sniktawk

Highs
1) The wild dog pups at Lagoon, and their apparent survival up till now.
2) Finding out that Zimbabwe was a good, cheap and uncrowded destination.
3) Quality of game sightings in Mara, the crowds came as no surprise but still disappointing.
4) The possibility of new rustic and affordable accommodation in Botswana.
5) Booking a trip to Svalbard with Andy Rouse


Lows
1) The death of Zibilianja
2) Imbabala Lodge Zimbabwe, unbelievably bad.
3) The never- ending expansion of Wilderness Safaris
4) The massive increases in prices everywhere (even if the $ was falling)
5) The succumbing of Etosha to the tourist $.

amolkarnik

sniktawk - Fall of the dollar is to an extent responsible for the price increases.

Matt_from_England

High: within it's first real year of operating, www.safaritalk.net has raised almost 7000 US Dollars for projects in Africa and supplied other things such as bicycles and hand powered torches to children in Zambia.

bearable

Sniktawk,

If I may, can you qualify the following:

How do I plan a Zimbabwe safari?
How has tourism affected Etosha?

I have already done the Kenya/Tanzania circuit in 2007 and planning the next one for 2008. TIA.

sniktawk

Bearable

Etosha first, the upgrading of facilities and doubling and trebling of prices in the NWR camps, has put it beyond the reach of locals and many budget visitors from overseas.

For Zimbabwe try a SA travel agent

skimmer

Highs

1) There are still some hidden gems left for the adventurous traveller
2) Ban on lion hunting in Botswana
3) The people at the camps who gave their best despite the problems they were facing.


Lows

1) The need to satisfy the outrageous needs of a certain clientele at the safari camps
2) The ever raising prices in certain areas so that only the happy few will be able to go there on safari in the future
3) Clients who don't know how to behave while on safari

nyama

bearable -- for planning a Zim safari try Ngoko Safaris (www.ngoko.com). Benson's website currently gives the best overview of what's available in Zim. I also found the team of African Bush Camps (www.africanbushcamps.com) very efficient when it came to bookings (apart from their camp operations they're also acting as TA).

sniktawk, skimmer -- I can't add anything substantial to your lists, but I'm afraid that in this regard 2008 will even show more lows than highs. IUCN should put us on the Red List.

sniktawk

I can also support the recommendations for Zimbabwe, I understand that Beks at African Bushcamps may be starting up mobiles this year.
Skimmer you have it exactly right.
Nyama not a good start with all the headless panic over Kenya.