Africa travel logistics
It is crucial for you to get a feel for the detailed Africa travel logistics required to ensure an effortless African holiday. This continent is complicated and vast. It is important to trust who you work with and their planning skills. We have a great planning team and quality assurance checking system to ensure your itinerary is designed seamlessly and guarantees a stress free safari. You should be spending your time enjoying every magical moment rather than fretting about the upcoming transfers and logistics.
Being an ‘all encompassing African holiday service’ we can coordinate everything for you, from international and regional airfares, land arrangements, travel insurance, car hire, activities, tours and even restaurant reservations.
Of course we personally will not greet you off the plane in Africa, one of our highly experienced, professional and passionate partners will. From the moment you take flight, we’re monitoring your itinerary attentively, liaising with our partners to ensure you are having a wonderful time and offer a 24/7 Guests in Africa care service should an issue or emergency arise. Now that’s peace of mind.
Below are the key things worthy of knowing when it comes to Africa holiday logistics.
Arriving in Africa
Coming in to land the first time you visit Africa can be daunting and exciting. There is great anticipation about the adventure that awaits and often times, anxiety about the ‘what ifs’.
We help to calm your nerves and fears by providing you with a wonderful VIP meet and greet on arrival. This means a smiling face is waiting to greet you.
We also provide extensive documentation to ensure you have contacts with every property, every partner and our 24/7 Guests in Africa. This is for peace of mind and 99.9% of the time the contact list is never needed.
Getting Around Africa
Our partners in Africa have been with us since the beginning and those long standing relationships ensure we get the best service on the ground. We work with outstanding transfer companies, vehicle hire companies, light aircraft airlines and more.
Key point is we do not do big buses on our tailormade itineraries or indeed our group tours with one exception in South Africa (and that’s for comfort on road transfers). Your wildlife viewing is always conducted in 4×4 vehicles with pop top roof or open sides for stellar safari experiences.
If you have light aircraft flights in your itinerary, your luggage weight is limited to 15 kilograms or 20 kilograms in soft sided bags (imagine a duffel style bag). That weight is the allowance for BOTH items – your carry on bag and main bag.
Expect friendly staff, on time pick ups and drop offs and local advice and tips to enjoy your stay.
Luggage for Africa
If you are travelling to Africa, you will certainly need to think about your bag and what to pack. If you have light aircraft flights, immediately you have a restriction to contend with as mentioned above. If you are coming through Johannesburg at the beginning and end of your safari, we offer a luggage storage solution through our Guests in Africa service – ask your specialist to include it in the itinerary.
Lost luggage happens every now and again where airlines do not deliver your bags on the same flight or they go missing. Our Guests in Africa service is there to help and we have a simple process for you to follow that ensures it’s reported, found and returned.
Border Crossings in Africa
Every border crossing in your itinerary will be described in detail because sometimes it is more than arriving at an airport and lining up to clear immigration.
When you are in wilderness areas, you sometimes cross the border in a small village rather than airport or main town/port. What this means is local transport may get you there with multiple changes from a vehicle to a boat or light aircraft.
The picture here is the boat that takes you from Botswana to Zambia as part of the transfer to then clear immigration on the other side.
Remember we do this every day and trust the team on the ground and you can too. Tips though to ease your mind:
- Always keep your passport and primary valuables with you
- If you are walking away from your luggage, ensure it is your guide or a fellow traveller minding it if not locked in a vehicle
- Ensure vehicles are locked if everybody is disembarking to clear immigration
- Make sure you have passport and exact money for visas or small notes because change can sometimes be problematic
- There are a handful of countries that require visas in advance of travel so liaise with your specialist to ensure no surprises along the way