I'm booking the airfare on Monday for our first hunting trip over to Africa. I will be taking my 10 year old son and 66 year old father.

What sort of travel/medical insurance should I purchase?

I would appreciate any suggestions or information you may have.

THANKS!!

TBD

Global Rescue or Med-Jet are good choices. Have your Vac. Card up to date. Get all your Firearms and Scopes, Cameras, ect. on US Customs forms. Check your local Health Ins. provider for overseas coverage. Get a phone # from them so you can reach them from Africa. Allow an extra day when you arrive to rest and in case all your baggage does not arrive with you. Kalahari Hilton is a good hotel in Windhoek. Get some local money in small bills for tips. Have extra copys of Passport, Customs Forms, Medical record, ect. with you. Get Elec. Adapters for elec. outlets so you can charge or use your elec. stuff. Be prepared for long shots. 400 to 500 yds. Take at least one extra scope. Suncreen is good to have. Dress with layers of clothing. PM me for additional details. Good Hunting.

quote:

Be prepared for long shots. 400 to 500 yd

Use the search function to see previous discussions on this topic - in fact there is one 5 or 6 entries lower on this page right now.

Some issues have been reported with TravelGuard and MedJet. CSA has been recommended for trip cancellation etc and Global Rescue is the best for medevac from the bush to the states.

My guess is that there are at least 20 animals killed in Namibia at 250 yards or under for every one killed at farther distances. Yes, if you're in the really desert regions shots can be longer BUT ALWAYS remember.....YOU'RE THE ONE TAKING THE SHOT, IT IS YOUR MONEY THAT WILL PAY FOR THE ANIMAL, WHETHER DEAD OR WOUNDED. Most PHs I have met stress that if you're not comfortable with the shot FOR ANY REASON, don't take it.

As far as insurance goes, I use Medjet, but since I have been fortunate enough not to have to use their services, I can't comment on how good they are. Frankly, I think it is not totally necessary, but it is cheap enough that if you ever needed it once it would be worth it. This is from someone who detests insurance and only uses it to the absolute minimum. necessary.

Considering you're taking your somewhat elderly father, and a younger person, illness or some other misfortune, could strike just before the trip, and I MIGHT consider trip cancellation insurance (another expensive insurance that I hate and don't take). A lot depends on your financial position.

For many serious medical conditions, people in Namibia go to the larger, more diversified facilities in South Africa for treatment. But if you fall ill or are the victim of an accident, wherever you are treated the cost will be a fraction of what it would cost you here in the U.S. In comparing medical cost with our hosts in Namibia (one of whom had recently had a seris of surgeries and treatments for cancer in South Africa) it quickly became apparent that their TOTAL costs of medical treatment run about what our DEDUCTIBLE out-of-pocket cost run us, if you have "good" health insurance.

In other words, if you can afford a trip to Namibia or South Africa, you can most likely also afford the costs of worst-case medical treatment. As far as medical evacuation insurance, I'd love to be able to get evacuation insurance to get me from the States to Europe if I should have a serious illness!

If you go here: http://www.shakariconnection.c...ravel-insurance.html and click on either of the Travelguard icons at the bottom of the page, you can design your own policy to cover all the various things such as cancellation, medivac, medical cover, travel etc and leave the bits you don't want. You might also find other parts of the site (esp the medical bits etc) useful as well.

you don't say where you're hunting in Africa and shot range will depend largely on where you go. At one end of the scale is Namibia and surrounding areas where you can expect relatively long ranges to the bushveld of SA etc where you can expect fairly short range shots to be the norm.

Again, you can read more about your particular destination on the same site.

Hope that helps.

Used to shoot competition to 600 yds. Never took a shot a live animal over 300 yds. Probably never will. I've bowhunted in Namibia, but never rifle hunted there. Have taken kudu, springbok, gemsbok, wildebeest, and warthog. Obviously, a whole lot closer than 4-500 yards.