Some countries and indeed some areas require you to have purchased an individual licence in advance for each animal you plan to hunt. In these countries/areas, If you don't have a licence for a particular species beforehand then you won't be allowed to hunt it.

Other countries issue licences where a variety of animals are allowed to be hunted (subject to your paying the trophy fees (usually) prior to leaving) in specific packages and yet other countries allow you to hunt whatever you want and pay the fees afterwards.

Some countries have quota systems for either all or key species which can also affect things.

Regarding game guards etc, some countries send a game guard on every hunt and some don't..... come to that, some countries send a game guard on hunts for some species but not for other species.. and just to complicate things further, rules change from time to time......

Africa is a big continent and every country has it's own game laws, so you really need to specify which African country or countries you're considering.......

I'd also advise you not to take the word of an agent or another hunter for what you can and cannot hunt or any other part of the local game laws etc....... make a point of communicating with the individual safari company direct for this kind of info.

That last comment isn't supposed to indicate that none of them (agents & other hunters) know squat, it's supposed to indicate that most of them will only know part of the whole story and/or may be out of date with their information or may assume that the rules that apply in one area or country will apply in all areas or countries.