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What do we guarantee?
Perhaps more than any destination in the world, African holidays demand the input of specialist knowledge and information. There are literally hundreds of safari operations in Southern and East Africa, competing for your business. Which one to choose?? Our first advice? Talk to people who know the region and the product … Africa is not somewhere to take short cuts or point blindly at the map and say, let’s try here honey! You want the most out of your safari, so find out from the folks who have been there, done that. OK, right off the bat … sure we are biased, but here are some of the reasons we think Kwando Safaris is a great place to hang your hat or your new duty free binoculars! If this is your first safari the points below may not mean that much to you. However, experience will ensure that you soon realise that, these points, are the difference between the best possible safari and just another safari. Seldom will you find a company with the total focus on the points that really matter for the greatest possible experience. All the above points are not on the "fluff" it is easy to write a cheque for a decorator or a "French" chef and then claim "come on safari with us - our decorator is better than theirs". However, if coming to Africa has been a long cherished dream to see the animals, feel the wildness and share this with like minded people then Kwando Safaris is what you have been looking for. Kwando Safaris was founded to give our guests a true African safari – just what you would expect - but more…
4 of Kwando Safaris camps operate only in exclusive, private areas Here the words exclusive and private are key - we do not share our traverse with others and we are outside the National Parks and Game Reserves. Despite your perceptions this is a huge advantage - no crowds, no fences and the same animals. Botswana is the size of Kenya, France or Texas and northern Botswana is for all practical purposes one large wilderness area many time bigger than the biggest game reserves in the world. Add to this that fact, another fact - that the unfenced areas of Botswana are contiguous with parks and wilderness areas in Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Angola forming one of the largest wild areas on earth - known as the Upper Zambezi trans-frontier conservation area. The massive area is approximately 26.6 m hectares (57 m acres). Our camps are open all year round Many safari areas are only able to operate seasonally restricting your choices. While it is true that each month is different sometimes you can only come when it suits you so rest assured we will be there when you need us. For more info on the variations from month to month look at our safari calendar under fast facts.
Please note in the table at the end that in the secret season (the "rainy" season) Botswana enjoys an average of 13 rain days in a 120 day period which makes the chance of being rained on 1 in 9 or 10%. Put another way for the whole year Botswana has 347 sunny days in a year and just in case you were wondering 0 snow days. It terms of seasons Botswana does not have 4 normal seasons. Essentially you have some overlapping definable climatic conditions - the year can be divided into the dry and wet seasons and the hot and cold seasons. So the wet season is also warm to hot and the dry season is both hot and cold. Sounds a bit confusing but it works roughly as follows:
Never more than 6 guests per vehicle.
4 of Kwando’s camps operate in exclusive use private concessions - so huge as to be bigger than most game reserves and national parks around the world and then combine this with lowest vehicle density in the safari industry of Botswana - it means we can operate off road with minimal impact. Animals are not concerned about the roads and will locate themselves and their homes where it suits them, often intentionally far away from the roads. If you are unable to proceed off road then you will often get to watch as the excitement and action moves off into the distance away from you and the road. We also operate at night with spotlights at 4 of our camps - Kwara, Lebala, Lagoon & Little Kwara
Then there are the whole array of nocturnal specials that simply are never seen in daylight. These species are specially adapted to their life in the darkness and are not disturbed by the light of the spotlight. These species include 3 species of small cats, a variety of genets, mongoose, and civets as well as birds like owls and night-jars.
Our three camps with water activities offer double deck boats - our camps are the only ones in the Okavango Delta that offers this experience to our guests. The Okavango Delta is famous for the secret narrow reed and papyrus lined channels in the shallow water of the Delta. However this means that the channels are visually isolated from the spectacular treed islands behind the reed and papyrus as are any animals (other than hippo). The upper deck enables our guests to see over the reeds into the islands. Why, you wonder, do others not offer this simple but elegant solution? Kwando Safaris is the only safari company in Botswana to offer our guests the services of both a professional guide and a tracker. The tracker drives the boat while the guide looks after the guests ensuring that we do not have too many people on the upper deck at a time. The boats have to be narrow to get down the slim channels so we have to manage the guests on the upper deck. If your guide has to drive the boat then an upper deck is a serious safety risk and you also loose the benefit of the guides excellent eyes and interpretative experience he is trained to provide as he would be busy piloting the boat.
As we have alluded to above - the use of guides and trackers in Botswana is not standard practice. While it is true that Botswana is blessed with more game than many areas that routinely use guides and trackers - it is also true that with a tracker you at least double your chances of seeing elusive game species like leopard. So the combinations are now complete - off road and at night, double deck boats and guides and trackers and I think you begin to understand that Kwando Safaris is more serious about the wild life experience on your safari than anyone else. Again you ask why - surely all the other companies must have the same focus?
However, back to the the work of the tracker. The most obvious utility the tracker brings to your safari is being the eyes on the front of the vehicle, located on his purpose built seat on the front of the vehicle. From this vantage point he is able to read the language of the bush written in the tracks on the ground. This tells you which animals are around and when they were there. So why rely on luck when you can add skill to ensure that your chances of finding the special animals can be greatly enhanced with skill. Then there is the whole new role at night as the spotlight operator. No guide is multi-skilled enough to follow wild dogs on the hunt at night and avoid, stumps, not get lost, explain the adventure to his guests and still operate the spotlight without losing the dogs. No tracker and you have compromised greatly again. If that was all the tracker did it would be enough. However the rest of his crucial role is not obvious. When you get back to camp the tracker frees our guides to look after their guests while the tracker looks after the vehicle. Off road driving means higher maintenance needs as well as many more punctures (each vehicle has 2 spares). The trackers take care of this problem with the mechanic in camp while the guides ensure your needs for drinks, comfort and information are handle in their own unique way in camp. The personal service difference. Sure you can have an adequate safari without the services of a tracker but now that you know - it is good enough for you?
Again the "bush" in us provides this magic number. Anything beyond 16 beds makes a "game lodge" which is a proxy for small hotel. We definitely run camps - intimate camps though and that is why we do not have more than 16 guests at a time. You deserve the level of personal service Kwando Safaris provides why have "professional" hotel service when you can experience proper African personal attention - the kind that is not available on any other continent. Our managers look after guests not computers and do not have meetings to attend and e-mails to send. They only have guests to look after. Why compromise?
While we are not hoteliers, we know that having a great meal is the minimum you can expect. So while we are not competing with the best restaurants in the world for food quality we provide you with excellent home style food that is both healthy and freshly prepared. We can compete with the best restaurants in the world for decor, ambience and setting though. We do not have to paint the stars on our ceilings - the southern skies without ambient light offers the most amazing ceilings. One of the most common complaints we receive is that "we ate too much and too well". You have been warned. Our rates include, wines, all alcoholic and other beverages Sorry we are "bush" people so we do not believe that you should be charged extra for your drinks. Maybe we are forgoing some profit for your pleasure but we want you to enjoy your time in our company and signing for drinks takes away from the intimate atmosphere and the personal service we are famous for. So drink up and relax with us. We know you did not come to Kwando Safaris because the drinks were free but because of the quality of our safari experience. Meet & greet service in and out of Maun airport. In keeping with the concept of intimate camps in private areas with personal service - vintage Africa. We ensure that when you pass through Maun airport on the way in and out of our camps that you will be personally met by one Moremi Air staff who are our preferred charter company. This service includes use of the only private guest lounge in the Maun airport, free internet access while Moremi Air Services staff check you in on Air Botswana and get your boarding pass. Why stand in line if we are happy to do this for you. Do not compromise you don't have to. Intimate camps private area's with personal service – vintage Africa Now that you have hopefully read about all the minimum standards we apply to your safari you will understand that our guiding statement above guides all that we do. No compromise. Kwando Safaris, vintage Africa ~ experience the Africa of old ~ traditional-style luxury safaris |
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Lets face it. If you’re sitting down for the first time thinking about an African safari, you can be forgiven for wondering where on earth to start, who to talk to and where and when you should go.
The so called wet season:
The dry season
The hot season
The cold season
Night time is a whole new world of experience and could not be more different to day time game drives. Firstly 30% of all interesting mammals are only active at night. Most of the predators do most of their hunting and playing activity under the cover of darkness. If you are not able to operate at night, again National Parks and Game Reserves seldom allow this due to vehicle densities, then you are missing out on one of the most important parts of your safari experience. After the drinks stop at sunset to give you a break from sitting the vehicles move into the darkness in search of the action that only night time can bring. Africa is hot and predators unlike humans are not that efficient at losing body heat hence their choice of darkness for their activity peak. 
In theory, yes but in practise not, as we are the ONLY safari company in Botswana to offer you all these minimum standards for your safari experience. From the chairman down we are a company that comes from the wildlife environmental side of life first and foremost and our management and staff reflect this through the company. It is much easier to teach "bush" people hospitality than it is to teach hospitality people the bush. Not only is it easier but it is much safer - would you not like to know that your guides and managers are "bush" people when lions walk through camp, than a hotel manager who thinks life in the bush may be "fun" for a while.
