Finding Flattop

I recently completed 52 days on an Overland trip through Eastern and Southern Africa with Acacia Africa only to end the trip a few days early due to injury.  I’ve mentioned Acacia in some of my previous post and want to single them out as a top notch tour operator.  As a general review I give them an “A” in all categories.  Acacia offers numerous types of tours.  My particular experience was with the Overland tours they offer.    My Tour was the Ultimate Africa Overlander which covers the South and Eastern Africa stretch of countries they tour.  If you want to read what life is like and the types of things you’ll do while on tour you can start reading at my earlier post.

Overlanding is big in Africa and it’s a great way to see this part of the world at a very reasonable price.  If you like adventure, the outdoors, or camping I highly recommend this type of travel throughout Africa.  If you’re prissy and have to have the finer things in life, then this type of travel is not for you.  It’s an amazing way to see the highlights in an economical and safe manner.   At times you’ll see the up close and personal Africa and at others times from a distance.  Each tour has an experienced crew and a specially designed, self-sufficient truck.  Throughout the trip you’ll camp in designated campsites with wash facilities which vary from extremely basic with cold showers to extremely nice while enjoying the odd night bush camping in the wild.   Overlanding was an absolute blast and I found it to be an amazing amount of fun. 

Before I started my trip I had concerns about what the other people would be like.  Would they all be 18yrs old and party animals or all romantic couples alienating me?  I was traveling alone and the Acacia truck holds up to 24 people.  The reality is it was a great mixed group from multiple countries some singles, some couples ranging in age from early twenties to sixty five.  In the two months I spent living aboard I found everyone to be of a similar spirit and friendships where quickly bound.  Heck we were all in Africa camping for Christ sake.  Anybody willing to do that has got to be a good soul.  If you like meeting new people, camping, and adventure then Overlanding is the only way to go.  In general if you jump in and participate you’ll get as much out of it as you put in.

Another concern I had was food.  What would I be eating?  I figured I’d be roasting wieners on the fire, eating some bland tasteless food, or maybe worse eating cockroaches.  It was quite different and we eat heartily.  Most days breakfast was early in the morning before departing and consisted of cereal, toast, maybe eggs, coffee and juice.  The majority of our lunches were roadside in transit typically consisting of cold cut sandwiches, juice, fruit, and some sort of salad.   Evening dinners varied widely, sometimes we cooked stew in a Dutch oven over the camp fire, other times we roasted a pig on a spit, we even made lasagna on the open fire.  The truck also has a camp stove which was used regularly for meals, pasta bologna’s anyone?  Stir fry?  Mexican?  The list goes on.  Pretty much anything you cook at home we were capable of producing on the truck.  It was hearty, good, and plenty of it.  Instead of losing weight like I thought, avoiding gaining weight is a bigger concern.  I should note while I’m a meat eater there were 4 vegetarians on the truck and they were well accommodated.  And, if you are into adventuresome eating there is ample time along the way to explore some of the odd local foods on your own and a couple times as a group.

I’m touting Acacia because in my 52 nights through Africa I saw a couple hundred other overlanding trucks from other companies at campsites throughout the trip.  Africa Travel Company (ATC), Dragoman, Drifters, Gecko, Kumuka, Oasis, Intrepid, and a few others.  All the companies provide basic camping supplies, ie tents, dishes, food stocks etc and I didn’t see much difference between any of the providers.  However, where Acacia excelled above every other company is with their trucks.  Each Acacia truck is equipped with individual lockers for each passenger where all the other companies’ trucks had none and passengers had to store their bags in a mutual locker under the truck.  Other trucks would pull into camp and be pulling out bags covered in dust while my stuff was neatly packed away in a clean dry locker, which I could lock if I so choose.  Acacia trucks are also equipped with a deep freeze for food storage and most of the other trucks only had ice chest.  Thus, a big difference in the types of food we could stock.  Electrical outlets for charging batteries and an ipod station were a couple other huge benefits the other trucks lacked.  There are lots of long days on the road and everybody loved passing around the ipod creating a play-list of varied sorts by each passenger picking one song.  We’d pull into camp batteries all charged and visiting the campsite bar there would be dozens of folks from other operators vying for the one or two electrical outlets to charge for the next day.  Oh, one last thing. camping mats are provided a nice benefit over having to lug your own around.

If you’re dreaming of seeing Africa, I unequivocally recommend Acacia Africa.  If you have any questions, please get in touch.

International SOS is the world’s leading provider of medical assistance, international healthcare, and security services.  They are the team which rescued me in the Namibian desert and also evacuated me to my second facility for continued care.  I cannot say enough good things about them.  I was in a time of need and they delivered above and beyond in a not so hospitable environment.  Their staff was personable, well trained, and well equipped.  I wish my time in the hospital had been supervised by them.

International SOS also offers their own medical assistance and travel insurance.  While I haven’t used this, considering the wonderful experience I had with them during the rescue I would recommend taking the chance on them with insurance.  If their service is anything like their rescue services one will be very pleased.  It’s about twice as expensive as what I had purchased with HCC and the benefits are significantly reduced in scope, however in the future I will be going with them with the knowledge should I be unfortunate to be injured while traveling in the future, they’ll take care of everything in a premier way.

HCC Travel Insurance Review 

Due to the remote nature of my intended global trot, which included many third world and developing nations I thought it prudent to acquire a travel insurance policy which would cover hazardous sport activities and medical evacuation, never imagining I’d have to use it.  Obviously I have, and thus I am writing a review of my experience with  The Atlas International Series policy insured and sold by HCC Medical Insurance so others may have the opportunity to make an informed decision.   In general I’d give HCC a “D” for service and encourage anyone looking for travel medical insurance to look elsewhere.  (Read the next post International SoS)

The Atlas policy provides worldwide 24/7 emergency medical assistance, worldwide evacuation, and medical insurance for injury or sickness while traveling outside your home country .  The policy premium was competitive and in the mid range in my comparison shopping.    In my case, $590 for a twelve month policy with a $250 deductible per incident/injury.

Before I purchased this plan I had read the policy along with a half dozen other travel insurance policies.  I would encourage anyone who is seeking this type of insurance to make sure and read the policy in full before purchase as there is a big difference between provider’s terms.  Many are so restrictive  they cover virtually nothing and not worth the money.  The HCC policy was more liberal, a plus, than the other policies I reviewed and part of my reason in selecting it.

HCC was great up until I needed them.  I called the emergency assistance line while in the Namibian hospital several times.  According to their marketing literature I should be able to call them anywhere in the world for assistance, from locating a doctor for the sniffles to medical evacuation arrangements.  They are supposedly there to assist during a time of need.  Well, while someone immediately answered each time and was friendly receiving an “A”, I found them to be utterly useless.  As I noted in my Clinic Stay post when it was deemed necessary for me to be moved to another facility, instead of assisting me and making arrangements I was simply told to figure it out, pay for it, keep the receipt and submit it for reimbursement.  I was in a third world nation stuck alone in a hospital bed, not fully sure what’s wrong with me and the only doctor where I am is telling me I need to be transferred to another facility.  I’m doped up on morphine and now it’s up to me to figure it out.  Thanks for nothing HCC.  They get an “F” for medical assistance, as there was none.

How about Medical insurance?  I give them a “D” at this stage barely above Failing.  Four months after my accident they are just beginning to pay my medical expenses.  HCC’s method of operation regarding claims is they have 30 business days (6 weeks) to respond once a claim has been submitted.  They wait until the very last day and request some sort of documentation, from legitimate request of the doctors records to the ridiculous of a copy of every page in my passport.  Oh, and the clock resets to another 30 business days (6 weeks) once the requested documents are submitted and they wait it out to repeat the same cycle again.  I’m going into my 4^th 6 week waiting period after having submitted what I’m told each time was the last information they needed to process the claims.  Request and delay hoping I’ll give up is their status of operation.

To date my medical bills total roughly $70,000 and I’ve been successful thus far in getting about half of them paid as they run out of errant things to request.  I’m anal about documentation and have been on top of them the entire way.  At this stage I have no doubt they are going to eventually pay the remaining claims; however the shear effort has been tiring and ridiculous.  Some bills are 120 days old and the claims letters and calls are just starting to come in.  Let’s hope I’m on my last round of request and delay as some payments have recently rolled in.

So, if you decide to purchase an Atlas policy from HCC be warned.  While it’s a reasonable price, if you have an accident while traveling abroad such as I did, don’t expect any medical assitance, expect to pay all your medical bills out of pocket, and then be prepared for a long drawn out hoop jumping process to get reimbursed.  The only good thing,  you can get a polite friendly person on the phone immediately with each call.

I’ve completed posting picutres for the trip.  Enjoy!

In all fairness to Delta, below is the return letter I recieved from my letter to them.

Dear Mr. Jacobsen,

RE: Case Number 8359510

Thank you for sharing your concerns regarding the service provided while traveling with us on August 31.  On behalf of everyone at Delta Air Lines, I sincerely apologize for the poor wheelchair service provided in Atlanta.

We truly appreciate the time you took to share your experience.  After reading your remarks concerning your experience transferring airplanes, I certainly understand why you wanted to bring this matter to our attention.  It was disheartening to hear you missed your flight due to the vendors delay in transporting you.  Please know we want to make travel with us a convenient and trouble-free experience for all our passengers with special needs.

Further, if a customer requires wheelchair assistance, we want to provide them this help in a timely and caring manner.  Unfortunately, there may be times when the demand for such service will momentarily exceed the supply of wheelchairs and a short wait may result.  However, because the delay caused you to miss Flight 2057 you were handled improperly.

Additionally, I have taken a moment to carefully review your communication and your Electronic Ticket Record (ETR).  Allow me to explain my findings. According to your ETR, we received an advance wheelchair request indicating you required assistance with long distances, including to, from, and between gates.  Your advance wheelchair request alerted team members at the airport and onboard your flight to the type of assistance you needed.

Moreover, my review also shows there is a very unique process for deplaning wheelchair (WCHR) passengers off international flights and getting them through Customs and Immigrations, which involves several different handoffs between our WCHR agents.  It is important to note there are agents assigned to deplane passengers and get them through immigrations via a dedicated special assist line for WCHR passengers.  Depending on the volume of special assist passengers, this part can take a little time.  Then the agent leaves the passenger with another agent(s) who is responsible for getting them through the line and to the baggage claim/recheck area. There are dedicated agents also outside of the security screening area who then take the passengers to their connecting flights.

In this instance the correct procedure was followed, however we failed to properly communicate the process to you and regrettably left you not knowing what was going on.  From my research, it also appears that once you cleared security we realized that you was not going to make your connection and took you back into the service area to be rebooked by Delta personnel. You were then taken to our concourse transfer point to be driven over to your new flight connection.

Finally, I have shared a copy of your correspondence with our Airport Customer Service leadership team in Atlanta so they can review our procedures and take appropriate internal action.  We want to ensure that we are providing the very best service possible when special assistance is required.  While I hope that I have addressed your concerns in a satisfactory manner, you also have the right to contact the U.S.  Department of Transportation Consumer Protection Division if you wish to
pursue this matter.

For future reference, it is always helpful for passengers to review their needs for assistance with both the team member at the gate and with the flight attendant onboard their flight.  We also ask that passengers who need boarding assistance or who wish to pre-board identify themselves to our team on arrival at the gate as a passenger
who will pre-board, and to indicate whether or not they will need wheelchair assistance at that time.

As a gesture of goodwill for the delayed service which caused you to arrive in Tampa two hours later than originally planned, I have issued an Electronic Transportation Credit Voucher (eTCV) in the amount of $100.00.  Please note the voucher number and associated Terms and Conditions will be arriving in a separate email.  Please keep the voucher number and the Terms and Conditions since the number is required for redemption.  It is also important for me to mention that no charge is assessed for reservations confirmed online at http://delta.com/

Mr. Jacobsen, thank you for your support and for trusting your business to us.  I value the opportunity to address your concerns with our service in Atlanta.  Be assured, we will make every attempt to serve you well; we are focused on the future and look forward to our continued business relationship.

Sincerely,

Coordinator, Customer Care
Northwest/KLM/Delta Air Lines

My twetny eight hour journey home was with Delta in first class. The flights themselves where supurb and the flight attendants where fantastic in their service. I’ve always been to cheap to purchase a first class ticket and sad this had to be my first experience. On the sixteen hour leg from South Africa to the states I had one of those cabin style seats where the seat reclines to a bed within an alcove of privacy from other passengers. Steamed towels where a suprise and I’ve never had the option of ordering from a menu while in flight. To bad I was on meds otherwise I would have enjoyed the free wine. The seat itself was amazing after having spent a week in bed. The footpiece, seat, back, and head rest all moved independenty to get the perfect slightly reclined comfortable position. Ahhhh, it’s the most comfortable I’d been in over a week. I slept beautifully for most of the flight with no fear of a needle fight or loss of my phone. I would love to travel like this from now on, however the $15,000 price will keep me scruntched up in the back from now on, unless I somehow strike it rich.

First Class Delta Seat

In general I would give Delta top marks for their asstiance with someone in my condition, until I reached the Atlanta airport. Once there the treatment quickly turned. Below is a letter which I sent to Delta customer service detailing the below standard treatment.

October 26, 2009

Delta Airlines

Customer Complaints

P.O. Box 20706

Atlanta, GA 30320-6001

RE: Atlanta Airport Experience

To Whom It May Concern:

I’m writing to share a miserable experience; I hope no other customer ever has to endure, with Delta while connecting in the Atlanta airport. Approximately nine weeks ago I was severely injured in an accident while on vacation in southern Africa. In the accident I fractured eight ribs, broke my right shoulder in two locations, bruised my lungs and numerous organs, and damaged the tendons in my right hip. I was only capable of walking a few feet without severe debilitating pain and movement of my torso or breathing deeply would cause sharp stabbing pain throughout my chest. After spending a week in the hospital I was cleared to make the journey home to receive continued care. To say the least, I was in pretty bad shape and am writing at this delayed date as I’ve only recently regained the ability to type.

On 8/31/09 I boarded Delta flight 201 from Johannesburg to Atlanta with prearranged medical assistance. I had a wonderful experience until I arrived in Atlanta. Upon arrival a Delta special assistance person picks me up in a wheelchair and pushes me through immigration. Immediately after clearing immigration the individual walks off leaving me sitting in the open with no explanation watching hundreds of others pass. Ten to fifteen minutes later another person shows up, pushes me to baggage claim, picks up my bag, clears through customs, rechecks my bag for my next flight, and leaves me at a Delta stand. Again, with no explanation.

For what seemed like an eternity (30 minutes) two Delta employees haplessly chat about last night’s TV ignoring my and a couple other wheelchair restricted passengers inquiries, regarding when we’ll be taken to our connecting flights. After the long wait they seemed to have ended their useless chatting and one of them pushes me through security screening. Once through security instead of taking me to my terminal and gate they double back behind security we’d just cleared to the Delta stand once more. With no explanation, they take my boarding pass and disappear for several more minutes. They return hand me the boarding pass and start pushing. Upon immediate inspection, I discover they’ve given me a ticket for a later flight. Inquiring he says with only thirty minutes remaining before my initially booked flight it’s impossible to make it to the gate on time, so they rebooked me on the next available flight. (Hogwash, if I were healthy there is no doubt I’d still have been able to make the flight, having been through the Atlanta airport numerous times) Examining the ticket a second time, I discover I’m booked in coach class on the rescheduled flight when I paid and had been booked in first class. Asking him to get me to my original gate, I’m then pushed to a Delta counter rebooking agent where he too tells me with only twenty minutes now remaining and the flight is boarding there is no way they can get me to the flight on time so therefore I have no choice but take the later flight. I explain to him, I need to make the flight as my supply of pain medication is running low and I have medical assistance picking me up at the Tampa airport and would he call to hold the plane a few minutes. He rudely says under no circumstances is it possible to delay a plane and “tough luck”.

Having no choice, I request he at least book me a seat in first class. He says, he’s put me on the next available flight and there are no first class seats available. I immediately request a refund for the price difference if I’m going to be forced into a coach seat. To my astonishment, he refuses blowing it off as the cost difference is insignificant. So, now I’m booked on a later flight in coach having paid for first class, and I’m missing my original flight which hasn’t even left yet because Delta’s too lazy to get me to the gate when they had plenty of time. Ridiculous!

Due to such blatant disregard to customer service I lost my cool and made a scene verbally cussing the Delta rebooking agent out and request to be taken to the gate. Instead, I’m pushed to a windowless room out of public sight, which has the appearance of an out- of -date employee break room, and told to get out of the wheel chair, have a seat, and someone else will be along to get me. After twenty to thirty minutes of being solitarily sequestered in a back room, I’m wondering if this is some sort of punishment for cussing out the booking agent. Finally, a Delta special assistance lady shows up, asking if I’m capable of walking. I responded that for very short distances I could and she says follow me walking out of the room. I yell ahead, asking for her help to carry my laptop bag. She glances back nonchalantly saying, “I’m not capable of doing that, follow me” and takes off down a long narrow adjacent hallway as the words Special Assistance printed on the back of her orange vest disappear.

Mystified, I slowly limp down the hallway stopping to take breaks while dragging my bag. Finally reaching the end of the corridor I find her careless of the obvious grimacing pain I’m enduring waiting impatiently to take me onto the tarmac for a bus. I receive no assistance boarding the bus which drives around the tarmac arriving at my gate with another Delta special services person waiting with no wheelchair. Exhausted in pain and unable to walk further it takes blunt and rude demands for him to get a wheelchair as I’m about to collapse on the tarmac.

Finally I make it to the gate in a wheelchair for an hour and half wait where I surprisingly and happily encounter the only nice Delta employee in Atlanta. He’s oblivious to what I’ve just experienced as where each previous lazy staff member. He approaches seeing I’m in obvious pain to see if he can assist in any manner. After chatting for a few minutes and venting some of my frustration telling him what’s just happened it turns out there where first class seats on the flight all along and he happily and cheerfully re-issues a boarding pass, as I fume over being blatantly lied to, mistreated, and delayed due to a mass of incompetent and uncaring Delta employees.

Suffice it to say the eight or nine Delta employees, bar one, I encountered in the Atlanta airport were lazy, rude, and flat out jerks. Any company can have a bad apple; however the mass concentration of such pathetic customer service and backwards procedures leads me to believe Delta has a serious lack of leadership and training for the Atlanta terminal staff. The experience in Johannesburg and Tampa was wonderful as where the flight attendants who went out of their way to assist me. Regardless, the Atlanta experience was so awful that while I would consider flying Delta again, if the itinerary connects through Atlanta I will go out of my way to seek another airline and will encourage everybody else to do so as well.

Regards,

Mike Jacobsen.