I was just down in South America hunting water buffalo over the holidays and the chap hunting with me had a satellite phone. I had never even seen one before on the hoof .. and he let me use it a couple of times to phone home to tell the Storm and Strife of my latest misadventures .. In July I'm off to spend six weeks in the bush in Namibia and I think that I should get one.. Just to touch bases every few days with home .. Lot less stress on everyone .. His was an 'Iridium' phone .. apparently it didn't cost all that much .. I think he said five or six hundred .. $30 a month and about a buck fifty a minute.. Has anyone whom might read this have any experience with one ..especially getting hold of one in Canada ??? I looked in my yellow pages yesterday but no joy ...

Sorry, I can't help Richard, but would be interested in what you happen to dig up.

Chuck

I use Globalstar, and have been more than satisfied. They run about $700 Canadian here at the various dealers. Customer service is 1-877-452-5782. In the North, they're the greatest new product since the airplane! ~Arctic~

I can live with the $700 Canadian .. Since it is Sunday evening and no sense phoning until tomorrow ... off hand do you know what it costs per month plus per minute ???? Thanks!..

Hi, Chuck ! How you been ?

Their smallest package is for around 40 minutes per month free for about $40-$45 (extra time around $1.25 min). I use this for my off season, and subscribe for the biggest package of 1000 minutes during our outfitting season and that works out to maybe fifty cents a minute or cheaper. The Globalstar can also be used as a cell phone (another subscription) when in a cell area ............if no cell, it'll switch to satellite! ~Arctic~

Hmmmmm... That is quite interesting ... Thank you so much .. I'll get on it today ....

Oops... Global Star won't work in Africa ... Back to checking out Iridium at 1-800-207-5759 ... when the li'l B.C. folks get to work ..

Use the Iridium as it has 100% global coverage (including the poles). I would also recommend a pre-pay plan rather than that monthy fee garbage. I own a Motorola 9505 Iridium (the 9505 is the latest generation of iridium phones). The best (and cheapest) place to get them is http://www.portkeeper.net. Ask for Scott Shepherd. You will pay about $1100 for the phone and pre-pay minutes can be had in blocks of 300 (Africa time costing about 82 cents per minute). There are better places to buy the 500 minute blocks of "anywhere" time than portkeeper that will run you about 1.09 per minute. I also know of a place where one can find NEW (not reconditioned) Motorola 9500's (the last generation but still pretty darn good phones) for about $800. All of these prices are USD. I am a cheap bastard and these are the best prices to be had anywhere. Believe me, I spent a lot of time looking! If you don't mind buying a used phone, occasionally a good deal also pops up on ebay. If I can help you at all, let me know.

Best,

JohnTheGreek

Thanks, John ... I am waiting for a lady to return my call this late afternoon from Vancouver .. and tomorrow I shall check the stuff that you suggested ... I appreciate your advice !!

John

How do these b;ocks of minutes work? Do they expire if you don't use them all within a certain time frame?

And how do you pronounce your last name?

Hi Gatehouse,

Since I am going to be living in Egypt and traveling the rest of Africa next year, I bought "Africa minutes" which cost 82 cents per minute in blocks of 300. If these minutes are used while the phone is anywhere outside of Africa (and calling anywhere), minutes are deducted from the SIM card at the rate of $1.65 each. This is obviously expensive but still OK to have around as an emergency hunt and backpack phone inside NA or wherever else outside of Africa. "Anywhere" minutes can be had for $1.09 per minute but can only be purchased in blocks of 500 or more for that price. All of these types of minutes do expire in one year but that year is reset when you recharge the SIM card. So, one could buy 300 minutes initially, sit on them for 364 days, recharge another 300 minutes that 364th day and have a total of 600 minutes for the next year. I hope that makes sense. In looking at the service plans offered by Iridium, I really can't see any reason why someone would NOT go with the pre-pay option especially since most service outlets offer online recharge of the SIM. Of course, it is probably just as easy to recharge via the sat-phone.

As for my name, this question is even more complicated!
It is pronounced Sal- e (as in Elephant) - voo - ra (as in rattle) - kiss. The emphasis is on the penultimate syllable. Not that you asked but the root of the name is to be found in an old "Village Greek" word meaning "merchant" . . . Salevas.

If I can be of any help in your sat-phone quest, let me know.

Best,

JohnTheGreek

I'm doing well Richard. Sounds like you've been in and around a little excitement lately! I may have to swing by to look at some visuals with a knife in tow for you to have a look at.

Chuck