cary999

Hari - answer just one more please, which of my posts are you referring to?

regards - tom

HariS

Author: cary999
Date: 07/03/2007, 01:22 am
I confess, I just jumped in to stir the pot and try to start "something"

regards - tom

cary999

Well, ok, so be it.

regards - tom

cary999

Walk in camp availability.
It's a question of probabilities for me. I would not like to fly from USA with a low probability of getting a "desirable" camp. But if the probability were high (or certain), then why not "waste" a couple days getting rested before going out to camps?
Now of course the next question is, what is the probability of getting a desirable camp?
How about this, to test this out. Get the telephone number of the Maun office for say Wilderness. Call, tell them you are in town and are thinking about going on safari. What could they suggest for leaving/going/doing in the next couple of days? You think they might give some info, or, you would have to actually appear in person?

regards - tom

nyama

Maun is a small town (for some reason it's still a village), so I don't think it's the best idea to phone WS - most people will certainly visit the office.

Beside that, I don't think this all is something for people who first want to "test" it.

richardfh

In February, offseason for Bots though, I met several people who did exactly this. They each told of stories of showing up at the offices of Wilderness / Sanctuary / Kwando, etc, and booking last minute trips for pretty good savings (even off "green" season pricing). Some do this every trip...

I guess it depends on how selective you are on which camps you visit, and whether you are prepared to fly all that way and take a chance...

Richard

brandywine

I can't say about the month of October or the Ker and Downey properties. But this past June, all four of our camps in Botswana were full every night, except one night at our last camp. We were on a wait list for one of our camps, even though we reserved in July of the previous year (11 months ahead of time). We were also at two camps in Botswana in June of 2005, and both camps were full. October is supposed to be very very hot, but the camps are still considered high season, and charging high season rates. It would seem to me that if the camps typically had a lot of space left in October, that the rates would be lowered to try to encourage more guests, that's just supply and demand, but then I don't know anything about the safari business.

However, in June of 2005, our camps in South Africa were not full, and I think this is reflected in the fact that many of the camps there have low season rates at that time of year, and sometimes run specials or use MTBeds.

I guess it just depends on on comfortable you are in traveling all that distance, spending a lot of money or miles on airfare, taking vacation time, etc. and not having reservations when you get there, and how flexible you are in taking whichever camps are available, or taking shorter stays at camps that only have a night or two available. I think it's really just a personal decision. You seemed to indicate that you are retired and perhaps don't have to pay for flights, so maybe that gives you more time and flexibility.

Shumba

Brandywine,

June is usually pretty full in Bots. People wanting to see the dogs den and with the cooler temperatures. I think I may be right in thinking that it is also slightly cheaper, in the shoulder season? Hence why most people probably choose that time of year.

Moira. Apologies accepted

Tom, as nyama said, this isn't some system to test. It's there, like in all avenues of the service industry to those who are willing to take a calculated gamble. At certain times of year it works out well, you just have to know

You also have to remain very flexible, as people have mentioned, you may not get your 6 nights in one camp. Though if you are only hunting after one room you maybe surprised.

At lot people get the feeling that everywhere is so heavily booked because their trips normally have to rescheduled because of availability. These clashes are normally ironed out by rearranging lodges. Often, this is either due to it being a small lodge, or say a group booking. It becomes more troublesome when people start wanting to combining countries, in a set order for required dates. Still, if you are easy going, what is the difference really between Lebala and Selinda in peak season. Both excellent viewing.

Shumba

PS one of posts has gone walkies?

DebbieG

Thank you, everyone, for all of your input. It reinforced my desire to try to arrange something from Maun or at least South Africa. Another reason that we want to try this is because we fly standby and do not get on the flights if they are full, thus losing thousands of dollars if we have booked camps ahead of time. When we went to Botswana before we left three days early to be sure that we made our flight from JNB. By the way we stayed in Sandton at a reasonably priced hotel I think was called the Sandton Park Plaza, which also had free transportation to and from the airport. Thanks again for all of the help. Debbie

777

WHAT ABOUT THE MISSING POST? WHY?

aby

Thank you Shumba!!

fits me - doing a camping safari with an option to grab an extra good deal...
for me it is some of the most valuable information, i've seen on this forum.

Thanks again

aby

africaddict

Your best bet for last minute bookings is www.mtbeds.com ;-)

Cheers
Marc

Shumba

Aby - A pleasure

WildDogs

Hello DebbieG
we were in Botswana camping in June. We started and ended in Maun, doing a self-drive trip in a camping-equipped landrover. We booked a long way in advance because we'd been told everything would be fully booked. However only one of the campsites (Xakanaxa) was full, most of them were very empty, and staff we were talking to in lodges were saying things were especially quiet. We went with Safari Drive who sortd out all our national park campsite bookings and our vehicles, and were really great. I hope this helps a bit. WD

HariS

wild dog,

no link to your report here?

atravelynn

This discussion has opened my eyes to some fascinating possibilities. If I showed up at the Wilderness office in Maun for a last minute trip, I cannot think of a single Wilderness camp where I would not enjoy spending 2-4 days. I'm sure an itinerary could be cobbled together that would meet my approval, especially at a great discount.

I hope someday does exactly what is described above and tells us how it went.