Christo,

Although I already told you how pleased I was with the opportunity I had to hunt with Marthinus serving as my assigned PH, I wanted to take this opportunity to specially commend him for what he did for Mary and me during our visit.  From my perspective your PHs are positively the most critical front line ambassadors you have for the exceptional hunting services you provide your clients.  They spend the most time with your clients, and how well they do or do not do has a tremendous impact on the quality of the hunt a client has and on whether or not a client will book for future hunts and on whether or not a client will recommend your services to his or her friends. 

I assure you that Marthinus, from start to finish, did an absolutely outstanding job on your behalf.  He was exceptionally professional and courteous to Mary and I at all times, and he made sure everything we did was in full compliance with the instructions he received from you and the other landowners we came in contact with.  He also clearly demonstrated that he was especially skilled at helping me select first rate game animals and making sure I was in a position to make good shots so that my chances of recovering my game was optimized. 

Overall,  he helped me achieve hunting successes and experiences that were far beyond my expectations, and this was especially noteworthy considering how many quality animals I was able to harvest in the relatively short time I was there.  His efforts also made Mary’s experiences really informative and interesting, and that is indeed remarkable given that Mary has never hunted with me or anyone else, and given how extremely difficult it is for Mary to witness how hunter’s harvest game animals of any kind. 

Our whole visit could have turned out to be a very disappointing experience if Marthinus had not done all he did to make sure he looked after Mary as well as he looked after me, and Mary and I both very much appreciate all that he did.   

As you know I also had the opportunity to hunt with F.C. for one day, and he also represented you very, very well.  I commend both Marthinus and F.C. for their professionalism, and I commend you and Stella for having quality people like this on your staff.  You are indeed fortunate to have them. 

I personally commended and thanked Marthinus myself when I bid him farewell at the airport, and Mary did too, but Mary and I wanted you to know firsthand from both of us just how much we appreciated what he did for us.  He is definitely the PH I will request to hunt with me the next time I get to visit you, and he is also the one I will recommend to anyone I refer to hunt with you.

Thanks again to you and Stella for the great hospitality and friendship you extended to us while we were there, and please pass on my and Mary’s thanks again to all of your hard working and professional staff---the maids, cooks, skinners, PHs, etc., for all they did for us.  We now have very many fond memories of all of you and our trip, and we will have a lot of fun telling all of our family members and friends about the experiences we had with you in South Africa.  We will also be looking forward to our next opportunity to visit with you again both here in the States and there at your beautiful home.

Until we are able to see you again, take good care and please pass on to all your staff, and especially Marthinus, my and Mary’s sincere thanks for all they did for us.

Scott Smith