South Africa Itinerary help - Tented Camps?
 

Hey everyone - someone really ought to put a warning sign on the Safari 2009 Roster - After promising myself I would stay a little closer to home this year and do a safari in 2010, I have been reading the 2009 roster and the trip reports and I've now somehow rationalized a 2009 trip for late October :).

I will be going with my sister during her school break, so we are somewhat limited in our time and will have 8 days for safari (ie exclusive of travel from the UK). My only safari was last fall to Kenya/Tanzania and I loved the small tented camp experience (with stays at Serian, Olakira and Olivers).

Maybe I am not doing a good job of researching but there do not seem to be a lot of these types of camps in SA. It also does not seem that having one's own vehicle is possible (other than by chance) or perhaps the cost is so prohibitive most do not opt for that?

At the moment, for the 8 safari nights, I am considering (all subject to availability of course!) 3 nights at Ngala Tented camp, 2 nights at Londolozi (Pioneer if possible) and then am undecided on the remaining 3 nights. Given the time we have, does it make sense to do another camp in Sabi Sands - I imagine 5 nights in SS is not "too much"!

Our main criteria are that we would like to have smaller camps, with the game drives being the focus - ie we really don't care about having a private plunge pool, a gym, spa etc. I know the 2 places I have picked seem to be on the luxury end but Ngala I chose for the tent experience, so while the majority of the reviews I have read have been positive I am not wedded to that camp in particular but would like to spend some time in Timbavati. Londo I picked due to good friends raving about their stay there last year - its my splurge. An opportunity for a walking safari would also be great - i enjoyed this a lot on my trip last year.

Also realize of course that choice may well be limited by the fact I am planning this relatively late - although compared to my trip last year I am well ahead of the game!

Any suggestions are welcome and as always thanks in advance.

whiskey

There used to be a camp just outside Kruger
called "Honeyguide" that fits the description of what you want, but I---diverted to other safari locations in recent years---have not checked seriously lately. I did do a cursory look once and could not locate it, but perhaps someone reading this forum can help.

South Africa is a wonderful safari destination. Some of those camps you mention are really highfalutin, though.

Have you checked camps in Kruger and/or thought of putting yourself at the mercy of a tour operator? ZZ

In checking the Web, I see Honeyguide come right up and, if you go to TripAdvisor.Com, you'll find guest reviews. One person suggests flying part of the way from Johannesburg. Although it has obviously been upscaled some since the two times I was there, Manobeni must be the camp where I stayed. I really liked the authenic feeling of being in the bush. ZZ

Excellent choices!
Nagala Tented is wonderful! Don't go for the Ngala lodge which is by far not as nice as the tented camp.
Londolozi is also my favourite in Sabi Sands. If you can really do it a "splurge" go for the superior suites at Varty camp - only 2 of them available. If they are booked already (Londo is always almost full!) you might choose the Tree camp or Granite Suites. But Varty standard is also an all time favourite.

Kings Camp is in Timbavati as well but chalets! The game drives are very good with great leopard sightings as well. But the atmosphere is completely different from Lomdo and Ngala. More a "boutique hotelish" feel than the familiarity of Londo and for sure Ngala.

Due to credit crunch there might be still some availability at Londo. But it's already late...............

Happy Planning!

SV

The four tented camps I have been to in Botswana, Zambia, Kenya (none in SA) have all been permanent tents, raised wood floor. Not like the kind you haul around in a trailer hitched to the back of your car. In other words they were like huts/bungalows made from tents and very large and comfortable. So when I here "tents" I think of my scout days and of my safari days, very different tents.

Anyway, Ngala Tented is in the Timbavati reserve and Londolozi is in the Sabi Sand Reserve. Not too far from each other. Here's a little map that gives a overall picture of that - http://tinyurl.com/phlubo
It is easy to transfer between camps in the two reserves, just costs a charter flight, about $150 per person. Or you could spend all eight days in either reserve at two different camps.

Timbavati - In the Timabavati other than Ngala Tented I don't know if there is another tented camp. Last year I stayed at Ngala -Lodge- also in the Timbavati but can not recommend it. I have stayed at Kings Camp three times and do recommend it but it is not tented. It is a nice size, not a large camp, 11 huts, 22 guests.

Sabi Sand - I have stayed at two camps there, MalaMala and Leopard Hills and recommend both but neither is tented. Off hand I'm not aware of any tented camps in Sabi Sand but there may be one.

Then there is Kruger, a really wonderful park. But you are on your own with car and Kruger camp accommodations vary from nice comfy bungalows to do-it-yourself tenting. Very reasonable cost, $100 for bungalow, $20 for camp site. Here is Kruger's web site - http://www.sanparks.org/parks/kruger/

regards - tom

I am staying a couple of nights at Thanda in their tented camp so you might want to take a look at it also.

Tamboti camp in Kruger might be a good alternative to more expensive places. All of the accomodations are safari tents and it's a small camp (for a Kruger camp). It's all self-accomodating, though, so be prepared to cook your own food and drive yourself around. If you're prepared for this it's really a lot of fun.

Thanks everyone - as usual very helpful replies! I probably should have been a litle clearer when speaking of tents, Tom, as yes what I really mean are the "permanent" or semi permanent tents like I stayed in when in kenya/tanzania last year. I'm not really interested in a do it yourself/drive and set up your own tent experience [although my sister would love that, its not really my thing although that being said I would like to try some fly camping]. While this trip is a treat from me to my sister and I do want it to be special, it seems that many places offer a lot of extras that we don't particularly care about for this type of trip. So maybe its a case of wanting to have my cake and eat it too :)

Zambezi thanks for the info on Honeyguide - I have been on their site and also see that there are some posts in this forum about the camps, which I will also check out.

Tom I have read your reports including on Ngala lodge and I got the sense, perhaps mistaken, that much of your disappointment was with the game drives themselves and time "wasted" travelling from the lodge?

Anyhow, I have emailed a number of agents and will also keep doing some more digging.

Cheers

Hi Whiskey.

Our favourite safari camp in SA is Umlani, in Timbavati. It's very rustic (no electricity) but enough luxury to be very comfortable. Main reasons for liking are the service (very good, friendly), location (right on riverbed - usually dry and can dine down there - with lots of wildlife coming through) and the quality of the game rangers. We know people who go there year after year, which is a great sign. Also do short walking safaris on request.

We did an awesome walking safari at Ngala (I think Ngala is actually a separate reserve to Timbavati) recently, but they've stopped it for now. The tented camp did look nice and I really like &Beyond (the company that runs it) - never had a bad experience with them.

The next place I want to try is Plains Camp (run by Isibindi) in Skukuza (i.e. just south of Sabie Sands). Really nice looking tented camp (as oppose to more upmarket Rhino Post Lodge) with focus on being close to nature. The thing I really like is they offer 'sleep outs' where you hike to a tree camp and spend the night under the stars there. Requires arranging in advance. They are offering some specials at the moment if you're interested...

Don't recommend self-drive unless you've got a vehicle with high enough seating that you can see into the bush (e.g. a 4 X 4). Also, unless you know what you're looking for you'll probably miss it - we always do!

But all that time might be too much for Kruger safari experience. How about mixing it up a bit to see a different landscape / ecosystems still within driving distance. For example Thanda, Phinda or Hluhluwe? They're all great in their own right and you can drive there (perhaps nice trip through Swaziland) and fly back from Richards Bay potentially?

Whiskey - Yes, my biggest disappointment with Ngala Lodge were the game drives. It seemed most every drive we drove way south past -Nagala Tented- to look for sightings. Wasting about 20-30 minutes each way. I was there for 8 nights, Sep 2008, so this wasn't just a day or two thing. Staying at Ngala Tented would have helped a lot but I think Tented is significantly more $$$. The best part of the Lodge facility was eating, the meals were excellent. You would not like the Lodge room/hut/bungalow. they were rather plain and un-inspired.

When it gets down to it, your wanting to go in October is not far off and may very well severely limit your choice of camps. Please let us know what the agents can come back with. Someday I would like to do a mobile safari in Kenya or Tanzania.

regards - tom

Thanks again. Satpacker Ulami looks very interesting. Lack of electricity is no problem (I enjoyed this aspect at my camps last year) and the opportunity for walking safaris is a plus. I really enoyed the walking safari I did in Tarangire last year.

Am now wondering if we should re-consider and do SA when we have a bit more time, to do the country justice and justify the long flights. Maybe returning (for me) to East Africa makes more sense in the time frame we have. Apologies for dithering here! In any event I will keep doing some research and these suggestions are very helpful. So far have heard back from only one agent who came back with 4 nights Ngala 4 night Londo [which wasn't quite what I asked for...]

Guess I should really make up my mind - Tom I take your point on October not be that far out, although considering I planned my Oct 2008 safari only a month before this IS advanced planning for me :)

Cheers

Hi. Umlani is awesome. They will have some great specials if you're willing to leave booking until the month before (things should be pretty quiet in October, so you should have a lot of options then). Sorry to encourage your habit of late planning (!) but I do think this is the best way to get good deals. Once you've done your research, get in touch. Typically foreign travel agents (with respect to them) don't know the camps inside out and try to push visitors to the most exclusive (read: most expensive, highest commission) camps, which is a shame. 8 days for safari is plenty (in fact I'd suggest could be too much) - you could do 5 days safari and 3 days on the beach at Kosi Bay, Sodwana or Saint Lucia which isn't too far away. Weather should be nice in October...