Frequently Asked Questions

Safari Hunts is Africa's premier hunt marketplace — an online platform that connects local and international hunters with verified African outfitters, professional hunters, and safari service providers. Every booking is protected by escrow: your deposit is held securely by our payment partners and only released to the outfitter once your hunt is completed.

The platform is operated by Premier Safari Hunts (Pty) Ltd (Registration No. 2026/229321/07), a private company registered in the Republic of South Africa.

No. Safari Hunts is a technology marketplace — we are not a hunting operator, outfitter, professional hunter, travel agent, or tour operator. The hunt itself is provided by the outfitter you book with, supported by their professional hunters and the independent service providers on your booking. Our role is to connect the parties, protect the payment in escrow, and keep everyone coordinated from booking through to trophy delivery.

Safari Hunts lists hunts in six African countries: South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Botswana. Outfitters are verified against their national professional bodies — for example PHASA in South Africa, ZPGA in Zimbabwe, NAPHA in Namibia, and ANAC in Mozambique.

Four groups of users, each with their own tools:

• Hunters — browse farms, build and book hunts, track trophies to their door.
• Farm owners / outfitters — list properties, manage bookings, and receive escrow-protected payouts.
• Professional hunters (PHs) — link to farms, receive booking briefs, and manage availability.
• Service providers — taxidermists, freight agents, shuttle and charter operators, medevac, photographers, videographers, firearm-permit agents, guides, equipment rental, insurance, chefs, and butcheries.

Registering and browsing is free for everyone. For hunters, the price you see on a listing is the price you pay — there is no separate booking fee added at checkout. For outfitters and service providers there are no listing fees and no monthly charges; the platform fee is disclosed to you before you confirm any booking or quote.

Browse farms or use the Hunt Builder to put your safari together: choose the farm, your arrival and departure dates, party size (hunters and observers), the species or package you're after, and any extras such as shuttle transfers, charters, or a private chef. You then pay the deposit to secure the dates.

Your booking is confirmed once two things have happened: your deposit has been processed successfully and the outfitter has accepted the booking. Every booking gets a unique reference in the format AH-YYYY-NNNN — quote it in all correspondence.

The deposit is 50% of your daily-rate cost — that is, your number of nights multiplied by the daily rate, plus any compulsory extras. The remaining 50% of the daily-rate cost is due 90 days before your arrival date (or immediately, if you book within 90 days of arrival).

Trophy fees are not part of the deposit — see the next question.

After the hunt. Trophy fees depend on the animals actually taken, so they are invoiced separately once your hunt is complete. You only pay for what you shoot — if you don't take an animal, you don't pay its trophy fee. The trophy fee for each species is shown on the farm's listing before you book, so there are no surprises.

Before your deposit is processed you can freely edit the draft. After confirmation, changes such as dates or party size need the outfitter's agreement — message the farm directly through the platform, or contact [email protected] and we'll help coordinate the change.

Yes. Party size on a booking covers both hunters and observers. Most farms charge a reduced daily rate for observers, set by the farm and shown on its listing. Observers enjoy the same lodge, meals, and (where offered) activities such as photographic drives.

Your deposit is held in escrow by our payment partners — it is not handed to the outfitter when you pay. The funds are released to the outfitter only once they have confirmed your dates on the platform; if they cannot confirm, your deposit comes back to you in full. If the outfitter cancels your confirmed booking, you are refunded in full, including any fees.

South African hunters pay by Ozow Instant EFT in Rand (ZAR) — a bank-to-bank payment with no card required. International card payments (Visa, Mastercard, American Express) in USD, EUR, and GBP are supported through our payment partners. The exact options available for your booking are shown at checkout.

Safari Hunts never stores, processes, or has access to your card number or bank credentials — all payment processing is handled by PCI DSS-compliant payment processors.

Prices are displayed in US Dollars (USD) by default, and you can switch the display to ZAR, EUR, or GBP. Displayed exchange rates are indicative; the final charge is processed in your selected payment currency at the prevailing rate at the time of payment. A foreign-exchange markup of up to 2% may apply to conversions — it is disclosed on the payment summary before you confirm.

No. The price you see is the price you pay — the platform fee is already included in the totals shown to you at booking, and no separate booking fee is added at checkout. The only variable amounts are trophy fees (billed after the hunt for animals actually taken) and any currency-conversion markup, both of which are disclosed before you pay.

Yes. Under Section 44 of South Africa's Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, you may cancel within 7 business days of your booking being confirmed — without reason and without penalty. Send written notice to [email protected] within the cooling-off period, and all amounts paid will be refunded in full within 30 days.

After the cooling-off period, refunds on your deposit follow this schedule:

The full policy is in Section 8 of our Terms of Service.

You get a full refund of everything you've paid, including all fees, processed within 14 days. Outfitters who cancel confirmed bookings face penalties including listing suspension, reduced search ranking, or removal from the platform.

Refunds go back to the original payment method used for the deposit, within 30 days of the cancellation request (14 days when the outfitter cancels), subject to payment-processor timelines.

We strongly recommend it. An African safari is a significant investment, and comprehensive travel and trip-cancellation insurance protects you against illness, injury, flight disruption, and other events the cancellation schedule can't cover. Specialist safari-cancellation policies are available from dedicated providers. For dangerous-game hunts, medical evacuation (medevac) cover is essential — many outfitters require it.

Your trophy moves through a supplier chain, and Safari Hunts tracks every step on your booking:

• Outfitter — field preparation, hunt-completion documents, and export permits.
• Taxidermist — dip-and-pack or full mounting, veterinary and phytosanitary certificates.
• Freight agent — airway bill, customs clearance, and international shipping.
• Delivery — final leg to your door, with proof of delivery.

You see the full document chain as a progress tracker on your booking, and you're notified as each document is uploaded and each shipping milestone is reached.

Yes. Once the freight agent enters your airway bill (AWB) number, live tracking starts automatically. You're notified at each milestone — departed, in transit, arrived, customs cleared, and delivered.

It depends on the work you commission and the permits involved. Dip-and-pack (raw prepared trophies for mounting at home) is the fastest route; full taxidermy mounts take longer to produce. Add permit processing and freight, and most hunters receive trophies 6 to 18 months after the hunt. CITES-listed species can take longer due to additional permit requirements. The document tracker on your booking shows you exactly where things stand at any moment.

Your outfitter and the suppliers on your booking organise all hunting and export permits — that's their legal responsibility, and the platform tracks the documents so nothing falls through the cracks. For CITES-listed species (for example lion, elephant, leopard), export and import permits are required on both ends. US hunters: check USFWS import rules for your species before booking, as US import policy for some species is restrictive. Your own import permit, firearms declaration, and hunting licence are uploaded to your booking's document section.

You can request quotes from the verified taxidermists and freight agents registered on the platform and pick the one you prefer. Keeping the whole chain on-platform means every document, invoice, and shipping milestone stays in one tracked timeline — and payments to suppliers get the same protection as your booking.

Yes — all six countries allow temporary firearm imports for visiting hunters. In South Africa you complete a SAPS 520 temporary import permit on arrival (pre-processing services can speed this up considerably); the other countries have equivalent procedures. Upload your firearms declaration to your booking's documents section, and your outfitter will assist with the paperwork on their side. Firearm-permit agents are also available on the platform if you'd like the process handled for you.

Prefer to travel light? Most farms offer quality rental rifles — ask the outfitter through the booking chat.

Your booking's document section gives you upload slots for the paperwork on your side of the chain:

• Firearms declaration — if bringing your own rifle.
• Hunting licence — where the destination country requires one for visiting hunters.
• Import permit — for bringing your trophies into your home country.

Beyond the platform: a passport valid for at least six months, and any visa your nationality requires — check with the relevant embassy. Your outfitter will confirm what's needed for your specific hunt.

Add transfers to your booking: registered shuttle operators cover road transfers, and charter operators fly you to farms with airstrips. Both are quoted through the platform so the cost is locked in before you travel. Many outfitters also offer their own meet-and-greet at the nearest international airport — ask in the booking chat.

For dangerous-game hunts (buffalo, elephant, lion, leopard, hippo, crocodile), medevac cover is required — dangerous-game farms are flagged on the platform and medevac providers are available through the services marketplace. For all hunts, we recommend travel insurance with medical cover; rural hunting areas can be hours from a hospital.

Register as a farm owner, then complete your farm profile — property details, daily rates, species and trophy fees, photos, and your verification documents. Submit for review and our team verifies your credentials against your national professional body (PHASA, ZPGA, NAPHA, or ANAC). Once approved, your listing goes live and you can receive bookings immediately. Start at List Your Farm.

Nothing up front — no listing fees, no monthly charges. The platform fee is deducted from the booking value before payout, and you see your exact payout amount before confirming any booking. You only pay when you earn.

The hunter's deposit sits in escrow and is released to you when the booking is marked completed. The daily-rate balance (due from the hunter 90 days before arrival) is settled to you on the platform's fast-settlement schedule. Trophy fees are invoiced to the hunter after the hunt based on the animals actually taken, and paid out to you once settled.

Yes. You set your daily rates, trophy fees, observer rates, and minimum nights — and you can update them at any time. Changes apply to new bookings only; confirmed bookings stay locked at the original price.

Add it as a custom species from your dashboard — name, trophy fee, category, and any CITES/TOPS requirements. Our team reviews custom species within about 24 hours. Common examples: colour variants such as Golden Wildebeest and Black Impala.

Create a PH account (takes a couple of minutes), upload your PH licence and dangerous-game endorsement for verification, and link to the farms you work with — farms invite you to their team, and you can be linked to multiple farms. Once linked, you're assigned to bookings, receive your own booking briefs, and appear on the hunter's booking so they know who's guiding them before they arrive.

Thirteen service types: taxidermy, freight, shuttle, charter, medevac, photography, videography, firearm-permit agents, guides, equipment rental, insurance, private chefs, and butchery. Register through the Services portal, complete your verification profile, and you'll receive quote requests from hunters and farms in your area.

Yes — only hunters who completed a confirmed booking through the platform can review that hunt, and each booking can be reviewed once. Reviews rate the hunt, lodge, food, staff, and overall experience on a 10-point scale, and farms can respond publicly. There is no way to buy, plant, or import reviews.

Every farm goes through document verification before its listing goes live, including checks against the national professional body for its country — PHASA (South Africa), ZPGA (Zimbabwe), NAPHA (Namibia), ANAC (Mozambique). Verified farms carry a badge on their listing. PHs are separately verified against their licences and dangerous-game endorsements.

Use the report option on any profile or post, or contact [email protected] with your booking reference. Disputes over bookings are handled through our support team with the escrow protecting funds while the matter is resolved. You can also block any user from their profile.

We list only legal, permitted, fair-chase hunting with verified operators, and we support the conservation model in which regulated hunting funds habitat, anti-poaching, and rural communities. Read our full position on the Responsible Hunting page.

It's the Safari Hunts community feed — Africa's first social network built for hunters. Share hunt stories and full journals, post trophy photos and film, follow PHs, outfitters, farms and fellow hunters, and join the conversation with comments, @mentions, #hashtags and reposts. It's free with every account, and you can see the live feed right now.

No. Mainstream social platforms often restrict hunting content behind sensitive-content screens, block hunting hashtags, or quietly limit its reach. The Bush Telegraph was built to be the opposite — legal, fair-chase hunting content is what the feed is for. Standard moderation still applies to abuse, spam, and anything outside legal, permitted hunting — but never to hunting itself.

Yes. The alias system covers the whole platform, including the feed. Post under your real name, your alias, or just initials — chosen per post — and your real identity stays protected. Your surname is never exposed on a public surface unless you choose it.

A ranked mix of the best recent posts: engagement (comments, reposts, likes, views), freshness, whether you follow the author, and what your circle is engaging with — with variety built in so no single account floods your feed. Prefer raw chronology? Tap Latest at the top of the feed.

Enable two-factor authentication (2FA) in your profile settings — it works with Google Authenticator, Authy, or any TOTP app, and takes under a minute to set up. Use a strong, unique password. If you ever suspect unauthorised access, reset your password immediately and contact [email protected].

Premier Safari Hunts (Pty) Ltd is the responsible party under South Africa's POPIA and the data controller under the EU GDPR. Your data is hosted in South Africa, is never sold, and you can request access, correction, or deletion at any time via [email protected]. Full details in our Privacy Policy.

From your profile settings, or by emailing [email protected]. Outstanding booking and payment obligations survive deletion until discharged, and we retain personal information only as long as the law requires, after which it is de-identified or destroyed.

The hunter experience is available in English, German, Spanish, Italian, and Russian. The supplier tools are available in English and Afrikaans.