Has anyone had any recent (like in the last year) experience with this taxidermist? How was communication? Shipping time? Anything lost or damaged?

Do you mean Nyati Wildlife Art in Windhoek?

If so, I just recieved a shipment from them in Dec.

Caleb

I am leaving in 1 week for a hunt in Namibia and I plan on using Nyati in Windhoek to do the actual mounts of my trophies. Were you satisfied with them?

I am very satisfied with the quality of their work.

However, it did take almost 18 mos to get it done (5 shoulder mounts and 1 rug); part of that was them not matching the deposit money to my account. there were also some communication problems: getting faxes to go through, lost e-mails, lady on the phone being short.

My opinion, good on the work, not so hot on the service.

Similar experience as Caleb for me this year. Took almost 13 months for two European skulls and 2 sets of warthog tusks to get here. Had the same communications issues. They do seem to have improved that situation some as the lady that botched most of the process for me no longer works there. The work seems to be ok though.

Before going on my hunt earlier this year I did some research on fees for dip/pack. Nyati's rates for dip/pack were almost TEN times those of competitors like Trophaendienste or Reiser. I can't comment on the quality of Nyati's work -- it may be excellent, but I could not imagine why such a simple thing like dip/pack should be so expensive.

Had them do dip and ship on some trophies, a couple of birds mounted, warthog tusk bottle openers, and a few European mounts. Here are my experiences:

1. After doing some checking later, I think their prices are too high for dip/ship.

2. I spent some time looking over the mounts in their showroom as well as watching their people work on a large variety of mounts in the shop. The quality of their mounts are well below the average we see here in Alaska.
The birds were not done well.

3. I asked to be informed when the trophies were ready for shipping so that I could get quotes from a few shippers. I have seen some wide variations in price.
I was not informed until after the crates were delivered to their preferred shipper. The quoted price was very high. I had them retrieve my trophies and hand them over to another shipper. Even though shipper #1 required payment for paperwork processing before they would release them, my total was still hundreds of $ less. But it took months to sort out.

4. They are processing a lot of trophies at once. There were 3 hunters in my group and it took some work to keep Nyati from mixing them all up. In the end, my son got someone else's kudu.


Check around. If you can spare a day checking around in Windhoek, do it.

Be skeptical. Buyer beware.

I used Nyati 2 years ago and had mucho problems in communication. Thay at first pronised me my trophies in 3-6mo time but it ended up taking a lot longer. They also "trimmed" my springbuck skin so that it looks sort of rectangular -not very professional. On the European mounts there is some breakage in the nose bones. The shipment was made in a cardboard box and they used polyurethane foam to stabilize the items -when I compare that to the wooden crates from SA I really have to question if they are pros.

I also have some slippage on my gemsbok skin but that might have something to do with hunting in the Kalahari in Oct.

I wouldn´t use them again.

I would say that it is always a very wise move to have your trophys mounted in the country that you live in, and if at all possible at a taxidermist that is close enough to you that you can get in your car and drive to his shop if necessary.

Hi, Wihntr. I have to join the chorus of voices who are sounding a note of caution about Nyati Taxidermy. I have some things they are doing for me right now and I already have big cause to regret it.

I was on a dangerous game hunt with Vaughan Fulton (elephant in the Caprivi)in 2006. My giraffe took 3 months to get to Nyati, then 6 months after that the elephant made it. Apparently Nyati was not happy about the delay. They demanded immediately $1420 for "dip-and-ship", but then explained that dip and ship had nothing to do with shipping to me. A freight company would be necessary for that. When I questioned this the owner sent me his first communication by way of e-mail. Manfred Egerer, owner of Nyati Wildlife Art wrote me the following:

"Herewith I wish to inform you that we are now starting to charge US$ 100.00 per week for the storage of your trophies. Please let us know what you want to happen to these trophies, or I have to sell them to cover my costs. If I do not get compensated for our work and efforts within the next seven days, I will sell the trophies to cover my costs. This is not negotiable. Have a good weekend."

He was obviously telling me that he has the power to punish those he has no patience with. He is well aware that he has your possessions, so he can intimidate at will. He was certainly telling me he had no interest in my business. I further felt that he did not want the hassle of dealing with foreigners in general. Certainly he is an unhappy man, not one to be given custody of important possessions.

You might consider Reiser Taxidermy because some of the Namibia outfitters and PHs have since given me this name as a better alternative. Apparently they can be reached at +264-65-264207. I am also told that they can be reached at: reser@iway.na

Although Egerer has been paid, at this time I don't know where my trophies are and neither does Vaughan Fulton Classic Safaris. I may be able to give you an update later. Thanks for asking and putting up with this long-winded reply.

I don't know why people continue to get their work done in Africa. There are a few good ones, but there is absolutely no control or recourse if things go wrong. Almost every single taxidermy issue my clients have experienced has been with African taxidermists. Even if you actually do save a few bucks after the shipping, I don't see how the risk could be worth it.

I just received my trophies from last year from Nyati. They arrived in good shape. I was not very happy with the importer but the taxidermy operation was just fine.

BTW, my springbok hide looks quite perfect and is not "rectagular" by any stretch.

My other trophies were mostly skull mounts.

Brent

quote:

I don't know why people continue to get their work done in Africa

Simple: money. I managed to save about 40% in 2001 and about 30% in 2005 in overall taxidermy costs (including air fare). One just has to be careful and do some good research. The outfit I deal with in RSA, Kwiktan, has an office here in the States (Pensacola Florida of all places) so if I had a problem I could go there. Having read what I read here thogh, I defiently would stay away from that outfit.

jorge

Nyati came up in a disucssion a few weeks ago, and most responses there were very positive.

I used them in 2005. absolutely everything as promised, delivered timely, all shipping was great, cost was very acceptable, quality outstanding.

Based on MY experience, I would recommend them.

quote:

Originally posted by jorge:

quote:

I don't know why people continue to get their work done in Africa

Simple: money. I managed to save about 40% in 2001 and about 30% in 2005 in overall taxidermy costs (including air fare). One just has to be careful and do some good research. The outfit I deal with in RSA, Kwiktan, has an office here in the States (Pensacola Florida of all places) so if I had a problem I could go there. Having read what I read here thogh, I defiently would stay away from that outfit.

jorge

Jorge,

I understand that. I am on a very tight budget, and am often tempted by the prices, but I see too many problems as a booking agent to risk it. I've heard good things about Kwiktan, but haven't had the stones to leave my animals in Africa.

Just finished a plains game hunt with Makadi Safaris. Our original dip/ship price on our contract was $350 american. On the 4th day of the hunt we were informed by the owner of Makadi that they had changed their dip and ship process. Nyati will be handling the new improved version, at a price of $100 per animal. Not good. I just got my bill from Nyati and my dip/ship costs are now $1350. The trophy quality at Makadi was very good, however, Deithelm Metzger has a very sharp pencil and there were a number of expenses that we were unaware of.

Another vote for Reiser. Call them and speak to Wilko. He gets it done.

Buy American!

No problem Greg. Kwiktan's a family owned outfit and like I said before, they have an office here in the states where they sell LOTS of neat african stuff as well BTW. Nice people to work with. jorge

I have had great experiences shipping all my trophies from Namibia with Wilko Pascheka several times (Reiser), Pam Foerster (Intl Air Cargo), Peter De Villiers (IFN), Maria Europa-Felix (Hunter Intl), and Joe Yap (Hecny Brokerage).

The services provided and the costs have been reasonable, and very good. My trophies from May of this year (including the leopard) were just cleared, and are soon to be at my taxidermist in Salt Lake City. Four months is great in anybody's book.