I was in Botswana at the same time in 2006. Be prepared for hot during the day and cold at night and for your early morning wakeups.

Hoedspruit is only about 2.5 hours from the Kruger gate. You could do one day with your friend and guide in Thornybush and then a day or two doing game drives in the Kruger National Park on your own. Even spend a night in Kruger. Dirt cheap compared to Bots. Just a thought.

I know it's hard to drop a camp - we all want to see as much as possible - but I would consider dropping one of the camps in Bots and adding extra nights at the others or heading to your friend's. The transfers are time consuming and quite expensive. It's also nice to stay at one camp for a longer time to really experience it. If one of them is a dry and wet camp, then four nights is not too many. If they offer walks, request them ahead of time so they have the personnel to do them. We have not had great luck getting to do them if we don't make arrangements ahead of time.

Xaranna is one of those "really expensive ridiculous camps". Great to experience, but just know it's pricey - even for Botswana. I'm not sure if any of the camps are in National Parks. If so, you can't do night drives. In private concessions, there are no rules about night drives and off roading to get closer to the sights. Check on that - private concessions are better IMO. Try to visit a few regions - here's a map. If you browse around, you'll get an idea of where the camps are. Try to hit three different areas and combine wet and dry camps:

http://www.eyesonafrica.net/african-...ana-safari.htm

Sometimes really good deals for Cape Town show up here:

http://www.luxurylink.com/travel-off...ing.php?did=62

Have fun planning!

christabir makes a good point with camp Xaranna. Which reminds me that in addition to the total trip cost you need it broken down into the cost per camp/lodge/hotel, and the cost for each transfer to/between camps, and any other cost that is say more than $200. You then can see that Xaranna is $1,475 a night. ( http://www.andbeyondafrica.com/luxur..._xaranna/rates ). But you probably already know this since you've checked this out like I mentioned before. Two nights, $2,950, hmm, I might would rather spend that on other camps for longer stays. Like in Sabi Sand reserve, hint hint.

regards - tom

Crazy prices!

For $3000 I can get 10 nights of safari, without jeopardizing basic comforts nor quality of guiding. And yes, also in prime areas like Okavango delta, Sabi Sands and Ngorongoro/Serengeti. The only thing I give up is luxury and filling pockets of TAs/TOs with a 15 to 40% markup.

But to each his own. :-D

J.

Ok J, then why don't you help L_B. Ok if she emails you?

regards - tom

NP

pixelpower at telenet.be

But my views and experiences are already on the net (see the trip reports on Aardvarktravel.net for example). So it's not as if I'm going to say anything new. I'm not in the industry so I don't have any property to promote ;-)

J.

J, thanks, and you've also had some great posts -here- for great value camps.

But here's the thing about L_B (and was myself for my first two safaris) being lost about where to go and how to put it all together. Assuming that an agent works for you and with your budget then their other important added value is putting together all of the details. Charter flights between camps, Air Bots? SAA? Precision Air? Gen Air? Fed Air? Ticketing? The timing of flights/transfers, will you arrive in next camp in time for the afternoon game drive? If you have to layover a night in Nairobi before next camp, what hotel do you stay at? How do you get to it? And on and on. And not to mention, someone to call and fix a problem if you have one there. I went to Europe first time, easy-breezy compared to going first time to Africa on safari.

regards - tom

No wonder I knew nothing about Xaranna at those prices. If you dropped that camp, you'd still have a varied and respectable Botswana itinerary and you'd have another 2 days to play with, LB.

Are you doing Thorny Bush after Cape Town when you get back to Johannesburg?

Hi all again!

It is not surprising that everyone has such differing views (with some similarities). We all have ideas about what a safari should be and cost. Since this is my 1st trip (which I have been waiting my whole life to take), I do want to use a travel agent that will help guide me through it. I also want to go somewhat high end, but really want to sleep in the parks in tents and be able to take night drives, maybe doing one fancy lodge in the middle somewhere. I know someone who used &Beyond and had a great trip, but I am open to other suggestions. Here are my latest thoughts:

Fly to Joburg and transfer to Hoedspruit
Spend the 1st 4 days with my South African friend, who will take us to Kruger for 2 days in her car, and one day to Thorny Bush with a guide she knows very well.

Fly up to Vic Falls and spend 2 (3?) days there.

Go to Botswana for 9-10 days. This is where I am most confused about what camps to go to. I want to maximize my wildlife viewing, so I think 3 camps would be good (for 3-4 days each). Does that sound right? It seems like Chobe is the best place for elephant viewing, and Moremi and Savute both sound great for walking, boating, and good density of wildlife. If I do 2 out of those 3, what would be a good 3rd? Do I need to go to Sabi Sands if I am spending 2 days in Kruger? Both Nxabaga and Xaranna (&Beyond Lodges) look beautiful, but might be a lot more luxury (and cost) than I need.

I think we will spend our last 3-4 nights in CT, but will do a few day trips when we are there, before returning to Joburg for flight home (cheaper that way).

About 22 total days including travel.

A few specific questions/comments:

cary999 (Tom, right?), all of those camps are in Botswana, all owned (I think) by &Beyond. How many times have you been? What was your 1st trip like?

atravelyn, thanks for the suggestion about your guide in CT, I will contact him

Cristabir, where did you stay in Botswana?

pixelpower, I am going to read all about your travels and I'm sure I will have some specific questions for you!


Once again, I look forward to your responses!
Laura

If you are going with your friend to Kruger and Thorny Bush, you would not need to go to Sabi Sands. You'll be off to a great start with an insider.

2 nights Vic Falls is enough unless you wanted to do bungee jumping and white water rafting, plus other activities.

I would not do Chobe and Savuti if you are going 3 places in Botswana. I'd pick one, keeping in mind Chobe has more people, but also has an abundance of wildlife along the river and viewing it from the river is unique.

If you wish to stick with AndBeyond, they have Chobe Under Canvas or Savuti Under Canvas and Moremi Under Canvas. You could add Sandibe camp to that. If you wanted to be able to do a mekoro (long narrow boat that is poled by skilled polers) ride in the Okavango, see if that is possible at Moremi Under Canvas; if not you could trade Sandibe for a water camp such as Nxabaga from AndBeyond or from another company, such as Little Vumbura from Wilderness.

As pricing starts coming in, don't rule out a mobile safari. These are very comfortable and you see lots of wildlife. I did one with Wilderness and a mobile is probably how I'd return to Botswana. AndBeyond does mobiles and so do other companies--Masson, Capricorn, plus more.

L_B
AS you may have guessed I go to Africa only for safari. Well, except for a couple days looking at the landscape around the Great Escarpment, South Africa, near Kruger. I have not been to CapeTown etc. Most of my safaris have been in South Africa, six different camps and Kruger Park. Kings Camp and Kruger I have been to 4 and 3 times respectively.

Botswana - I have been to only one camp there, Khwai River Lodge, it was ok but I don't recommend it. So I have little to say about Bots camps from experience. But have read reports and heard of excellent camps there. Been to one camp in Kenya and two camps in Zambia. And this Feb 2011 will safari 15 days weeks in Tanzania.

"What was my first trip like?" Sep of 2005, wonderful. At camps in South Africa, Zambia, and Botswana. Although if I did it again, I would change a couple things as we did for our 2006 safari. For 2006 went back to South Africa and Zambia then Kenya.

Here is my Fodors trip report for that 2006 safari ( I did not write one for 2005)-
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...4&tid=34881694
And my report for the last one in Sep of 2009-
http://www.fodors.com/community/afri...p-sep-2009.cfm
(The others for years 2007(2) and 2008 are also on Fodors, if you're really crazy :) ).

regards - tom
ps - photos for all safaris at - http://tomgraham.smugmug.com/

Laura - that sounds like a perfect plan. Did the same in a different order in 2006. Kruger with your friend should be great - I'm glad you are going before Bots. It's an entirely different experience. No need for Sabi Sands. Next time!

We stayed at all Wilderness safari camps. Two premier camps and one classic camp. By far we enjoyed the classic camp better! Even if I had unlimited funds I would not choose the high end camps, except maybe Mombo. It felt weird (I'm sure there's a better word) to have such extreme luxury out in the bush. We stayed at Kings Pool, Duba Plains and Vumbura Plains for seven nights. I would go to Little Vumbura next time. If you are interested in WS camps, fill in the contact page at their website and they will give you contact info for a local TA. You're in the NY area? Let me know if you'd like the contact info for mine. They will book with both &beyond and WS, and our last trip did bookings for us that they'd never done before. (it was flawless!)

My only advice is to try to stay on private reserves so you can night drive and off road.

Christabir, thanks, this helps a lot. Did you use Wilderness Travel or Widerness Safaris? (I just recently discovered that they were not the same)! I am confused that you say a local TA will book either, because I thought they each had their own booking agents. I would love the contact that you used.

I am also interested in what were the differences between the premier camps and the classic ones. I too do not want over the top luxury in the bush (but don't want to rough it either). Good advice about staying on private reserves because the night drives sound amazing.

Thanks, Laura

Laura - I used classicafrica.com. Pierre and Margaret are very good. They can book any camp you want - and the more input you give them the better. True for any agent. Their website is good, but be clear that a great experience is more important than luxury. Logistics might prevent going to both WS and &beyond - I'm not sure if the charter flights go from one to the other.

Wilderness Safaris owns and leases many camps. Wilderness Travel is a travel outfitter. You can ask ten people and you'll get ten very different opinions of WS. I'm not getting into it, as I don't have strong feelings one way or the other. Go to their website and really read up on each camp. They have sightings for each month, camp news and good descriptions. The classic camps are perfect for me. Ensuite flush bathrooms, very comfy beds and they are well-appointed, but really nice basic. The luxury camps have individual plunge pools, HUGE tents, wasteful showers. Ugh. And the prices are way too high when you are there for the wildlife.

Have fun planning. It's lots of fun. BTW, Classic Africa can arrange for tours, etc in CT, too. You will get sticker shock, so keep the mobile option open! And ask the TA how you could lower your cost a bit. Are you solo? If so, &beyond might be your best bet. I really hope I'm not wrong about them booking &beyond in Botswana - we did WS in Bots and &beyond in SA.

Laura: I have stayed in both the classic and premier camps in Botswana w/ Wilderness Safaris several times, and as christabair mentions, the classic camps are VERY nice. I laughed as I was reading christabairs description of the premier camps because I was just thinking that the main difference I found was that the premier camps have tents the size of small apartments...it was beautiful, but not the reason I was in Africa. That being said, if I was a zillionaire, I would go and stay at Mombo forever! I agree with everyone that the 2 nts. at Vic Falls and a shortened stay in Capetown are the way to go. Personally, longer stays and less hopping around are a plus IMO. As atravelynn mentions, it is worth checking the prices on a mobile safari in Botswana, they are really fun. You are off to a great start with the planning, yes, the options are mind boggling, but it is part of the adventure!
Pat

Here's one more vote for classic camps. If there were no such thing as premier, you'd have no trouble believing classic is the top of the line. Nice furnishings, attention to details in decorating, very comfortable. Upon entering I would expect most people to be moved into saying something like, "Wow," "Oh my goodness," "This is beautiful," etc.