I stopped by my taxi's shop just last week to check on progress of work on my skins and mounts from my hunt at Landelani in June of 2002. After a chat with Dave, he made a special point to show me some skins soaking in the brine. He wanted to make special notice of the care and quality which had been employed on the skinning of the animals. They were free of holes, gouges, skinned clean of muscle and fat and the lips and eyes, etc. were perfect. He said, "Marv, that is about as good as one is ever going to see on a skinning job." He was very happy to have a product that he didn't have to correct to meet presentation standards.
It is too bad that the guys who did this work for me, and comparable work for many others who utilized their services in recent years, aren't able to read their names in print. Rueben and Samuel have been on staff for a number of years at Landlani, and have attended professional skinning and tracking school. They used simple tools and are living proof that the quality of the job depends on the care and talent utilized, not on the name of the label on the tool.
This might not be the first thing one would think of when choosing your safari lodge and operator. However, the depth of professional committment, integrity, and quality operation shows when looking at the places where care and expense could easily be minimized and not noticed until months later.
Let's have some more stories of behind the scenes events and details that make you glad you hunted where you did. What are the details that are most important to you?

Marv

Marv,
Ain't that the truth. I always feel sorry for the skinners. They have the worst job in any hunting camp.............. even the hours are lousy. The client gets back to camp sometime after dark and sit's down to his sundowner and the poor bloody skinner then sits up most of the night skinning & salting trophies. And then just to add insult to injury if the PH doesn't keep an eye on things the skinner can sometimes get "shortchanged in the tips department. Especially from an inexperienced client.

I don't care how much you pay a skinner, it's never enough!!!!

I always make a point of telling my clients how much work our skinners have to do.