Privatisation of Northern Campsites

[daj]

"Is there something I am missing? I live in South Africa and have always paid the same rates as anyone living outside of Botswana"

Seems to be just for 'Savuti, Khwai & Linyanti' (do they mean Khwai community campsite or North Gate?) , don't know why this should be so .

from Maunselfdrive4x4 website:

SAVUTI, KHWAII, LENYANTI, (S.K.L) PUBLIC CAMPING GROUNDS 2009/2010 RATES

Valid from 1st October 2009 – 30th September 2010

Camping Fees
CitizenBWP 100
ResidentBWP 150
SADC - citizensZAR 250
InternationalUS$ 50


"but earning a currency 10 times less valuable than Euro..."
.. wish I were earning Euros, Sterling ain't doing too well either!!

[freeflyd]

OK, I didn't realise there was an SADC rate.

[Ericarole]

Well, As everybody, I am very disappointed. I was very happy to receive a good news about a positive booking at 3rd bridge. But then I received the mails from Mapulalodge that held now Savuti, Linyanti and Kwai camp.
They said Savuti is full. They have availability at KWai and Linyanti at :
50 usd per persone and 25 for the child !! That make the night at 125 usd in a camp with your own suff and food !!
As I have no many choice and will probably never come back in this part of he world, I will break my son' moneybox and accept this swindle and take 2 nights at Linyanti and hope the gods of wild Africa will bring me many good souvenirs in this place...

How much time driving between Linyanti and Kasane ?

I hope the khwai community camp are still running at good price, to make a last stop between Moremi and Linyanti.
So If somebody could give me the proper link to reach them (emails, fax..)
Also I m looking for the emails or fax of PARRO that held Xanakaxa, so if you know it ....

[freeflyd]

Khwai Development Trust telephone +267 6801211 and fax: +267 6801210

[come-along.nl]

Good point Robbie! Now you might be able to get a booking a month in advance and not one year!!!

Cheers, Hans

[Jinglis]

Privatisation of these sites can make our lives a nightmare...I had a situation in August in the Central Kalahari where I arrived at my campsite (Parsarge 2-booked thru Bigfoot) only to find a Safari company had moved in. They had made the booking thru DWNP well in adavnce. So beware of double bookings.

[PierredW]

I am very glad that we visited all the Botswana parks as well as Etosha in Namibia, Serengeti and Ngoro Goro. All these guys are now getting mad like Tanzania with their prices and at these rates I am not going anymore. We love the Botswana parks and I will still visit Chobe riverfront on day trips if it is affordable but there are still many other places in Africa that is wild so parks in Moz, Zim and perhaps Zambia will start appearing on my list. Been to Hwange, Matusadonna, Mama Pools and Gonarezhou in Zim, very nice but unfortunately not the same amount of animals like say Chobe waterfront after winter. You can still visit many 4x4 places where you bush camp but to see game there is no better than some Botswana Parks. Pity they are now taking it away from so many people. A world famous park like Kruger with excellent facilities charge only a fraction of the cost these guys now want, pity Kruger is so tame all atmosphere is lost when there is a fence between you and the animals. Still hoping to get to Kenia and Uganda at some stage but I guess by then they will also rip us off.

[overlandef]

Our trip in bots was so exciting that I already scheduled to come back in 2010 or 2011. Unfortunately, due to price skyrocket, I will not come back to bots anymore.

Paying 50US$ per night for a campground with "wild" ablusions and no service is ridiculous. OK, european traveller are quite rich compared to botswanan citizens but the government have to understand that living in europe is ultra expensive.

Bye bye Botswana. Hello Zambia or Mozambique... or still better: South Africa

[freeflyd]

I have updated my Guide to Botswana with he new booking info.


The full document is here: http://www.pictureafrica.org/Picture...ampers....html



Here is an extract:



Fees:

I will only publish non resident fees. For residents to Botswana and citizens of Botswana, it is MUCH cheaper. Camping fees are now really complicated as different companies now run different camps. You are still responsible for buying your own “Park entry Ticket” and I assume that you would need to pay this separately from the camping at the different wildlife offices.



These offices are located:

Molepolole - for Khutse and Central Kalahari

Maun - for Moremi and Chobe

Kasane - for Chobe and Moremi

For Mabuesehube you must still use Gaberone

For Nxai Pans you must still use Gaberone or Maun



* Non Resident

1. Park Entry Fees

1. Adults 18 and above - P120-00/d

2. Children 8-17 inclusive - P60-00/d

3. Children under 8 years - Free



Vehicle Entry Fees



* Botswana Registered

1. Under 3500kg - P10-00/d

2. Between 3500kg and 7000kg - P500-00/d

3. More than 7000kg - P800-00/d

* Foreign Registered

1. Under 3500kg - P50-00/d

2. Between 3500kg and 7000kg - P1000-00/d

1. 3.More than 7000kg - P1500-00/d
   

There has been a rumor around that Botswana Parks are looking at Privatization of their booking system and a substantial price increase.



Since June 2009 some camps in the Central Kalahari and Khutse reserves are exclusively booked through “Bigfoot Safaris” and charge a camping fee of P100 pppn (P150 pppn for 2010) instead of the normal P30. They also charge full rates for children of 16 and over, not 18 and over as Botswana Parks normally do. There is no change in vehicle fee or conservation fee as yet.



Big Foot Tours will be responsible for the following campsites:



Khutse Game Reserve – Khutse campground; Mahurushele; Khankhe; Moloswe and Moreswe.

Central Kalahari Game Reserve – Lekhubu; Letiahau; Piper Pan; Sunday and Motopi



Reservations for these campsites must be made directly with Big Foot Tours at:

Tel: +267 395 3360 or +267 7224 3567

Email: bigfoot@gbs.co.bw or www.bigfootsafaris.co.bw

It has been reported that they do not accept credit cards.



On 13 October 2009, the following has taken effect:

These camp sites in the Northern parks have now been privatized and are run, and charged for by the named companies:



Parro:

Tel: (+267) 3180774

Fax: (+267) 3180775

Email: dwnp.parrogabs@gov.bw



South Gate, Xakanaxa, Ihaha, Khumaga, Njuca Hills

Their price has not been published yet.



Mapula:

Tel: 6865366 / 6863369 Fax: 6865367

conniem.mapulalodge@info.bw



Khwai (This is North Gate in Moremi, not Khwai Community), Savuti, Linyanti

Non Residents - US$50 per person per night

SADC R250 per person per night.



Xomae :

Tel/Fax ++ 267 6862221,

Cell ++267 73862221

Email: xomaesites@botsnet.bw



3rd Bridge, Nxai Pan, Baines Baobabs

Non Residents - P150 per person per night



These fees are CAMPING only, and you still have to ad the P120 per person per day and P50 per vehicle to your calculations. I do not know the booking system yet, but will publish it as soon as I do. It seems very expensive, but is still cheaper than most other parks in East Africa and Zambia. It seems like bookings that have already been made and paid will remain at the old price.


Rates for Mabuasehube:

Camping: P30-00 pppn

Park Entry Fee: P20-00 pppn

Vehicle Fee: P3-00 pvpn

Wilderness Trail: (One way - Mabuhasehube to Nossob. Including one nights accomodation at Mosomane)

P200-00pp.

[Hennie Jackson]

Thanks Dawie - your info is always valuable. What about Kgalakgadi Transfrontier Park - think we should shoot through there next year and up to Etosha and Ruacana, or through Caprivi to Etosha, Ruacana and then down to KTFP, back to SA?

HJ

[Mick]

Time for us to strike and toi-toi until they give in.

[50something]

I have made a booking through Xomai Group for Third Bridge (at camping fee of P150 - OUCH). I received an email from them stating that the vehicle fee and park entry fee must be paid in Maun before we enter Moremi, so no need to pre-pay these costs as in the past. Here's hoping that the Parks Board don't increase these fees in the interim.

[daj]

It seems there have always been different rules for different folks, on the occasions we've booked Moremi we only needed to pre-pay camping fees (60 pula pp) and had to pay the park fees in Maun in person.

Mapula Lodge were kind enough to give me this explanation about their new rates:

The areas that we are running are far from Maun, Savuti and Linyanti are very remote areas and to keep the people there you need to equip them with lots of things including vehicle, food, petrol and diesel and medication etc. That is why the
government had to privatise them because with the prices they were charging, they didnt manage to maintain the roads and provide all the things needed. That is why we have raised the rates and that is why we cannot charge what the other camps are charging. ... Where tourism is involved, you cannot charge the locals the same price you are charging international clients. There are rates for internationals and for african countries etc

It's true that paces like Namibia have different rates for locals, SADC and internationals, but I still can't see why it's only Mapula Lodge making this distinction - hope the others don't get the same idea! But I do appreciate that they took the trouble to reply to my questions, seems to bode well for future communications re bookings.

[Colin Brown]

I have booked next year in the CKGR through kalaharitours which does all the booking a charges a modest booking fee. Going through DNWP is now not possible

[luangwablondes]

Colin Brown

Which campsites did you book?

[janeyw]

Originally Posted by phuma

We have provisional bookings for 2010, just have not paid yet. Wonder if they will honour our provisional bookings? If we paid our deposit on the old fees - will the remainder then be the new fees?

And, who do they think will camp for R400 per person per night? (Excluding other fees!) I wish them good luck; my money will be well spent somewhere else and I think others will do the same.

I wonder how it is going in Namibia after their astonishing increases in the last few years?

Unfortunately there are loads of foreigner tourists who are quite willing to pay these horrendous rates. They don't bat an eyelid at the cost of hiring fully equipped 4x4's - it us locals who have to suffer. It makes one realize how privileged we have been up to now. At least we don't have huge airfares to get us to Africa in the first place!

[Pierre77N]

You're right Janeyw.
For us European, it is a big financial sacrifice to visit Southern Africa!
But we love it so much that many of us are ready for this sacrifice several times…
But don't imagine we love to pay more and more for camping and for hiring cars.
I understand the crazily increasing costs of Botswana's camps is a big issue for you but you have them at only 1 or 2 days driving from home. I stay jealous!

[Ericarole]

Originally Posted by janeyw

Unfortunately there are loads of foreigner tourists who are quite willing to pay these horrendous rates. They don't bat an eyelid at the cost of hiring fully equipped 4x4's - it us locals who have to suffer. It makes one realize how privileged we have been up to now. At least we don't have huge airfares to get us to Africa in the first place!

I go the same way that pierre77N :
Same thing for us happen with the french riviera "Côte d'Azur" where millionaires from all the world love to come....

But just to let you know that for us, coming in Southern Africa for vacation in self drive way means often to save money during one or 2 years and sometimes make a little loan to make it. We do not go sleeping in very expensive lodge in the bush, only reacheable by plane and thousand of USD dollars. We sleep on the roof and eat dust most of the times....

I can rent a double cab in RSA for few weeks, I cannot afford to have my own one in France (price+insurance+gas+papers taxes... )

[daj]

Originally Posted by janeyw

They don't bat an eyelid at the cost of hiring fully equipped 4x4's

I can assure you we are batting eyelids madly! As my French co-travellers say, we have to make other sacrifices to get the chance to travel to Africa, and hiring a 4x4 with tent has been the cheapest way to do it up to now ... an additional $100 per night to camp seriously affects the budget! Those with the serious dosh to spend do the fly-ins and would seem to contribute little to the local economy - we rent from a local company and buy supplies from local businesses. And like Pierre, we too are insanely jealous about your access to such wonderful nature !

[gazzo]

The prices are now stupid to say the least i am a resident in bots and they want to charge us for the wife and kid p420 a night with out park fees.so i feel sorry for you guys coming from sa and other places