For those of you that have hunted from Victoria Falls as your jumping-off point, have you ever had to change your return flights once you were in the field; and if so, who in the Vic Falls area can be of help? The reason I ask is that I am headed out for a twelve-day hunt that should take no more than seven to nine days to be successful. I need a few extra days in the States before returning to work. The idea of just lying around killing time in Zimbabwe doesn't appeal to me. I will see some sights and fish a little, but when I'm done, I'm ready to get back and spend a little more time in the Austin area with family.

Is there a travel agent in Vic Falls that might be of help?

Kensco:

Last September/Oct my hunting partner and I were heading to RSA after our hunt in Zim. We were staying in Vic Falls. We needed to change our return plans and cancel our RSA portion and get back to the USA.

Phone service, both cell and landlines, were a big problem. Intermittant or no service. We knew of no one in Vic Falls, including the local airport, that was of help.

Fortunately we were staying at The Ultimate Guest Lodge and another hunting party graciously loaned us their SAT phone. We then called Gracy Travel in Texas who fixed us up in 5 minutes.

I WILL NEVER travel to Zim or any other remote country in Africa, except RSA, without a SAT phone, either owned or rented.

I know this does not answer your question directly, but it is something to consider for plan B.

Good Luck.

RCG

RCG

I usually stay at the Ultimate Guest Lodge when the hunt is over. If I get in that situation I'll talk to Russell. I owe him $20. Maybe if I pay him back, he'll point me in the right direction.

I was afraid the airport probably wouldn't be much help.

Thanks for the tip.

I've changed my flight numerous times while in Zimbabwe. British Airways has been very helpful if you are using them as has SAA. My best success has been to go to the airport and get the change there the day before I left. We even got an upgrade at no cost this year when my daughters smiled at the agent!

Also, I've called Kathi from Africa with some real problems. I slept while she worked her magic and got me where I wanted to go for just a few bucks. I gave her my credit card info just in case and she had tickets awaiting me at the airport.

Now this is meant as no critisim at all; however, I find that with my sat phone and the time difference between zim and chicago I cannot talk directly with anyone at the travel agent, only with the magic answering machine and since you must be outside for my iridium to work, i do not keep it on all the time; therefore, I usually leave a contact number stateside for kathi to call with any news. Next year I am taking a bgan unit for email comms, so, we will see how that works.

As RCG has pointed out above we had no difficulty connecting via Sat phone from Vic Falls to Texas - the time difference is only 7 hours.

Sundowner time in Vic Falls is before lunch in the Central time zone.

One advantage of a larger, multi agent travel company is that there is almost always SOMEONE available in a pinch.

I'll certainly have a Sat. Phone with me next time I go there.

Next year I am taking a bgan unit for email comms, so, we will see how that works.[/QUOTE]

OK---I'll bite---what is a bgan unit???
G