cutbackk44

Looking to book 7-8 days in Botswana mid-Aug.

Has anyone been able to book packages with first class lodges/service and feel they
have gotten a nice discount or stretched their travel dollar?

I feel the need to shop around with these rates...

Thanks!

luangwablondes

McKenzie Safari and Travel in Maun.

luangwablondes

McKenzie Safari and Travel in Maun.

cary999

I've heard from good sources that if you simply show up in Maun and go to agents there are many safari camp vacancies/available at cut rate prices. I sure would like to see a days sample of such. Maybe someday I'll get up the courage to try it. My problem with doing that is risking two long plane flights (from USA) and a couple thou for the ticket.

regards - tom

qwovadis

http://www.porini.com/kenya.html?sub...e-lodge-safari

great values in Botswana.

might look at that.

if flexible about country

travelzoo.com has some awesome SA safari packages right now.

Careful many local touts scammers on line insuremytrip.com

always pay with CC never wire money.

If it seem to good to be true it probably is.

Happy Hunting,

Safari_Craig

You will never be able to show-up in Maun in August and find any deals. You will also have no chance of getting a decent camp. Most of the good camps are already at theoretical capacity (i.e. sold out) for August 2011. In addition, of the eight permanent lodge chains in Botswana I don't know of any of them that ran any discounts in August even during the recession in 2009. This is the peak of peak season. The only exception would be Orient Express that runs acutions on luxury link.

Theoretical capacity? This means the lodge may have an available "tent" for one night wedged between nights when the camp is full. They call this a "dead bed" because it can't be sold since it is not a very nice experience to go to a lodge for one night. In the end, agents will sometimes end up traveling on these one night itineraries.

Atravelynn was supposedly going to show-up in Maun last August and try this so maybe she will chime-in her with the results of her endeavor.

Craig Beal - owner - Travel Beyond

Safari_Craig

cutback44 - I received an email from a respected member ofthis forum so i want to ammend my comment above. when you said "first class" i interpreted that to mean some of the lodges frequented by typical clients of US based tour operators. specifically, these lodges could be sanctuary, orient express, or widlerness safari lodges. i can't speak with any authority on the other lodge chains or independent lodges. good luck with your plan. i think atravelyn could provide some useful feedback.

craig beal - owner - travel beyond

skimmer2

Looks like not all of the WS properties are sold out in August 2011. F.e. Duma Tau and Chitabe Lediba. -> see website Africa Travel Resource (click on a lodge and select item: prices)

Example: http://www.africatravelresource.com/...ability-offers

Same applies for Sanctuary properties : f.e. Chief's camp

Travel agents will always tell you it's not possible to book directly as they don't see any commission if you do so.

In green season, you'll be able to choose amongst most of the lodges, while in August your choice will be limited but I would be surprised if you won't be able to put a decent itinerary together.

A good idea will also be to contact Mc Kenzie Safari and Travel in Maun and see if they can offer you a decent last minute deal.

If you have to pay the high season rack rates, you'll better look for another destination.

Kind regards,

J.

Safari_Craig

As of today, Chitabe (an excellent camp) has consecutive nights available on Aug 1-4, 22-23, and 28-29.

Space at Xigera looks good for the second half of the month.

Seba is good all month.

Like I mentioned above, move everything else at least with Wilderness Safaris appears sold-out with the exception of one night open spots here and there.

Craig Beal - owner - Travel Beyond

Safari_Craig

Not sure what is up with the ATR site mentioned above. The availability matrix on that site for Chitabe and Chitabe Ledibe does not match Wilderness Safris online agent availability chart at all for the dates Aug 1-15.

Craig Beal - owner - Travel Beyond

skimmer2

Craig,

What about Chitabe Lediba,Duma Tau or Jao, three other properties marketed/owned by WS?

Looking at the website of Africa Travel Resource there also seems to be a lot of space in other camps (Sanctuary,Kwando, And beyond).

And I am sure that the other operators like Orient Express, DDS, Footsteps in Africa also haven open bednights.


J.

skimmer2

Craig,

Our posts crossed but I am sure you don't have the intention to imply that ATR is providing wrong/outdated information. Pretty sure they are updating this info on a regular basis otherwise they will make a fool of themselves.

As WS and other operators don't have any transparency around their bed nights and block bookings, we only have your word to say that most WS properties are theoretically booked at full capacity.

Safari_Craig

I am not sure who is right and who is wrong. Maybe both web sites are wrong. ATR and WISH do not agree with regards to Chitabe availability in August. I did not check any further than that. WISH is the online availability tool for Wilderness Safaris. I am not sure where ATR get's their information. I thought you told me several years ago that ATR had to "take down" their availability?

The block booking remain a challenge as one never knows what inventory will open-up at the 90 and 60 day position prior to travel.

Are you suggesting this traveler could cobble together a nice itinerary if they show-up in Maun in August? I think we had this discussion years ago on this forum and, to this day, nobody has ever posted a verifiable story of getting a good itinerary at a discount on a walk-in basis in Maun in August. Perhaps someone could get a seven night itinerary at seven different camps.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...9284-k3848690-

Craig_Beal_s_question-Botswana.html


Craig Beal - owner - Travel Beyond

skimmer2

Craig,

In the past ATR showed how many beds per night were open for the WS camps? Then availability for the WS camps suddenly disappeared on their website.

ATR upgraded their website and apparently they are showing again for which dates WS camps still have availability.

For other operators like f.e. Kwando you can still see how many beds (per night) are open.

I remember that discussion on the other forum very well as I initiated it.

The occupancy of a lot of safari camps is still not back on pre-recession levels so ...

I agree that occupancy at the WS camps will probably be higher than at the camps of other safari operators but that is as far as I go. And WS hasn't a monopoly on luxury/quality sightings.

To end: not everyone is interested in sharing his/her experiences on travel forums (for whatever reasons) but that doesn't mean this strategy isn't possible. Advantages and disadvantages can be found in the Tripadvisor thread.

Johan

tanya_1976

Hi cutback44

The local agents ( not ex-JNB specifically ) but most of them ex-Maun that are highly recommended here are

1.) The Booking Company

-highly endorsed by number of repeat safari goers here

This might be of interest

http://www.fodors.com/community/afri...wana-agent.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/afri...suggestion.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/afri...r-174872-2.cfm

Others recommended by HariS ( multiple trips to Kwando properties ) in the 2nd & 3rd link (copied and pasted the info below as well):

2.) Safari Destinations in Maun - Write to Karin Bullock
3.) Elusive Africa Safaris - Contact person would be Gwen
4.) Penduka Travels in South Africa - Monique Steyn.

I couldnt find the Elusive Africa Safaris' website but they do have a contact number on the ATTA webpage and based out of Zimbabwe.

Penduka has offices in Maun and in SA ( George, Garden Route, SA)

I also follow Erica's feedback on Tripadvisor as I find her replies very balanced. I havent had the chance to interact with her beyond her answering a few of my queries. She is based out of Maun and her company is

5.) Safari Specialists

I have bookmarked these references for future use so hopefully this is what you are looking for!

Also, if you research on the 8 lodge chains thoroughly, you will see most of them are very comfortable and luxurious. I personally would probably choose 80 to 90% of my camps from WS/Kwando for the location/game but would mix and match with other lodge operators for the balance 10% ( for this and future dream trips )

I just changed 2 nights from Tongabezi in Zambia to Kanana Camp in the Delta, a camp which 2 months back I hadnt heard about but which on research yielded very positive reviews for an affordable, very comfortable end to my trip in the Delta ( relaxed, mokoros, walking safris, not game dense but great for birds, exclusive heronry etc etc). What I am trying to say is that there is a lot more options and variety in Botswana than what the first 2-3 conversations would yield with a TA, so keep digging/researching (though you might need to book sooner than later for August if for nothing else than to start planning the other aspects of your trip! )

This is not on availability but I compared the ATR prices yesterday with the rack rates quoted on EOA for Dec 2011 for camps in my trip.

Seems ATR's site is quoting USD 300 less than the EOA rack rates per day per person (inc single supplement ) for a single stay in some camps like LV, Duba. (Seems both camps are supposed to have a surcharge over other classic camps so maybe this is the surcharge not reflected in ATR's prices?). So which one is the correct one?

For Mombo and Chitabe the difference is around USD 50-90 per day. For Kalahari Plains Camp, EOA has a lower price ( by USD 30). I didnt compare for ALL the camps except for some other camps think EOA's info on rack rats quoted lower ( cant remember which ones but searched some other WS and Kwando properties as well as Ker & Downey )

Weird as most agents advise that on websites one cannot quote less than the RSP. So is RSP different for different agents now or these rates are just ballparks with high rounding errors?

Even wierder, as even with ATR's camp pricing better by almost USD 2K for my set of camps, ATR's total quote ( including private vehicle and flights) to me was 10% higher than where I booked.

Maybe it has something to do with ATR padding up the PV and the flights ( USD 357 for the 5 minute trip between Duba and Vumbura for 1PAX and USD 637 from Kalahari to Mombo ( 1 PAX)?). Or maybe these ARE the actual flight rates?

Basically cutback44: There are lots of places margins can be padded up and hopefully not all agents do this. and hopefully the nicer ones will throw in some discount as well.

Your best bet for discount for August ( if you want to book much before reaching Maun) would be to press hard for your Agent's 'own discount' & a split of each item in the pricing for sanity check. However as in ATR's case with me, just because someone provides a split of each cost item, does not mean they have given the best rates. So you will really need to rely on multiple sources to get more precise info.

PS : Also in May/June WS might ( or might not ) announce the extension of stay7/pay 6 since the current one expires on June 30th. I personally wouldnt wait to book for this as it might be cutting it too close (and for nothing) but you might want to discuss the probability of this with your agent and also check if they can get this discount for you in August even if its not advertised as such.

Cheers
Anita

HariS

Hello,

Since my name has come up in Anita's post ........

shall add ...... The Booking Company - contact person would be - Ernest Tafhi.

If you are reading this in the UK - ExpertAfrica is probably amongst the best agents available for Botswana. Have met many of their clients, specifically at the Kwando camps. With regards to their pricing, I haven't a clue - best to write to them!

Regards,
Hari

luangwablondes

So, have we established which ones are discount Tour Operators yet or just a repeat of the same old agents?

wildcatzoo

As someone who DID book last-minute in Maun, I can say it can be done! We ended up at Vumbura Plains. This was in November 2007. Trip report at http://www.cathouse-fcc.org/africa07.html

Nancy

cary999

Thanks wildcatzoo/Nancy. Do you recall, did you have several camps to choose from?

I'd venture to say that at -every- safari camp I've been to I have seen room vacancies. Recently at Ndutu Lodge this Feb 2011, peak time of year there. A fellow came to the office at lunch time and asked about room for -that- night and next night. They had a vacancy, but fellow declined the rate saying they would stay in the camper they were using.

Although some of the vacancies I've seen were likely the "dead bed" as mentioned by Craig above. Which be unreasonable to have to transfer camps every night or two weeks.

regards - tom

luangwablondes

Wouldn't the dead beds you speak of be the ones normally reserved for pilots and guides(brought along by clients)?

I am speaking about a travel agent that discounts normal accommodations, not these dead beds.