Wild chase earns tourist outfit top web domain
A safari company's year-long hunt for a sought-after internet home had all the elements of a Hollywood movie, and ended with South Africa's most expensive web domain deal.
Geek sleuthing, private investigators, a secretive and mysterious American owner and a roadside-diner rendezvous were part of Afritrip's efforts to secure Safari.com.
The online tour operator, which specialises in safaris, faced losing 80% of its business when pending legal action from South African National Parks, which wanted Krugerpark.com as its main portal, forced it to sell. Then CEO Ric Meulemans came across Safari.com. Chief operating officer Alexis Boshoff said: "It was just this dormant placeholder website with a few safari listings. Nothing had changed on the site since the '90s."..
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