Folks,

The below I received this AM from Shayle Duckworth. Basically it sounds like bussiness as usual.

Hi Everyone,

I am sorry to give yet another groupie, but have received a bunch of emails regarding this issue and thought I would send some info to some of you even if you haven't enquired about the above, but are probably just wondering anyway and have concerns....

I received the State Warning report about two days ago from a friend in the States and my heart sank!!! These things always sound soooooo terrible, I actually had an enquiry from a client asking "what the deal was with our civil war???" Zimbabwe is still in the same state it has been in for the last 6 years, our prices and inflation an uncontrollable and the highest in the world, but business is still good and the safari operators are getting by fine. Mel and I drove down from Harare two days ago (which we do on a regular basis) with the babies on our own and went through a number of road blocks. These road blocks have been set up because of the illegal diamond trade going on in Zimbabwe, all the policemen were very pleasant and just doing their jobs, there was certainly no trace of violence. These road blocks have been around for about 6 months, they do sometimes do thorough searches, but I have not heard of any violent action been taken against civilians. For those of you who know the Duckworth boys, you know there is no ways they would let their ladies and babies travel alone if they were concerned about safety.

I spent a month in Harare before Rachel was born, Mel and Gary live there 50% of the time and we have a number of friends and family who live there, no-one has ever even seen one of these so-called riots. This is not to say they haven't happened, but there have been very few of them and they seem to be very localized. We are very much into our season and have had a number of clients who have said they would be happy to get in touch with people coming out here who feel nervous, if you feel this way please let us know and we can give you some contact names and email addresses.

The bottom line is, most of you have known Barrie and Bertie for many years and know that they would never jeopardize a client's safety for the price of a safari. If we felt Zimbabwe was unsafe we would let you know. We understand and appreciate your concerns as you all have families and we would feel the same way about a place we had never been to, but can assure you Zimbabwe is quite safe and the hunting areas more so than anywhere.

Please don't hesitate to contact us for further info. Barrie and Bertie are down in Chewore at the moment, Barrie is being interviewed by Craig Boddington on the pro's of hunting old "dagga boys" as opposed to wide, younger buffalo with softer bosses etc. so am looking forward to how that went. They are off to Mozambique for a week to fly helicopters round the area with my Dad just surveying which should be pretty good fun as well. Mozambique is coming along wonderfully, it gets more and more gorgeous each time you visit and the game just seems to increase on a weekly basis! They will be back month end, Barrie is celebrating his 60th on the 25th of May as well so all is well with the growing Duckworth Clan.

Looking forward to seeing you all later on in the year or in Reno in 2008,
Take care and keep in touch,
Shayle.



Shayle Duckworth
Mokore Safaris, 7 Stable Close,
Borrowdale
Harare
+263-11-202-707
mokore@bsat.co.za

My Harare friends say ditto to what Shayle just said. I am going to Zim this fall.

My friends in Zim have said the same thing. As long as nothing changes I'm going back in September. By the way I have heard Rachel is a very beautiful baby.

To be clear, what the State Department issued was a CAUTION, not a warning. IT is a step below a warning. It essentially means conditions exist for the potential for danger to travelers versus the place imposing a dangerous situation to travelers.

Warnings do exist for some African countries (Kenya, Sudan, Somalia, etc) but not for Zim at this time.

Hey' I live here with a wife and small kids. If it were as dangerous as Jo'berg I'd be out!

I received a very similar e-mail from Charlton McCallum safaris. They are reporting 8 very successful safaris and no problems with the police/road blocks at all.

I got a similar note from Buzz Charlton this week. The bottom line, all is fine, the season is progressing nicely and nothing to be alarmist about.

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
I got a similar note from Buzz Charlton this week. The bottom line, all is fine, the season is progressing nicely and nothing to be alarmist about.

Ditto. We're going over in July and can't wait!

The state dept. could make the same warnings for two cities in my state. I traveled in Kansas City yesterday and had a loaded pistol on the console the entire time and its lots safer the St. Louis where my sister lives. I have traveled in Zim many times and never feared for anything.

Darrell in Missouri

It is good to hear the true story from people that actually live there. I can only assume the State Department is looking after our best interest but hearing from actual residents allows us to make our own decisons. Thanks!

During my stay in April and May with Norman Crooks we saw a few road blocks but as stated above the police were very polite and never ask Norm about me or ask for my passport. I felt totally safe in camp. I followed that hunt with a period in RSA (Hluhluwe, Natal) and while in camp the manager reported to my PH there had been a breakin the night before and basically electronic items had been stolen from vehicles and the mgrs house.

I received a similar report this week from PH Rich Tabor, who works for Roger Whittall.

JPK

I just received the following from John Sharp regarding the current State Dept hoopla in Zim:

Hi Jorge,
Yes this new State Department warning has got everyone worried again and I am trying to put out fires! This is what I’m telling everyone:

“I understand your concern but I can assure you that you will not have any problems whilst in Zimbabwe. We are not enemies of the state and we are not opposition to the government so no-one will be looking for us. Life in Zimbabwe continues as normal – nothing is different. I have just finished my third successful safari, two at Malangani and one in the north of the country in Charara. I have used the roads, private planes and the airports and found nothing but courtesy. I will be the first to let you know should anything change - I would never risk my reputation by allowing the safety of any of my clients to be even remotely compromised.â€

I’m happy to know that you’re all OK – I’ll let you know if anything major happens here. I just took a 15’ Crocodile, a 42†Buffalo and a 60†Kudu in Charara.
As ever,

John.

Those of you planning to go just GO and enjoy yourselves! jorge