sunny_california

Been reading about multiple Wilderness agents around. U suggest anyone in particular? would like to write to a few to see who competes favourably wrt pricing.

Can we list the agents here in the US?

cary999

Good questions, I have same. It will be interesting to see if you can get multiple quotes. Previous discussions here have said quotes can vary by 15%. (Not said by Wilderness agents).

regards - tom
ps - also in sunny -southern- calif, beautiful north Orange county

craig_beal

there are numerous agents in the us for the various camp operators in botswana and the rest of southern africa. wilderness safaris has several destination specialist managements companies in the us they work with.

the problem with getting multiple quotes is that most agents actually create a reservation for you at the various camps. when there are two reservations for the same person/same time it does cause problems for the guest and the agents.

i know the following companies work closely with wilderness safaris as they are competitors of mine. all three i highly recommend from an ethical stand-point. unless you are dealing with the big brand safari companies, i would doubt any of these companies have pricing more than a few percentage points apart.

Discover Africa in Cleveland - I have been on safari with their owner, Lesley Kaye. great to work with. highly knowledgeable.

Eyes on Africa in Chicago - good web site for general camp info.

Classic Africa in CT

Ultimate Africa in Seattle

one thing you may want to consider is financial stability. most major travel insurance companies cover only certain tour operators for bankruptcy protection along with their normal coverage. They lists are a good indication of financial health. you can download access america's list on this site:

http://www.accessamerica.com/AA/CoveredSuppliers.aspx

Travel Guard has similar lists.

Good luck,

Craig

craig_beal

various operators have rack rates for wilderness safaris posted on their web site. here is a recap:

low season: Dec 1,2008-May 31,2009
high season: Jun 1,2009-Nov 30,2009

pppn = per person per night

Classic Camps (per web site):
$600 pppn low/$900 high

Vumbura Plains/Jao/Kings Pool:
$1045 pppn low/$1445 high

Mombo:
$1470 low/$1770 high

flying costs are generally at least $4-$8 per minute per person so you can use the flying time between camps to get a good idea of price and make sure you aren't getting gouged.

Craig

sunny_california

TY! Will talk to the agents on the phone ~ early in the work week to see what they have to say~ this will possibly not make any confusion that may otherwise be caused by emailing all of 'em.

In the interim~ i guess I need to do more research on the various camps and options available. I wish for this trip to be special ~ it is a celebration of sorts.

Do these agents specialize with the properties of Wilderness? or do they do a mix and match? ~ I will be reading more fodors threads over the weekend to see if there are specific places that catch my fancy.

safarimama

I'm also interested in this list. I have a feeling it's a lot more than 13, the highest number I've seen mentioned here.

I have a few more to add to your list just from my area:

African Safari Company in Seattle - 800-414-3090

Mango African Safaris in Portland, OR - 888.406.2646

Wildland Adventures in Seattle - 800-345-4453

moremiles

I used Premier Tours in Philadelphia for my Wilderness camp bookings-they also have some good airfares to SA.

atravelynn

Specialize or mix and match?

I've found that if you ask, the non-Wilderness options can be booked. They usually are not offered up front by agents specializing in Wilderness.

The one thing I'd mention is that you can have your "special celebration" that will be absolutely lovely, luxurious, comfortable, memorable, etc. at properties that are not the most expensive. None of these Botswana camps are dumpy or disappointing.

I believe I've read that The Africa Adventure Company in Ft. Lauderdale sends more clients to Wilderness than any other.

With two Wilderness agents I've seen payment in check, rather than credit card, work to lower the cost of the trip. You'd want an establishied company though, before opting out of the credit card. (However many East Africa operators and other travel companies I've dealt with outside of Africa only take wired funds or checks and credit card is not an option.)

Be sure to ask about the deals of a free night for multiple night bookings. Both Wilderness and &Beyond have such deals now.

Have fun planning your special trip and it will be even more fun taking it.

craig_beal

premier tours is a good wilderness agent. their owner, julian harrison, i believe is the editor of fromer or fodors for south africa.

aac - africa adventure company is also an agent and they were mentioned above.

regarding chains: you should stick to one camp operator to get the best rates. don't mix and match camps run by the 6 or 7 different camp owners.

ragarding rates, the variables are as follows (at least for Wilderness) and similar for others:
1. number of nights
2. high/low season
3. classic or premier camps
4. single supplement for odd number of travelers
5. private vehicle
6. location of camps (moremi/okavango/linyanti) - this determines flying time and charter costs.
7. children under 13
8. starting/ending point: maun or kasane

craig

tanzaniatouroperator

s well as different competencies different agents will have different rates with wilderness depending on the volume of business they send to them. What this means for you is that the agents that are on "super-pref" rates have more ability to discount your trip from Rack rate.

Speaking from experience I have found that the US agents tend to undercut by less than UK agents so I would widen your net if you are looking for the best price, especially in these trying times

LAleslie

I can also recommend Premiere in Philadelphia. We've used them twice, for Wilderness, &Beyond and several other Southern Africa operators. Very professional, dependable and they have good air fares, as mentioned. Our contact there was Bob Berghaier, a former zeekeeper who's more knowledgable about the wildlife than most agents.

sunny_california

Good evening folks! TY once again 4 all your thoughtful suggestions ~ Craig writes about better rates for booking exclusive camps of Wilderness ~ how much do I save? ~ also how do I know that I won't miss some good options?

I've spent some part of the weekend doing some research and talking to friends who have been on safari in Botswana (from East Coast) ~ they went on safari with us to Londolozi and Tanzania too, so we have similar tastes ~ they went to Jao (hated it) ~ loved Chitabe and another camp i can't remember where ~ they are originally from the UK so their agent is in Sussex, England.

tanzaniatouroperator

The “deal” with wilderness is that the eighth night would be free – see http://www.wilderness-safaris.com/ne...il.jsp?id=8613

If you are widening your choice to the UK the following are Wilderness preferred agents (not and exhaustive list)

Okavango Tours and Safaris – http://www.okavango.com/
Botswana Odyssey – http://www.botswanaodyssey.com/
Expert Africa - http://www.expertafrica.com/

Or you could also send and email to wilderness direct and ask them who they recommend

atravelynn

TanzanianTourOperator,

Even with the exchange rates, do you think UK agents offer a better deal for US travelers?

tanzaniatouroperator

The exchange rate makes no difference as UK agents will also be charging customers in Dollars (though if they charged in pounds then the weak pound / strong Dollar would definately give Americans and advantage)
However the UK market to Africa has been hit more than the US (again because of the strong Dollar) so UK agents tend to be keener to get Americans travelling with them than before ...
The key though is to shop around as agents are definately offering prices under rack - ie cheaper than if people booked their trip directly with Wilderness

ekscrunchy

I will chime in with the name of the South African agency I used in 2007. They planned my entire trip, including a stay at Wilderness King's Pool:


www.southerndestinations.com

The person I worked with was Liesl and I give her, and the agency, my highest recommendations.

cybor

I've used www.fisheaglesafaris.com with good results/prices

I've also used AAC with less favor/pricing

The pricing gap was much larger for my last trip. High-17G, low-11G. Huge difference. The UK vendor was the highest, btw.

I mostly did Wilderness with a few private camps. I also found it difficult to book private camps with a few agents. Not because they can't do it rather than some don't like to leave their comfort zone or don't want to throw business to anyone other than Wilderness.

mistypopper

There are a number of camps and lodges in Botswana in fantastic game viewing locations. While Wilderness Safaris does have the domination in terms of nr of camps you should consider the other operators as well. Try and find yourself an agent who knows the actual camps as opposed to just pumping out Wilderness itineraries because it is what sells to an American market. There may be other camps/operators that would suit your needs better (and budget!) and your agent should be able to discuss all of these with you in an objective manner. Wilderness Safaris is fantastic but your agent should be able to talk you through he different options.

A few other groups:
Sanctuary Lodges - Chiefs has a great location on Chiefs island and basically shares traversing rights with Mombo. Sadly the prices are also going Mombo way fast.
Ker&Downey - Shinde is a great little camp
Kwando
&Beyond
Uncharted Africa - their Mobile Safaris are rather incredible. If you don't do one definately add on 3 nights at Jacks, San or their new Camp Kalahari at the end of your itinerary

Regarding pricing - Wilderness Safaris encourages agents to stick with the recommended selling price, this is meant to avoid undercutting and price wars... and it also means that the playing field is even in terms of making a decision based on expertise and customer experience rather than price.

Have a wonderful time.

Trisha1

Ian Proctor of Ultimate Africa in Seattle did an outstanding job for us with Wilderness. He is totally reliable and easy to work with and will give you fantastic service. We have used him for several years.

napamatt_2

Chiefs does not share traversing rights with Mombo, they border each other, it is a lovely gap that had a significant upgrade after my visit and has since been #1 in Conde Nast (the kiss of death).