Yes, I feel your pain. I just received my shipment from a hunt I did in August 2019 with Pawprint and Dries Visser Safaris. First off it got locked down at the J-burg airport for 8-9 months. When it did ship my bill was right around $3,000 which seemed kind of high. After looking at past amounts though it might not have been terrible. My crate was 3 1/2' x 4' and weighed about 450 pounds. I had 12 animals, including giraffe (very heavy), cape buffalo, sable, etc.
My first trip in 2008 my crate was slightly larger but not as heavy. I had a full body Nyala and shoulder mounts of Kudu, impala and blesbuck. The shipping price on that was around $2,500. So if you compare one to the other and consider that was 12 years ago maybe not as bad as I initially thought. As a side note I would not do my taxidermy there for most of the reasons already mentioned.
In 2009 and 2011 I had small crates, maybe 2'x3' and they were about $900 both times. Eight animals. Skulls and hides.
Just to cheer you up some more wait until your shipment gets a hold placed on it and they make you ship it to a certified USDA taxidermist. You'll enjoy that. I have always cleared my own trophies and it eventually worked out but was just another irritant to deal with. Checks out my thread USDA clearing issues. Anyway, have a great day!