I'm sorry....i re-read your post...5 days!!! Have a great trip....Selinda will be the best time of your life.....

Hari

You thought Selinda is good...so you must be talking about Nxabega as not being so good?

My son just went there in June. Actually what happened was..he had a chance to be a part of a team that was setting up an Aids Clinic in Botswana. So, I told him that (since he's going there for such good cause) I will throw in four days of Safari at the tail-end of his trip. This was with two weeks notice so I wasn't entirely sure think it was possible. But my African travel consultant called people she knew...and somehow managed to find space for him at Nxabega. He said it was GREAT. He's back now..says there are days when he just sits and day-dreams of his time spent there. He wants to go back.

Yes--I'm doing both Botswana and Tanzania on the same trip. I'm old and I have a lot of world to see still. Then again, I remember saying this about China--and covered Yunnan Province to Xian to Beijing in one trip. Thought that would be the trip of lifetime. That was about four years ago. Since then, I've been there three more times. So, I may get to Africa again, too.

Right now...I'm just looking forward to this trip. I am packed already. My duffle bag weighs 20 lbs. I've been reading this list a lot! Thank you all...for making me an informed traveler.

Can a one man operation (consultant, agent or whatever) receive the same discounts as a large tour operator? Also, will they be able to get you into as many locations as the big boys?

I've always liked the idea of using smallish companies and hope to for my upcoming trips. Can one use these small companies and still have lots of flexibility and options? Pros and Cons?
Sherry

cybor,

Another question would be:

Can a larger tour operator, with all of its overhead, offer the same great pricing as a smaller boutique operator?

An operator may do so much volume with certain lodges that it is getting 30%+ commission with the lodges but what does that matter if they are only able to offer rack rate pricing to their customers in order to cover their overhead and profit???

Also, with a larger operator, chances are that the agent you are dealing with is much less experienced than with the smaller operator where you will likely deal with one of the principles.

kardon-
Sounds like quite an interesting trip you have planned. I'm curious if, in discussions with your consultant, you decided seeing the migration was not a priority. Many consultants/travel agents would book their clients in the Mara in the beginning of August to see the catch the Migration. What made you choose the Serengeti over the Masai Mara at this time of year?

Have a great trip

Good point about the overhead issue, Rocco. What about priority availability in camps, lodges etc.? Do the small guys get their clients lodging as easily as the big providers?

Re: <b>Boutique Operator</b>
We were only allowed to use the word boutique for one of a kind hotels only in my past design classes. What exactly is a boutique operator?
Sherry

Can you save money going direct?
Interesting question and the answer is largely depends on your negotiating skills. Most savvy lodge operators will not discount a direct booking.
To them a direct booking is attractive as it allows a higher yield since they save on tour operator/agent commissions.

Boutique: A general term that is used to categorise the smaller niched tour operator that specialises in a destination. The term describes the nature of the business as it doesn't necessarily churn over customers and tends to be a lot more personal enjoying an intimacy with its clients, both travellers and suppliers.

Can you get a better deal? That again depends on the overhead structure of the operator and the margin that they can make on bookings. typically the boutique guys have lower marketing expenses and will be a lot more flexible in thei pricing strategies to retain your business.

Doing it all on your own. This is satisfying and I believe the &quot;mission&quot; is what attracts people to go it alone. The planning is a learning curve and an adventure in itself.

Using a professional? That takes a lot of guess work and uncertainty out the equation, which is comfortable for most.

Last thought. Since African travel has become more and more attractive, the pioneer travelers still exist, but have paved the way for the softer bellied majority to now enjoy the destination too, these folks need assistance and are preparred to pay for the expertise and consequent peace of mind.

kardon -

Like cruisinred, I wonder why you're not visiting the Mara in August? August is migration time and highly desired by visitors. Did you specifically want the Serengeti; did the consultant not offer the Mara as a better option for August?

Of course, depending on when you commenced planning your safari, space in the Mara may have been limited... when did you start your process?

Kardon,

I'm sure Nxabega is a great lodge, just not the best game-viewing in Botswana!!!

Selinda, in terms of game viewing....right amongst the best!!!

Hari

Just a note. Micato as well as other companies will customize an itinerary for you and do a private safari. the cost is about the same as their other itineraries and on a recent Micato trip was told by our guide that 80% of their business is now customized itineraries.

aowens -

Of course, they'll all do custom itineraries. No way are they the same price as their scheduled group tours; expect them to be at minimum 20% higher, probably more.

Take a group/scheduled date Micato or A&amp;K itinerary and put it out for pricing to another tour operator, independent safari planner/consultant or in-country outfitters - you'll save at minimum 25%, can be as high as 30%.

At least with A&amp;K they have some beautiful properties under the Sanctuary Lodges banner. However, a safarigoer would still be best off booking these properties with a tour operator rather than direct.

Thanks to all of you for your replies. I figured that a &quot;consultant&quot; is very like an agent. Our consultant says he is &quot;unique and unlike any other safari company, in that he is an independent consultant, and works with many different service providers to plan a more tailor-made itinerary.&quot; I'm sure it will be a wonderful trip, and we went with this person, as he was highly recommended to us by someone we know who used his services.. I just didn't understand the distinction between a consultant and an agent. Now I know they are very similar. All that confusion aside, I can't wait until our trip in September!!!!! :)

Hi folks
I returned on August 23. It was the most amazing experience of my life. People have said on this list and elsewhere how Africa changes one's life. I didn't quite believe it before...but now I do.

I know my itinerary sounded strange to some people. I couldn't really answer questions..since I left it all to my travel consultant. She did iright... in the right order in which I needed to see Africa. She included many &quot;cultural&quot; education one needed (not just getting pampered in fancy camps). My travel was not just about &quot;safari&quot;--it was about learning Africa.

I ran into several people who used the same consultant (obviously...since she probably sends people to the same places)...and the way I found these people, was because I heard people bragging about how special &quot;their&quot; consultant was--and I asked &quot;did you use the same consultant I did?&quot;

For my first time (and now it will not be the &quot;only&quot; time), she showed me the way.

And also..I want to thank everyone here. I was prepared for the trip (not quite for my transformation) thanks to y'all.

This thread has been so interesting. I normally book my own travel and arrange my own itinerary, but found it extremely difficult with Africa. In the end, I used Roys Safaris. Since we were also going to Kenya, they coordinated the trip with Wild-Trek as they don't handle Kenya personally, and we worked directly with Susan Wood who coordinated our itinerary. I asked Susan several times if we pay extra for all of the involved parties and she told me know. Doesn't everyone make money in this chain? And, I have still yet to figure out how to have gotten the BEST price or who to have gone to directly to eliminate any unnecessary middlemen. I was very satisfied with our trip in general, but in the past, I have generally saved approximately 30-40% by handling arrangements on my own or working directly with a local operator. When I traveled to Peru and did the Machu Picchu trek, we met the local operator that A&amp;K uses while on our trek. I've often wondered how I can find out who they contract with locally so that I can go directly to them -- for future travel to different destinations. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Kardon-

I'm happy to hear that your trip was so good, and I, as well as lots of others I am sure would love to hear all about it! It tides us 'can't go in the near future' people over for a bit!

Can you doa trip report - even a small one would be great??? And, if you could mention the name of the safari consultant, that would be great, as others may want to go this route too. There is, I am sure, a good number of people out there who do not want to do a group tour, but do not want to put together the trip themselves either.

Would love to see a trip report! (and Sueblue I have printed yours out and it ha gone into my bag for 'bustime' reading! I'm just on Sandi's right now...)

did not know if it was proper to mention the consultant's name. The company is Mills Tourism Consulting out of Seattle. This fantastic consultant is Renee Mills.

She arranged for a private guide (her regular) to accompany us through Tanzania (there were just two of us). He has been a tour guide since 1978..has done concentrated study in Serengeti on animal behavior, botany and ornithology--so his knowledge was remarkable. My travel companion was interested in birds. I wasn't initially...but I got sucked into it after a while. Also, he wanted to make sure that we understood the culture (not just see birds and animals). We went to visit Hadzabe tribe, to Datoga tribe.. had endless conversation with locals.

We did not have a private guide through Botswana (just the arrangement in each tented camp...which was just remarkable btw)..but in Maun, an arrangement was made for us to visit a Bayei village. We just sat around and talked (with a translator)--about life in general. I loved it. After finding out women had to do all the work all the time, I asked the women in the group &quot;doesn't it bother you?&quot; The answer was short &quot;of course it does..but it's our culture&quot;---to which even men in the group laughed. Such wonderful people. Then I listened to passion of people who are trying to learn technology, to catch up with the rest of world (in some ways, I hope they don't...), I walked away thinking when I retire in a few years, I should come here and help them learn---properly. I'm sure I'll get caught up in my every day life after a bit..and forget that &quot;feeling&quot;--then maybe not. We'll see.

ok...travel log. will do eventually.

sueblue,
Unless you're self driving, using public transportation (not always possible) or flying throughout East Africa, you need to use local tour operators (in your case Wildtrek and Roy) that can provide you with a safari vehicle and driver/guide. You could have possibly bypassed Roy's US rep who, of course, receives a commission from Roy for your booking, but it's also possible that Roy would've have quoted you the same price even if you were dealing with their Arusha office directly. They may not want to undercut their rep.

Same thing with the Il Moran portion of your safari which you could have booked through Governors directly. However, chances are that Governors would have quoted you their full rack rate for a direct booking. There's no incentive for them to discount and uncut tour operators, particularly during peak season when there's a waiting list of clients willing to pay rack rates. Now had you chosen a different camp, a less popular park, or traveled during low season or some combination of the above, you may have found a camp that's receptive to discounting but even then it's not guaranteed.

Many here will contact a few different operators and have them quote the same itinerary in order to get an idea of what a reasonable price is for their itinerary. Sometimes there can be significant differences in cost among different operators for the same itinerary. That doesn't necessarily mean that you end up booking with the lowest cost operator. There are many factors to consider and cost is just one of them and probably not the most important one. You want to make sure you're getting a quality operator and dealing with someone who is responsive to your needs. Amongst Tanzanian operators, Roy is neither the cheapest nor the most expensive, but they do get very good reviews here.

I think you did fine. Could you have gotten your safari for a few $ less than you paid? Maybe, but I don't think significantly so. And if you look through an A&amp;K safari catalog, you can see how much more you could've paid and not even had a private safari.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. I don't know if that helps at all.

kardon,
Your trip sounds very interesting. Looking forward to hearing more about it.

Thanks Patty. It's finally out of my system. Now I can move on to a new obsession . . . :)

I just caught up with this thread and it addressed many questions that have been floating around in my mind. Some good examples were given and there was even some 3 Stooges comic relief.

It was interesting to read Kardon's pre-trip planning and the post trip reaction all in one place.

For East Africa at least I thought I saw that going directly through Serena and using all their properties (and guide) did offer substantial savings. That would seem to make sense, but it limits your choices.

Then there's TuskerDave and &quot;his guy&quot; in Kenya with his own vehicle. Now that's a bargain I believe.

Here is one more question dealing with clout of an agent. Do you think the smaller boutique agents command the same respect for their clients on the ground as the bigger players?

Do you think that the camps are aware of who sends which guests and does that make any difference in their treatment such as which guides, which vehicle, how groups within the vehicles are formed? Or do you think each camp is just upholding its own reputation in the eyes of every guest regardless of how that guest got there?

Interested in your thoughts.