You have seen it in Lonely Planet as the 2016 Best in Travel, the guys at National Geographic Travel keeps giving it top honors as well and careers of countless wildlife videographers and photographers have been built on its beauty. Now want a piece of that Botswana safari, but the moment you check for tour packages online it becomes clear just how expensive doing safari on Botswana is, why is it so expensive?
Lets try explaining a few of the reasons why.
Its by design
The Botswana government decided to limit the amount of tourist into its wilderness, they did this by setting very high standards and barriers of entry into the market. Conservation is the major priority here, the country actually has over 30% of its land designated to wildlife preservation (almost 18% of the country's area being purely reserved as national parks and game reserves). With so much emphasis on conservation Botswana’s policy favors low - impact luxury tourism, that right there explains why the prices are so high. A majority of the camps and service providers in the country are focusing on that high end market. These are world class five star rated properties that you can find on Conde Nast and Forbes travel recommendations. At the very top of these being Zafara Camp, Abu Camp and Sandibe Camp. Offering only a maximum of eight guest at any given time you can see how high they may have to stretch that price,but for the experience you'll have, the $2000 a night price is somewhat a giveaway!!
Don't quit yet, that's a only a handful of camps at that extremely high price tag, for similar luxury and experience you have the "sister" camps of those premium ones offering half that price and a bit more rooms, but at a maximum of 30 guests its hardly a deal breaker. That means that for around .
$1000 you can have pretty much the same kind of safari.
Branding
With a few royal families and celebrities coming to safari on Botswana, the industry players realized they may as well capitalize on it. Travel agents used that to justify placing Botswana at the very top of the safari experience and add to the fact that the country is not that popular on the world stage, a safari vacation in Botswana has come to be seen as all sorts of exotic.
Part of this has been boosted by the Okavango Delta and the Kalahari, They are both unique natural wonders and the diversity of game and birds is probably the most diverse on earth. Game populations are also high, you wont see more buffalo, elephant or zebra unless you are in the best bits of Serengeti.
Another factor is how the prices are bundled, once you pay these high prices you have covered almost everything, flights to the camps, meals, drinks and activities (stay smart and ask though, a full body massage and that expensive champagne may not be included).
Not all of it is that expensive
Do a bit of research on times of year to visit you can save a lot, the rule of thumb is mid year is expensive and year end less so. This however means you may loose out on the benefits of coming midyear. Many camps now offer a reasonable $500 a night, these are still high quality, good service safaris that offer pretty much the same experience as the top ones, there are few trade offs but they are still very luxurious camps, you wont feel uncomfortable at any of these camps.
The country itself is not that expensive
Botswana itself is not expensive, this is why I have been suggesting overlanding and backpacking. For around $200 a day you wont have any trouble with anything whatsoever, a taxi ride is 40cents, a liter of fuel is 90c, a good meal is less that $20 at Nandos, or KFC and a 4 star hotel rooms is around $90. Beer does get expensive at about $1.50 an can though and cigarettes are expensive, again due to government policy efforts to reduce smoking amongst locals.
In the proper spirit of backpacking walk into the local supermarkets and fill up on all you need. You should however avoid local eateries offering meals for around $1, don't risk it. Your highest cost will be game drive, and you may need to think ahead as a group will get discounts.
But it is worth it?
Yes, the Okavango Delta is a must see, the Kalahari is a must see, Moremi is a must see, Chobe is a must see, well you get the drift. Pretty much any side of the safari you choose to take in Botswana will not disappoint you. The national parks are also concentrated in a smaller area so spend a week in Botswana and you will see everything. The service standards are also very high, the safari service providers have mastered their craft such that it all works like a well oiled machine, the flights are in time, the activities deliver and they don't hide any costs. The cost also seem much of a bargain as a Botswana safari offers pretty much any activity you can imagine, bush walks, safari drives, Mokoro rides etc.
The main reason and true benefit of vacationing on safari to Botswana is how surreal the place is. In an age where safari means twenty cars at a game sighting, paved roads in parks, fuels stations within game reserves, brick and mortar camps on river beds, cellphone coverage and simple noisy camps, Botswana still offers the serene, quite, tented, exclusive and personalized safari. Its a proper escape from the modern world as we no it, you will lose track of time the moment you fly into the wilderness.
The high focus on conservation also means you can sleep well at night knowing your vacation didn't leave a bigfoot carbon imprint, the camps are forced by law to have a minimum impact on the ecosystem and you will readily see that the moment you set foot in the any of the camps, they effortless blend into nature.
Plus if you are into bird viewing then you are in for a treat, or astronomy, the skies presents the stars in a way you haven't seen yet. Those who rip it all however are the photographers, pros and amateurs alike enjoy this bits of earth.
Don't quit yet, that's a only a handful of camps at that extremely high price tag, for similar luxury and experience you have the "sister" camps of those premium ones offering half that price and a bit more rooms, but at a maximum of 30 guests its hardly a deal breaker. That means that for around .
$1000 you can have pretty much the same kind of safari.
Branding
With a few royal families and celebrities coming to safari on Botswana, the industry players realized they may as well capitalize on it. Travel agents used that to justify placing Botswana at the very top of the safari experience and add to the fact that the country is not that popular on the world stage, a safari vacation in Botswana has come to be seen as all sorts of exotic.
Part of this has been boosted by the Okavango Delta and the Kalahari, They are both unique natural wonders and the diversity of game and birds is probably the most diverse on earth. Game populations are also high, you wont see more buffalo, elephant or zebra unless you are in the best bits of Serengeti.
Another factor is how the prices are bundled, once you pay these high prices you have covered almost everything, flights to the camps, meals, drinks and activities (stay smart and ask though, a full body massage and that expensive champagne may not be included).
Not all of it is that expensive
Do a bit of research on times of year to visit you can save a lot, the rule of thumb is mid year is expensive and year end less so. This however means you may loose out on the benefits of coming midyear. Many camps now offer a reasonable $500 a night, these are still high quality, good service safaris that offer pretty much the same experience as the top ones, there are few trade offs but they are still very luxurious camps, you wont feel uncomfortable at any of these camps.
The country itself is not that expensive
Botswana itself is not expensive, this is why I have been suggesting overlanding and backpacking. For around $200 a day you wont have any trouble with anything whatsoever, a taxi ride is 40cents, a liter of fuel is 90c, a good meal is less that $20 at Nandos, or KFC and a 4 star hotel rooms is around $90. Beer does get expensive at about $1.50 an can though and cigarettes are expensive, again due to government policy efforts to reduce smoking amongst locals.
In the proper spirit of backpacking walk into the local supermarkets and fill up on all you need. You should however avoid local eateries offering meals for around $1, don't risk it. Your highest cost will be game drive, and you may need to think ahead as a group will get discounts.
But it is worth it?
Yes, the Okavango Delta is a must see, the Kalahari is a must see, Moremi is a must see, Chobe is a must see, well you get the drift. Pretty much any side of the safari you choose to take in Botswana will not disappoint you. The national parks are also concentrated in a smaller area so spend a week in Botswana and you will see everything. The service standards are also very high, the safari service providers have mastered their craft such that it all works like a well oiled machine, the flights are in time, the activities deliver and they don't hide any costs. The cost also seem much of a bargain as a Botswana safari offers pretty much any activity you can imagine, bush walks, safari drives, Mokoro rides etc.
The main reason and true benefit of vacationing on safari to Botswana is how surreal the place is. In an age where safari means twenty cars at a game sighting, paved roads in parks, fuels stations within game reserves, brick and mortar camps on river beds, cellphone coverage and simple noisy camps, Botswana still offers the serene, quite, tented, exclusive and personalized safari. Its a proper escape from the modern world as we no it, you will lose track of time the moment you fly into the wilderness.
The high focus on conservation also means you can sleep well at night knowing your vacation didn't leave a bigfoot carbon imprint, the camps are forced by law to have a minimum impact on the ecosystem and you will readily see that the moment you set foot in the any of the camps, they effortless blend into nature.
Plus if you are into bird viewing then you are in for a treat, or astronomy, the skies presents the stars in a way you haven't seen yet. Those who rip it all however are the photographers, pros and amateurs alike enjoy this bits of earth.
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