John,

A lot of the charges vary depending on such things as whether the client books a 7, 14 or 21 day licence. Other variables are where the concession is located. For example areas in the Selous & Masailand etc have to charge a 10% Community Development Fee on all trophy fees, but if you hunt in a buffer zone then this 10% charge is not payable. Then you have to look at the length of charter required to access the area, obviously a longer charter is more expensive than a shorter flight.

The best thing any client can do is to insist on having a written contract detailing exactly which costs are included in the quoted price and what is not. That way there can be absolutely no unexpected suprises to anyone. Choice of Outfitter should also not be restricted just to price, quality is also vitally important. For example some of the forums are currently having lots of hunters making posts about such things as 'I've booked my hunt and now my Outfitter/Agent doesn't know what firearms laws are being enforced......can anyone help' This means they've booked with a bunch of cowboys who don't know their jobs in an attempt to save a few dollars. Had they booked with a reputable company they wouldn't be in that position. If the Outfitter/Agent can't tell them the answers to such simple things as import regulations what use will they be when there's a problem with taxidermy etc later on. You pay peanuts, you get monkeys.

Going back to costs. Tanzania will never be cheap, but if you research the subject thoroughly then you can get a fair deal.

As an example:

We include all of the small additional charges such as licence fees, rifle import for 1 rifle per hunter, airport transfers, charters, all camp & hunting fees, all Government fees, trophy fee & Community Development Fee on the 1st Buff per hunter, all dip, pack and delivery of trophies to a shipping agent in Dar es Salaam. We also give them as part of their package a full safari pack including a copy of our book which answers pretty much any question relating to their hunt. Then in our contract we also detail the exclusions which are: Hotel accommodation before or after the hunt, additional trophy fees (we include the 10% CDC in these), alcohol & tips. THERE ARE NO OTHER ADDITIONAL CHARGES WHATSOEVER......... (except from the animals!

Anyone who wants to know exact prices can either look on my website or send me an e-mail.

We find that by operating in this way everyone knows exactly what their hunt will cost them before they pay any money whatsoever.

Another vitally important factor is knowing exactly where you will be hunting. The Selous for example is of variable quality. Our area has 2 (perennial) rivers flowing through it so we always have game.....even in the dryest of seasons. Most hunting concessions aren't this lucky. For example some of the K blocks are simply a valley with no water and the buff only move through at certain times of the year. If you hunt outside those times there's few or no Buffalo.

Then there are such things as the buffer zones which are usually a bit less expensive but don't have anywhere near as much game as the Reserve areas themselves. So again, it's worth paying a bit more for a good area where you will have plenty of game to choose from.

So choose carefully.