Dreams of an African hunting adventure or photo safari are a little closer to coming true for local enthusiasts thanks to a couple of South African transplants.
Zingela Adventures owners Bevin Shaw and Bennie Dewitt use their knowledge of South Africa to organize adventures in their homeland.
“What we do is book hunts for hunters who want to go to Africa. We also book photo safaris, but we mostly specialize in hunting,” said Shaw, the more talkative of the two. Both attended the same primary school in South Africa but didn’t meet until they moved to Texarkana.
“Since we ended up in Texarkana we’ve had so many people book hunts to go there. At first we were helping people and then we decided to do it full time. We speak the language and deal with the farms.”
African safaris are popular with American hunters and can include a variety of exotic animals—kudu, zebra, blue wildebeest, impala and blesbuck, to name a few.
“Avid hunters know Africa is sort of the final frontier ... It’s cheaper to fly to Africa and shoot a variety of animals than to go to Colorado and shoot a trophy elk,” Shaw said.
He and Dewitt aren’t travel agents but they do help plan the trip by setting hunters up on ranches they’ve visited. The ranches are owned by people they know.
“We book hunts, provide planning and make sure the guns get to South Africa on time,” Shaw said.
Hunters can either make their own flight plans or use a travel agent who works with Zingela Adventures.
From time to time, Dewitt and Shaw also guide hunts.
“With big groups of six or seven people we will go with them and guide them on the trip,” Shaw said.
Zingela Adventures guarantees a successful hunt.
“We guarantee hunts. There is a 99 percent guarantee to get the animals a hunter wants because the trackers are so good,” Dewitt said.
Even majestic animals like elephants, leopards, lions and buffalo can be hunted if the price is right.
“Anything that moves gets shot for the right price,” Shaw said.
The element of danger involved in big game hunting may be one of the attractions for hunters who dream of bagging the most exotic of animals.
Of the animals found in that area of the world, buffalo is probably the most dangerous to hunt.
“The way they act in herds is when one gets shot, they start running around. They will storm you and start hunting you,” Shaw explained. “They will circle around and start hunting from the back ... and it doesn’t just take one shot. I’ve seen buffaloes take eight, nine or 10 shots with a big caliber rifle.”
Joe Mayo, a Texarkana-area resident, worked with Zingela Adventures when planning a hunting expedition to South Africa.
He said he was very impressed with the region.
“I went to South Africa and hunted for four days. It was really nice. It reminded me of the terrain in South Texas,” Mayo said. “We went out spotlighting and saw ... an anteater and bat-eared foxes. And the stars, being in the Southern Hemisphere, are a whole net set of constellations.”
He also said the food was delicious.
“The ranch we stayed on cooked big meals for lunch and dinner. It was wonderful,” Mayo said. “I had seen pictures before ... but I was really shocked at how beautiful South Africa is.”
Mayo, like many other Americans, was concerned with the safety of the region.
“It was a lot more modern of a country than I thought. I was leery about safety ... but everything was really safe,” he said.
The style of hunting was different from what Mayo said he grew up doing.
“When you’re deer hunting, most of the time you just sit in a stand. Over there, you’re in a Range Rover driving around basically,” Mayo said. “You have to take far shots, too. The closest shot I took was about 190 yards. Before someone takes a trip to Africa, they should go out and shoot their rifle long range because they are going to be taking some far shots.”
Mayo had another bit of advice to people considering a trip to South Africa.
“On our flight there were a lot of people from Texas all going to different ranches. You want a good guide that will take care of the paperwork for you for getting your rifle in and out of the country. Without the correct paperwork, they can confiscate your rifle and technically take it from you,” Mayo warned.
The price of a photo safari without the plane ticket starts at $3,500 for 10 days. Hunts range from $3,000 to hundreds of thousands depending on what animals a person wants to hunt, Shaw said.
The trips aren’t only for men. Women who accompany their husbands or boyfriends will find plenty of entertaining activities to keep them busy.
“Diamond companies will come out to the farms and take them to the mines. They can also visit the crocodile farm or go shopping,” Dewitt said. “They could visit the cheetah farm and actually feed and play with cheetahs which are one of the only wild cats that can be domesticated and be lovable.”
For more information about Zingela Adventures, call 903-277-6033 or 903-701-8534, e-mail them at [email protected] or visit the Website at
zingela-adventures.com.
Zingela Adventures owners Bevin Shaw and Bennie Dewitt use their knowledge of South Africa to organize adventures in their homeland.
“What we do is book hunts for hunters who want to go to Africa. We also book photo safaris, but we mostly specialize in hunting,” said Shaw, the more talkative of the two. Both attended the same primary school in South Africa but didn’t meet until they moved to Texarkana.
“Since we ended up in Texarkana we’ve had so many people book hunts to go there. At first we were helping people and then we decided to do it full time. We speak the language and deal with the farms.”
African safaris are popular with American hunters and can include a variety of exotic animals—kudu, zebra, blue wildebeest, impala and blesbuck, to name a few.
“Avid hunters know Africa is sort of the final frontier ... It’s cheaper to fly to Africa and shoot a variety of animals than to go to Colorado and shoot a trophy elk,” Shaw said.
He and Dewitt aren’t travel agents but they do help plan the trip by setting hunters up on ranches they’ve visited. The ranches are owned by people they know.
“We book hunts, provide planning and make sure the guns get to South Africa on time,” Shaw said.
Hunters can either make their own flight plans or use a travel agent who works with Zingela Adventures.
From time to time, Dewitt and Shaw also guide hunts.
“With big groups of six or seven people we will go with them and guide them on the trip,” Shaw said.
Zingela Adventures guarantees a successful hunt.
“We guarantee hunts. There is a 99 percent guarantee to get the animals a hunter wants because the trackers are so good,” Dewitt said.
Even majestic animals like elephants, leopards, lions and buffalo can be hunted if the price is right.
“Anything that moves gets shot for the right price,” Shaw said.
The element of danger involved in big game hunting may be one of the attractions for hunters who dream of bagging the most exotic of animals.
Of the animals found in that area of the world, buffalo is probably the most dangerous to hunt.
“The way they act in herds is when one gets shot, they start running around. They will storm you and start hunting you,” Shaw explained. “They will circle around and start hunting from the back ... and it doesn’t just take one shot. I’ve seen buffaloes take eight, nine or 10 shots with a big caliber rifle.”
Joe Mayo, a Texarkana-area resident, worked with Zingela Adventures when planning a hunting expedition to South Africa.
He said he was very impressed with the region.
“I went to South Africa and hunted for four days. It was really nice. It reminded me of the terrain in South Texas,” Mayo said. “We went out spotlighting and saw ... an anteater and bat-eared foxes. And the stars, being in the Southern Hemisphere, are a whole net set of constellations.”
He also said the food was delicious.
“The ranch we stayed on cooked big meals for lunch and dinner. It was wonderful,” Mayo said. “I had seen pictures before ... but I was really shocked at how beautiful South Africa is.”
Mayo, like many other Americans, was concerned with the safety of the region.
“It was a lot more modern of a country than I thought. I was leery about safety ... but everything was really safe,” he said.
The style of hunting was different from what Mayo said he grew up doing.
“When you’re deer hunting, most of the time you just sit in a stand. Over there, you’re in a Range Rover driving around basically,” Mayo said. “You have to take far shots, too. The closest shot I took was about 190 yards. Before someone takes a trip to Africa, they should go out and shoot their rifle long range because they are going to be taking some far shots.”
Mayo had another bit of advice to people considering a trip to South Africa.
“On our flight there were a lot of people from Texas all going to different ranches. You want a good guide that will take care of the paperwork for you for getting your rifle in and out of the country. Without the correct paperwork, they can confiscate your rifle and technically take it from you,” Mayo warned.
The price of a photo safari without the plane ticket starts at $3,500 for 10 days. Hunts range from $3,000 to hundreds of thousands depending on what animals a person wants to hunt, Shaw said.
The trips aren’t only for men. Women who accompany their husbands or boyfriends will find plenty of entertaining activities to keep them busy.
“Diamond companies will come out to the farms and take them to the mines. They can also visit the crocodile farm or go shopping,” Dewitt said. “They could visit the cheetah farm and actually feed and play with cheetahs which are one of the only wild cats that can be domesticated and be lovable.”
For more information about Zingela Adventures, call 903-277-6033 or 903-701-8534, e-mail them at [email protected] or visit the Website at
zingela-adventures.com.