahunting do a pretty good job of helping folks "guesstimate" what other costs might be incurred and what they might be that are listed on outfitters websites (such as airfare, dip/pack, etc) . Also, word will quickly get around on the net if an outfitter isn't providing the services that they have advertised, and they won't be around for too long (but they can cause a LOT of misery in the meantime
)
Bottom line: Caveat Emptor! (Do your research, and do it diligently!).
Just MHO......others may vary.
