Private Vehicle Costs Options

[sniktawk]

I know that a lot of posters use a private vehicle whilst on Safari, so I have undertaken a little research as to costs in Botswana.

These are the results I have got based on two people sharing:

Wilderness Camps have two rates one for "classic" camps and one for "premier" camps (I have no idea why) $ 475 and $525per vehicle, per person $237.50 or $262.50.

Selinda has two rates $380 or $420 with "photographic" vehicle , per person $190.00 or $210.00

Kwando charges at most $75 per empty seat so $300 for two, or $150 per person the rates drops to $200 in "green "season or $100 per person

Mapula charges $200, or $100 per person.


Anybody got any ideas why highly similar vehicles are charged at such ridiculously differing rates, and of course in the two cheapest options you also get a tracker!

I can offer a joke excuse for Mapula they use a LAND ROVER.

Has anybody got prices for other operators in other countries?

[sniktawk]

I know that a lot of posters use a private vehicle whilst on Safari, so I have undertaken a little research as to costs in Botswana.

These are the results I have got based on two people sharing:

Wilderness Camps have two rates one for "classic" camps and one for "premier" camps (I have no idea why) $ 475 and $525per vehicle, per person $237.50 or $262.50.

Selinda has two rates $380 or $420 with "photographic" vehicle , per person $190.00 or $210.00

Kwando charges at most $75 per empty seat so $300 for two, or $150 per person the rates drops to $200 in "green "season or $100 per person

Mapula charges $200, or $100 per person.


Anybody got any ideas why highly similar vehicles are charged at such ridiculously differing rates, and of course in the two cheapest options you also get a tracker!

I can offer a joke excuse for Mapula they use a LAND ROVER.

Has anybody got prices for other operators in other countries?

[madaboutcheetah]

At Serian, Masai Mara - price is included in the PPPN rate - for the group - doesn't matter if you are 1, 2 or a party of 4


Not to sound like a broken record - but, many of their camps had Trackers prior to the 9/11 tragedy. An ex-tracker from Duma Tau (now guide at Eagle Island Camp) mentioned to me that they cut off the trackers due to the slow down in the tourism industry immediately after 9/11. Due to community rules - a hand full of their camps still have a tracker - but, apparently they just sit there and try to spot ..........

[luangwablondes]

Anybody got any ideas why highly similar vehicles are charged at such ridiculously differing rates,

Not like you have a choice when you get there.

If there was a better reason to hire your own private guide and vehicle, and drive between camps and on game drives, this is it.

You can hire a safari set up vehicle for about $100USD/day in Maun or Livingstone. With a party of 2, you do the math. It would seem that with the occupancy rates of these popular camps, they are greedy buggers.

[Guest_nyama_*]

Kwando Safaris allow self-drivers... however your party must book the whole camp and you must pay for a guide who shows you the route. See www.kwando.co.za/content/view/22/23/.

But of course you must use Kwando vehicles for the game drives.

[Guest_nyama_*]

Due to community rules - a hand full of their camps still have a tracker - but, apparently they just sit there and try to spot ..........

Which camps?

[Guest_nyama_*]

Anybody got any ideas why highly similar vehicles are charged at such ridiculously differing rates, and of course in the two cheapest options you also get a tracker!

Some operators are better salesmen than others.

[ZaminOz]

An ex-tracker from Duma Tau (now guide at Eagle Island Camp) mentioned to me that they cut off the trackers due to the slow down in the tourism industry immediately after 9/11. Due to community rules - a hand full of their camps still have a tracker - but, apparently they just sit there and try to spot ..........

I guess not being a Botswana regular I just don't get this whole tracker sitting on a game viewing vehicle thing.
I mean really, other than spot and occasionally point out the most obvious spoor on the dirt track, what do people really expect a tracker to do from a vehicle? Also (and this is just an observation) if you are on a game drive and you need tracking as opposed to spotting to see game, you are probably not in a very game rich area?
I can understand having a good tracker with you when on foot, but in a vehicle it seems to me that any tracking that a tracker does can just as easily be done by the guide/driver or an ordinary spotter. Any guide worth his/her salt ought to be able to do basic tracking...

[twaffle]

It is all a bit depressing really as they obviously want you to conform to their camp rules by making it so expensive.
Not much point driving your own vehicle to stay at a camp (if they allow it) if you then have to share a camp vehicle with a whole lot of other tourists.

Being in business myself, I remember a seminar I once went to where we were told that if no one complained about the price we weren't charging enough. So perhaps they keep charging more and more until the complaints get too many. Or perhaps they are charging as much as they need to, to discourage guests to take the private vehicle option.

Having your own vehicle is like flying business class, pretty hard to go back to a shared vehicle or to economy.

PS I fly economy sadly.

I have never experienced a tracker on the vehicle but maybe one advantage when you can drive off road is that some animals may be close but not visible so if you have an experienced tracker he/she could take you to the animals? Anyway, it would add to the experience of being out in the bush, just thinking that you had a tracker who might find you something extraordinary!

[Guest_John Milbank_*]

The driver/guides I've had in Botswana have seemed competent trackers for the most part; one or two have been exceptional. I wouldn't call any of them mere driver/spotters.

I've had a dedicated tracker in a vehicle only on one trip, at Kwando Lagoon (I don't include the scouts we had last year at Mwamba and Kaingo in SLNP). The Lagoon tracker proved his worth. It's a good area for wildlife, but between them, he and the driver did an excellent job tracking lion from the vehicle over hard and scrubby ground on one drive.

[Guest_nyama_*]

what do people really expect a tracker to do from a vehicle? Also (and this is just an observation) if you are on a game drive and you need tracking as opposed to spotting to see game, you are probably not in a very game rich area?

At Kwando Safaris the tracker leaves the vehicle and tracks spoor off-road, for instance leopard.

[madaboutcheetah]

To add to John's post RE Tracking. In the Botswana concessions, where you are allowed to off-road (some of it is pretty harsh terrain) you really need to track ................ The essence of the tracker sitting up front is to find spoor on the tracks. You then follow up with the spoor off-road to wherever they lead. In the Botswana concessions, the number of roads etc etc., is limited (in contrast to SSGR etc etc.,) and you track on foot- the spoor. This can take as little as 5 minutes or as much time as possible when the animals are on the move out hunting etc etc., It really does take a lot of work. For example, last October I spent 6 hours from noon to 6 PM finding the coalition of 3 cheetah.

Sure - a guide can guide/track/entertain/play bar tender etc etc., but the tracking job can't be complete!

In brief, tracking makes for a much better game viewing experience. At times, two men can follow tracks (can be confusing when there are multiple animals moving in multiple directions) you can drive the car to keep up with them if you want to - or walk with them if you wish (that will take a lot more time, as the car is left behind).

It's not just spotting and doing some half-assed tracking by driving around and hoping that the tracks exist! You got to follow the spoor(and that is best done on foot)........ sometimes you may be able to drive and find them - example., when a full-bellied animal is asleep, you know they won't move too much - if at all, to have a drink nearby and you make the desired prediction!

Nyama mentions tracking Leopard on foot. I notice newer guides doing this. Old school guides, flatly believe that a Leopard is too shy and will out-move your tracking (unless they think it's a car/camera friendly cat like the Kwara female leopard)

[madaboutcheetah]

To answer Nyama's question - Duba Plains is one of them - Atleast in 2003/2004 they had a SPOTTER. I must say the gentleman (ex-Duma Tau) was a superb tracker and is now a guide.

[Guest_nyama_*]

Having your own vehicle is like flying business class, pretty hard to go back to a shared vehicle or to economy.
PS I fly economy sadly.

I only booked a private vehicle once for three days, but had countless game drives in a shared vehicle whereas I was the only client. To be honest, I prefer the shared group experience of a game drive with other clients - and on most occasions those were like-minded people with whom I had great fun.

[madaboutcheetah]

Again, if the focus and accent is on the in-camp experience (note the jumping up and down during the Chitabe lounge incident) and the comfort of the vehicle ....... why would the clientele care about tracking? Ofcourse they don't know any better ........ but, would they have the patience (certainly only a handful of them) or are we going to say now, that the WS concessions are superior in game viewing and hence don't warrant a tracker? If so, I haven't noticed this superiority - either in person or reading the game reports or the trip reports of visitors, for that matter. It's all just marketing hoopla. Unfortunately, the current global recession is going to run it's course....................

[twaffle]

To be honest, I prefer the shared group experience of a game drive with other clients - and on most occasions those were like-minded people with whom I had great fun.

Lucky you! Knowing me I would end up with people who talk a lot, jolt you just when you are taking a photo, don't want to sit and watch birds at all and worst of all maybe even whistle!

[Guest_nyama_*]

don't want to sit and watch birds at all

I also like being on a game drive with people who have complete different interests (such as birders) because this is a good opportunity to learn something new.

[Guest_John Milbank_*]

To be honest, I prefer the shared group experience of a game drive with other clients - and on most occasions those were like-minded people with whom I had great fun.

Our very best game drives have been when we've had a vehicle & guide to ourselves, or our companions were like-minded friends. I don't recall any game drives totally spoiled by companions, but I do remember a couple when we wished certain people would fall out .

[madaboutcheetah]

Another example that comes to mind about tracking. On that particular visit, we were following a Coalition of 4 young male Lions and wanted to keep them in sight as they were really entertaining and aggressive. Heard them roaring all night - then followed up in the morning to not find them. Ended up tracking them from the Selinda border all the way north to Nari Pan, some 3 hours of tracking (from the Twin pools area) just to find that they had brought down a baby elephant at some point in the night.

[ZaminOz]

Let me clarify – my original comment was in response to a comment that referred to "trackers on the vehicle only spotting". It seems to me that there might be a general misconception out there about what tracking entails.

Tracking is not 100% following spoor on the ground. Effective/efficient tracking is part spooring, part understanding animal behaviour, part predicting movement, part familiarity with environment. Often a tracker doesn't need to look at the ground because it is more efficient to predict and spot. And terrain familiarity can often negate the need to track anyway. I was reminded of this in the Luangwa recently. After a morning breakfast out in the park we had just started to drive again when I noticed what looked like fresh lion droppings near the track. The guide got out and confirmed that it was lion and was fresh (minutes fresh as it happened), he glanced at the spoor and its direction then got into the land rover and drove. After a while he stopped and pointed out the lion and a lioness in the shade of the river bank where a dry tributary is in confluence with the main river. Now, to the naked eye and even with binoculars the lions just looked like part of the steep bank. I said to the guide that he must have excellent eye sight to spot them. He said, "No, I didn't spot the lions, but I drive past that river bank a lot, and it doesn’t usually look like that." So he efficiently found the lions by (a) predicting that they would head for shade (it was getting hot), and (b ) his eye caught a spot of terrain that he was intimately familiar with, looking different.

Sure, we could have followed their spoor from the dung to where they were resting (even I could have tracked them), but that would have taken time. Even the best tracker in the world (if he was familiar with the area) would not have wasted time spooring but would have gone in the direction that the tracks were heading and spotted for something out of place in the landscape.

All that said, sometimes circumstances do mean that spooring is the only way of finding the game that you are looking for. Having grown up with hunting safari trackers I do understand how fascinating and thrilling it can be to watch this skill at work and am in awe of it. It is a skill that I truly appreciate and have never really managed to emulate. However as I said, spooring is not the whole of tracking.

[madaboutcheetah]

Fully agree - it's a combination of spooring, predicting, driving. That also happens a lot when the tracks are fresh, but, only partially visible like when you need to drive thru the Kalahari apple leaf areas or when a herd of elephants have walked over the spoor etc etc.,

When you are tracking for 2-3 hours - there surely are times when you drive with some prediction and you keep getting off to find the spoor. Prediction thru driving is easier with known animals in their known territory. However, when we are talking of tracking multiple animals - more judgement and skill comes into play, isn't it? This is when the attention of tracking on foot comes into play (another example) - if not, if you just drive around - there is a possibility of losing the plot all together. Another example.,. when the old-cheetah coalition existed - guides in all 3 concessions would have been able to predict the route they took when they marched north-bound or South-bound .........

Again, a lot of times you do try to fast track the tracking process to best use the light - but, if you hate radio-controlled game drives/game viewing then good tracking is a must!!! I hate depending on the radio and a lot of times, just go to areas where the other cars are not headed to - when this is the case, you don't have the advantage of cross-tracking. Yet, the benefits of having a private sighting.

Another example as we would have all experienced ........ we just drive and suddenly pick up alarm calls and head in that direction. That would be a lucky morning!!!