I recently spent 2 weeks with Motshwere Safaris in South Africa. What started out as a great hunting trip and vacation has turned into a nightmare with the outfitter. At this point, there is no way I can give a recommendation for Motshwere.
Here's the deal:
Myself and three friends each purchased a package in 2013(at an exceptional price!) to hunt 7 species of plains game. Kudu, gemsbok, impala, blesbuck, steenbuck, warthog, and blue wildebeest. The hunt was all inclusive, included transportation to/from the airport, and the package included one non-hunter/observer (wife, girlfriend, child, etc.). All for the package price. No daily fees. There were no exclusions noted for the package. There was no mention of any additional trophy fees or any other costs in addition to the package price. The contract was clear and concise (or so I thought)
When we arrived the staff was friendly and accommodating. The accommodations were very nice, and the food was very good. Werner Lewies is the owner/operator. He was friendly, engaging, and pretty funny.
The 4 of us were aware that if we took animals that were not part of our package, we would incur additional costs. That was our understanding. But, whenever we questioned Werner about those additional costs he was evasive and dismissive. He would say things like "don't worry, we'll work it out later". He finally indicated that the package was more of a guideline. That we essentially had credit in the amount of our package price. He even told one hunter "just shoot. I'll tell you when it starts costing you money".
One week into the trip, I had taken 5 animals. Only one of which was on my package list. I asked him point blank how much money I owed at that point, and he looked me right in the eye and told me that I owed nothing so far.
I decided to quit while I was ahead and only take animals from my package at this point. Two days later he estimated that I owed about $3500. The only thing that had changed was that I had shot a kudu, which was in my package. He then explained to us that the money were were going to pay for an excursion (see below) would be applied to that balance for the "out-of -package" animals. So, I figured I would owe about $1500 for the animals I had taken that were not part of the package. (Animals that I only took due to his deceptive practices.) I was ok with that deal.
He talked us into a multi-day excursion to Kruger Park. He told us it was 4 1/2 hours away. It was 7 hours away. (Despite being lied to about the length of the drive, the excursion was well worth it.)
He is now claiming that the money paid for the excursion ($2000/person) was for tips to the staff, concession fees paid to other land owners, and to cover the bill we had all incurred.
Here's some issues with that:
1) I paid the tips to staff and PH's separately. (At his suggestion, it was included in the charge for the excursion so that there only need to be one transaction.)
2) I did not take any animals from another land owner's property.
3) Even if I had, the fact that there would be an additional charge for that should have been disclosed in advance.
4) I am certainly not going to pay to cover someone else's charges.
When I got home, I got a bill from Motshwere for $8700!!
Werner gave me a $2200 discount out of the kindness of his heart (not for the excursion, he says), but that takes it to $6500. That's still $5000 more than he lead me to believe I owed.
We still have not settled yet. My entire hunting party is disillusioned with Motshwere at this point.
The point here, is that I now see Werner as evasive, unclear, and misleading. I am very close to using words like unscrupulous and fraudulent.
He has even made claims that, even though the trip was "all-inclusive", it did not include wine and liquor. Well, guess what? The liquor was all ours. We bought it in duty free. They did not supply any liquor. As for the wine, you cannot refer to a deal as "all-inclusive" and then later say some things are excluded if that was not disclosed to start with.
Werner Lewis has probably succeeded in making my Africa hunt a once in a lifetime trip. At this point, I cannot ever see going back to hunt Africa, and definitely not with Motshwere. It's really to bad that it has turned out like this. Up until I got home, I had had a great time.
I don't know how other safari outfitters operate, but if you use Motshwere, beware. Make sure everything is spelled out in writing beforehand. Make sure they know that you do not wish to take on any additional costs with out knowing what they are in advance. Then, even when you are told, get it in writing. do not trust Werner Lewies.
How it came to this, I don't know. We met a guy there from Alabama that was on his seventh trip with Motshwere. He obviously hadn't been jerked around like us. Or maybe he had and just has a handle now on how to pin Werner down. Personally, I cannot trust Werner's word.
For what its worth, I did some research on Motshwere Safaris before booking with them. I couldn't find anything negative. I even contacted other clients. I got positive responses from all. I don't know how it went so wrong for us.
I hope nobody else has an experience like this one. I post this here in the hopes that people remember "buyer beware".
Here's the deal:
Myself and three friends each purchased a package in 2013(at an exceptional price!) to hunt 7 species of plains game. Kudu, gemsbok, impala, blesbuck, steenbuck, warthog, and blue wildebeest. The hunt was all inclusive, included transportation to/from the airport, and the package included one non-hunter/observer (wife, girlfriend, child, etc.). All for the package price. No daily fees. There were no exclusions noted for the package. There was no mention of any additional trophy fees or any other costs in addition to the package price. The contract was clear and concise (or so I thought)
When we arrived the staff was friendly and accommodating. The accommodations were very nice, and the food was very good. Werner Lewies is the owner/operator. He was friendly, engaging, and pretty funny.
The 4 of us were aware that if we took animals that were not part of our package, we would incur additional costs. That was our understanding. But, whenever we questioned Werner about those additional costs he was evasive and dismissive. He would say things like "don't worry, we'll work it out later". He finally indicated that the package was more of a guideline. That we essentially had credit in the amount of our package price. He even told one hunter "just shoot. I'll tell you when it starts costing you money".
One week into the trip, I had taken 5 animals. Only one of which was on my package list. I asked him point blank how much money I owed at that point, and he looked me right in the eye and told me that I owed nothing so far.
I decided to quit while I was ahead and only take animals from my package at this point. Two days later he estimated that I owed about $3500. The only thing that had changed was that I had shot a kudu, which was in my package. He then explained to us that the money were were going to pay for an excursion (see below) would be applied to that balance for the "out-of -package" animals. So, I figured I would owe about $1500 for the animals I had taken that were not part of the package. (Animals that I only took due to his deceptive practices.) I was ok with that deal.
He talked us into a multi-day excursion to Kruger Park. He told us it was 4 1/2 hours away. It was 7 hours away. (Despite being lied to about the length of the drive, the excursion was well worth it.)
He is now claiming that the money paid for the excursion ($2000/person) was for tips to the staff, concession fees paid to other land owners, and to cover the bill we had all incurred.
Here's some issues with that:
1) I paid the tips to staff and PH's separately. (At his suggestion, it was included in the charge for the excursion so that there only need to be one transaction.)
2) I did not take any animals from another land owner's property.
3) Even if I had, the fact that there would be an additional charge for that should have been disclosed in advance.
4) I am certainly not going to pay to cover someone else's charges.
When I got home, I got a bill from Motshwere for $8700!!
Werner gave me a $2200 discount out of the kindness of his heart (not for the excursion, he says), but that takes it to $6500. That's still $5000 more than he lead me to believe I owed.
We still have not settled yet. My entire hunting party is disillusioned with Motshwere at this point.
The point here, is that I now see Werner as evasive, unclear, and misleading. I am very close to using words like unscrupulous and fraudulent.
He has even made claims that, even though the trip was "all-inclusive", it did not include wine and liquor. Well, guess what? The liquor was all ours. We bought it in duty free. They did not supply any liquor. As for the wine, you cannot refer to a deal as "all-inclusive" and then later say some things are excluded if that was not disclosed to start with.
Werner Lewis has probably succeeded in making my Africa hunt a once in a lifetime trip. At this point, I cannot ever see going back to hunt Africa, and definitely not with Motshwere. It's really to bad that it has turned out like this. Up until I got home, I had had a great time.
I don't know how other safari outfitters operate, but if you use Motshwere, beware. Make sure everything is spelled out in writing beforehand. Make sure they know that you do not wish to take on any additional costs with out knowing what they are in advance. Then, even when you are told, get it in writing. do not trust Werner Lewies.
How it came to this, I don't know. We met a guy there from Alabama that was on his seventh trip with Motshwere. He obviously hadn't been jerked around like us. Or maybe he had and just has a handle now on how to pin Werner down. Personally, I cannot trust Werner's word.
For what its worth, I did some research on Motshwere Safaris before booking with them. I couldn't find anything negative. I even contacted other clients. I got positive responses from all. I don't know how it went so wrong for us.
I hope nobody else has an experience like this one. I post this here in the hopes that people remember "buyer beware".
