Here is what I am dreaming about in my retirement...

TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK...AM I CRAZY..IS IT REALISTIC???

I have another 13 years to go before I can retire from my GOV LE job. I am in great shape and I plan to be a healthy and fit fifty when I pack things in in another 13 years.

I WOULD LOVE TO SPEND HALF OF THE YEAR IN AN AFRICAN COUNTRY WORKING FOR A SAFARI OPPERATOR.

Before anyone thinks I am a frustrated Robbert Rurrark, I have hunted quite a bit BUT NO I DON"T THINK I CAN BE A PH !!!

I don't want to be a PH, I would be happy as a gunbearer/tracker, working setting up camps and helping in the kitchen or the skinning shed.

I would also work anti poaching if the oppurtunity presented. I would work for a national park if the terms were good. I wouldn't need a lot of money. I have extensive experience in Law Enforcement, I speak 3 languages (English, Spanish and some French)
I have extensive hunting experience, I have great wilderness survival skills, and I have EMT training.

I have been to Zim and Tanzania on safari, I am going to Burkina Fasso in 2010. I still don't know which country I would preffer to be in.

SO TELL ME (ESPECIALLY THOES OF YOU LIVING AND WORKING IN AFRICA) WHAT DO YOU THINK ???\

WHAT DIRECTION WOULD YOU PUSH ME???

THANKS

You have a nice dream, but IMO the only way it could be a reality is to buy your own RSA/Nam/Bots hunting property and run it yourself. Good luck.

Thats the trouble...I don't want to run anything.

I just want a modest salary and to be there doing something I enjoy ( and yes I do enjoy capeing out animals in a skinning shed!!)

These comments are supposed to be constructive and I hope you'll take them in that spirit and FWIW, we get at least 3 or 4 enquiries a month for this sort of thing.

You say you'd love to spend half your year in Africa......... well, the bad news is that so would half the world's male population. You'll have a lot of competition.

As far as jobs as a tracker or helping out in the skinning shed go. The bad news there is that the Africans who do the job, will know far more about it that you do and will be able to do it faster than you. Therefore you'd be as much use as a one legged man at an arse kicking party there. Remember, no-one in the safari business can afford even a single stuff up in the skinning shed.

As far as anti poaching is concerned, unless you have experience in that paricular field, not slightly related, but in that particular field, AND speak the native language(s) of the area fluently you'd be nothing more than a massive liability I'm afraid.

A national park won't even consider employing you unless you have very specialised qualifications, knowledge and experience in a field they seriously need and even if they did, you almost certainly wouldn't get paid and if you did get paid, it wouldn't be a significant amount.

Although it doesn't look it, camp builiding is a very specialised subject and if you don't know where and why the various facilities should go where they go, how to build 'em and what supplies you need to build 'em, you'd probably be a liability there as well.

Helping in the kitchen....... hmmmm, I guess if you were a really good chef wih lots of experience, they might have you in there, but don't bet on it. Most good companies have good chefs and you can bet your life, they'll work cheaper and be more flexible than you will.

My advice would be that if you're really serious, you start gaining particular skills that might be useful now and hope you might be able to put that to good use later.

The sort of thing that might help you is learning fast 4x4 vehicle sevicing and repairs in an environment where you don't have the facilities you'd usually take for granted in your home town, basic electrics for both camp and vehicles, plumbing, pump and generator maintenance also one or two African languages etc.

As to buying a farm of your own here. That always sounds good at first, but I'd recommend you avoid that like the plague. You'll probably get ripped off and even if you don't, you'll end up spending most of your year stuck in an office battling with the management issues.

If you're gonna be retired and if finances allow, you'd be much better off buying a suitable holiday home somewhere in Africa, and spend some of your time here and some in the USA.

Any offers you do get, you need to ask yourself why someone should offer you something that isn't to their benefit as well. If you can't work it out, then look for an ulterior motive.

To give you an idea how hard this kind of thing is to get, I had a guy contact me a couple of years ago, who was reasonably affluent and a heck of a bush pilot. He was willing to bring his own bush aircraft over to Africa, pay all his own expenses (including maintenance) and work for nothing and he was willing to fly anything anywhere, help in game counts or anti poaching etc or work in the bush doing anything, all free of charge. I tried the charities, the game depts and pretty much everyone I could think of all over Africa. No one, but no one wanted him. Sure, it's a ridiculous situation, but nevertheless, that's the way it is.

Hope that helps and that you don't think I'm just being negative.

most of the jobs you list are only available if you are black and a native of that country. You might look at Canada or Alaska...

Rich
Buff Killer

quote:

Any offers you do get, you need to ask yourself why someone should offer you something that isn't to their benefit as well. If you can't work it out, then look for an ulterior motive.

Honkey,

I think the above is the most important thing Steve wrote to you. A few Americans do get on with safari companies and even become PH's but they are the exception. Most Americans that I know about that are involved in thesafari business are wealthy silent partners backing safari operation as a spendy hobby.

Mark

I was going to respond to this... but I see that my friend Shakari aready mentioned eveything I was going to tell you (DITTOS & well said Shakari!) Sound advice!

Shakari, Mark young and everyone else,

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply to my question. Im appreciate the brutal honesty.

This is an idea that I have had since the first time I went to Zim in 1999. I do appreciate the fact that as far as any task (skinning shed to cooking) any native African will work faster better and cheaper than me at age 50.

I do believe everything that you have told me but I am THUNDERSTRUCK that a pilot can't find work for free in Africa.

Just to reiterate....I have no dreams of becoming a PH, or even making more money than what I would need to feed myself and my wife for the months of the safari season.

Due to my current proffesion and what you have told me I think the only hope for me would be anti poaching patrols.

I don't want to sound arrogant but I feel fully qualified to track, arrest and if need be shoot it out with people who don't want to be tracked, arrested and will shoot at you for doing so. The only skillset I am lacking would be fluency in a native language and better knowledge of African wildlife. Perhaps West African countries where French is the common language would allow me to get by??

Thanks again for taking the time to answer me and stay well.

Honkey,

The answer is simple - you need to find yourself a position as a camp manager. If you can speak french then CAR or somewhere like that would be ideal. There are lots of guys 50+ who work for operators as camp managers. Quite a few displaced farmers here did something like that, at least for a while.

I wouldn't even consider the the thought of tracking down African poachers and shooting it out with them...Having a white skin and being from elsewhere and getting involved in that is not such a good plan. I have done extensive anti-poaching work here in Zim, with Parks, police support unit etc, and when any kind of dung gets flung I always try to keep well out of the way. I am a citizen of this country and still it worries me...

Good luck with your quest

Dave

Honkey:

A beautiful dream, indeed. I hope you find it.

You may want to do some research into the myriad NGO's that work in Africa. It's at least a way to get your boots on the ground, meet people, and be there when something breaks.

Quick reality check:

It's unlikely any of us currently on AR, even those who live there, will recognize Africa in 13 years.

Your life is likely to change in 13 years. Significantly. And so may your ability and desire to realize today's dreams.

I have been retired for almost 7 years. While I still pursue my passion for the shooting sports and hunting Africa, what I spend most of my time doing is completely unrelated, and involves things I never dreamed of doing. I have changed much since I first began to dream. As most of us have.

Pursue your passion and do all you can to position yourself to achieve your goals, but leave your options open. Retirement has much to offer. Something you may never dream of may just come along and offer you even greater rewards. Life is good.

Best of luck. TWL

You may want to learn how to operate a video camera - and to edit the footage into something resembling a movie. If you can do that, and do it well, you can make $300 - $400 per day and work enough days in the season to cover your living and vehicle expenses. But you will be freelance, not salaried, so you will have to get yourself to xyz country and find a home base, ie rent or buy a house. It will take you a couple of seasons to get established, you may have to work for a reduced rate or for free to get started. You will need a work visa to be legal - as well as your own vehicle, video equipment, editing setup (computer) etc.

You will need to work on your spelling if you want to produce videos.

Forget about menial work - white men don't do menial work in Africa. They aren't any good at it.

Camp manager. TAWICO and others will actually send you to be trained.

I have hunted with an outfitter several (5) times over the last ten years and last summer I was planning a hunt with him in August. I got an opportunity to hunt elephant in July and the logistics dictated that I spend three weeks in country between the hunts.

My outfitter/friend was kind enough to allow me to spend the time at his home. During my time there I accompanied hunters on the bowhunting concession. I ID'd animals , birds ,and trees. I assisted hunters in determining which animals were shooters and which should be passed. I HELPED with tracking although the native trackers were called in to perform this task. I operated video and still cameras for the clients.All the hunters there during my stay spoke English so I was able to converse with them a bit more fluently than my host and infinitely better than the black staff.I did anything I could to assist the hunters and the outfitter.

Although I was not not paid by the outfitter I was given room and board and I got tips from the hunters. Some quite generous I might add.My time there was time I considered well spent. I would like to think I earned my keep and that I was not merely the recipient of a kindness from a friend.

My point is that you may be able to find work in spite of all the naysayers here, especially if you do not overvalue your services. It may take time to gain the confidence of an outfitter but employers everywhere need people who are problem solvers.If you show that you are an asset there will always be a place for you.

Honkey,,, if you want to do it bad enough,, you will make it happen. Chase your dream. I do agree with some of the "on the ground" guys from Africa. It would be hard to live up to the expectations of most hunters as a tracker or skinner over there. If there was one area that has been lacking in many camps is the ability to record video. A videophotographer that knows how to film and make dvd's is a real treat in most places, especially with the smaller outfits. Some PH's do good with a camera but it takes away from what they are doing to some degree. If we are on an elephant,, I want my PH watching Jumbo, not playing with my camera. With a little equipement and practice you could make room and board I think prety easily. I know eyedoc ran my camera for me some the last time and he was lightyears ahead of any of the bushmen with the camera. If you could go to camp, replay the video and maked a dvd of a persons safari,,, you would make friends and make money.