Say...what!!! A Taxi? Why not find out more about Shuttle Services as a traveller?

"As a Russian being employed in Dubai gives me a chance to travel to numerous countries exploring Africa such as Namibia where I've been on a tour for only 4 days. We paid an incredible amount of money to our 'transport/guide/tour-leader' and I ended up being in the desert for who-knows-how-long due to the fact that our transport rattled all the way, lost a tire and had no spare...and in the end caused me to miss my flight back to Johannesburg for travelling further back to Dubai with a complete day! Inevitably costing me an extra air-fair ticket which this person are not willing to credit me for...and I have one day extra at more costs! If only I knew about you before I came to Namibia...if only I had more information before letting myself into a mess like this!"


Those were the words of an extremely disappointed young, but warm-hearted lady while we were driving from Windhoek to the International Airport in the early morning hours of another wonderful Namibian sunny day being expected. What was extraordinary is that she still had the positive thinking of arranging another trip soon into the future back to our beautiful and interesting country...and this, after such a bad experience she obviously had to endure the last 4 days of her holiday travelling so far from home.


Spending time making arrangements to travel to a foreign country seems like a lot of hard work and doesn't seem to be worth the effort by some however, doesn't it seem fair towards yourself to spend enough time gathering as much information as you possibly could for the money you are about to spend on an adventure even only for a couple of days, let alone two weeks or more?


The information era has given us an incredible advantage to "Google", link with new friends from abroad and ask as many questions as we want to have the best possible experience. I would suggest that young and older should make use of this opportunity to avoid disappointments such as what happened to this lady...oh, and there are many such stories, only with many visitors sadly it turns out they will never return to enjoy the real true warmth of a country with it's vast country-side and wild animals.


Where to start is usually the first question coming up in ones mind. Find the web page for the country you are planning to visit as even there one finds information, sometimes limited, nevertheless a start to finding more websites and information that one can follow up.


To make it really easy, link yourself to "Facebook" and or "Linked In" if you are not a member yet, search for people residing in the country, ask to become friends and be truthful why you would like to get to know them and their country. These days this is the most common solution to finding more relevant information. When you search for Shuttle Services, Taxi's, Transport, Guesthouses, Lodges, Pension Hotels and Hotels at either one of these sites, you are bound to find more information than you can actually use. Other search titles could be tour guides, tour companies, hunting farms and so on. Doesn't this make more sense than just becoming a backpacker with no idea what is awaiting for you on the other side of the globe?


I believe most people reading this right now would be nodding saying, "What the heck, does this person think we are idiots?" No, I am most certainly not even suggesting that, simply guiding some people that happens to be like me, make an immediate decision, forgets about the pros's and con's, and grabs the opportunity usually landing up with disappointment more likely than having loads of fun.


I might not have a large Shuttle Service, but I am reliable, and so are many other Shuttle services and yet there will always be those that simply can not or will not give the reliable service they should and this is found anywhere in the world. The same applies to all those businesses I mentioned above.


Should anyone have questions regarding Namibia in general, you are most welcome to contact me at hcribo@iway.na and I shall be glad to give you further information, details or contact persons to deal with arranging your trip to Namibia. I am certainly not the best candidate to be a perfect touring guide but I am here to transfer visitors safely to the best of my ability and I am willing to find information in an effort to assist any future visitor to find the right business or services you might need.


Happy hunting for your dream vacations!