Snooty tour operators and transport between game parks
 

After months of reading everything (well, almost everything) posted here, talking to people both in person and through e-mail, reading many guidebooks and basically being on information overload, we are nearly ready to plan our trip to South Africa and put our money where our mouths are! The latest hurdles are that we are splurging on 2 nights at Mala Mala and will spend 3 nights at a less expensive camp in Sabi Sand. We will start with 5 nights in Cape Town and want to do 2 days of organized sightseeing and 3 days on our own. Most of the tour operators we talk with seem to have an elitist approach as to where their clients should stay, both in Cape Town and camps in private reserves in Kruger. We have chosen accommodations not on the Waterfront in Cape Town but in the City Bowl area that are highly recommended, but considerably less expensive. I'm told by many of these agents that they do not "work" with these properties. In addition to Mala Mala main camp, we are considering either Djuma or Inyati which are less expensive than many of the other camps, and we are getting mixed advice on how to get between these two camps. So, questions (1) travel time between Djuma and Mala Mala? If it is a long overland transfer, we are ok with taking a quick flight. (2) travel time between Inyati and Mala Mala (overland or fly?). Any recommendations on tour operators (I'm very cautions - only want a tried and true operator) who will do what WE want and not what THEY want? I realize there are a lot of in's and out's in this profession and the more we spend, the larger the commmision and that some of them have established relationships with certain camps and hotels. We usually put our trips together by ourselves, but for this trip we would like the transfers, flights, sightseeing, accommodations, etc. all done for us by a knowledgeable, trustworthy, agent who is willing to work within our budget.

I just stayed at Djuma two weeks ago and then went to Mala Mala. You need to take a short flight---five minutes maximum. There were six of us and it cost about $90 pp. You can do a road transfer but it takes 3 1/2 hours.

I've had great a great experience with Kyle at Africa Adventure Company. We've practically tortured him with twists and turns re: our itinerary and he's been fantastic throughout it all.

And I know he's a big fan of Djuma.

I believe AAC does only 7 nights or more. But it's nice to know there are agents that like to be tortured with itinerary changes.

You don't think they'd include Capetown in the number of nights?

I will ask next time I speak with him.

Yes, Cape Town would be part of it. Sorry, I missed the Cape Town part. I recalled from your last thread you had 5 Sabi Sands nights. So if I can add even though I can't read, that's 7, which qualifies as enough to torture Kyle.

We used Uyaphi.com to plan a trip to South Africa and Botswana last September and they fell all over themselves to make sure we got what we wanted in the price range we were able to pay. They came up with some great alternative lodging suggestions. The trip went off without a hitch, and we're in the process of using them again to plan a return trip for summer 2008. They've got a great reputation.

Why should it take three hours to transfer from djuma to MM by road? doesnt sound accurate.

There is no "road"connecting the two but I was at the border of Djuma and MM and you can drive over onto another road. MM just do not allow it.