My question to my TA regarding the World Cup and safari camps
 

With the recent and will be ongoing questions here about how the June-July World Cup in South Africa will affect safari camp demand, I emailed the question to my TA at VIP Travel, Brea CA. VIP travel leans towards the more exotic or high-end travel destinations. I have worked with them and their sister branch, Brea Travel, for many years. Anyway, bottom line is he foresees problems only with airline flights.

My email question to my TA-
On the Fodors Africa travel forum there is discussion about the SA World Cup, June-July, and impact, if any, on safari camps. Will World Cup visitors fill the safari camps enough that other safari goers will be forced to safari out into Sep and Oct ? Or, are the camps slow enough in June-July (winter) anyway that they can handle the extra visitors? Then the extra safari business outside of June-July would be only as the WC visitors linger on a couple weeks for safari. Are you seeing anything like this now, what do the industry experts (like you) expect?

His reply (not verbatim quote)-
We have several clients going to the World Cup. I don't see too much pressure on safari game lodge accommodations by WC goers. First of all, as you pointed out, June/July is not the prime game viewing period. Also, hotels in the WC site cities require a 4 or 5 night minimum stay. One operator offers a 5 nights package with 1 soccer event, staying at the Mt. Nelson in Cape Town, for more than $6000 per person plus about $2200 for airfare. Not a cheap trip.

Then, it seems that soccer fans are not necessarily safari types. From my perspective, accommodations in the game lodges (at least the ones we use) will be available. City stays during match days are a little bit more challenging. I do however anticipate some problems with air transportation for anyone going to South Africa during the WC period. The second drawing for tickets will be in December, and by that time I fear that all cheap air reservations will have been taken up by those who got tickets in the first round. Travel via London, Frankfurt, and Amsterdam will be difficult as local fans will grab those seats even though local airlines will offer charter flights during that period.
end of TA reply

regards - tom

Thanks for this, Tom. We are in the initial planning stages of our 2010 WC/Safari Trip. Our first priority is booking our 4 seats from LAX-JNB. We won't know until December where "our" team will be playing, so will not be able to book hotel, safari camps or any other transportation until then. Most people attempting to plan this type of trip are in the same boat, so that could be why your TA isn't seeing the bookings in the safari camps yet. I'm assuming that will change come December.

Does Brea travel/VIP Travel only book the high-end experiences, or do they handle more moderate budgets? The planning of this trip is already stressing me out, and I would love to have a local well-recommended agent to help with this.

i recommend you book virgin-atlantic for your flights. a client of mine got airline tickets today JFK-JBB June 10-25 for $2,400 per person.

i know phinda is almost sold out. botswana has pretty good space availability right now. the later part of the summer is more difficult to find space (7/15-8/31/2010).

craig beal

lvk - it will be interesting to ask the question again later in the year and see if any noticeable changes. Also, this is his perspective, other TAs might be seeing it differently. However, Brea Travel, VIP, is not a "one man" office and have a large client base in Orange County. Every November they sponsor a "Travel Fair" that has probably 40 travel companies and fills all day with visitors. Even Disneyland has an official representative there. (No, not Mickey :-) ).

You are in southern CA, yes? Then you know about where Brea is, Orange County. Brea Travel has been in business since 1960, we discovered them perhaps 20 years ago when we kept bouncing around looking for a knowledgeable and helpful travel agency. They handle all types of travel, we have booked several cruises with them. Can only suggest you give them a call and ask. They are involved with travel for World Cup as TA says above. Brea Travel is - http://www.breatravel.com/about.aspx.
Their VIP group that does my safaris it is same office location, phone is 800 266-1438. Ask for Karen or Horst, the TAs I work with. Side story - about 4 years ago we were in Zambia and had problem with a hotel reservation, I called Karen from Lusaka and she contacted responsible parties and had it corrected within an hour. Nice to have help like that when you are very very far from home.

regards - tom

Appears those JFK/JNB Virgin flights depart Day 1 evening and arrive Day 3 morning. Long haul of 30+/- hrs. Other carriers with non-stop are currently priced much higher. But, those June dates have just become available being 330/days prior travel... fares "might" still go down. Or NOT for WC.

JFK-JNB for $2,400 is about $600 more than I have -ever- paid from LAX, yes LAX, to JNB. FWIW, for -this- Sep you can get on SAA for JFK or IAD to JNB or CPT for $750 (plus tax). Yes, $750, I did not leave out a "1".

regards - tom

I thought I heard that Kruger was booked solid during WC time, and that they were "sold out" within hours of the camps being made available for reservations during WC.

$2400 for a flight from JFK to Joburg?! That's way too expensive.

I'm confused--June/July is not a good time for game viewing in South Africa? I've visited in late August and had some great sightings. From what I've seen on the webcams that are in the Greater Kruger area, June/July doesn't look that much different than what I saw in August. What time of year is considered the "best" time?

Re camp availability at Kruger during WC. Kruger does not take camp reservations sooner than 11 months before so July info not available. But June is. Here for example is camp Letaba for June 2010 - http://www.sanparks.org/parks/kruger...th=6&year=2010
Lots availability until June 10th then very limited/spotty.

Best time in SA, arguably Sep and Oct. But I have also been there in May and it was still great.

regards - tom

Trying to stay calm here ....
>>fares "might" still go down. Or NOT for WC.<<
That's my worry. I was trying to avoid connecting thru Europe, but the Delta flight via Atlanta is hovering around $3300 pp (x4, ouch!). I don't see the airlines lowering fares before December, knowing that they probably can name their price once the final draw is complete.

By then, who knows what will be available in the safari camps?

What happened to the recession? These are not small $$ we are talking about. Also, what happened to the US not being a nation of soccer fans? US citizens have been awarded the most tickets in the first round. Since we're not going to be following the US team, I'm selfishly almost wishing they wouldn't qualify.

Thanks for the additional info., Tom. I might just give them a call, before I develop an ulcer here.

Have a look at the following article:

http://planyoursafari.com/blog/on-sa...p-soccer-2010/

Safari is generally considered best during the dry seasons when the grasses are low. Easier to see/spot game. With July (and Aug/Sep) being mostly dry down south = good safari time!

We have (Canadian) friends who were able to secure tickets to the WC. They then tried to book a ten-day self-drive in Kgalagadi NP (in SA) for June and discovered it completely booked. Note that SAN Parks allowed booking 12 months in advance for July 2010 (only) because of WC. Fortunately, our friends were able to get into Etosha. So....it seems that soccer fans may also be fans of going on safari.

I would agree with Sandi - June/July is prime game viewing time - it is winter/the dry season and the animals are forced to congregate around the water holes, making them easier to find. We always go on safari in June/July/August and I have never found the parks to be "slow" at this time of year, particularly during school holidays.

Off to Kenya and Tanzania - finally! Robin

Sorry Tom - to be clear - the July info/availability is not posted on the SAN Parks website, but you can already make reservations for July 2010. I only know this because, as regular visitors to SAN parks, we are on their mailing list and received an email a couple of months ago notifying us of this excpetion to their bookings. This info may also be posted on their website - I haven't looked. Robin

To clarify a point in skimmer's linked article. Nobody knows for sure yet when or where his/her preferred team are playing. They may have tickets to see The Netherlands play their first match, but until the December draw, they don't know where or when that match will be (Could be in Capetown, could be in Polokwane or any of the 8 places between).

However, some people were awarded venue-specific tickets. They may know, for example, that they have tickets for a match in Durban on June 16, they just don't know who will be playing there. It might be Bahrain vs. Burkina Faso.

It is the latter group of ticketholders who may be booking their safaris already, as they have date certain for their matches.

The rest of us will be left with whatever is left over come December 5.

Thanks Robin for correction. The Kruger web site fools you more because if you request to see July's calendar it says -no-, because it is too far out. Guess it wasn't worth the effort to correct it all for just two months of WC.

Hey, thought you were on your way?!?!?! Have great safari, I'm really looking forward to hearing about it from you. Very envious of your spirit for adventure.

regards - tom

Canadian Robin

Tell your friends to book the Botswana side. It has less visitors, you can book campsites all to yourselves and there have been alot of great game sightings. In one camp area, there is a pack of 18 wild dog that have moved in recently.

Hi.

So many questions and good answers. Let my provide a local view (I live in Joburg, but am actually Scottish!). To try and keep concise:
> Winter (May-Aug) is the best time in SA for 'pure' game viewing, i.e. seeing animals but may be cold. There is less water, therefore less bush (can see more) and animals hang around watering holes.
> It is also a quiet time for international visitors (obvious reasons), but very popular with locals. Therefore the expensive places have availability, but the cheaper places don't.
> I'd say, with some confidence (as a SA travel agent), that all the major safari locations in SA will be fully booked (if not already - most are). This doesn't mean you can't get a room, it's just that you'll have to do it through the guys that block-booked months ago. Typically at a massively marked-up price. But SA isn't too expensive anyway so maybe that's fine.
> World Cup visitors will go on safari. Although the average European football fan isn't necessarily interested in flora and fauna, those that make it this far will not want to spend so much on a flight and not see some large mammals.
> Local air transportation does seem to be a problem (can't comment on international flights). Those flights that have been released are very expensive or block-booked. More will be coming available when the final draw is done in Dec. But don't discount driving between venues. The roads are good and the scenery is lovely. Joburg to Cape Town is a very long way (15 hours) but Joburg to everywhere else (other than Port Elizabeth) is very doable in a day (the longest being Durban in 6 hours). It will save you a lot of money as well. Don't fly over SA - come and spend some time going through it and seeing the best of it.
> City Accommodation. In the host cities the big, international hotels are fully booked by operators / FIFA's agent (Match). But in SA actually the smaller guesthouses / boutique hotels are the best I've experienced in the world (incl. US and Europe) - more character, better facilities and a lot cheaper than the multinationals. Many of them are only deciding pricing now, but there are still a lot of reasonable rooms available (PM me where you are going if you want specifics).
> If you are not supporting a specific team but are here for the love of the game / experience then a) book everything now before the big fan bases book everything out in December, b) choose Joburg or Pretoria because you'll be within an hour of four groups and within 6 hours of all but 2 of them and c) support Scotland!!!

I hope this helps and the best of luck!

Rob. Satpack Travel.

Hi Tom! In fact, we are on our way - we are in Heathrow, awaiting our flight to Nairobi. Have a good month! Robin

Hi Satpacker,

This is still good advice.

SA is now very expensive. I went to Germany for the last World Cup, and now South Africa - but it is silly.

I am lucky I booked most accommodation earlier but am now stuck with the Round of 16, where you really don't know if your team will qualify and if they do, where they will play. Everyone wants over a thousand Australian dollars PER NIGHT for me and my son to stay in Jo'Burg for 2 nights and then transport to the game and back. I think that is very expensive.

I have contacted a private limousine/ car service and I will see what compares. Sounds strange I know but perhaps a group rate may be something ..

Regards,
Anne

I'll be avoiding the shambles by going to Zimbabwe!