flying time between camp locations on botswana tour

cb2labs

Would appreciate anyone who has taken this tour, to answer how long the flights are between the Chobe River area to Belmond Khwai Camp then onto Belmond Eagle Camp and then onto Kalahari Camp. Also, how many passengers does the plane hold?

Not wanting to spend a lot of time on planes, but understand it is necessary on this Tauck Tour.

Thanks for you info.

Crackeroo

Hi. We will be taking this tour beginning August 26th. If you don't get an answer by then, I will respond when we return.
Debi

AlanS

I'm going out on a limb here because I haven't been on this tour (yet) but based on what I've read and the aircraft used on the Kenya & Tanzania tour, the small size of the B,SA,Z group (avg 20), the short distances between camps (check them out on Google Maps), the small airports (some airstrips may have dirt runways) I'd say the flights are about 30 - 45 min. Obviously the flight from Maun to Capetown will be longer, but it will likely be on a larger, faster commuter turboprop or jet (Airbus A319 series?).

The short-haul aircraft used on K&T (and throughout E. Africa) are small commuter single, dual and 4 engine turbo prop planes such as the Cessna Caravan and Bombardier/DeHavilland Twin Otter and Dash-7, so I would guess that is what you'll see on B,SA,Z.

Follow these links to my prior posts with more info:

https://www.tauck.com/yaf/default.aspx?g=posts&m=37157#post37157]

https://www.tauck.com/yaf/default.aspx?g=posts&m=36013#post36013

https://www.tauck.com/yaf/default.aspx?g=posts&m=27741#post27741

Inside of a Caravan (tight 1 -2 seating):



Tauck Baggage being unloaded in Arusha (Caravans in the background):

cb2labs

Crackeroo wrote:

Hi. We will be taking this tour beginning August 26th. If you don't get an answer by then, I will respond when we return.
Debi

thank you. Once you are back and over the jet lag, etc. I would love to have you review your tour....I am thinking of this tour for 2019. Just got back from Tanzania-Zanzibar tour which was fabulous. I thought one trip to Africa would be enough, but I am hooked and want to go back! Thinking this is the tour to take for one last trip over.

cb2labs

AlanS wrote:

I'm going out on a limb here because I haven't been on this tour (yet) but based on what I've read and the aircraft used on the Kenya & Tanzania tour, the small size of the B,SA,Z group (avg 20), the short distances between camps (check them out on Google Maps), the small airports (some airstrips may have dirt runways) I'd say the flights are about 30 - 45 min. Obviously the flight from Maun to Capetown will be longer, but it will likely be on a larger, faster commuter turboprop or jet (Airbus A319 series?).

The short-haul aircraft used on K&T (and throughout E. Africa) are small commuter single, dual and 4 engine turbo prop planes such as the Cessna Caravan and Bombardier/DeHavilland Twin Otter and Dash-7, so I would guess that is what you'll see on B,SA,Z.

Follow these links to my prior posts with more info:

https://www.tauck.com/yaf/default.aspx?g=posts&m=37157#post37157]

https://www.tauck.com/yaf/default.aspx?g=posts&m=36013#post36013

https://www.tauck.com/yaf/default.aspx?g=posts&m=27741#post27741

Inside of a Caravan:



Tauck Baggage being unloaded in Arusha (Caravans in the background):

thanks Alan, I am familiar with these commuters as they were used on the Tanzania-Zanzibar trip I just returned from in July. Thanks for the info on expected flight times on Botswana tour. I, too, am thinking of going 2019. Your insight along with British helped me in planning for Tanzania, which was perfect in every way!

British

So glad you enjoyed the Tanzania and Zanzibar tour cb, yes, I would recommend the Botswana/Zambia tour for you, it is very very different!

Crackeroo

Will do. We are getting very excited. Will spray our clothes this weekend and then start packing. We leave Aug. 23rd. Always like to have at least one day to get acclimated prior to the start of the tour.

Robba

We were on the Botswana, South Africa & Zambia trip that began on Aug. 5. The flights are all relatively short. The flight to the Khwai River Lodge took a little over an hour, and the flight to the Eagle Island Camp took only about 35 minutes. The flight to Camp Kalahari was also a little over an hour. All of these flights were on small planes that held only about 12 people. We had two planes for our tour but the tour director doesn't know the size of the planes until the day of the flight, so it's possible they could use three planes of a smaller size.

I traveled with a small backpack and a medium size camera case. The small planes don't have an overhead storage compartment above the seats but there is a storage area at the back of the plane where I stowed these items.

The flight to Maun is on a larger commercial plane. This flight took about two hours.

The previous photos are an accurate representation of the planes we used.

Robba

Correction - I forgot there were two flights from Camp Kalahari to Cape Town. The flight from Camp Kalahari to Maun was about an hour long on a smaller airplane. The flight from Maun to Cape Town took about two hours.

Once we were at the Maun airport we were reunited with our luggage and had time to repack our belongings from the Truck duffle bag into our main luggage. My wife choose to simply check her Truck duffle as a second piece of luggage which was permitted at no additional cost. However, the total weight of both luggage pieces should not exceed 44 lbs. (20 kgs.).

I combined the contents of my Truck duffle into my suitcase and packed the duffle into my carry-on bag as I was concerned about exceeding the 20 kg. weight limit. My suitcase weighed in at 20.25 kg. and I wasn't charged for going over the weight limit.

Crackeroo

Thanks Robba,
Very helpful. We leave the 23rd for the tour that begins the 26th. Anything you'd like to add that hasn't been brought up on the forums previously? Appreciate it.