You all know I went to RSA last April, and got a Kudu, Gemsbok, Waterbuck, and the Caracal. I opted to have the mounts done there. My PH went and looked at them two weeks ago, and the pictures look great.

QUESTION: do any of you have any direct experience with Zingela Forwarders in RSA?
That is who the taxidermist is using. Just curious.

Rich
March 11th, the show goes on the road!

I have no experience with them. If I remember correctly I used the freight forwarder habitually used by LifeForm. I believe they are called:

http://www.safaricargo.co.za/

They weren't cheap, but the packing was excellent. Of course maybe that was LifeForm.

Ask the taxidermist to request at least three bids from the shipping companies. The differences in price can be amazing. To answer your question, I have not used them. Where is your Port of Entry?

Rich, don't know of them but there are a number of middle men involved sometimes. Safari Cargo is probably the #1 shipper. They are insured and bonded and can pay if the shipment is lost or distroyed. Ocean cargo shipping takes 3-4 weeks but will save you 1/3 or more. Air freight takes a week or more (things sit around at the airport sometimes) and costs a bundle. Several ports of entry into the US. Pays to check around but some of the RSA Taxidermist are going to use whoever they are in business with. Commissions man, commissions.
LDK

Everything David said. +1 I have used Safari Cargo many times who works with Fauna and Flora Customhouse Brokerage out of New York. I always ship ocean as it is much cheaper and doesn't take very much longer than the air shipping. I would definitely go with Safari Cargo. John Meehan is my contact at Fauna and Flora. Gideon is my contact at Safari Cargo.

Safari Cargo is shipping my stuff in about 2-3 weeks. when I asked them about ocean shipping, they STRONGLY recommended against it. gave me some sob story about several different hunters trophy boxes being put in the same cargo container to consolidate the shipment and because USFWS had a problem with the paperwork for 1 guy's stuff, they confiscated EVERYBODY'S STUFF THAT WAS IN THE CONTAINER. Safari Cargo basically refused to sea ship unless i absolutely insisted- then implied that if there was a problem, it would be MY problem

Thank you sir for the sage advice.

Rich

So Rich you posted this in the hunt reports so do we get a hunt report with pictures with it?

Again with Safaricargo, they did a great job.

I always use Safari Air Cargo for the shipping and Fauna and Flora for the customs work -- have used both several times and never had a single reason to complain about even the smallest detail. They're both outstanding companies.

I did ship by boat once because I had a crate too big for the usual aircraft accomodation and to do otherwise would have incurred significant cost addition to move a bulkhead. The ocean shipping went well and I had no complaints at all, although the risk involved had to be greater than shipping by air. Given a choice, I'll always use air, but I wouldn't worry about using ocean shipping if it were me -- the stuff is insured and I can always use another trip to replace anything lost/damaged.

+1 Safaricargo

Great packing. I turned the crate into a hunting blind!

I have shipped several times via ocean cargo with Safari Cargo. Never a hitch. John Meehan at Fauna & Flora handled everything. Cost is about 1/3 less than air. There is no USF&W law against shipping multiple hunters trophies in one crate as long as each hunter has their own paperwork in order. Any mistakes with paperwork would fall back on the dip & pack company or your PH in not providing the proper paperwork. Just make sure your dealing with a competent Broker that knows the ropes.
LDK

I used Zingela and had no problems.
Everything went as advertised and the communication was great.

quote:

Originally posted by Ej:
I used Zingela and had no problems.
Everything went as advertised and the communication was great.

+1

Rich,

I've used Zingela twice, haven't had even a hint of a problem, their communications were excellent, and their prices were in line with other services.

Dale

Like someone said, get quotes.

quote:

Zingela

My last shipment was handled by Zingela, they were excellent. Highly recommend them.

I have used Safari Cargo as well with excellent results.

Hi Everyone. I agree with JA to get at least three quotes. There are better / cheaper alternatives out there....

By the way, thank you for the positive feedback - a good indication that we are doing something right!

Hi Everyone! I am pleased to inform you all that we now have a Full Container Load Ocean Freigh Service into New York with regular sailing dates. Please support us in order to make this the flagship service of this kind to New York.

OCEAN SHIPPING

Rich and to those who may be interested. I've only been through this process of shipping trophies back one time. So, this IS NOT something that I'm experienced with. But this is what I was told.

When getting ready to get my shipment done I studied up on whether or not to clear my trophies myself. In the end I used Hunter's Int'l to clear the trophies. I also called Coppersmith as well as Fauna and Flora.

Both Coppersmith and Hunter's International both advised strongly against ocean shipping. I don't remember the exact details, but it went along the lines of it takes much more effort in getting the trophies clear and ready for final transport to my home. BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, I was told that if there was something wrong with the paperwork there could be a very significant fine and it would be my responsibility. IIRC it was in the thousands of dollars!

Now again I don't know how much validity there is to that, but two different clearing houses mentioned this to me. F&F said nothing about this and they were actually the first ones I talked to so I didn't know to ask. Again if I recall correctly, this was a fairly new thing. So for those who've used ocean shipping in the past may not have heard of this.

My advice Rich is if you're using a clearing agent and were thinking of going the ocean route to ask the agent.

Koos & Charlene suggested, very strongly, that I go Air Freight. They set me up with Swiss Air, it cost me $255 more, and my stuff went from Jo-Berg to NYC in 38 hours!

I am returning to RSA April 29th of this year, and they will be taking care of my stuff from Trophex Taxidermy to NYC again.

Rich

I used Zingela to get some stuff from the Limpopo back to the UK this year.

Pleased to say it all went without a hitch so a thumbs up from me.

quote:

Originally posted by JA:
Ask the taxidermist to request at least three bids from the shipping companies. The differences in price can be amazing. To answer your question, I have not used them. Where is your Port of Entry?

+1 shipping can vary by $1000`s

I agree, get a couple of shipping quotes. However ensure you get good value. Should we have all necessary permits on hand our current average turn around time is two weeks from receipt of cargo to your consignment being in the air on its way home!

Just want to share my experience with Zingela Forwarders (Koos and Charlene). I recently decided, as a gift to my brother living near Atlanta, to send him a shouldermount of a Kudu he bagged in South Africa in 2007. I then approached Zingela as a result of this thread. Zingela did all the paperwork on my behalf and the export permit was issued in a matter of days. They had however massively underquoted on the shipping, having assumed that the horns were removable. When they realised their mistake they did not charge me the going rate, but had committed to the quote initially issued (which was a quote about 50% less than the actual going rate). I recommend them with the greatest conviction and thank them for being first class honourable people.