monkeymel

My Fiance and I are planning on going to Botswana on Safari next summer for our honeymoon. We have done some extensive research on which camps we would like to visit but I am looking for advice/recommendations from other travelers who have been there. We are in uur mid 30's pretty adventerous and we love to travel. Our main inerest is to see the animals and don't need to stay at camps that have marble floors although we would like to include at least one camp that is luxury.
Your advice is greatly appreciated

Kavey

Monkeymel, do you have a ROUGH budget per night that you would be willing to share? There is such a very wide range in price points for Botswana that it would really help to have an idea of your budget as one person's "reasonable" is another's "stratospheric" and another person's "luxury" is another person's "budget"!

Also, how long do you have and are there any particular animals/ birds that you would really, really love to see?

monkeymel

The two camps we think we are certain of so far is Duba Plains and Sandibe Camp. We wanted something possibly in Linyanti area of which I know Wilderness Safari owns most of the camps I have not however been able to find any reviews on them in any of the books we purchased. The other one we were considering was Camp Moremi. Our last option is CC Africa has just began running traveling camps called Chobe or Savuti Under Canvas. They go ahead of the group and set up tents with beds, bathrooms etc and it seems more of a real camping experience with a little luxury but like I said they just started offering this in May of this year so I don't know of any reviews out on it.

We are mianly intersted in seeing the Hippos, Lions, Cheetahs, Elephants, Buffalo basically all the large animals. We would like to do day and night game drives as I think that a night drive must be completely different than during the day. In addition we would like to take a ride in a Mokoro.

We don't desire to stay in camps that look like modern hotels as we feel that will take away from the entire experience. That said we would like to stay in at least one of the camps that are considered nicer.

We have neen dreaming of taking this trip for a long time and we knew our honeymoon would be the prefect time and we really want to do it right.

monkeymel

I forgot to mention we are looking at a total of 8 - 10 nights it's all dependant on what some of the outfitters we are considering using offer us. One more thing is we would like to do one night at Victoria Falls and are torn wheather to stay on the Zambia or Zimbabwe side. We have read where people do not recommend staying on the Zimbabwe side at all while others suggest that the countries unrest is in no way prevelant in the Victoria Falls area. I have read that the Victoria Falls Hotel is extremely nice. Others have also told us that by staying no the Zambia side we would be required to have Yellow Fever Vaccinations and that what you see on the Zambia side is not the same as Zimbabwe?

mpkp

You do not need yellow fever vaccine for Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, or Namibia. So don't worry about it!

HariS

Monkeymel,

You mention cheetah - they are hit or miss, especially if you are going to be doing a lot of camp hopping with two and three night stays. But, there's possibility of seeing them in the Linyanti or certain Delta concessions.

Linyanti area (from North to South - Lagoon, Lebala, Selinda, Zibadianja, Dumatau, Savute) would be options for you. Chobe would be very good for your elephant/buffalo viewing too in the dry months.

Lions - You should be able to see them at most places. But, I suppose you have Duba on your list for specifically this ......

mgquil

Monkeymel,

I was in Zambia and Botswana in May. We stayed in what I would call first class lodges. In Zambia we stayed at Tongabesi. It is a very romantic setting. The tree house unit is open to the river with only the mosquito nets between you and the outdoors. We had the # 4 room. We had a sitting area and then you enter the bedroom. Private bath with a shower and old claw tub. They light candles in the sitting area and in the room and bathroom at night. The food is wonderful. You can take a side trip and see the only white rhino in Zambia.

We stayed at Sandibe and Nxabega in Botswana and would recommend either. Sandibe's room has solid walls and a wonderful outdoor shower. Nxabega is a tent up on a wooden platform with a shower. Both have great food. Both have am and pm game drives. Still miss the sundowners.

In Botswana we saw elephant, hippo, Kudu, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, Tesessebe, buffalo, steenbok etc. At Sandibe we saw 3 lions, a mother and 2 teens. At Nxabega we saw the leopard. Gail

PredatorBiologist

All of the Linyanti options that Hari has listed are outstanding for wildlife viewing and any would be very good choices to combine with the areas that you are already interested in.

If you want to save a nice chunk of change which might help you have a 10 night safari rather than the 8 nights I would suggest you look at Linyanti Bush Camp, assuming you are talking northern hemisphere summer and thus Botswana dry season. The camp has more of the vintage safari simplicity to it but is supposed to still be very nice and comfortable. They have some of the best guides around, originally from Zimbabwe, and have a great area for walks as well as game drives during that time of year.

sniktawk

I would like to second Bills recommendation especially for the period June to August, the marshes abound with game, you can also visit the North West of Chobe from there a very uncrowded area.

torrem

monkeymel,

if you're looking for reviews/descriptions of botswana Camps, I recommend you visit www.eyesonafrica.net and www.botswana-travel-guide.com, I found both extremely useful when planning my trip

atravelynn

Congrats on your marriage.

I would recommend 4 nts at Duba in case the lions have just killed before you got there, as they did when I was there. With 4 nts you have enough time to see the range of hunting activities and lion-buff interactions. Also if the pride heads to where vehicles cannot go because of water you have a few days for them to return.

Based on your comment of no marble floors, I think Duba Plains would suffice for your luxury camp. The other camps you mentioned will too. The level of comfort, service, and food provided by quality camps is very high.

I am sure you are aware that these camps will cost in the $1500-$2000 range per night for a couple.

monkeymel

Thanks for all the help and recommendations. We are currently waiting to hear back on availability at the camps and think that we have decided to stay on the Zambia side for Victoria Falls. Almsot every outfitter we have spoken thus far has advised not to stay in Zimbabwe.
We have done a lot of research and are aware of the cost of the camps. The only thing at this point we would like to see is some kind of itemized pricing from outfitters which none are willing to provide. We are not used to booking travel with agents or outfitters as all of our travels outside of the country we have booked ourselves. We are interested to see what the average mark up is when using outfitters.

atravelynn

You can try to find some pricing on e-gnu.com. It may not be exact, but puts the accommodations listed in perspective.

Please post when you have the camps.