An Open Suggestion for Safari Operators
 

This is about what I hope is a concept for business opportunity for safari camps and also (more importantly) helping me enjoy safaris.

I’ve been on several safaris, although not nearly as many as a lot of folk. Eight different camps and around 80 game drives. (Yes, about 10 game drives, or five nights at each camp. The math checks). I also have a very keen interest in photography. What I started finding after about 20 game drives was that I was spending a lot of the game drives hearing and seeing the same things over and over. Why? Mostly because of the “first timers” on game drives. Yes, I admit it, I too was once a “first timer”. But after a while it is sort of like learning and hearing the multiplication number table repeated over and over after you already know it.

So, easy way around this right, simply hire a private game vehicle at the camps. Well, first problem with this is cost, an additional around $300 per day. Second thing is I’d prefer not to be alone on the vehicle. Like minded, like interested, safari companions are fun to be with. So here is my answer and your business opportunity. Provide safaris tailored to the experienced safari goer with an interest in photography. Your previous guests, your “alumni”, invite them back for a safari tailored for “graduate studies” in game drives. (Would not have to be strictly your alumni, any one with sufficient safari experience qualifies). Four alumni to a vehicle, this is important no more than four (photography). Leave earlier in the morning (with maybe a box breakfast) and leave earlier in the afternoon. Simple as that. The guests do not have to be friends or know each other. Just four from anywhere who want to safari in this way. And, all for only another $80 per day (over regular rates). I for one would love it. Just what I want now on safari.

Yes, I know there are safaris operated especially for photographers that do pretty much exactly this. Plus are conducted/instructed by professional photographers. But they are very expensive, most make having my own private vehicle seem cheap.

How exactly you would promote and market this is beyond my understanding of your business. It seems to me it could be a simple extension of your current capabilities. Offer it, I’ll buy it. I invite comments here from any safari operators visiting this forum.

Regards - tom

I'll buy it too! Great idea, Tom.

Here, here Tom.
My sentiments exactly, couldn't agree more! ;-)

Or.. Consider going to the unique camps. Not the just the name ones.

I'd consider it, if you tell me who they are??

Tom,
You have a fantastic idea. We have just returned from safari (Bots) and are getting ready for another (Tanz) in March. Both with private vehicles. I really wish tour operators would recognize the niche you have identified (i.e., safaris designed for experienced clients with a photographic interest). We like to spend time with certain animals so that we can follow and photograph their behavior. Also, waiting for ideal light is something only a photographer can appreciate. Your thoughts are exactly ours. Perhaps we can keep this thread alive and stimulate some discussion and even interest one of the reputable, well known agents or property concessions (Wilderness, Kwando, CC Africa etc.) into offering such a program. Now, off to the over 10,000 images I brought back from Bots, Zam, and Zim.
Best wishes and thanks for a well timed suggestion.
Chuck

Whereabouts in Zam?
Any reports coming up,or pics posted?

Not sure how this should work. We have first-timers, advanced, more experienced, old hands - all with their own preferences. Some still want to see big cats, others small mammals, even others birds or reptiles.

Why a breakfast box? Two hours after dawn light isn't suitable anymore for good photos. From a photographer's view I also regard the time between 16:00-17:00 as a waste, although I enjoy the time just driving around.

$80 extra for a vehicle with only four clients is a good idea, but it doesn't solve the problem of different interests.

I have good experiences with solving such problems in camp. Find other like-minded travellers and tell management to re-group vehicle occupancy. Also tell your guides about your special interests -- most guides are more than happy to show you something different than the "standard program".

Serian Camp at the Masai Mara puts emphasis on photography... whether advanced or newbies. They have a special tent set for all kinds of things related to the subject, lessons to get the best photos, making your own CD/DVD, other... and can provide private vehicles for visitors. Believe they provide the same private vehicles per tent for those who, like you, may have other interests than the first timers to Africa.

Their per/day prices and park fees are a tad higher than other similar camps, but can be the answer to your particular interest.

Like you after years of many game drives in many areas of Africa, I have been out with newbies and experiences safari goers. Good guides do their utmost to ascertain the expertise of those in their vehicles, whether first-timers or repeat, their particular interests... and accommodate accordingly. While I've seen plenty of everything, I still find some repeat viewings of say lions, a kill, elephants, etc. as if it was my first time, as they're all different. However, I may not want to hang at a sighting as long as those who have never... I just go with the flow.

It will come down for you as the visitor to be specific as to what your seeking when booking a particular camp and see what they have to offer. But as you say, there are private vehicles for some, or other activities other than game viewing being offered at different camps/lodges. The smaller camps will likely be the ones who may better be able to consider special services.

Hopefully, some of these camps do read this board. Good idea, Cary!

Over the past year I have read so many helpful tips from the seasoned travelers to Africa on this forum; it was truly amazing to see so many people come together and help each other out with their suggestions, itinerary ideas, pros and cons, etc. But when I read this posting I felt like I was reading an invitation to an elitist "members (or "alumni") only club. I never expected this from the Africa fordites. I thought it a joke when I read it; and then when everyone jumped on the bandwagon, I was truly amazed. Why not just start your own little Africa and only invite those to visit who have been before. What have you learned from traveling to such a giving, spiritual country - the only reason to go is to get the best shot?? Perhaps instead of bragging about how many times you've gone, go less and pay for the private vehicle. That way those of us who quietly enjoy the safari don't have to make room for all the equipment hoarding the space in the vehicles. I know this is going to start something, but this is all I am saying on the subject and I don't even want to come back. I really expected more out of you folks. Privatizing Safaris? Unbelievable

I guess luangwablondes gave a good advice to avoid all this.

Great idea Tom. There should hopefully be a way to make it work... I for one would love that option to the more expensive private vehicle one... though Serian sounds nice.

Ignore the negative person. Most here understand where you are coming from.

Richard

It sounds good on paper, but so many variables come into play, how would the operators accommodate everyone's wishes? You'd have your birders, cat people, elephant lovers etc. Those with the monster camera rigs and me with the canon s3. So a seperate vehicle for each group? Yeah, charge a premium but if all 12-16-? paid the premium and had different goals I don't think there's enough vehicles and guides to go around. Park me amongst a herd of elephants and I'd be happy, but waiting hours for the right light at a lion sighting and I'd go bonkers. Different strokes. The camps could market it as an alumni photo safari, but with space so limited at many camps, would they risk not filling up the camp for specialized safaris when knowing they'll be full without it? Like I said, sounds good on paper but...

Perhaps we could simplify this a bit. Why not simpky group safari veterans into vehicles that spend less time viewing zebra and impala (I'm sure this will also offend someone) and more time with the more unusual species. Watching and photographing sleeping lions is not exciting but watching a feeding leopard in a tree and the hyenas gather below (trying to collect scraps) is facinating to me. Likewise, watching cheetah defend their kill agains jackels and vultures is equally interesting. Good photographic oportunities depend not just on light but on animal interaction. In my humble opinion, Tom has a very good point, certainly worth discussing; certainly it wasn't meant to create an elite safari clique. Come on folks, keep it light.

I agree with Tom, it is a good idea, just how the operators put it together (if they do) would be interesting. With everyone wanting something different on a safari, how to please everyone. Since seeing a cheetah with a kill or a leopard in a tree would be exciting for almost everyone, those sighting are rare, (at least for me as I've never seen either), so what to do in the meantime?

How do operators perfectly accommodate everyones wishes/goals now? Well, I guess we could have game drives that specialize in mongoose, or eagles or what ever. But even with that the problem of different interests will never be 100 percent solved. (Until there is only one guest of the drive). I'm trying to go from guests with 10 percent same interests to 50 percent same interests.

Have you ever belonged to a tennis or golf club that divided players by ability? Or a chess club that does that? Or a soccer club that does that? Yikes !!! Ms AlmostThere - do you play a sport or game or hobby? If you are advanced at it, do you enjoy playing all the time with rank beginners. You don't have to answer, I'm sure you do.

I'm simply trying to make it EASIER/BETTER for everyone. Wouldn't the guide/ranger have an easier time of it if they could narrow the guests interests down some? Would the camp manager feel better knowing his guests are being well taken care of? (Or, if not, what is the manager's job anyway?) Would you/me have an easier/better time knowing that the strategy of our safaris had better definition. Even if the tactics to accomplish it were changing by the minute.

And I agree that although it sounds good on paper, it may not be feasible for safari camps. Yet, I know many camps are flexible about the number of vehicles they send out. You arrange/pay for a private vehicle and they come up with one for you. So it is a matter of organizing such. But if the camps are 90 percent occupied now without doing this then they have no incentive to do it. But again, I say, they would very likely get my repeat business if I could buy this from them.

Sandi actually knows about a camp that has seen some interest along these lines, Serian camp in the Mara. Now that's close to what I'm looking for. Any others like this?

regards - tom
ps - I'm happy to see many folks having the same feelings and discussing this.

Tom,My answer to the sports, chess or game question is this: They would be LOCAL - daily, weekly, or on a regular basis type of interaction. Certainly comparing them to a very expensive safari is not comparing apples to apples. Rather dung to gold in my humble opinion. I am not negative either Mr. Richardfh; I am being realistic....if you cannot accept another one's opinion I would call that rather negative. I just felt the original intent of the posting presented itself in a more "we are better than they" kind of light and I never thought these posts represented that sort of view. A misunderstanding perhaps and if the multi-safari photo travelers do not want a "mix" that is their perogitive. This is a FORUM afterall, and I was giving my OPINION. Seeing the wild in Africa is a once in a lifetime opportunity for so many that I would hate it to become a "us against them" kind of experience. Not good for the lodges I would think. So if you are advanced in the study of game drives, go to an area that is undiscovered and discover the "first time joy" all over again. Don't become jaded is all I have to say. On the other hand, start a club and invite whomever you want, rent out an entire lodge and go for it. Its your choice.
I enjoy a tennis game with a youngster starting out as much as one who has been playing years longer than I could ever believe. It brings a new perspective.
I only responded to this because if anything I am not a negative person; I would cheerfully give up my seat to someone who had never had the opportunity to see a lion/leopard/hyena up close and personal just to see the joy on their face. That is called humanity. Have fun, go for it and perhaps you won't get me in your vehicle.

"...and personal just to see the joy on their face."

That's something what makes game drives in a non-private vehicle very enjoyable to me.

Thank you nyama; I was beginning to think I was the only one who did not only think of the photo shot while on safari. With sadness I feel the "realness" of an African Safari Experience is now trying to be regulated. So with that I sign off...On to other life's goals. But I do thank everyone who gives their all to help with the trip of a lifetime. I learned a lot from these posts and I am now making plans for the next adventure in Africa, just two days return our unbelievable trip. It was a life altering trip and I hope one day my little ones will understand. Best to all.

<b>&quot;...and personal just to see the joy on their face.&quot;

That's something what makes game drives in a non-private vehicle very enjoyable to me</b>- nyama.

Ditto.

I almost routinely now organise my safaris so that I'm sharing a vehicle with friends (almost as good as having a vehicle to myself). However, I have to say that there is a lot of enjoyment in seeing the pleasure of 'newbies'. This is a story I've told before: we were watching cheetah when a trails guide radioed to ask if we could do him and his clients a favour. They hadn't seen cheetah and their safari was in its last moments. So we interrupted our watching to pick his clients up and gave them half an hour with the cheetahs. My pleasure matched theirs. And as for seeing and hearing the &quot;same things over and over&quot;? Every sighting reveals something different, without exception. Just depends how closely you observe.

John

John, I hope I meet you someday. Thanks.

Some interesting ideas here and I can see both sides. I would just like to answer Tom's question regarding camps that &quot;cater&quot; more to photographers. Kaingo is very photographer oriented. They have a guide who is a very keen photographer herself, and if you make your desires known, they will do whatever they can to accommodate you.

At Kaingo I had some very enjoyable game drives with some &quot;newbies&quot;. I saw a lot of emotions - joy, even fear, when during a night drive five lionesses approached the vehicle and passed by in less than two metres. We also left the vehicle and made a walk to approach a leopard at a kill (Patrick was the guide). I can't say if someone made some photos at all - we just were thrilled to meet this cat at eye level... I doubt that any click-clacks and beeps around would have improved this experience.

It is quite fine with me for anyone to do their safari any way they like (as long as they don't endanger the wildlife). I'm simply stating my preferences and trying to stimulate interest in the same.
regards - tom
ps - on Sept 1st we leave for safari to South Africa. My sister will join us, her first safari. I'm very much looking forward to her company.

Nyama, as you know, I take my photography very seriously. But its importance to me is matched by the experience of just watching the interaction of animal with its environment and its fellow creatures (whether it be flies, oxpeckers or major predator or prey). That close and prolonged observation is so important to photography, too. It helps make every shot different.

John

I don't think there's anything wrong with what Tom is suggesting.

I believe that most safari camps attempt to have everyone see the Big 5. If I'm there for 5 or 6 nights and get new people in the vehicle every other day, we are always rushing around trying to find the Big 5 for the new people and it really takes away from my experience. Selfish? Not really. Sure, I want a first timer to see everything and I want everyone to fall in love with Africa like I did. But I don't like being rushed from sighting to sighting just so they can see the main animals. I'm paying the same $$ they are so my wishes/desires should also be considered. A division of people based on experience might be a good thing.

We shared a game drive vehicle with a lady on her 12th visit at MalaMala. She really wanted to see a specific owl. If the ranger had a vehicle full of first timers, I guarantee you we would not have been driving around looking for that owl. Another trip it was my last night in camp and there was a huge, beautiful orange sun. I really wanted to capture that sunset and asked the guide if we could stop. I could tell he didn't want to. And I know why. He wanted the first timers to see the Big 5 and we were running out of daylight.

I don't know why you are calling it an elitist &quot;members (or &quot;alumni&quot;) only club. In many camps, it's a &quot;members only club&quot; in the opposite direction. Game drives are geared to the first time safari goer. What's wrong with putting seasoned safari goers in one vehicle and first timers in another?

PS: If you go to South Luangwa and want a good photographer as guide - ask for Bryan Jackson at Tafika.

John, I would like to go on some game drives (and walks) with you!

You've stimulated discussion, Tom. That's good. I'm sure nobody thinks there's a mob of roos loose in your top paddock :)

John

And I agree John about just watching. I don't go on safari just to take photos, it is the whole experience with nature that captivates me and pulls me back.
regards - tom

&quot;mob of roos loose in your top paddock&quot;, don't know what that is but I'll take it as a complement :-)
regards - tom

I love Tom's idea. In a vehicle on a game drive, not being able to stop and savor the moment because others are in a rush to tick animals off of a list, is frustrating to me. I generally go with the flow, and because I travel alone, I am often out-numbered.

While a little different twist on Tom's original post, this example shows why I think it would be advantageous to all if like-minded people could be grouped together for game drvies. I was at Phinda Forest Lodge and a group seated at my dinner table had just finished a hunting safari. Their list wasn't a photograph list of seeing the big five, but rather a list of what they had killed. I was appalled. They were at Phinda following the hunting safari for a few days of game drives before they went home. I was so glad they were not in my vehicle the next morning. Believe it or not, they were not only on my flight back to the U.S., but live in the same town I do.

I think it would be fantastic if camps can combine people with similar interests on game drives. The single supplement is expensive enough, and a private vehicle is often not an option for me. I am generally happy to defer to others' interests, but as previously mentioned on this post, I've paid the same $$$ as others, and my wishes should be as valid as theirs. No less, no more.

Tom-thanks for posting such a great thread.

Dana

What else but a compliment, Tom? The expression is Aussie humour with about the same meaning as &quot;a brick short of a load.&quot; Surely, north Americans have something similar?

I think your thread is one of the more interesting recent ones. It shows there's more than one way to skin a cat. I personally don't see a need for your concept (some do, obviously, and that's fair enough) because I achieve the same result my way...and it's more certain. There are so many variables in people's tastes that I can only be fairly sure if I &quot;sell&quot; my Africa to a group of newbie friends or go with old hands who have demonstrated <b>to me</b> that they share my preferences. Our 2008 safari to Zambia will be the third time I have applied the above principles. Works a treat.

John

Nyama,

Agreed about the light. However, i'm sure you agree with me that, in non-zooish reserves you need to get a head start to track the animals if you are to photograph them at the appropriate hour!

About the open suggestions of various kinds..... to operators, my suggestion would be to stop wasting their time with different threads every other day re varying topics.

For instance, i firmly believe that the vast amount of travel agents (including those on these boards) give the operators an incorrect picture that the majority of safari goers are looking for the experience of home in the bush, by building these hotelish resort like structures while designing/renovating their camps/lodges. However, i think there are a select few who are shallow enough to want that kind of experience!!! IMHO.........

Tom - I agree with the principle of the idea. However I think (and I suppose Hari agrees), that most safari-goers in the $500+ pppn range are people looking for their creature comforts (strawberries with whipped cream - as Hari would put it). These are often the same people who often are kitted out for their safaris in brand new gear and look like complete fools carrying a ton of photography gear that they havent got a clue about using it. Lodges have been built and tailored around these people and their requirements and they form perhaps 90% of the clientele of all major high-end lodge operations.

The enthusaists like us are a small minority and I somehow feel that the market isnt large or lucrative enough to justify such an operation. I feel the private vehicle option remains the best one.

Find some friends to go with. And if you can't, accept that if you communicate your preferences really clearly in advance, the camp may still not be able to meet all your requirements, but they may do their best. After that you should clearly avoid zoo-ish reserves, so that excludes Mala Mala, and luxury properties, so that excludes Mombo.

Surprisingly, on my recent visit to high-end, lux properties... didn't see a single person/group/family &quot;kitted&quot; out as if walking off the pages of Vogue. All in regular clothing, with a &quot;tan-tone&quot;, but no safari vests, convertible pants, and few with anything more than a 12X digital camera (of course, a few with DSLRs).

With the exception, back in '01 in South Africa, where we saw some guests at Singita kitted in &quot;off-the-pages-of Vogue-safari-cloths&quot; at which most of us had to turn away not to laugh too hard, I more often than not see these outfits on newbies staying at mid-range lodges.

So no blanket descriptions... they just don't hold true from my experiences.

As much as I enjoyed seeing my friend's reactions on her first safari... reminding me why I return again and again, I feel camps should attempt to ascertain what their visitors are seeking, whether for first-timers or repeat visitors.

Believe me, for first-timers, guides go out of their way to find them the Big 5 = bigger tips, and you can take that to the bank. Repeat visitors will tip, of course, even if seeing the Big 5 again, but many hope for something different/unique... how about a Marshal Eagle on the ground with a kill. Boy are they massive, which you can't imagine when they're aloft!

Hey, tom (cary) only made a suggestion for further consideration.

I understand Tom's problem and congratulate him for thinking creatively on how to solve it. When I faced the same situation with the Sabi Sand lodges several years ago, I started looking for safari experiences further and further into the bush. That's when I discovered Zamiba which one of the guides said wasn't &quot;Africa for beginners.&quot; It was for serious safari enthusiasts, offering long game drives with excellent guides that managed to keep the interest of first time safari people as well as avid photographers, birders, and seasoned safari travelers.

I am concerned now with lodges that feel they have to offer a resort experience rather than high-quality game viewing and try to avoid those places that advertise spas and conference facilities.

All the more reason - for different safari goers with different expectations, whether first-timers or repeat visitors many times over:
- basic camps
- lodges
- camping
- small or large lodge or camps
- budget, mid- or high-end costs
- few to or every seat filled in vehicles
- drive only, fly only or combo fly/drive
- the big 5
- birds, cats, culture
- private vehicles
- photography
- tennis, bocci, horseback riding, ATV, camels, walking, spas, even conference facilities

So many countries, different kinds of travelers, many accommodation options.

There's something for everyone regardless how discriminating your wishes or not.

Hari -- you're right with the necessary tracking time, and as I said, I enjoy this time too. My statement was a response to Tom's suggestion to leave earlier in the afternoon, most of the time this is not something I really need on safari. I remember only one time when I left camp earlier for an afternoon drive: at Little Vumbura, when the camp manager told me about a radio call from Vundumtiki about some wild dogs sightings in that area. So I told my guide to leave half an hour earlier and go to Vundumtiki tracking those wild dogs down (after one and a half hour we got them). Regarding departure time for the afternoon drive, this is just an example that preferences of recurrent safari goers and/or amateur photographers can be quite different.

Dana_M -- what if Tom's suggestions were already in place, you'd made your checkmark in the &quot;recurrent safari client&quot; column, and Phinda's booking computer came with the apparently &quot;perfect&quot; vehicle arrangement: two experienced groups of safari goers, even from the same town in the States?

safarilover -- I share your concerns regarding lodges/camps in Zambia. Old times are nearly over.