FedEx got it done.

Well ,after a stressful morning trying to get the package to Germany we just used a new courier(FedEx). I am glad to say that the package made it to it's destination on time and with no fuss.

We delivered the package directly to the depot on Friday morning(Freedom day, a public holiday here in South Africa), since we had to have a new copy of the report printed and bound. The package got there this afternoon.

The saga continues for DHL though. After many phone calls, on Friday night late (after 21:00) we got a call that the package was back in South Africa. They wanted to know if we would like it delivered to us to to try and send it of to Germany again.
We told them that we have already used a different courier to get another copy of the package to Germany and that they could send the package back to us and refund us.

This morning they phoned to let us know that the package has been delivered in Germany and thus will only be able to refund us partially. I am sorry but if this is the way that they do business I will not use them again.

DHL : we Don't Hesitate to Loose your shipment.

We have had an absolute ball trying to get a very important package to Germany before Thursday.

We thought DHL would be a good option to use since it is a German based company, so we contacted them and they said no problem ship it on Tuesday and it will be there on Thursday.

Well lets have a look at the route it took:

April 24, 2007		14:40		Cape Town - South Africa		Shipment picked up
April 24, 2007		21:37		Cape Town - South Africa		Departed from DHL facility in Cape Town - South Africa
April 25, 2007		23:58		Brussels - Belgium		Arrived at DHL facility in Brussels - Belgium
April 26, 2007		02:06		Brussels - Belgium		Transferred through Brussels - Belgium
April 26, 2007		02:06		Brussels - Belgium		Departed from DHL facility in Brussels - Belgium
April 26, 2007		05:44		Amsterdam - Netherlands, The		Arrived at DHL facility in Amsterdam - Netherlands, The
April 26, 2007		06:29		Amsterdam - Netherlands, The		Transferred through Amsterdam - Netherlands, The
April 26, 2007		08:19		Amsterdam - Netherlands, The		Departed from DHL facility in Amsterdam - Netherlands, The
April 26, 2007		22:38		Johannesburg - South Africa		Arrived at DHL facility in Johannesburg - South Africa

I don't know about you , but I don't think it is going to be there in time. After a ton of phone calls we have no decided to use a different courier company and hope to have it there before Monday.

This has been the most incompetent system that I have seen in a long time. How can you ship something from one country to another and then just redirect it back to the originating country, and then not even back to the original city.

A little hike.

A couple of weekends ago we took a drive out to Houtbaai to take a hike up to Kapteins Peak. I found out about this hike from Mike Lundy's book Best Walks in the Cape Peninsula. The hike was not 100% accurate as per the book, but it was definitely worth it. The wind was blowing something awful, but that was probably a blessing in disguise, since it was quite hot.

As you can see from the panoramic shot, we had a spectacular view from up there. The second picture was just a couple of hundred meters in the opposite direction of the panoramic shot.