Travel to Port Elizabeth

[Jeff Garcia]

Anyone in this group travel from Portland Oregon to Port Elizabeth? Hopefully looking for someone who has found a best case trip. Going April 2017 with Iliwa Safaris

 

[JimP]

I flew out of Denver, Co last May.

I had planned on doing it myself but then I contacted Lori at Travel Express and had her handle my air fairs. She flew us out of Denver to Salt Lake on Delta and then from Salt Lake to New York on Delta and then to Joberg and Port Elizabeth on South African Airlines. I highly recommend her if you want to sit back and relax and let a travel agency do the work. She caught a flight change on our return trip and gave us a option of what to do. It was a good thing because the flight that we were planning on taking out of Dulles was taking off as we cleared customs.

 

[Royal27]

+1 on @Travel Express .

Used Lori last time and will use again. She makes or too easy and takes good care of you, including dealing with any changes the airlines make to screw you up. Ask me how I know this.

 

[Jeff Garcia]

Thanks
Sounds like the way to go. Biggest issue I can see at this point is making sure you have enough time landing at Johannesburg and getting to Port Elizabeth before it shuts down on same day

 

[Royal27]

Thanks
Sounds like the way to go. Biggest issue I can see at this point is making sure you have enough time landing at Johannesburg and getting to Port Elizabeth before it shuts down on same day

Last year they changed flights on me and I had to stay the night in Joberg. I just took the early morning flight and was in PE by 8 am as I recall. Few extra bucks for the room, but not a bad way to do it.

 

[Divernhunter]

I will be going the 1st week of may to Iliwa Safaris. This is my 2nd trip. The first was great. Plan to hunt for 10 days or so and spend another couple of weeks sightseeing. Got my list of animals made out but sure to add some once there. Please do not shoot the "Revenge Warthog" I want that one.
Your first trip? Be sure they take you to the Cheetah research/ breeding place near them. Other cats there also and playing with the female Cheetah is fun as well as a few others. If you like rum try the Red Heart Rum. It is good.
Just leave enough time between flights to check in and transfer your rifles to the plane to Port Elizabeth.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

Jeff,

I will be flying to PE from Joburg in mid-May this year. I fly into Joburg on an overnight "red-eye" flight from Lagos and arrive at 5 am. I think the flight to PE is at 9am. I am not traveling with guns, so it's a simple transfer. The PE flight is only 1.5 hrs. Both my flights are on South African Airways.

South African Airways (http://www.flysaa.com/us/en/home.action?request_locale=en_US) offers 7-8 flights a day to PE from Joburg, however the latest flight is 5:30pm. Makes it tough if your are arriving into Joburg in the afternoon to make a connection to PE.

From Portland, OR to Joburg, you are looking at 24-30+ hours of travel. Would suggest overnighting at the Joburg airport. It will help you with 9 or 10 hours of time zone change. Gives you plenty of time to clear your guns, etc. Flying the next morning to PE should be an easy, domestic flight. The City Centre hotel, right at the airport is a good option. Clean, quiet rooms and breakfast is part of the deal. It is a nice, extensive breakfast buffet too, not an el-cheapo breakfast like a lot of budget hotels in the US have.

 

[brushmore]

+2 on @Travel Express ! Also consider using another sponsor, Henry's Rifle Permits. We had some issues with our flight leaving New York so we ended up missing our flight to Port Elizabeth. It was no problem because Anna not only got us through SAPS in record time but made sure SAA got us on the next flight.

 

[Tracker49]

Double the advice on overnight in Jo'burg.
We take Delta from Atlanta to Jo'burg, arriving at 4:45 P.M., then overnight there and go on to P.E. in the morning. Gives you plenty of time to get your things (or file paperwork for lost stuff) and the overnight there helps cure the jetlag.

 

[CAustin]

Portland to Atlanta then Atlanta to Joberg. As others suggest spend the night there then go on the next morning to PE

 

[JimP]

When I was checking flights the air fair from Atlanta to Joberg with Delta was almost double what I paid for my whole flight with Delta and South African Airlines from Denver to Port Elizabeth, and I would still would of needed to pay for my flight to Atlanta and then from Joberg to PE.

On my flight down to PE we had the red eye from NY to Joberg and then had a bout a 6 hour layover in Joberg, we then flew to PE getting there in the early afternoon. We stayed in a hotel where our outfitter picked us up the next day. The flight back was a little faster. We flew out of PE at noon and then only had about 1 1/2 hours for the connecting flight out. That was cutting it short.