living4safari

Hi there

Some safari lodges in South Africa have a low season rate from 1-20 December, but from the 21st is high season and rates are charged accordingly. However, in South Africa the lodges charge in ZAR (South African Rand) whereas in Botswana you will pay in USD - paying in ZAR will be to your advantage because of the exchange rate and therefor it may suit your budget better to be at a South African safari lodge in high season, rather than in Botswana, meaning that you may want to do the Botswana part first as you said in your previous posting.
Kind regards

RobertR

There seems to be about a 50% difference in the price! Is there are tremendous difference in wildlife etc. in the private or high end places vs. moderate price places in South Africa Kruger and other parks in the East? we are not really desiring a luxury trip, not just on price. It feels a little wierd to us traveling that way. RR

living4safari

Hi RobertR

I'm apologising beforehand as this posting may be a bit long, but please bear with me. I want to look at your interests one by one, highlighting pros & cons.
Game viewing:
You have a number of options with regards to game viewing. One option would be to hire a car and go to the Kruger National Park (KNP) and do a self-drive trip. There are operators in the KNP who do game viewing trips in open vehicles and you may even include a few of those during your stay. (They aren't allowed to go off-road though.) All the accomodation in Kruger (except for those on private concessions in the Kruger) is self-catering and range from basic to well-equipped. Personally I love KNP and go there at least 2-3 times a year. BUT, you can't go off-road and game viewing is limited to what you can see from the roadside. I've been extremely lucky in Kruger and seen all the big cats, but some people have been there a number of times and not seen any. It depends on where in the Kruger you are etc etc. Keep in mind that December is high season and KNP is very busy during high season - I avoid it during that time of the year if possible. Seeing that it is self drive and everybody is keen to see the big cats, something like a lion sighting will attract a lot of vehicles and your actual sighting may be very limited.
Then you also have the option of going to a smaller private reserve where you probably won't find the big five, but maybe only two or three of them.,
Thirdly you could go to a well known private reserve such as the SabiSands, but accommodation is in the luxury class. Your game viewing however, will be spectacular as you are with a ranger & a tracker on an open vehicle with a limited number of vehicles. If at all possible, I would recommend that you do your 3-4 day safari in this manner.
Photos:
Are you interested in photographing animals? Nature in general? Scenic photos? Macro photography? Any good game viewing opportunities will obviously give you the opportunity to take good photos, but I'm not sure what your specific photographic interests are.
Hiking:
This could be very interesting. Once again, back to KNP: there is a camp called Nyalaland Trails Camp. How that works is that you stay there for a period of 3-4 days, you have someone who takes care of cooking (basic, but delicious when we were there), you have comfortable accomodation (though basic), and you hike from the camp every day and return there at night. There are different routes to be done with excellent birding, some interesting archaeological sites etc. Only problem may be that you need a 4x4 vehicle to get to the camp.
Also have a look at Rhino Walking Safaris at http://www.rws.co.za/
They also do walking safaris in the Kruger but in a private concession.
Also have a look at the Pafuri walking trail (Pafuri is the northernmost part of KNP and an absolute paradise in my opinion):
http://www.wilderness-safaris.com/so.../introduction/
I'm sorry if this was a bit long, but the thing is that a holiday like the one you are planning isn't cheap and you would obviously want to get the best out of both your budget and your time available - which means that you will have to make informed decisions so as not to waste either of those.
Kind regards

RobertR

If we went to Botswana for a week, and skipped Kruger altogether would that work? I just don't want to run around too fast. If we skip Kruger are there other less crowded places in the East?

living4safari

Being in Botswana for a week would be a blast, given the right location. Something that I might not have made clear enough, is that places such as Nyalaland Trails Camp will not be crowded. It has only 12 A-frame huts if I remember correctly, and guests not staying at the camp aren't allowed beyond a certain point on the access road (if that is worth anything to you). Let me just get my mind together regarding the East - I've been to many locations there but mainly on specialist safaris of one kind or another, so I'll drop you a line tomorrow. As a rule, keep in mind that December is in our summer holiday and most places tend to be a bit crowded that time of the year. (Some more that others though - obviously.)

Gritty

Robert,

I've been to 2 of the trails camps that living4safari has mentioned and he/she is right--they are special places set aside for up to 8 people only (4 A-frame huts, although the Napi Camp is a tented camp with bathrooms attached to each tent). No one else is allowed to be in the area where the camps are located. You don't need your own vehicle--they pick you up and drive you to the camp. Each morning and afternoon the group hikes from camp or drives a short distance, then hikes from there. The morning hikes usually last 4-5 hours, including a breakfast stop in the veld. The hikes are leisurely (not strenuous) and there are lots of stops along the way to look at the various things that the group encounters. The afternoon hikes are shorter and the group hikes a short distance to a scenic spot to have sundowner drinks.

You can find more information on the wilderness trails at http://www.sanparks.org/parks/kruger...ss/default.php . Just keep in mind what they say on this page:

"There are thousands of wildlife destinations on the African continent but few of them offer an authentic wilderness experience to tourists. Driving around in an open game drive vehicle the whole time and staying in a luxury lodge is not necessary the real thing. Staying in a rustic, primitive camp and experiencing the African bush on foot is much closer to an ultimate wilderness type of recreation. That is what we offer the more adventurous tourist – wildness, remoteness, tranquility, peace and a big bonus: no other people!"

One thing you may need to consider regarding the trails--I don't think they operate them from Dec. 15-Jan. 15.

living4safari

Gritty: thanks for adding those details - it's very valuable to someone who has not been here before. I do remember though that Nyalaland is slightly bigger (more than 4 huts).
RobertR: Every experience has its place - the open vehicle/luxury lodge (I usually like to end off a safari in that way); the wilderness trails, the self drives etc. Obviously it's easier to know what to do if you know the areas and have been there before - and that is obviously you've been asking the questions on this forum. What you need to do is to see how you would like to divide your time and money between your options and the absolute best I can do for you, is to recommend that you speak to a good tour operator.
About the parks in the eastern side of SA:
Mkhuze is a great park for birding and some game viewing, although it is not a "big five" park (no lions for instance). The accomodation is comfortable (self catering) and I've had very good times there. It is very hot during summer, but so is most of the country - the eastern part of the country is just very humid as well.
Ndumo is another option - it is far north on the border of Mozambique, SA and Swaziland - extremely unspoilt and a birder's paradise. Accomodation is basic but adequate - it is also very hot and humid and of course large parts of the north-eastern part of the country is malaria area.
The Drakensberg is always lovely even though there isn't much scope for game viewing - just being in the mountains is a wonderful and tranquil experience.
Kind regards

RobertR

The Trails sound great.