Do Satellite Phones Really Work?
 

Unfortunately, a crisis is brewing on the homefront and I need to be "reachable" during my upcoming safari. Has anyone had any experience using rented satellite phones at Kenyan game parks? Or other parks for that matter. Thanks.

We, too, are in a similar situation, and have planned to rent a satellite phone for our stay in South Africa (Hluhluwu), Botswana, and Vic Falls. How effective are they in these areas?

Also, since I have never actually "seen" one, can anyone tell me about how big they are, and how heavy? Thanks.

Who are you renting it thru? We will probably have to rent one also.

Satellite phones work everywhere if the provider has coverage and you have a wide view of the sky.

My business depends on it.

Nowadays, the more expensive phones are only slightly bigger than cell phones (not the small flip phones, I am talking about a decent size cell).

Older sat handsets (Motorola 9500 for example) are about the size of a telephone handset.

You point the antenna to the sky, wait for it to register and dial! There is a short delay due to the distances so try to talk a bit slower and ask the other person to do the same.

They work inside tents but not so good under thatch and near or inside buildings.

Make sure to bring enough batteries and/or a charger.

In terms of providers, Iridium and Inmarsat work great for me. I tried Thuraya once and it worked too.

GSM Cell phone coverage is getting better. Most of the time nowadays I use the cell with different SIMs depending on the area. Safaricom in some aears, Celltel in others.

But I use my satellite for data transfers (emails, etc)

You might have seen some of drama on another thread......i bought an unlocked cell phone from ebay ( $ 50.00)
and am planning to buy SIM cards to use in Africa.......i feel more secure knowing that i have a phone to take...........of course, now i have to figure out how to use the little thing

I took a look at your itinerary, and you should be able to get cell service in Amboseli, Meru, and the Mara. Not sure about Lewa. As mentioned above, you can buy both Safaricom and Celtel SIMs in case one carrier has coverage and another doesn't. Or if you're using your home provider's international roaming, they probably have agreements with both carriers and it'll switch between the two depending on what you can pick up.

Thanks for all the info, everyone. I ended up renting an Iridium satellite phone from a place on the web called satphonestore.com. They had pretty good rates and the phone allegedly arrives tomorrow via UPS.

When I told the people in crisis mode what my options were, they seemed much more comforted by the idea of me having a satellite phone than a cell phone. Now I'm just hoping they lose the number. :)

Hello,

You made a good choice with Iridium - it's the only sat phone company with truly global coverage. The others all have holes in their coverage. Hopefully you won't need it, but it will be there if you do.

Cheers,
Julian

No Satellite phones for me.....they are banned in India.