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Safari Costs
We have been on safari many times and like lots of people we have the bug.
The cost of safari's have become so expensive in the last 12 months but we still love them. Does anyone have any information on camps offering any deals such as extra nights free etc.. Looking to travel Feb / March 09. Love traveling in South Africa, Botswana & Tanzania. |
roar:
Lots of specials going on. In Botswana check the Kalahari Summer and 5 Rivers specials that include lots of Footsteps in Africa and Kwando properties as well as some others ranging from $300 to $350 pppn depending on property and special used. I think those are the best value in Botswana. Sactuary Lodges has a stay 5 pay 4 special (3nights have to be at Chobe Chilwero) and Wilderness Safaris has a stay 8 pay 7 going on. In South Africa Makanyane in Madikwe has a stay 4 pay 3 going on. In Tanzania the Asilia properties, including Sayari, Olakira, Suyan and others have 15% off through March making it a sale that includes the best time for the migration. I'm sure there are lots of other good offers but those are some that I know of for that time period. |
Been some recent threads on this-
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35170586 In addition I know AndBeyond (aka CCAfrica) offers deals on their South Africa camps and maybe their other camps also. A favorable currency exchange rate may help you. You may have to dig a little to find the discounts. But over half the camps I've stayed at in the last four years have deals. Usually pay for x stay for x+. regards - tom |
about the best deal i have seen so far (and i am sure they will get better) is for the CCA (now &beyond) who are offering 6 nights for the price of 4 (or 3 nights for the price of 2) at any time before July
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and beyond has a great special:
2 camps out of 4 in bot - 6 nights incl. flights maun-camps-maun! ask your TA for that special. normal price tag is about 3300US but depending on the TA anything between 2400 and 2700 should be possible. div |
andBeyond special is a good one and nice because its so cleanly packaged but in my opinon it is not better than what can be created using the Kalahari Summer and Five Rivers specials for deals.
6 nights Maun-Mapula-Kwara-Maun for about $2,400 Or you could do Maun-Tau Pan to visit prime time in the CKGR-Kwara-Maun also for about $2,400 |
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Should not be news to anyone. The author is basically preaching to the choir.
Tanzania has become very expensive for businer owners and visitors alike. Crazy things such as $100 visa fees are just the tip of the iceberg. Outfitters who discount recklessly today may suffer later once oil prices return to usual summer highs (diesel costs influence everything else such as food for example). And what if the government decides to implement new July increases in park fees and everything else? It is a balancing act. |
Problem is there is nothing usual about the current economic situation. If anyone thinks that it will turn around in 6 months, they must also believe in the Tooth Fairy. Sure fuel may go up, but that will be due to cuts in production, not increase in demand. Raising prices on anything in this market is pure suicide. Look what happened by Zambia increasing visa fees. It snowballed. Real or imagined, people are just plain sensitive to price increases. Deals are needed to get people off the fence, IMO. Look at the posts currently. There are people that would change countries to go on safari if they found the 'DEAL'.
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I have to agree with that. This downturn is going nowhere until at least beyond 2009.
It is time for the TANZ Gov. to jump in and lower visa costs, interest rates, park fees, import taxes and the works to help the local outfitters. These costs savings should then ripple upwards via tour operators and agents to clients. The smaller ground operators who run on 1o% or less profit margins can hardly be expected to lower prices if everything else stay the same or increase! They may be heading for disaster if they do. We just broke a windshield on a safari last week - the new window is considerably more expensive than the one we bought last year! I suspect by end 2009 it will cost even more. Food for a camping trip cost a lot more than last year this time, and will cost even more by end 2009! |
The Tanzania Visa cost for US passport holders that was increased to USD$100 early '08, was in response to the US increasing fees for Tanzanians traveling to the US. All other passports, who require Visas, still pay USD$50 and have for at least 5-6/years.
My old passports show where I paid $30 and $35 for entry Visas to Kenya & Tanzania, then up to $50 and now $100. As to other costs, regardless the country, this is not the time to increase lodging fees, park fees, etc. Simply bad business all around. |
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