I am looking for references for this safari company that I understand hunts in block LU1 in the Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania.

Antonio A. Ferreira, a PH with whom I hunted buffalo a few years back in the north of the country, is now guiding for them, and even though my hunt with him was a complete success I would like to learn more about this Mwanauta & Co.

Your comments will be appreciated.

Montero

Montero,
Mwanauta is one of several companies in Tz that "sub-leases" its areas and camps to third parties. Often in these cases, the "owning" company sets up the camp and leases "hunting time" to anyone who will pay the asking price! The camps are generally very basic so you must accept that. It generally depends on the arrangement made between Mwanauta and the 3rd party as to who "manages" the camp during the 3rd parties safari. In other words, what agreement does your PH and Mwanauta have for your trip! This will influence the standard of the food, camp staff, beverage, condition of hunting roads, etc found in camp - unless your Ph sets his own camp for your trip in which case it might be better.

The kind of questions I would ask your ph for your specific trip would be:
1- Is there anyone else hunting in the same area whilst you are there?
2- Is there anyone else sharing your camp?
3- Status and condition of the hunting vehicles? Very important!
4- Codition of camps in terms of size of tents, are they self-contained, bed style, mess area style, etc.
5- How many clients will be in the area prior to your trip and what they will be hunting.
6- Is your Ph licensed in TZ - ask to see copy of PH letter.
7- Does your Ph know this area well?

If you are planning a short buff hunt, you should be fine if you are happy with basic camp standards but plan around mid-season as July and August the hunting can be quite hard due to dense vegetation.

Good luck,

Bwanamich.

I am planning the hunt for the beginning of October.

So far I have been given thorough information by PH Ferreira about all the issues that you mention but as I understood that he acts as a third party subleasing the area, I wanted to check about the "owning" company.

Thank you very much for your reply.

Montero