What if you were on safari in Zimbabwe, for example, (or it could be any unstable African country in the future) and all hell broke loose? I mean, the government was overthrown or at least there was an attempt to do so and all the airports were shutdown and the main border crossings were blocked?

Or what if the coup were successful and the rebels were worse than the present dictator and they were indiscriminately killing people of all races and backgrounds.

I wonder if Safari operations have plans in place for just such an event? How would they evacuate their clients? Where might they hide if they feared for the lives of their clients and themselves.

What if the game scout, to curry favor with the new regime, tried to hold the PH and clients hostage? Okay, okay, maybe this sounds like a Tom Clancy novel but have you ever given this any thought?

Bottom line: How do you think your favorite PH would handle a total and catastrophic meltdown? It's just something interesting to ponder.

Landrum

You tell him to get your ass to your embassy immediately or the lions are going to have a feast that evening.

quote:

What if the game scout, to curry favor with the new regime, tried to hold the PH and clients hostage?

He'd be lion food.

I have discussed this very thing with other members of AR. It's gotten to the point, where we have to start asking these hard questions of the PH. It will embarrass them to answer but they have to understand the need for answers.

The ones I know must have a plan. Exactly what it is, I don't know.

Your scenerio is a bit Clancyish, but possible nevertheless. At that point hower I think the UN would finally get off their asses as step in. But to the actual question you posed - bottom line - I think we would be well armed and he would walk me through the bush to the nearest border where we would illegally cross and then find an airport.
Run, run away.
Brian

All US embassies and consulates have plans in place to evacuate US nationals if need be. Whether you are able to get to a designated evac point is the question. As a former US Marine embassy guard I was tasked with escorting certain US officials to those evac points, but most, if not all, "non-official" Americans would be on their own. And of course a detachment of 8 or 10 Marines may have their hands full until the back-ups can arrive......if they arrive at all. Just look at what happened in Teheran.

This is where we find out how valuable Global Rescue is....

Good point on the embassy, especially from a former embassy marine.

I wouldn't be keen on the idea of breaking into the embassy from the outside of a mob.

When one of these African "republics" goes bad, it goes bad in a hurry. I've been in a few that were very bad. Luckily, I had an airplane getting me in and out and not a Toyota. If you're out in the bush when the $hit hits the fan, you're pretty much at the mercy of your PH and his ability to survive. When bush Africans get the blood lust going, there's no telling what can happen. Just look at Rwanda, Somalia, Angola, Liberia, Sudan, Mozambique, Uganda, DRC, and Sierra Leone. I'd bet I missed a couple.

I'd personally think twice about going to Zim until the situation calms down. That's based on eight years experience working in African war zones. I can always go to Namibia, Tanzania, Botswana, or Moz.

I really feel for the whites in Zim. I get nearly apoplectic when I think about the injustices they've suffered and are still suffering. Yes, colonialism was better for all concerned. There, I've said it.

And if you're waiting for the bloody UN to intervene, you'll be waiting forever. They can't pour piss out of a boot.

Avoid major and large cities. Avoid crowds. This makes getting into the embassy impossible.

It is going to be a hell of a walk to any border from most hunting areas in Zimbabwe and most clients just aren't going to be fit enough to make that haul. A 20 mile hike in the valley with a full day supply of water can be tiring even for the fittest client. Imaging doing that for 2 weeks day after day with very little water, food or sleep. Being armed for hunting is not the same as being armed and provisioned for small scale skrimishes with rioters or blood lust filled natives. One small engagement is going to eat up most, if not all, of the avaiable ammo...then you must use your guns as clubs. Doubles and heavy caliber sporting firearms are no match for AKs and hordes of pissed-off machette welding natives.

The best course would be to get to an air strip at one of the larger company concessions such as run by HHK or to the Save and hope to get a charter to a stable neighboring country. Travel at night and scout blind corners, hills and likely ambush spots before blundering through. Try to get communications with folks who can help. If all else fails and your present location is relatively safe-stay put and wait for help. Brains over brawn and balls. Remember, you are in a strange country and vastly outnumbered.

What would you do if your PH got whacked but you survived the encounter at the first road block or village you came to?
Perry

Yeah, if you were way back in some remote spot with only a couple boxes of 375 H&H you might be a tad under-gunned. Water? What about dangerous game? I guess what I am getting at is it might be a little difficult walking in a straight line from where you are to the nearest friendly border which could be several hundred miles away. You may have to cross a croc infested river etc., etc.

So, do you guys think that your PH has a plan in place? If you got out of it alive it would be one hell of an adventure, that is for sure.

Landrum