Solo Self-Drive Safari: Wrap Up

Every trip I take I am reminded of why I love to travel. It’s the opportunity to see things from another perspective. The people you meet, the observations they share, and how it all comes together to form an experience that enriches my understanding of life.

My final day consisted of driving back to Johannesburg, once I refilled the air in the tires for pavement and highway speeds again. If you remove some air for the sand tracks of the bush, you have a little better traction and also the tires endure rocks and branches better.

Bush camping equipped vehicles usually come with these pumps. Make sure you get one, and that it works before heading out.
Bush camping equipped vehicles usually come with these pumps. Make sure you get one, and that it works before heading out.

 

I called Britz, to make sure someone from management would be there upon my return, as we were clearly going to be having a discussion about the things that went wrong, and how their inspection processes could have missed them.

I won’t go through the entire list of things that failed or were broken here, because I want to maintain a positive tone to this blog. But, the most critical were the improper oil leak fix, and the broken springs, either of which could have been catastrophic in the wrong circumstances.

Donnay Landman, National Operations Manager of Tourism Holdings Rental SA (Pty) Ltd. which is a dealer for Britz, Maui, and KEA brands. Ms. Landman, was very apologetic, and genuine in her concern about my experience, I could tell, she was sincerely upset and empathetic.

After some long discussion, I was issued a partial refund, along with the promise of a free rental the next time I come to South Africa, and when I had the billing details for my mobile phone charges a refund of those as well. I did get the refund, but the reimbursement for my cell phone charges for calling Britz from Botswana never did materialize. If I do take another self-drive safari, I’ll be sure to update this page with the result of promise that as well.

Another part of the amends offered by Ms. Landman was a car and driver so I could see Pretoria, which I wanted to do on my way, back but needed to get the vehicle returned and meet with her first. It was nice to not have to drive myself around for tour of Pretoria. And I took the driver to a late lunch, but he was so shy he refused to order anything, so I ordered extra and then said, look I’m full, do you want the rest? Which, he was then happy to take.

Pretoria the capital of South Africa is on one hand beautiful with parks, and greenery, and on another hand run down, and showing neglect. The following pictures, show some of what I found there. The statue of Nelson Mandela is inspiring, and I tried to capture and respect that, but the sun was in the background, and made it impossible to do justice to the likeness of the father of modern South Africa.

House of Parliament, Pretoria, South Africa
House of Parliament, Pretoria, South Africa

 

 

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Statue of Nelson Mandela, the first president of post-apartheid South Africa.
Statue of Nelson Mandela, the first president of post-apartheid South Africa.

 

 

 

Doctor signage doesn't inspire confidence.
Doctor signage doesn’t inspire confidence.

 

 

Local clothing drive.
Local clothing drive.

 

 

Popular park in Pretoria.
Burgers Park is the oldest park in Pretoria, and perhaps South Africa. It was founded in the 1870’s and is named for Thomas François Burgers. Today, it’s a popular place to picnic and enjoy a daytime nap.