cooncat3

Sone friends and I may be doing a mobile safari in Botswana next year or in 2008 - still TBD. I know some of us have done this and loved it. I've not heard from many who have done this sort of thing with Wilderness. The appeal of going with them is that you'd still get in on the private concessions, I assume.. I know others really enjoyed Game Trackers. Anyone with experience care to comment? Are there others you would recommend going with? How "rustic" are these things?

Also - how to the costs of Kwando camps compare to Wilderness? Thanks everyone!

napamatt

I know 2 of the overland guides with WS and they are both excellent and yes you get to drive the private concessions in many cases.

Lillipets

Cooncat,
I got back a week ago from a 10 day mobile tent safari with Game Trails.The 10 day safari was approx $2700. It's the only way I could afford Botswana!I loved the rustic camping experience,but the friend I went with(who has been to Bostwana twice before)said she would prefer things a bit less rustic next time.
It was all part of the adventure for me.
I can't seem to get my brain organized enough for a trip report yet, but my only complaint was that travel days when we moved campsites seemed to take time away from productive game drives, and 10 days wasn't enough!
I would use Game Trails again but I would like to pick the areas travelled instead of a pre set itinerary. The Xakanaxa and Kwai areas were nice, but the Savuti and Chobe river areas were awesome!
What are the price ranges for mobile tent safaris with Wilderness/Kwando? They have such wonderful reputations, I'd assume their mobile safaris would be excellent.

Lily

jasher

Hello Sharon,

The price difference between Wilderness and Kwando depends on the season. Assuming you're comparing Wilderness five-paw to Kwando, they're effectively about the same price in high season and shoulder season -- though WS is about $65 per night less expensive for a single traveller in high season if your group is odd-numbered, and about $25 (sharing) and $35 (single) more per night in shoulder season).

Note that the two don't use the same seasons -- Kwando switches to high season on June 1 whilst WS does not switch to high season until June 15, which means that you would save substantially by going with WS in the first half of June.

Cheers,
Julian

matnikstym

Does Kwando do mobile tented safaris?

jasher

Hi Dennis,

Sorry, this was something I meant to include in my post -- Kwando does not do mobile safaris.

Cheers,
Julian

jasher

Hello Lily,

Wilderness Safaris' mobile safaris in Botswana range from $2460-$4610 for their 'Adventurer' itineraries, which are similar to what Game Trails offers in terms of luxury. 'Discoverer' itineraries (more luxurious) run from $4855-$7188.

Wilderness also offers mobile itineraries in Namibia, Malawi, and Zambia. You can see some of the itineraries here:

http://www.wilderness-safaris.com/safaris/explore.jsp

IMO these trips offer great value for money, as they include time in the private concessions (enabling you to experiences off-road driving and night drives) and many also include a few nights in a five-paw camp.

Cheers,
Julian

cooncat3

Hey thanks everyone- Just got back home. If anyone else watns to add in their thoughts I'd love to hear them. I knew Kwando didn't do mobile trips - I was just wondering about Kwando Camp prices vs. Wilderness camp prices.

I just don't want to go ro Botswana if I can't get to a few of those privaste concessions. Greedy, I know. But everyone coming back from Kwando and WS seem to have had stupendous game viewing.

Lilipets: How was the game viewing on your trip? You know, you don't have to write a magnum opus - while I love reading them, I don't have the energy to write them myself!

jasher

Hi Sharon,

Take a look at Lily's trip report here:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34867092

Cheers,
Julian

santharamhari

Hello!!! There are plenty of great mobile safari operators in Botswana. ........

Do a search on here, as people have done some wonderful mobile safaris using some very good operators.

I wouldn't compare WS and Kwando....they are both very very different!!! (I hv been to both!!!)

Hari

santharamhari

Masson safaris, usually comes out very favourably.....do a search on these boards u may come across some trip reports.

Hari

afrigalah

I went on a semi-mobile safari with WS 10 years ago-- the first half was by air transfers , the second half we moved from place to place by vehicle, but we had the same guide throughout. It was thoroughly enjoyable, but back then, WS was quite a different company. Mombo bush camp was a lovely, intimate place, and our mobile camp on the Chobe was similarly in tune with the environment. I'd call both these camps 'rustic' but it's almost a meaningless word judging by the preferences I've read in this forum. I've seen some give the tag 'rustic' to camps which I would describe as quite upmarket.

I'd back Hari...there are good mobile operators other than WS. Search and choose wisely.

John

jasher

Hello,

I agree that there are other good mobile safari companies in Bots, but WS cannot be beaten when it comes to access to some of the best private concessions. To me, this would be amomg the most important factor when choosing a trip.

Cheers,
Julian

afrigalah

Julian,

You're probably right in that regard, but WS has become too impersonal for me...and it's the more intimate, personal experience that some people look for. As &quot;the resident Botswana expert&quot; (Rocco's description), don't you think you should be mentioning some of the alternatives by name (<i>if you have experience of them</i, not just WS in just about every breath you take?

I've long had an aversion to the big corporate outfit (whether it's a comparison between safari operations or giant supermarket and intimate corner store) because it's my experience they are more likely to make the kind of mistake I object to. Last year provided a good example. Chitabe was overbooked for us for three nights because WS misled our agent over the camp's availability (several months ahead of our trip). We were advised of this just a few weeks before departure and offered an alternative, which we rejected. I know full well that a change of destination at fairly short notice in a region where bookings are heavy is not likely to match my original choice. So we dropped three nights from our safari (and WS from our future thinking). As it happened, we were also overbooked one night at Selinda, but they were able to give us that night at Zib, so nothing was lost. It's an interesting coincidence that the Selinda over-booking occurred not long after WS started taking bookings for LE's camps. Fortunately, one doesn't have to use WS to go to such high quality, smaller destinations like Kwando and Selinda.

John

BonnieN

I have to agree with John and second the recommendation of the Massons. They were booked for my window, but for a mobile safari, they would be terrific and very personal! I am extremely detail minded and they cover everything, plus they are a local company. I am sure that Wilderness is wonderful, just that it is a big company.
Bonnie

santharamhari

There are so many great options for Botswana, whether mobile or tented camp safari......not just WS. I do think WS is a fine outfitter, but, not the desired choice of everybody!!!

It's like saying, Nike is the best running shoe......many of us, like a more tailor-made product like an asics or a brooks.....

Hari

Treepol

Hi,

I really enjoyed a mobile safari in 2004 with Wilderness Dawning out of Maun.

Email for more info: [email protected]

Happy planning

Pol.

jasher

Hello John,

Personally, I always try to suggest whatever fits the OP's request regardless of which camp it is. In this case it's private concessions which means WS.

As I've said above, there certainly are a number of other good mobile operators (GameTrails, Masson, CCAfrica etc) but they don't have access to private concessions in both the Delta and the Linyanti (CCAfrica has access to private concessions in the Delta but not in the Linyanti). IMO this can make a big difference in the experience due to the restrictions in place in the national parks.

Since Kwando and LE don't offer mobile safaris, it didn't seem appropriate to mention them here as it doesn't relate to the OP's post.

As you probably know, many of the 'WS camps' are owner run and operated but marketed by and booked through WS. For this reason I haven't found them overly 'corporate' as each owner has their own ideas about how a camp should be designed and run.

This includes Selinda and Zib as many of LE's bookings go through WS, Jack's and San (Uncharted Africa), as well as the Jao concession camps.

Even those camps which are actually owned by WS are quite different IMO -- Little Vumbura is very different from Savuti, and Savuti is very different from Mombo.

What I recommend to one person will be different from what I recommend to another, depending on their interests. WS has a particulalry broad range of camps which fit a variety of different tastes, and they run some of the best private concessions in Botswana (especially in the Delta). CCA, Selinda and Kwando are more specialised.

In the end, it's different strokes for different folks, and it all depends on the OP's request. WS doesn't suit everyone, but neither does Selinda or Kwando.

Cheers,
Julian

afrigalah

Julian,

At no stage did I suggest you should refer to Selinda or Kwando in this thread (I know they don't offer mobile safaris). Where did you get that idea?

What I did suggest was quite clear.

John

cooncat3

Thanks for all of your responses. I believe you all when you say that all of these companies offer a good product, but I am concerned about the game viewing, and where they actually camp. This is why I am most intrigued with WS - the concessions. If anyone can tell me more about the places you camped with other outfitters, the guiding standards, etc., I would be most interested. It's not that I am hung up on WS - I, too, prefer small, owner-run camps - but again, if I go to Botswana I would like to have the same (or similar) game-viewing experiences as those who've recently been and posted - Julian, Lynn and Hari come to mind at the moment.

Thanks again, guys!
Sharon