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What type of accommodation would you want?
These are the basic types of camps that are available and these range from opulent luxury which are generally in private concession areas, down to a backpacking tent pitched in a sandy river bed and everything in between. Here are some basic categories of camps that will help in your planning.
Luxury Lodges
Luxury Lodges are generally constructed using bricks and have either thatch or metal roofs and would have a main central dining room and bar with a pool area, probably a spa/gym facility. The rooms in most cases would be separate buildings away from the main complex and typically have private views with their own balconies. They would be air conditioned and have bath, shower and toilet en-suite and sometimes this is duplicated outside the room for that private bath under the stars. The catering is of a very high standard and most diets will be catered for if notice is given of this.
Semi Permanent Camps
This style of camp is designed around the principal that the camp can be taken down and will in theory leave very little evidence of it ever being there. Most of these camps are on wooden platforms that are thatched and then with nice large walk in tents underneath that have en-suite facilities, for many of these you would battle to see the difference between this and a camp made with bricks and mortar and they are for the most part very comfortable and spacious.
Seasonal Tented Camps
These are camps that have nice large walk-in safari tents and are set up in a particular area for a season. Often this is weather related or to do with a specific event like the Wildebeest Migration in the Serengeti System. The whole camp is designed to be broken down and reassembled again in a new location, so they don’t have the same level of infrastructure as your semi-permanent camps. However, in today’s world of safari camps they will generally have plumbed in facilities which includes a flushing loo and some would even have plumbed in showers but often these will be the hoisted bucket type shower. The dining area will also be tented with a nearby fireplace for those cold nights and starry skies. These camps are generally never more than 6 tents per camp.
Mobile Tented Camps
These are probably the best way to truly experience the African bush as you will feel so much more part of the environment as opposed to watching it from a grand stand, and of course your impact in the area is so much less. These camps range in quality, but primarily it is based on the size of the tent (most of these are walk in type tents) and the facilities that are attached like your shower and toilet, and of course the quality of the bedding, catering and the number of staff in attendance.
Participatory Safari Camps
This type of camp requires you to get involved with some of the basic camp chores and even sometimes putting up the tents, it's a great fun way to do the safari and is generally used when doing a backpacking safari, a canoe safari or an overland driving safari. Some safaris may include a night out "fly-camping" this is generally the style of camp that would be used for this.
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