South Africa is not a country for the classical "Hemmingway Safari" as the majority of game occurs on large privately owned ranches and in government reserves. There are no vast untrammeled hunting concessions where civilisation is kept at bay by tsetse fly and insurmountable barriers. There are very few places not reached by the influences of mankind. Rather, what you will find are huge ranches supporting the widest variation of game in Africa, all available at reasonable safari rates.

Don't safari in South Africa if...
if you are expecting to forage into deep dark jungles where savage natives and ferocious beasts lie in wait. Don't expect to see local tribes dressed in loin cloths staring in awe at the "white bwana" from across the sea. The days of Selous and Burton are long gone, even in the classical safari lands of Tanzania, Zambia and Botswana.

Do safari in South Africa...
because you accept that by hunting here you are fulfilling a vital role in the process of hunting in conservation. South Africa's vast and burgeoning game population is a direct result of your desire to hunt in her reclaimed wilderness.

The term safari is no more or no less fulfilled here than in other countries, it remains as it always has, a personal experience to each individual who seeks adventure.

" You will not see the importance of a well till the river runs dry" (African Wisdom from Sierra Leone)

Often a misleading impression is created by the term "ranch hunting", conjuring up illusions of hand reared family pets and caged zoo animals being offered up for the chase. On ranches where regular hunting takes place, game is extremely elusive and wary, providing days of excitement and challenge. Perhaps here more than anywhere else, is the hunter able to dictate the method and manner of the hunt to suit their personal ethics.

Hunting takes place on ranches (locally known as game farms) which vary in size from about 3000 acres upwards of 200,000 acres. These are vast areas of wilderness supporting naturally sustaining herds. In some cases, hunting does take place in specified areas of National Parks and Reserves as a profitable alternative to culling.

Today over 33 million acres are dedicated to game ranching and private reserves, almost twice the combined area of government parks and reserves. Land once used for farming now plays host to the majority of South Africa's varied game population and results in an unchallenged variety of trophies for the visiting hunter.

South Africa is divided into nine provinces which form the basis of species variation, hunting terrains and methods and hunting regulations. Each province is vastly different allowing the hunter to return for many safaris and trophies before they can claim to have truly "hunted South Africa".

Certain species are endemic to the whole country while others are specific to a particular province. A situation exists where many species have been translocated from other provinces and in most cases do adapt well to their new environment. Most outfitters will be able to offer a list of between 12 to 20 different species or more on their ranch or within their province, whilst the larger operators can offer over 40 different species (they are more expensive though).

There are two basic ways that outfitters structure hunts in South Africa

The most common hunting method is to be based on one ranch, usually belonging to the outfitter. You will primarily hunt on this ranch with trips to other ranches in the vicinity if you require species which the outfitter's ranch does not hold. You will probably want to do this if you have a priority trophy that you'd like to spend a good deal of time hunting.

Another method is to move around the country, hunting specific species in their "home" provinces and moving location after a few days and when you have success. This allows you to see alot of the country and hunt in different terrains for indigenous trophies. You will need more time for this type of schedule and you'll have to choose an outfitter that covers the whole country.