The Namibian Newspaper

Friday, May 5, 2006 - Local Time: 14:06:36



Angry Hunter Whose Trip Was Spoiled

MY hunting trip to Namibia ended in a disaster.


The trip had been arranged months in advance and the basic plan would have been as follows: I was to arrive in Namibia late in April to visit my sister in Windhoek and then to proceed to hunt on a farm owned by Mr D.

Davin in the Gobabis area (the proposed hunting package was arranged for N$10, 000, of which a deposit had been paid) and then I would have proceeded to Henties Bay for some fishing.

When approaching the border post at Ariamsvlei, in my possession I had two firearms: a 270 KAL with 38 rounds of ammunition and a 375 MAG HOH with 40 rounds of ammunition.

Paperwork with me included: an invitation to hunt on the farm as received from Mr Davin, an export-import licence (permit to import and export my firearms out of and back to South Africa), and a meat import permit for importing meat into South Africa.

I now also have a permit from the Department of Agriculture to export meat from Namibia, but more about this later.

I arrived at the Ariamsvlei Border Post at about 16h00 on Sunday, 22 April 2006, after successfully clearing the South African border.

I cleared immigration, obtained a road permit and the report to the Namibian Police to obtain clearance for the temporary import of my rifles into Namibia.

There, I was advised by the officer on duty that under no circumstances will I be allowed to temporarily import my firearms as the hunting season only opens on May 15 2006.

I had just driven 1 100 km from George for this hunting trip and it was difficult for me to accept this.

I requested his supervisor's home telephone number and spoke to the Inspector Dry at this home a few hours later.

I was told by him (and I quote): "The rules are that no firearms are allowed into Namibia outside of the hunting season.

This is the law of Namibia."

And that there is nothing he could do about it.

With no other choice, I left Ariamsvlei without my firearms and ammunition, as they were stored by the Namibian Police at the border.

Upon my arrival I made some inquiries and was told by the Police in Windhoek that they have never heard of such a rule and that rifles for hunting purposes are being permitted through the airport customs on a daily basis.

A person at Nature Conservation told me the same story.

Over and above all the expenses I have had because someone did not know the regulations, I now have the additional expenses of having to drive from Gruenau to Ariamsvlei and back, approximately 400 km @ R500 for petrol, only to retrieve my property and to be able to import my rifles back to South Africa in terms of the South African permit.

I requested Inspector Dry to see if he could not arrange to have these rifles transported from Ariamsvlei to Keetmanshoop.

He said he would try, but he could not promise anything.

These are expensive rifles and if transported, it has to be done properly, not on the back of a bakkie, for example.

Is there a courier service in southern Namibia? As the situation is now - I have all the permits and permission, but no biltong and no rifles and a heap of expenses, because someone did know the rules.

A total waste of time and a great deal of money.

D J D Smith George

He obviously forgot to offer to pay the "special import tax" at the border. A hundred Rand in "tax" paid to the official at the border and his problem would have been solved.

Regards,

Terry

A couple packs of cigarettes or so probably would have ben enough.

It's Africa and small hiccups are to be expected.

Anytime you travel anywhere with guns it is a good idea to know ALL the regulations, and have a copy of the regulations.

Being from South Africa he should have expected as much. If he'd been from the U.S. his predicament might have been understandable.

23 days to visit the sister before the hunting season starts and only fishing AFTER hunting.

Maybe the border guards weren't so silly .....

(edited to add: Sometimes these stories don't reveal ALL the info. If you say the wrong thing, sometimes people get different results.)

Sorry to have heard about the "coffee money" incident... but my trip was snagged back in NYC -- they didn't send on my luggage until 3 days later. I got to complete most of my hunt on a single box of borrowed .30-06 ammo... to which I'll say it performs very well on the critters I hunted, including black wildebeest and red hartebeest. The .375H&H was more than needed for gemsbuck.

Dan

Your problem was that the BILTONG hunting season only opens on 15th May, the trophy hunting season has been open from 1st of February. If you had a trophy hunting invitation and or your trophy hunting permit, that can be issued in advance, with relevant dates on, you should not have had any problems.

I hunted Namibia last year for meat. Before you go to Namibia you must make sure of all the rules. There are different rules for throphy hunting and meat/biltong hunting. We had no problems, but ewe had all the relevant telephone numbers at hand. It is true you can onlyhunt certain animals at certain times. While we were there we could only hunt Gemsbok and Springbok. The season for Kudu and other animals only opened the day we left.

The extra tax that some people is paying is one of thge biggest problems in Africa. That is what breed crooked officials.

quote:

Originally posted by Jaco Human:
The extra tax that some people is paying is one of thge biggest problems in Africa. That is what breed crooked officials.

Very well said.

"Greasing palms" only makes it tougher for the next innocent tourist who comes along...

Yes the greasing of palms is an aggrivation. However what do you do when you have been on a plane for the last 30 hours and the man behind the counter says the numbers on his paper and the serial number on your rifle are off one letter and you cannot enter Tanzania with your rifles? You pay the tax or gifti and proceed with the hunt.

The goverment of Namibia is very clear, they want everyone to earn a fair wage, and no "tax" offering. The people should be proud to have, and do the job they have without expecting tips, bribes ect.

Hear hear!
It sickens me to my stomach to read from all the "ethical" hunters about why canned lion hunting should not be allowed, why honorable, "decent" hunters should not spend money supporting Zimbabwe hunting...and so on....only to read from supposedly respectable members snide stupid comments about greasing palms.

You know what you should do??

Try and be friendly -without being patronising.
Make sure your paperwork is on the mark.
Gifts given freely, hats, knives - you know the kind of stuff i mean...are ALWAYS appreciated...but the disgusting, cowardly pattern of passing bribes and exchanging tokens with a sly wink wink and a twitch of your arsehole is sickening. STOP IT!

Tigerfish- I aree 100% with you. the hunter mentioned did not have the correct paperwork, now assumes that he should have greased a palm. I have never had to bribe anyone on the SA/ Namibian border, and having crossed it numerous times, with firearms or without, have not have trouble once. I have given some dry wors and biltong to officials, normally when I have to pass trough the night, just to say I am thinking of you guys having to do this shit job during the night, not to bribe.