Mad Dog,

I'm not much on PMs. I say something out loud or not at all.

I don't have anything bad to say about JJ. I think it's just the hackles raising exactly like two alpha male dogs. No reason for it, it's just chemistry. I don't know if JJ feels the same way or not. When I was 20 I'd seek 'em out and confront 'em, but now that I'm 53 I tend to just be polite and keep my distance.

JJ and I shared a week in camp with never a cross word or raised voice, or any strong tensions. I could easily share a camp with him again, and would not hesitate to do so.

At Landelani there will likely be 3-4 PHs for a group of 6 hunters, so it's easy to hunt with someone you hit it off with.

Landelani had a LOT of great kudu on it. I think mine was 57-3/4", the PH measured it and seemed impressed. I'm not much on horns myself. I did have fun and met some nice people at Landelani. Saeed used to have the hunt photos posted on AR.com

Canuck,
Some people just like to argue. I had a dog that liked to fight with the neighbors cat. Dog never won, got cut up but always went back for more. Seems your buddy (AEI) that likes to fight is like my dog - can't seem to learn that getting along is better than fighting. You learn things and might actual make a friend. Hang in there.

As far as paying for the hunt at Landelani. I paid full freightfor my hunt as did Mr. Mike and some others. I heard that some of the moderators got a break on their hunt for thier work here, but we were all treated equally. JJ is a straight shooter and I would recommend him without hesitation.

I too would recommend a trip to Landelani. I also hunted there in 2002 but just after the group of hunters that have already posted. Only my wife and I were in camp most of the time. Several other PH's brought their clients during our hunt to seek specific species. They took excellent nyala, sable, and klipspringer. I took kudu, waterbuck, zebra, impala, warthog, and blesbuck in a combination of 9 animals. Only the blesbok was taken offsite, a drive of some 15 to 20 minutes. They prefer county with more open areas and feed than is commom at Landelani. JJ was not in camp during our hunt. He had allowed us to book later to meet our schedule needs. We were treated in a most excellent manner by all, including MW and his wife, the onsite owners of the property. We too paid the full fare. I read this forum daily and participated by limited posting before the software change and the need to register again. As far as I am concerned, the reputation of Landelani Lodge deserves none of the negative comments that have appeared in this thread. I am dreaming of returning again along with my son for another trip.

Marv

You gotta love AR. Here come the big reviews from lots of posters with 1 or two posts. Thanx for making my point. At least we got down to the truth about one individual not paying his own way and you still can nott change the fact that things could get ugly real quick when your outfitter doesn't like contracts.

Who has reported anything ugly?

You're two vowels short AEI. Quit being a jackass.

quote:

Originally posted by AEI:
You gotta love AR. Here come the big reviews from lots of posters with 1 or two posts. Thanx for making my point. At least we got down to the truth about one individual not paying his own way and you still can nott change the fact that things could get ugly real quick when your outfitter doesn't like contracts.

What exactly is your point except to stirr up shit that is none of your business.

The topic of this thread is to gather input from members who have hunted on Landelani or who have hunted with Jim. The originator of the thread is asking for references. If you do not know Jim or have not hunted on Landelani then your input is not valid.

If you wish to express your opinion on the subject of people giving a testimonial who have received compensation from the outfitter or PH then start your own thread and we will discuss it.

Shitting on someone's post is in poor taste.

quote:

Originally posted by AEI:
You gotta love AR. Here come the big reviews from lots of posters with 1 or two posts. Thanx for making my point. At least we got down to the truth about one individual not paying his own way and you still can nott change the fact that things could get ugly real quick when your outfitter doesn't like contracts.

Am I the only one who thinks you are wrong here? What truth about someone not paying? Canuck? Does anybody have any idea what AEI is even talking about?

Mickey,

Canuck and I won the hunt to Landelani in 2002 in a drawing among the AR moderators. Saeed paid full fare for both of us, so there was nothing underhanded anywhere, by us or by Saeed. Both Canuck and I had a great time. That's where we first met in person and we've been friends ever since.

Neither Canuck nor I owe Landelani or JJ anything. Saeed has never said a word to us (or even hinted) as to what we should or should not say about the trip. Anybody who thinks Saeed is in collusion with any outfitter is smoking crack.

Saeed doesn't brag about this drawing, as it seems the volunteers to become moderators just crawl out of the woodwork every time it gets talked about!

[Edit to add:] I don't remember ever seeing a single disgruntled hunter come back from Landelani. There is nothing to hide about Landelani.

Mickey: Some here either by design or by psychological deficiencies feel compelled to criticize, insult or just basically stir the pot for the very reasons stated above. Just for your own edification, do a search here and look at the ratio of negative posts to overall comments and it will become crystal clear.

I have no agenda here, I pay my own way, I give advice based on *MY* opinions and experiences and basically USED to enjoy this forum as a good place to relax and share stories.

Unfortunate events with the Ray-Sheephunter debacle as the crucible, have turned this place into a pit of gossip enuendo amd behavior that is outright psychotic. There are some among us that have made it their mission in life to offend behind the safety of a computer screen of course. Everyone here has access to my name, email and occupation so I have nothing to hide, so to those that continue to lash out with insults, why don't you grow a pair and post your name and experiences for real. Until you do so, your credibility here will remain alongside your comments; right in the shitcan. jorge

quote:

Until you do so, your credibility here will remain alongside your comments; right in the shitcan. jorge

Well said.

It's getting to the time of year when this rhetoric should be toned down a might. Ya know, peace on earth, good will toward men?

Here is a different take. I spoke to JJ several times on the phone last year planing my first safari. Even though I told him I was 90% sure I was going to hunt Namibia, He offered to be of help to me just the same.
Sent me a copy of his book with out waiting for a check. He gave me nothing but good info. He is a class
act. I did hunt Namibia but will some day hunt with JJ.

JD

I deleted my post last night, had all day to think about it and decided to re-post. I want to thank each of you for your posts, and reccomendations.

Here is my repost....AEI YOU ARE A JACKASS!!

Mad Dog

Don-G and jorge

Thanks for the explanation. I didn't know about the hunt from Saeed.

Mad Dog...

Thanks for bringing up this topic. I've been following reports on Landelani for a few years now and have read no negative reports in any of a number of forums. The comments you elicited further firm up Landelani's reputation and keep it in contention for my first trip.

Wow I just return from my Vacation fishing in The Florida Keys and I have like 100 Emails regarding this thread.

So I read through the posts and quite honestly I'm very proud of the job I have done and the kind words and respect I have from many of the people here! Of course there are those that might not see the post for what it was intended to be........... but that's just the internet. I always figured that anyone with the means to hunt in Africa most likely has the education, finacancial capacity, and life experience to understand that not everyone on these forums is fully functional.

I also know that even though I have a lot of happy customers that some personalities don't work well together. You can have respect for them but may not be the most compatibale people for many reasons, many timed this cannot be explained. Don G and I had a brief falling out but I respect him as a man and A hunter and under different circumstances we would probably be fine hunting together. I have had three hunters in my carreer hospitalized with various problems not related to hunting. One was a guy in the middle of nowhere who had to pass a stone. I thought he was a dead man due to his condidtion and our location at the time. He was hunting with me 3 days later once the stone passed! The other was a fellow who had some kind of allergic reation to something in the bush, or food, or insects, we will never know. He had great difficulty breathing, again rushed to the hospital swelling like a ballon and breaking out all over his body in a rash. The third was Don, with a rare condition that was probably pre-existing before he arrived? Don Was uncomfortable for much of the trip but fought though the situatuion until he too was eventually hospitalized. Maybe under less stressful conditions we would have been better off hunting together?

In any case I have never had a compliant I'm aware of or have ever read about on any forum with the nearly 300 hunters I have had now in My career. I have had to eat a lot of losses with some guys to settle issues that were not my fault but seemed like the fair thing to do.

For example, This year I lost 12 hunts, well actually 8 hunters and 4 non-hunters. These folks were all Gulf based and the Hurricanes caused them losses to the point that they could not go to Africa with the other life issues they have now.

My policy is that all deposits are 100% refundable until Jan first of the year of your hunt. After that I have salaries to pay and other expenses, plus I cannot reasonably expect to find replacement hunters after that time.

THAT'S MY CONTRACT FOLKS!

So this year I had to send back 12 deposits and lose much of my seasons bookings. In 2004 I had a hunter and his wife from Idaho cancel in March due to the illness of their child and the money needed for her operation. About May time frame right before I left I managed to fill that spot with an "eco tour" worth half the cost to me. I sent him 1/2 of his deposit back with the money from this trip. Nobody even knew about this deposit and I was fully in my agreement to keep this money.

There will be a time when he will hunt in Africa and I will be the one he calls. Same with the 3 guys from Houston who were told thier leave was cancelled due to the refinery work needed in 2006. Sent them all the deposits back too. The Hurricane was not their fault, or mine. Their company requires them to give up leave. I lost very likely many thousands of dollars because of this but I also know when they get the leave with all the overitme they have had I will be the one they call for the hunt.

So 2006 will really be a bust for me as it stands now in my business, the Hurricanes affected much more wide spread income then imagined. Hopefully I will recover this in 2007 but My word is my bond with every hunter I take and that has worked 100% flawless in my career. I'll continue to run this the same regardless of what a few guys might think otherwise.

By the way If you think you can have a contract and hire a lawyer in RSA to represent you to recover your losses your dreaming. Lawyers in RSA are not much different then here. Once the fees start generating and the billable hours go up you wll likely owe more in legal costs then your deposit or safari was worth to begin with. Maybe it's some mental comfort to have a "contract" but the fact is that an African Contract in the USA is useless. At least with me you have an American Citizen that holds the money until the first of the year!

I would challange somebody to find anyone who says I did not treat them 100% fairly with their money or their hunt.

Jim,

THANK YOU!

Mad Dog

Jim,

The malady that put me in the hopital started off as a sinus infection (I'm prone to them) I knew within 24 hrs of getting off the plane at JHB that I had an infection. I took the drugs I had in my kit but there was no response.

I figured I could make it through the trip, but I was wrong. It turned into a peritonsular abscess, which can kill if untreated. The Brit-trained Afrikaner doctor I finally saw said, "it would be nice in future if you consulted a physician before you were moribund." I had to look that up. It means "at the point of death".

The disease had nothing to do with Africa, or Landelani - just airplanes and my susceptibility.

If it's any comfort to your hunters, the private hospital was clean and efficient. They used steril paper-packaged needles and equipment just like here.

As an illustration of my trust and confidence in MW and his wife, I handed her over $3000 cash, traveller's checks, wallet, tickets, passport etc. when I went in to the hospital. She got me a hardship ticket change (free), and paid for all my Dr. and hospital fees out of my funds, getting very good exchange rates. I got an itemized receipt for everything, and all my gear back in good shape. As an aside, I think the medical bills totalled less than $1100 for 6 days on an IV.

I don't remember any incident between us, so it couldn't have been much.