Karoo, Kalahari & West Coast – Our new 2012 tour, which we are proud to introduce to you is a 9 day camping tour that showcases the lesser travelled roads of South Africa. The journey will begin in Cape Town and will include highlights such as Sutherland – known famously for SALT (Southern Africa Large Telescope), Kgalagadi National Park (home to the famous Kalahari lions and exquisite red sand dunes), Augrabies National Park & Falls, an overnight Orange River Canoe excursion, Nieuwoudtville, Lamberts Bay (with a traditional South African outdoor seafood feast), wine tasting and an unforgettable experience at the famous theatre of Pieter Dirk-Uys, Evita se Peron. The tour will end in Cape Town.
2012 Pricing
Changing Local Payment to Activity Package & Introduction of Activity Packages on all Tours
In the past we had different pricing structures for our local payments in Southern & East Africa. Taking into account the international travel laws, we have re-structured the way our local payments work.
Firstly, we have renamed the local payment to Activity Package – that is because it is exactly that – an activity package which clients can purchase at the time of purchasing their tour. That means that the Activity Package is now an optional payment – so clients have the power to decide if they want to purchase the package upfront or purchase the activities themselves while on tour – letting their budgets dictate what they can afford to do.
This has led us to introduce an Activity Package on all of our tours, which means that you are able to easily explain the Activity Package to your clients. The Activity Package does not replace the current optional activities available on our tours, optional activities will still be available. You will find a list of the Activity Package in this booklet.
This new system has been created to simplify bookings and sales and to create more transparency for both our agents and clients.
Changing Activity Package Pricing from USD to ZAR
In a step towards the end of Activity Packages (ex Local Payments), we are changing our Activity Packages from a USD to a ZAR (South Africa Rand) amount. This means that clients do not need to travel with large amounts of USD’s or try and withdraw when in South Africa as ZAR is easily accessible for departures within South Africa. For our East African departures, clients will be able to pre-pay the Activity Package along with their tour price, which means they pay once for everything. Obviously this also allows clients to pay with their credit cards once.
Price Freeze
So, we can see the smiles on your faces after reading “price freeze” – that’s no typo – we have managed to “price freeze” a number of our tours making sure our overall average increase across all tours has been kept to a minimum. While it has not been possible to price freeze all of our tours, we are confident that the tours where an increase has occurred, increases have been kept to a minimal, taking into account accommodation changes made and of course the cost of certain commodities and inflation. Following heavy negotiations with our suppliers and the introduction of our “Activity Package” has meant that on certain tours we have been able to reduce the tour prices
Small Groups
Due to increasing pressure we are proud to introduce Small Group departures on several of our core tours. These specific departures will all have a maximum of 12. These tours are only around 8% more expensive than their larger group tours and as such represent excellent value. The list of tours includes, Accommodated Cape Town to Vic Falls (NACV), Classic Kruger (NAJJ) (Camping and Accommodated),our Okavango & Chobe Trail, North & South (NAJV / NJV / NAVJ / NVJ) (Camping and Accommodated) and South Africa Explorer – South Bound (NAJC/NJC) (Camping and Accommodated)
NCJ / NAJC Combo
In the past, our South African tours were operated either out of Johannesburg (accommodated departures) or Cape Town (camping departures). We have received numerous requests to offer accommodated departures out of Cape Town (in a northerly direction) and camping options out of Johannesburg (in a southerly direction.) – this has lead us to offer you more departures and more availability by combining our camping and accommodated tours. What this essentially means is that our camping and accommodated clients will travel on the same truck, like we have done for a number of years on our Kruger, Okavango & Chobe & East Africa tours, and more recently our Mozambique tour. The quality and standard of accommodation that you have become accustomed to on this tour has not been compromised in any way. And the cherry on the top is that due to ongoing negotiations with our suppliers has meant that we have been able to reduce the price of our South African tours. In addition to all of this we will continue to supply 3 crew on the NAJC which means the camping tour will now receive this benefit as well.
Tour Changes for 2012
We have made a few changes, not only to certain key tours, but also some key aspects of how we package our tours. As every year, we do have some accommodation changes to our tours, as we have negotiated better quality accommodation.
Dorm rooms on Camping Tours no longer!
More good news! It is with great pleasure that we can confirm that dorm rooms are a thing of the past on the camping tours. All tours will now stay in twin rooms.
East African Adventure
This tour and it’s sections have a change – we have removed a day from Malawi and added an extra day in Tanzania. What this means is that we have removed some beach days from Lake Malawi and added a night in Lilongwe and Lushoto. On the sectional tours, this would mean that the Vic Falls & Malawi tour will become 11 days instead of 12 and the Zanzibar & Serengeti Trek will become 10 days increase from 9 days in 2011.
Okavango & Chobe Trail – Southbound
This tour will now be spending 2 nights in Kasane allowing clients enough time to participate in the optional Game Drive through Chobe National Park – which in the past was not always possible due to time constraints. This means
that we will now only spend 1 night at Planet Baobab as opposed to 2 in previous years.
Accommodated Cape Town to Victoria Falls (NACV)
Day 7/8: We have changed accommodation from Villa Wiese / Dunedin Star Guest house to Hotel a La Mer. Both dinners are now excluded and are optional for clients.
Day 13: Our accommodation will now be at Island Safari Lodge who offer air-conditioned rooms, moving away from Sitatunga.
Camping Cape Town to Victoria Falls (NCV)
Day 1: Campsite change from Rondeberg to Markuskraal.
Day 5: Campsite change from Solitaire to Desert Shelter Cha-re, which is the location of our guided desert walk with a local expert.
Day 7/8: We will no longer being staying in dorm rooms, accommodation will now be in twin-share rooms at Villa Wiese. Both dinners are now excluded and are optional for clients.
Day 12: We have replaced Monteniro camping with en-suite twin rooms at Hotel Uhland, located in Windhoek, which removes the additional driving into Windhoek for the optional dinner out at Joe’s Beerhouse.
Day 19: En-suite rooms at Vic Falls Adventure Lodge will now replace the dormitory rooms at Savanna Lodge.
Accommodated South African Explorer (NAJC)
Day 1: A 3 course Shangaan dinner & dance experience has now been included.
Day 2/3: Lunch has been removed for the days spent in Kruger National Park, these lunches will now be listed as optional for clients.
Day 5: As there are numerous optional activities for clients to participate in at Mlilwane, we will no longer include the hike with the guide to give clients the time for optionals.
Day 6: Our overnight accommodation changes from St Lucia Villa to Shonalanga.
Day 7: Lunch has been removed.
Day 12/13: We will no longer visit Hogsback and instead we have included Cintsa, staying at the Areena Resort which offers numerous optional activities for the clients to enjoy at leisure.
Day 17: We will now be staying at Forever Resort, Plettenberg Bay, replacing the Dune Hotel and we now also include dinner on this day.
Day 19: Our last night accommodation changes from Cultivar Guest House to Rivierbos, still spending our last night in Stellenbosch.
Camping South African Explorer (NCJ)
Day 1: An itinerary change on this tour sees us spending our first night in Stellenbosch and not Swellendam. We will be staying at Rivierbos in twin-share accommodation. As dinner is not included, clients can enjoy a dinner out in Stellenbosch.
Day 3: We spend the night just outside Knysna at the Forever Resort, Plettenberg Bay. Clients will still enjoy the many optional activities on offer in Knysna.
Day 7/8: Cintsa has replaced Hogsback, so our two nights will now be spent at, Areena Resort which offers numerous optional activities. This means that we have included more time at the beach.
Day 11/12: Our accommodation changes from Amphitheatre Backpackers to the Drakensville Resort.
Day 13: Another night spent in twin-share accommodation, moving from Happy Hippo Lodge to the Garden Court South Beach hotel. Today we include breakfast; lunch and dinner will both be optional.
Day 14: Our third night on this tour where we are will be staying in twin-share rooms, changing from Budget Backpackers to Shonalanga.
Day 18: Lunch has been excluded in Kruger National Park.
Day 19: Our last night we will stay at Timbavati Lodge and lunch has been excluded.
Our NAPD / NPD / NAPC / NPC tours now include Addo National Park.
Camping Discover Mozambique (NJMJ) / Mozambique Explorer (NAJMJ)
Day 8/9: Twin-share rooms replace the dorms rooms for these two nights spent at Palm Grove. (Camping trip)
Day 12/13: The lunches have been excluded from Kruger National Park.
Day 14: The morning walk has been removed as it is a long drive back to Johannesburg, this allows us sufficient time to experience and enjoy the magnificent Panorama Route.
Kruger National Park (NJJ / NAJJ)
We will no longer offer the “Kruger on a Budget” tour due to the re-structuring of our Activity Package.
Day 1: We replace the dorm rooms with twin share rooms at Gazebo Lodge.
Day 2/3: Lunches have been removed to cut down on lunch time, to give us more time for our game drives.
Okavango & Chobe Trail – North (NAJV / NJV)
Day 1: An itinerary change sees us staying in the Khama Rhino Sanctuary, removing Camp Itumela.
Day 2: Our accommodation for the night changes from Sitatunga to Island Safari Lodge.
Okavango & Chobe Trail – South (NAVJ / NVJ)
Day 1/2: We spend these two nights in Kasane, still enjoying the sunset boat cruise in the Chobe NP.
Day 3: From Kasane we travel to Maun where our overnight accommodation changes from Sitatunga to Island Safari Lodge.
Day 6: The Baobab Nature Walk has been removed and we only spend 1 night at Planet Baobab.
Day 7: Tonight we stay inside the Khama Rhino Sanctuary, removing Camp Itumela.
East African Adventure – North (NAVN / NVN)
Day 5: Cape Mclear has been replaced by Lilongwe, staying at the Barefoot Lodge.
Day 6/7: A visit to the Lilongwe Wildlife Centre has been included for the morning, before we head further to Kande Beach where we stay for 2 nights.
Day 8: We will stay 1 night at Chitimba, Lake Malawi
Day 9: The one night in Iringa remains unchanged, it’s just one day earlier now and not on day 10
Day 10: NEW: We are now including a stop in Mikumi. Where clients have the chance of experiencing an optional game drive in Mikumi National Park
Day 11: Dar es Salaam – remains unchanged. Clients will now arrive earlier in Dar es Salaam and will have the opportunity of experiencing this vibrant African city.
Day 15: Instead of staying in Dar es Salaam this night, we get back from Zanzibar and head straight to lushoto. One night in Dar es Salaam (day 11) is sufficient and an additional night is not necessary.
Day 16: NEW: We will now be heading for karatu and spending the night here. The numerous day & overnight excursions into the Serengeti and surrounding parks make this change unbelievably exciting – so many activities for clients to choose from.
Day 17/18/19: Optional Serengeti & Ngorongoro Excursion (increased from 2 nights to 3 nights)
Day 20: Remains at Arusha
Zanzibar & Serengeti Trek (NND / NAND / NDN / NADN)
The Serengeti Excursion is no longer an optional excursion. We have now included the Serengeti in the Activity Package on these tours.
Camping Zimbabwe Rediscovered (NJZJ)
A change to our itinerary, we have removed Gweru and added a night at Kariba. We will still enjoy all the activities and highlights of Zimbabwe such as the 4×4 game drive in Hwange NP, Vic Falls, overnight canoe trip, caves visit, hike to Bridal Veil Falls, visit to the Zimbabwe Ruins and a full day game drive in Matopos NP.