Safari How-to.

Caution, this post contains some serious information. Look away now if you can't handle the truth.
Here are the bare facts of how Safari works.
We meet on Outlands sim, Metropolis Grid. When there are problems tp'ing to Outlands, our Fallback meeting area is Futurelab sim, also on Metropolis grid. Thanks to Art Blue for the fallback option, and Nara Malone  who donated Outlands, and the people at Zetamex who donate the server space.

          We meet at 12.00pm SLT, that's 9.00pm in Europe. The Safari lasts three hours. We usually have 3 destinations, the first we head for at about 9.15, the second at around 10 and the third an hour or so after that. The times are approximate, but that is when the grid or region owners are expecting us. It can freak them out when Safari people show up much earlier than expected, by the way, especially if they have some sort of presentation planned.

          There is a notecard dispenser on the verandah at Outlands, containing the LMs for our destinations. The notecard is often only placed there just before Safari takeoff time, since our watchword is *chaos*. Make sure you have joined the HG Safari group inworld, so you can see the group chat. We also put the notecard in the Announcements, so you can access it from anywhere on Metropolis.

Do you want to come on Safari but are likely to be late and need assistance with grid jumping? Before the Safari begins - well before time - send Thirza Ember or Wizzy Gynoid a message in Google+ or on Facebook, or an inworld message in Metropolis. We'll organize a limo.  Want to help the Safari? Open an IM with the other people in the group when Safari starts. That way you can tell if someone disappears off radar. Friend everyone. If you or they manage to jump to the destination, you can tp the other party. No creepy behavior with the friending or the IMs please, or Wizzy will stomp on you. Unless you're into that. Also, notecards with suggestions of grids we might visit are always welcome.

          How to grid jump with the Safari
 The sim -any sim - can only handle so many Teleport requests at a time. Please be patient. Here are some strategies (probably snake oil) to get around the problem of freezing or Failed TP issues.
1. Make sure your graphics are set to Low and minimize the number of programs you're running that are using bandwidth.
2. Have the LM ready and jump immediately we announce we're on the move. Drag the LMs off the Notecard into your inventory before trying to use them.
3. Alternatively, wait until most of the people around you are gone before trying to jump. (I'm always last, so don't mind me.) Let us know in Local Chat what strategy you're using, so others can help you if something goes awry.
4. Still can't jump? Make a quick tp hop to another sim on the same grid - the Default sim of the grid is often the best, on Metro that's Startregion - and then try again from there.
5. Use the HG address instead of the landmark. That means opening your Map, pasting the HG Address (also called URI, you'll find one on the Notecard for each Destination) into the Search box, press Search, WAIT till the Map finds the region, then - wait some more! and some more! - and then hit Teleport. If the map says "Region not Found" or "Not Authorized" or any of the other bs messages it often throws up, double check the address you put in Search, or move your avie to another part of the sim, or a different sim, and try again. It sometimes helps to take the sim name off the end of the HG Address (Example: instead of hypergrid.org:8002:Outlands  just put hypergrid.org:8002 and you'll arrive at Startregion. From there, just type Outlands into the Map.)