On a previous hunt in South Africa, I had one of two choices for reaching the property to be hunted. The first was by charter airplane, which was very expensive. The second was by car with a driver that took us from Tambo to the outfitter and then returned later to take us back.

I didn't mind the car ride, but I did the car and ultimately the driver. The car was in enough of a state of disrepair that I did not feel safe....severely grinding brakes, old tires. And the driver pulled a couple of maneuvers I didn't care for either.

If you're wondering, the closest commercial airport was only about an hour closer than Tambo and by the time you add in the hassle of getting through Tambo, flown to next airport, etc. it was not worth it.

So next time, I'm either renting a car or going with a different ground transport company.

I wonder if anyone has a suggestion for a reliable ground transport company?

7MMNut,

Your safari operator could not arrange to pick you up himself or have one of his people retrieve you in a company vehicle? That's kind of standard procedure.

Mark

Uber. Hope you get a Zimbabwean driver, Uber buys new Toyota's for them and they pay Uber back over time.

What Mark said.+1

You are hunting with the wrong outfitter.

You should be picked up by the owner or PH in a Land Cruiser or nice vehicle. On my last safari, the owner picked me up in this:

quote:

Originally posted by Open Carry:
You are hunting with the wrong outfitter.

You should be picked up by the owner or PH in a Land Cruiser or nice vehicle. On my last safari, the owner picked me up in this:

It was clean, air conditioned and he pulled over every 2 hours to get out of the vehicle for a cigarette break.
I would look into hunting elsewhere.

Agree with above posts. Once you land in J'burg you are under our care and we will have either arranged for AfricaSky to assist you thru Tambo for your next flight out or we will pick you up ourselves in a van similar to the one above.

Any outfitter who will not take care of you the minute you land until your depart should be avoided!

Although I have never done this , It is not uncommon for safari companies to have their clients picked up at the airport and transported to camp by a reputable transport company. Normally air conditioned new mini vans are used. Sometimes its the same company clearing your rifles that does this.

This was obviously not the case here.

I agree with the previous posters.

Under no circumstance, ever, ever, ever, should an Outfitter leave it up to the client
to decide their own transportation. It is beyond ridiculous and any operator that does so, should find a new profession. If I was ever booking a trip and the said Outfitter asked me to find my way to the lodge, I would immediately drop them from consideration!

With all the good operators out their, pick a new one!!

Point of clarification, the outfitter did not leave me in a bad way. They hired the company that took us by car, but have since fired them due to our poor experience.

It is a long drive to the ranch and not practical for them to do this themselves and I fully understand that.

Thanks for the replies.

How far is it?

I have been picked up and returned to the airport for a 4.5 hour ride each way. This was included as part of my daily rates. On one occasion the outfitter had to rent a van to pick up my entire family but there was never any additional charge.

I was picked up once at Afton Guest house. The PH was to pick me up, but he and the staff were fighting brush fires. This was October 2015, they were having a serious drought problem. Things turned out fine. The property owner returned me to O R Tambo after the hunt. No additional charges.