Just back from B,SA&Z-Part 2
Clothing-Obviously the weather when you go is a big factor. We ended up buying primarily Columbia PFG from their outlet store. As others have said, no one really cares what you wear. We found the Columbia clothes to be very light and easily rolled for the duffle bags. For the welcome dinner on the train and the farewell dinner two gentlemen wore sport coats. I did not bring one and felt very comfortable in slacks and a button down shirt. We probably overpacked by about 10%. I really didn't appreciate how good the laundry would be. My wife made sure I understood my underwear will not be ironed when we got home!!! Speaking of underwear they don't launder it in Kalahari. Anything but underwear. When you get to the Maun airport you will be reunited with your luggage. You sit in coach on the flight from Maun to Capetown (it was a comfortable but crowded flight). They have a baggage limit of two bags each no more than 20kg or 44 lbs. They are serious about it and charge for overage, but not nearly as much as they do in the states. We ended up sending our duffles with our safari clothes in addition to our suitcase and made the weight limit without a problem. Others weren't so lucky. You may want to consider bringing a small lock or other fastener for your duffle bags if you send them to Capetown. We didn't have anything valuable in them but it made us feel better I suppose.
Internet-Ranged from none to very good. At Camp Kalahari there is none, no phone, no internet, nothing. At the Belmond camps it was serviceable but slow. I can't speak to the Royal Livingstone. At the One and Only it was very good.
Currency-We used US dollars in Zambia and Botswana and Rand in South Africa. Some places take US dollars in Capetown, but we generally try to respect the local currency. All of the shops we went to in Capetown the pricing was in Rand. I'm sure they would have converted it if we asked, but we had the Rand or used a credit card.
Mosquitoes-Despite it being the end of rainy season the only place we experienced mosquitoes was at the Eagle Island Camp. All of the accommodations had bug spray in the room. Two different types one for you and clothes and the other for the room in general. All of the rooms had mosquito netting around the bed. We brought two cans of spray, we could have gotten by with one small one and of course sun screen.
Safes-All of the rooms had safes.
Flights- I don't remember the manufacturer of the aircraft. They ranged from a 5 seater to a 12 seater. The camp to camp flights were generally and hour to an hour and a half. They were fine, a little cramped but fine. Once we had two planes and twice we had three planes. At one camp they had to move the wildlife off the runway when they expected the flight to come in.
Evening at the camps-If it's dark you CANNOT go to/from the rooms without a guide, period. There will be elephants, hippos, impalas, baboons, etc. You will likely hear all kinds of sounds and wonder what it is and how close it is.
Internet-Ranged from none to very good. At Camp Kalahari there is none, no phone, no internet, nothing. At the Belmond camps it was serviceable but slow. I can't speak to the Royal Livingstone. At the One and Only it was very good.
Currency-We used US dollars in Zambia and Botswana and Rand in South Africa. Some places take US dollars in Capetown, but we generally try to respect the local currency. All of the shops we went to in Capetown the pricing was in Rand. I'm sure they would have converted it if we asked, but we had the Rand or used a credit card.
Mosquitoes-Despite it being the end of rainy season the only place we experienced mosquitoes was at the Eagle Island Camp. All of the accommodations had bug spray in the room. Two different types one for you and clothes and the other for the room in general. All of the rooms had mosquito netting around the bed. We brought two cans of spray, we could have gotten by with one small one and of course sun screen.
Safes-All of the rooms had safes.
Flights- I don't remember the manufacturer of the aircraft. They ranged from a 5 seater to a 12 seater. The camp to camp flights were generally and hour to an hour and a half. They were fine, a little cramped but fine. Once we had two planes and twice we had three planes. At one camp they had to move the wildlife off the runway when they expected the flight to come in.
Evening at the camps-If it's dark you CANNOT go to/from the rooms without a guide, period. There will be elephants, hippos, impalas, baboons, etc. You will likely hear all kinds of sounds and wonder what it is and how close it is.
0
Comments
Were there any nighttime activities other than hanging around the bar telling sea stories? Or, was everyone ready to hit the sack after dinner?
Meals in the camps- buffet? To order? Limited menu, i.e choice of 3 mains, etc.? or special of the day? Any local game?? : )
Was coffee/tea available in any of the rooms, or was it all delivered?
Thanks!
Thanks so much!
were there any solo travelers on your tour? I am traveling solo on this trip, and concerned about feeling inclusive.
did you enjoy the various forms of safari, motor boat, jeep, mokoro?
did you feel that you had enough safari time versus the three nights in Cape Town at end of trip?
Thank you for your answers
There is plenty of Safari on this tour, you’ll see animals that you won’t see on safari in other parts of Africa, like Wild dogs. Oh and the Meerkats! We even saw a rare siting of a Honey Badger!
Remember—There is opportunity for more wildlife when you get to CapeTown, either the boat ride or in our case the ride to the penguins because our boat ride was cancelled, it was too rough. Then the trip out to the Cape of Good Hope where you will see wildlife too, ostrich and eland come to mind from our last trip there. It’s so odd seeing ostrich with the sea in the background. ‘Enough safari’ means different things to different people, it might be too much or too little depending on the person you ask. We love CapeTown, we have been twice, would go back anytime and could easily live there, baring the crime of course. We also enjoyed seeing Johannesburg and Soweto on the Elegant South Africa tour, it’s good to see the history and culture of South Africa and how it is changing
Various types of transport—- the quad bikes were so exciting. The canoes—- well in our case it was when the water was really drying up and a lone hippo charged the boat and our guides had to make a hasty retreat, I was pretty frightened but live to tell a great tale.
I believe you are going on the 25 May 2019 B,SA,Z tour, correct? A bit of info- half of the travelers on that tour are in a single group of 10 (a large family? different last names, friends?). I have not experienced a group so large on any prior tour, so can not offer opinions on how it might affect overall group dynamics or solo travelers, just stating a fact.
We had a couple of smaller groups of 4 cousins meeting up on our tour of 29, and didn't see much of them, nor were they inclusive. If there were extra seats at their table, we could join, and felt included, but they didn't go out of their way to include people - I think they were just trying to enjoy some family time, as expected.
Just our experience...