I have a friend on the way to Zimbabwe for a hunt who just received a warning from his outfit (Barry Style at Buffalo Range).

When you enter Zimbabwe with firearms the customs people put an expiration date on your paperwork. The scam involves putting a date two or three days *before* your hunt is set to end, then charging you a fine to clear customs on the way out.

So far the scam has been observed in Harare, and at least one gent paid US$500 to exit Zim.

Just check your paperwork, and be careful. You might see some funny (for North Americans) date formats, so watch that too.

jim

Jim

Thanks for the tip. I will be leaving next Saturday the 16 for Zimbabwe.

James

not entirely new - we had this in march - was blames on the elections. it takes some effort on the outfitter, but he needs to take your paperwork into the nearest customs office & they will extend it there

When I entered Zim in May I had to repeat to the agent 3 times the day I would be leaving Zim. She kept wanting to write down the 16th, I had to keep telling her the 18th. She finally understood the 18th. After reading this post I now think she knew what she was doing the whole time!!!

I also had to correct the customs agent in Bulawayo when I entered in early March. Thought it was a simple mistake but now??????

465H&H

Jim,

Many thanks for the "Heads up."

Just one of the many reasons this forum is so valuable, even for a veteran African hunter. A new scam is hatched every few months!

Dak

Good info!!!!!!!!!

Reason # 876546 why I will NEVER go back to Zim untill the country is being run by a fair and reasonable goverment.

My FIRST trip to Africa was to Zim with Barry Style of Buffalo Range. Barry and his family are great people HOWEVER through no fault of his , I saw more poachers than animals and the country was a huge mess overall. This was in 2000 June.
This is a shame because Zimbabwe is a beautifull country and has the potental for great overall hunting with a wonderfully eclectic variety of game.
Hopefully Mugave will be gone and someone will take over that wants to run the country right. Then and ONLY then will I return. Untill that Tanzania and Namibia have everything I want.

Jamie

Great head-up, thanks. I wonder what the next scam will be?

This is TRUE!!!!!!!!!

My friend returned a couple of weeks ago (mid-June) from hunting with John Sharp. When leaving Zim, they told his wife that her Visa expired two days earlier and asked if she knew she could go to JAIL becuase of the expired Visa!!!

My friend argued that they both submitted the correct paperwork when they entered and that it was a mistake, since his Visa obviously had the correct date. He then realized that this female Customs agent was the same agent who had signed their paperwork initially.

He felt that she was fishing for a payoff, but he held his ground. He said it was a bit scary and shook up his wife a bit. The Custom's agent had repeated the Jail threat a few times but finally let them go.

He now has doubts about hunting Zim again until things change over there for the better.

Tim

Seems to me that Mugabe is not the only crook in Zim, unless of course these instructions came directly from him!
Peter.

Both times I've traveled to Africa (Zim and RSA), I've given them a later date than I've intended to stay. Just in case something came up that prevented me from leaving on my scheduled date. Why not add a week or two to prevent ANY problems?

-Steve

Steve,

Great point! I'll tuck that one away for later.

Regards,

Mark