SOUTH AFRICA: TIA

[BRICKBURN]

This tale of woe does not motivate me to jump on a plane. Astounding.

It can only get better.... At least after the sleeping pill.
Good luck.

 

[Tokoloshe Safaris]

What a terrible experience. Someone mention about it preparing for African Airlines, but I have never had an experience like you had with Delta.

I hope things work out for you on the RSA farm. When you are looking at bakkies you might want to look at the Mahindras. They are not a Land Cruiser, but neither is the price.

 

[gillettehunter]

Best of luck to you. Hopefully all of the bad has come and gone. What a PITA. Didn't expect that from Delta.......
Bruce

 

[JimP]

I hate flying just for those type of reasons and problems.

I hate connecting flights and regional airports. Last year I had a choice of flying out of my regional airport or driving 120 miles to Denver, I drove to Denver and while all went well with my regional airport of the flight out I found out that the return flight from Dallas to it was canceled due to too few passengers on my return trip. I had flown into Denver and was home about the same time that the flight to my regional airport had been canceled.

I always cross my fingers when flying international and have a connecting flight such as flying to Joberg and then having to catch a flight to Port Elizabeth.

 

[wesheltonj]

Delta - Doesn’t Even Leave The Airport.

I’ve had your problem flights before, on airlines that are now out of business.

 

[Newboomer]

We are flying! Flat bed is certainly nice. Not as nice as British Airways. Nor is the food. But…. British Airways has Eco Terrorists in the ranks of baggage handlers who sometimes destroy hunters guns

I’ll give the flat bed a serious workout in about an hour after taking a sleeping pill. Hopefully I’ll wake up in Joberg around 6am.

I’ll continue posting about this trip. Part of it will be hunting. Part of it will be looking at hunting farms with an eye on probably buying one sometime soon. Part of it will be sight seeing. Part of it will be talking to accountants, bankers, lawyers, importers. Looking at bakkies and vans. Solar and generator suppliers. Etc.

Oh,so typical Delta. Flew them once coming back from safari. Another domestic flight. Same clusterf77k. Never again nowhere no how.

 

[Randy F]

Geez! I hope your luck improves immensely!

 

[Hyde Hunter]

we are wheels up in 44 days with DELTA I sure hope the same thing does not happen to me or I just might not make it, I can't stand stupidity especially with businesses, crossing my fingers

 

[flying sailor]

we are wheels up in 44 days with DELTA I sure hope the same thing does not happen to me or I just might not make it, I can't stand stupidity especially with businesses, crossing my fingers

Almost wish I had not read this. Just booked Delta for end of summer to Joburg.

 

[Sourdough]

We are feet dry. An hour and a half to go. A $2,500 voucher from Delta for each of us came to our emails. Just dumped a cup of coffee all over myself, my seat and my cubicle. And seconds later while I was trying to clean up I knocked over the cup again dumping the remainder. I’m blaming it on sleep deprivation.

 

[Trophyhunter01]

Hang in there brother it has to get better. Best of luck with the rest of the trip.

 

[Troubleshooter]

Glad that you have arrived and can get on with the safari.

Flying used to be special. What we need is a small airline that caters exclusively to the hunting / safari community. It would hire top-notch pilots and mechanics, helpful stewardesses sans attitude, and baggage handlers that treat our luggage with a modicum of respect. Flights would leave on-time. Food and beverages would be first-cabin. All seating would afford generous leg- and elbow-room. And while I'm not quite ready to return to the days when coat & tie / skirts were required, passengers over the age of 5 would not be allowed to board wearing flip-flops or pajamas.

Hey, it's a goal. Start buying lottery tickets and maybe someday it can become reality.

 

[flying sailor]

Glad that you have arrived and can get on with the safari.

Flying used to be special. What we need is a small airline that caters exclusively to the hunting / safari community. It would hire top-notch pilots and mechanics, helpful stewardesses sans attitude, and baggage handlers that treat our luggage with a modicum of respect. Flights would leave on-time. Food and beverages would be first-cabin. All seating would afford generous leg- and elbow-room. And while I'm not quite ready to return to the days when coat & tie / skirts were required, passengers over the age of 5 would not be allowed to board wearing flip-flops or pajamas.

Hey, it's a goal. Start buying lottery tickets and maybe someday it can become reality.

I like the idea. Some people travel to stores dressed more casual than what I wear around my house.

 

[flying sailor]

We are feet dry. An hour and a half to go. A $2,500 voucher from Delta for each of us came to our emails. Just dumped a cup of coffee all over myself, my seat and my cubicle. And seconds later while I was trying to clean up I knocked over the cup again dumping the remainder. I’m blaming it on sleep deprivation.

Surely, after all of this you shall have the best safari ever!

 

[robert kuester]

That is why I will never fly again. If I can't drive I won't go. I guess Africa is out the airline screwed me out of $ 6000

 

[Whit]

We are feet dry. An hour and a half to go. A $2,500 voucher from Delta for each of us came to our emails. Just dumped a cup of coffee all over myself, my seat and my cubicle. And seconds later while I was trying to clean up I knocked over the cup again dumping the remainder. I’m blaming it on sleep deprivation.

For that kind of a voucher, I think I might be willing to suffer the misery. Maybe.

 

[spike.t]

All I can say is fkn hell......unbelievable

 

[Sourdough]

Throughout our flight the entire crew apologized over and over and over. One time was sufficient but I could tell they were really disturbed by what had happened and I do appreciate that. The flight itself was fine, the service and food good, and for the first time flying to Africa my body was happy. I had always flown back in steerage before. The flat bed and extra room saved the day.

Landed in Joberg. Off the plane and as soon as we hit the terminal we were greeted by a very nice, well dressed, respectful, diligent young man from Gracy Travel. The exact opposite of the same aged youth in America. TIA this is Africa.

I would never travel doing all the logistics on my own. After all the Delta stupidity and almost no sleep for 40 hours it was nice not to have to think. Money very well spent.

so why did I pick Gracy Travel? I’d used them before but this time did give the others a chance at my business.

Called on a Friday at 9am Central time. Got a voice recording on the first saying they didn’t open till 10am. Really? I didn’t even bother to leave a message.

Called the second and again voice mail. I left a message which was eventually responded to near the end of the day.

Called Gracy and the phone was answered immediately. That settled that.

So anyway this young man took our carry-on and we followed him the immigration. The plus side to Delta’s screwup was we were the only plane arriving so the airport was mostly empty.

Stepped up to the Immigration officer, handed our passports and in just a couple of minutes we were on our way to baggage claim.

Here are a couple of tips to use world wide when dealing with government officials.

1. Just hand over what they want, don’t talk to them.
2. Never act like you are in a hurry. Instead act like you’ve got nothing better to do
3. When they hand your stuff back to you very sincerely thank them, that almost always gets them to respond in kind and leaves them with a good impression of you.

Anyway Gravy’s rep got our luggage off the conveyor and off we went to SAPs.

 

[Frederik]

Well after all that Jazz let me know if you are around Pretoria so I can buy you and your wife a drink to laugh about it.

 

[Sourdough]

And there was Bruce waiting for us. Dare I say Bruce is a legend in the Safari hunting community. Greeted us with a big smile and firm hand shake. He alone is worth using Gracy Travel.

All I had to do was open our two gun cases and step back, Bruce took care of everything else. When he opened my case he smiled, looked up at me, and said “nice, almost no one ever hunts with a Holland & Holland”.

I have admit I was a bit shocked that he’d recognized the magazine rifle sitting in the case as a Holland & Holland. And I’ll be honest I can’t recognize one in or out of the case.

A quick side note. The Holland & Holland was a last minute purchase and a last minute addition to Africa. Gracy scores here again.

As I stood there nearly comatose, Bruce worked with the SAP officers and in no time we had our signed and sealed permits. Leaving, both my finance and I turned to the officers and sincerely thanked them. They all looked up and responded in kind.

As easy as it comes. And no one on this part of the trip ever asked or checked anything related to our ammo.

As we got out to the main terminal our PH was there to greet us and we all headed to the bakkie.

Bruce help load stuff into the truck, then handed our PH his business card and said to let him know when we would be headed back to the airport so he could be there to assist. TIA, this is Africa.

We drove out to Britts to a big guest house on a working farm to spend a few days recovering, seeing the local town and experiencing the day to day life of many South Africans.

This was yesterday. Thank you Gracy Travel for stellar service.

Had a good nights sleep and ready to seize the day.

Final thought, be sure and tip everyone that helps you, it’s the Safari way.