I also went with TE in 2006, and my shippment is now with Maple Freight. I am told that it will ship next week. I keep you posted.

Like Jerry said in his post I hunted Makuti in August '07 and my trophies shipped in February '08.

Mike hunted Makuti also...with CMS like you. Charlton McCallum seems to be getting their shipments out.

There's an Obvious common denominator here, TE screwed me out of a tanned Giraffe skin, so I've been there with these TE guys too.

Fellow Hunters,
As Ganyana reported, there have been problems getting anything shipped out of Zim due to Gov't problems, the state of their nation, elections, on and on. Not only have export/import situations changed recently, but if you read carefully, our own USF&W stopped accepting CITES permits from Zim. Why? They didn't like the wording; it was too vague. USF&W wants no gray areas when it comes to trophy imports. What constitutes a "sport hunted trohy" and what defines "souvenirs" etc. Also, Zim has its own form of issuing export permits, previously listing many Non CITES animals as CITES. If your attempting to sort this out yourself and do your own Customs clearing, you may find yourself in a mess. Your Hunting Consultant/Booking Agent may or may not be able to help you, same can be said for your PH/Outfitter. Once your trophies leave their custody, it is left up to the persons in charge of your Taxidermy, dip/pack and or, shipping agent. And all of you know or find out to your dismay, life flows in Africa like honey; slow and easy. The domino effect is going on here. We all want our trophies here ASAP, but there's not a lot we can do except know ahead of time what the best route is. Since most of you are already in this spider web, feel free to give me a call and I'll see if I can help. I'll be in Bulawayo next month and will be checking on things with the various shippers. I expect things to begin flow again soon if they can remain on course.
LDK

This is the latest e-mail from Freight Consultants in Bulawayo on the status of my trophies



Zimbabwe National Parks have with effect from mid April, 2008 introduced new format CITES forms. Unfortunately there have a huge backlog. They are also having a problem with their system and are not able to print these permits. They advised us that their computer experts would be going in on Tuesday 6th May to sort this problem. Due this factor, they will be delays in sending your trophies.



We regret this delay which is totally beyond our control. We are in constant communication with them to see if there is any progress.







We thank you for your patience

Just received this e-mail this morning.


++++++

Dear Mr Klimes
Please be advised that there will be a delay in sending your trophies.

As you are probably aware that Zimbabwe National Parks have introduced new format CITES forms with effect from mid April and any CITES export permit issued before then has to be re-issued. Unfortunately your shipment is one of those affected by this and we have submitted our application for re-issue. However, there is now a huge backlog and we originally thought this would be cleared up by the end of April. They are having a problem with their system and are not able to print the permits. They advised us that their computer experts would be going in on Tuesday 6th May to sort this problem, but to date no one has come.

We regret this delay which is totally beyond our control. We are in constant communication with them to see if there is any progress.

We propose we send your shipment on a freight prepaid basis as this reduces costs and you can save yourself about 10-15% on freight costs as there are supplementary collection fees when we send on a charges collect basis.

The total cost ex Bulawayo to arrival San Francisco is USD1156.75. Please confirm this is acceptable and we will arrange for an invoice to be sent to you with details of where payment should be made.

Once permit has been issued we will let you know.

We thank you for your patience.



Best regards

Sibongile

FREIGHT CONSULTANTS
3 TROJAN STREET
BELMONT
BULAWAYO
TEL: +263 9 474154/5/6/7
FAX: +263 9 474151

This morning .....

Dear Mr Klimes

Once the permit is issued I will let you know when to expect your trophies. It should not be long now. We started getting some permits today and I am sure the authority will try and clear the back log soon. They are really doing their best.

Regards
Sibongile

quote:

Originally posted by yukon delta:
Mike hunted Makuti also...with CMS like you. Charlton McCallum seems to be getting their shipments out.

Big NOT!!!---------Beginning to become more than a little agitated at the system over this -- not getting satisfactory results (as in getting the shipment) at this point!!
From the information I have received it appears that this is not an issue with the Zim operators (such as CMS ) or shippers but issues with the Zim regulatory authorities. It would also appear, as I stated on another thread, that the US Fish and Wildlife authorities may have actually started this mess on the US side of the pond when they changed the form.
G

Kathi,

At least you are getting them to E-mail you. We cannot get Freight Consultants to respond to our inquiries about our trophy shipment. They also asked for their money to ship them back in January.

WLA

WLA

Eigther give david a ring or drop me a PM. I have had very good communications with Freight consultants, and my shipments have gone out exactly on time, except...
since August to the USA (due to the conflict -now resloved- between US F&W and Zim Parks)

All other shipments were (fortunately) finished before the government raided the company bank accounts in January.

Almost the entire economy has been suspended for two months now because of the elections and the garnishing of company accounts by the government to fund elections etc. things are begining to moove again, but it will take time.

There is no rush in Africa!

Please refer to my above post -- based on what I know at this point --- a major part of what is holding up the shipping process actually was the result of a change on this side of the pond ---which was the US F&G regulatory types changing the CITES forms. This resulted in changes on the other end that have not gone well. This primarily relates to shipments with CITES items -- I am clueless as to the non-CITES shipments. The operators (such as CMS)and their shippers by all reports are pushing the process forward but the issue seems to be at the Zim regulatory level.

Sorry to hear that. Mike seemed to get his shipment pretty quick including his leopard. I know you would like to get that nice leopard back ASAP.

YD-- not exactly sure of this -- but - "think" there was some magical cutoff date -- such as March 1 that they (US Fish & Wildlife) switched over to the "new and improve system"---- I first became aware of the issue when I had to renew my CITES permit -- they had changed some of the information on the form -- one item of which was "name of shipping agent" --- this was not on the prior form -- ah yes -- just another bureaucratic improvement and job justification moment on the part of US Fish and Wildlife.

Ok, well I'm sure you know by now but your permit was printed off this AM in front of Myles and was the first one issued in the Harare office. He said he was in comms with you about it.

Ganyana,

PM sent.


WLA