Does 'serviced camping' equal 'no laundry'?
 

I have read where some of the serviced camping safaris include chemical toilets and bucket showers. I would think the chances are slim that they would provide laundry service -- correct? Most people have said only take enough clothes for 3-4 days because you can get it done almost everywhere you go. Is this type of safari the one exception?

Hi ALadyNCal - depending the accessibility and the mode of transport, a few camps / safari operators could ask you to limit your luggage to something around 10kg packed in a soft sports bag or similar. This would equate to the 3-4 days you mention and thus you could safely assume that limited laundry services would be available (sometimes there would be a nominal extra cost).

What the camps don't like a situation where a person, who is only staying 1-2 nights, proceeds to dump a weeks worth of washing on the staff and expects it done post haste.

ALady,

I'm curious about this too. Where are you going? I do know that Nomad Tanzania (semi-permanent camps) say they do laundry on their website. But are you talking about totally mobile? I would think that the really high-end private mobile camping safaris employ about a dozen washerwomen; after all, who else keeps the butlers uniforms clean? ;)

I do know Alwaysafrica went on a camping safari for...26 days in Tanzania. I can't recall what she said about laundry.

I just wondered if since they are offering 'bucket showers' (in some cases) that they are not really set up to do any laundry for you -- yet you could be on a 8-12 day safari.... Would you then need to factor in 2 weeks of clothing instead of 3-4 days.

Leely -- Not sure if I'm going to end up on a serviced camping safari yet, but I am definitely aiming for Botswana :)

It would depend on your safari operator, and probably on the length of stay, so you should ask them. I've been on a walking safari with chemical toilets/bucket showers for nearly two weeks, moving camp about every three days (in Zimbabwe), and laundry was done.

I tried to add a clarification to my reply, but it got lost somewhere...hope it doesn't turn up in another thread.

You should still ask, but the odds are that you won't be without laundry service. Parts of safaris I've done in Botswana and Kenya also involved two or three days in mobile camps with portable toilets and showers. Laundry was done except on 'moving day'. It would be unrealistic not to provide laundry service when luggage limits such as 10-12 kg in soft bags are applied.

Thank you -- that's good to know. I will verify directly with the operator if I go that route :)