I just got the info that most camps now kick out their guests by 10am.

Some allow guests to stay, have lunch (mostly for additional 30-40US$pp) and then leave at 1600hrs for Wilson. Obviously these camps become the pink elephants of Kenya!

Many are just not dealing with guest's preferentials anymore but their own revenue and comfort!

Guests first! That is obviously something a tourist to Kenya can only dream of. History!

Not being in the bush until afternoon flight back to Wilson! Not having lunch after game drive, packing, showering and then leaving! NO! Pay your check and get out!

Are they now going really mad?

Are they not afraid of being boycotted by more TA/TO?

Pippa:

I understand you frustration. However, we need to look at it from the other side. Say you have 20 tents/
rooms and perhaps 4 - 5 stewards caring for all those rooms/tents. All those tents/rooms have to be completely cleaned out, floor washed, bedding changed, bathroom cleaned before the new guests arrive around noon.

I do think they could do better though as you suggested by perhaps having you check out of your room at 10, leave you luggage in a locked room at reservations, go on another game drive, return for lunch and then head for the airstrip for a small fee.

By making mandatory rules that are inflexible, they may well lose tourists because of it.

Jan
EXACTLY!

Vacate the tent by 10 or after game drive so that personnel can prepare for the next guests. As hotels do!
But then they have to deliver as hotels do in the same league. No more exception for the reason "being in the bush getting provisions only once a week". They cannot pick the raisins as they like!

But Jan - keeping it that strict means the afternoon flights become unnecessary, people pay a fortune for a 12 hrs period being expected to pay even more in Nairobi killing time in a dayromm or go shopping on end?

We do safaris in East and Southern Africa.

Nowhere in TAZ, nor BOT or SA MUST guests leave on a certain flight.

Particularly the Mara camps: Didn't they have enough bad press recently?

It's GREED again and nothing else. And they show it frankly!

And IF that lead to decrease in tourism and camps must be closed due to lack of tourists have a guess who is going to suffer! For certain not those guys with their accounts in Switzerland, England and SA! It's the locals who are going to suffer - once more!

The fat white guys keep the camps just as long as they can harvest money and exploit the local stuff.

Often I get the impression those white guys know it's not an never ending story and so they exploit as much as possible in very short time frame. It's a win-win situation. But certainly not for the locals!

I am again just thinking of skipping Kenya as well.

Jan - what is the departure policy at Satao? Would be interested to learn.

I'm not exactly sure as I have always gone there in two different ways. I have gone by charter flight and returned to Mombasa by charter leaving camp around 10 a.m. and arriving Kijipwa about 40 minutes later and then driving to Moi for a flight to Nairobi OR I have had SXS pick me up at my Mombasa/Coast hotel and take the SXS private bus to Satao. If you take their private bus back to Mombasa you usually leave camp by LandRover around 9 a.m. to drive to the Buchuma Gate where you meet up with the private bus around 10 - 10:30 and then leave for Mombasa.

Thus in both scenarios I have left camp around 9 or 10 a.m.

I'm not sure how the people who self drive handle their departure. My guess is that staff would be flexible IF camp isn't going to be full. However, if camp will be full that day with 40+ people arriving by SXS private bus around noon to one o'clock to fill the 20 tents, my guess would be that they would ask you to vacate the tent, but would probably allow you to stay for lunch if you were a self-drive. I know other safari companies often stop to allow their clients to have lunch at the waterhole, so my guess would be that as long as you let them know in advance that you wanted to stay for lunch, arrangements could be made. You probably just wouldn't be able to use the newly cleaned tent though.

However, I'll check with the manager to see if I'm right about that, and I'll let you know for sure.

Thank you Jan!

Hi Pippa:

I got a reply from the manager this morning and it states "all your *I guesses* are right. You can easily confirm what you said in the first place."

Thus if you were a self-drive you could vacate the tent around 9 a.m., have you tent steward take your luggage to reception for keeping, enjoy your morning on another drive (if you are self-drive) or watch the wildlife around camp and the waterhole, then have lunch while watching the animals and leave following lunch. However, you would have to request the late departure and lunch in advance so the manager could alert the kitchen staff there would be extra people for lunch. In the past the charter flights (there are no regular airline flights to Tsavo) left camp around 9 or 10 a.m. Since SXS has a brand new charter plane to take their clients to Satao Elerai Camp near Amboseli, I am not sure if there is an option for an afternoon charter flight. You could email managing director of SXS at: torben@southerncrosssafaris.com to see if an afternoon charter would be possible. Most foreign tourists arrive at camp either by charter plane or on the SXS private bus from Mombasa.

I would not advise a self-drive from Mombasa. It is a two hour drive to Buchuma Gate - then another hour from Buchuma Gate through the park to camp. The traffic on the Nairobi-Mombasa highway is crazy with many huge, slow-moving trucks from all over Africa heading to or from Mombasa port with their loads. Though it is a paved road, it is only 2 lanes so getting past the slow moving trucks is not always easy. Unless you've have a lot of experience driving in Kenya, I wouldn't advise a self-drive. I've driven for over 50 years and I wouldn't dream of driving. Kenyan roads are poorly marked (few direction signs) and I would find myself driving around the same round-abouts all day long in Mombasa and never get out of town The roads in the park go from murram and bumpy to thick sand so one should be experienced to do this.

If you opt for being picked up at your beach hotel and take the private bus, it is a very easy ride. You can choose to get a little extra sleep, read a book or listen to the Southern Cross Safari lecturer who tells everyone about the animals you will see, etc. At the Buchuma Gate you are transferred to your Satao Camp guide who will check you into the park and pay the park fees for you. You then proceed slowly in the LandRover/LandCruiser, game-drive style, to camp - stopping to see wildlife you may see on the way. It is about an hour from Buchuma Gate to camp. Upon arrival you'll check in, be shown to your tent and then enjoy a very enjoyable lunch watching the waterhole before heading for a game drive at 4:00. This is the cheapest way to go, but you would be leaving camp at 9 a.m. with no option for a late departure.

Another option, and one I've used frequently because my flight from Nairobi gets into Mombasa after the SXS bus has left Mombasa for camp, is called the "connoiseur" safari. This is a private 4 wheel drive vehicle (usually a Prado or LandCruiser) with guide to be used by you/your clients for as many days as you wish to have a private guide. They pick me up directly at Moi Airport and drive me directly to Satao so I won't have to spend a day and overnight in Mombasa. If you wanted to use the "connoiseur" for your entire stay, then I think you could plan what time you wanted to leave. When I use the "connoiseur" to get TO camp, I will take the private SXS bus back to Mombasa. In fact that is what I'm doing in February. I always plan on flying from Mombasa to Nairobi one day before heading out of the country. Why? because on several occasions flights were cancelled in Mombasa and if I had a flight from Nairobi that night I would never have made it. Thus I have one night and a day room the next day in Nairobi until departure home.

It will all depend on how much your clients want to spend and how much time they have available.
I've used the charter flight, "connoiseur" drive-in and the SXS private bus and all are very good.

Hope this helps.