Hello to you from a sunny, but cold winter's days. I apologise that this is a long email, but rather than annoy you with a series of emails I thought it better to provide this expanded view of what we are doing in just one.
On the 1st June I announced our planned small groups which I will accompany over the next 18 months. After the restrictions of Covid I am hoping that many of you and your friends may be interested in joining one of these.
As I have previously written, I am changing the nature of our groups by offering destinations and experiences which I believe are some of the best available, and have not necessarily being offered by other operators, or that are locations which are overwhelmed with tourist numbers. You may have also noticed that after almost 30 years (next year is the big one) we have shifted our theme to "for the experience, not just the photograph". This is deliberate as we have been seen as just for photographers and exclusively for wildlife. While both of those aspects will be prominent in many of our tours, I want those who travel with me to share some of the experiences that I have had as a global traveller since the early 70's !!
I have already written to you about a small group tour to Madagascar this October. After 20+ years of regularly visiting Madagascar I totally agree with David Attenborough that it is "like no other place on earth", and like him I have great joy revisiting the "big island". If this October is too soon for you to travel, then next year I will take another group, but with a very different itinerary. This year's is a circuit that I haven't offered before, but it is a truly rewarding one that I have personally undertaken quite a few times.
For 2023 I offer:
* Feb 5th - 27th Feb. Rajasthan and Gujarat. Recent travellers to India have shared with us the real situation in India, and it is open and safe for the Covid wary traveller. My very first step into Rajasthan was in 1972, and I have truly lost count of have many visits I have made to the "Sub-Continent". I decided that I would like to offer what I think are some of the best parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat. Many of these experiences are not on the usual tourist route, which is great, as many of you would have been overwhelmed in India by the shear numbers of tourists. This tour is not too rushed and in smaller comfortable vehicles, rather than coaches. I already have bookings for this tour so if you had thought about this part of the world, then let me know right now so we can send out the itinerary to tempt you.
(* 25th July - "The Great Migration" - this is a tour I have led many, many times so it is no surprise that it is already full. In the future we will be offering very different wildlife tours to the not-so-travelled areas.)
* 27th Aug - 18th Sep. "Remote Botswana". This tour is still being finalised .... it is very different, and taking a little while to pull all together. Botswana is one of the top wildlife destinations and not only does it attract a large number of tourists, but they tend to all flock to the same areas. This tour is travelling to two main areas - the Central Kalahari and the Boteti River/Makgadikgadi. A third area is still be worked on. If you google reports on these areas you will understand why this safari will be very, very different. Even if you have been to Africa a few times, this one will be another experience. Let me know if this tempts you and I can add you to the "interested" list !!
* 1st Oct - 24th Oct - Madagascar - as mentioned above, a yet different itinerary for 2023's tour.
* 5th Nov - 29 Nov India - "The Great North". This tour is one that you will not see anywhere else (even my ground operator in Delhi looked at it twice !) There are jewels in the north of India that individually are amazing, but just not offered together. This tour brings together - Amritsar (the Golden Temple) - Rishikesh (yoga and "The Beatles") - Lucknow (totally undiscovered stunning city, with remnants o f "The Raj" ) - Assam (tea, rhinos and and a very different cultural community) - Darjeeling (toy trains, tea and views of the Himalayas) - Kolkata (the Ganges, British legacy and amazing city). It is a very mixed bag, but again it avoids most of the tourist hot-spots and reveals a different face of the "Sub-Continent". Even if you have been to India and undertaken the normal tourist routes, you haven't seen all of this ....
Q&A:
** We are often asked how many people in these groups ? - the minimum is six but usually no more than twelve
** What is included ? - this varies a little from tour to tour, but normally our price covers pretty well everything
** What about airfares ? - within the tours domestic flights are included, but the International flights from Australia are always kept seperate, as some people have their favourite airlines, wish to redeem frequent flier points, wish to travel in Premium Economy or Business Class, or come from various locations where connections may be different. So the International Airfares are in addition to the tour cost and we will assist all participants in booking the best connections and best prices.
** How far in advance do you need to book ? - as we have small groups, the sooner the better. You will see above that our July 2023 trip is full already..... 12 months/6 months is the range of booking in advance. As we approach the departure time we release extra rooms we hold, so there is never a possibility of a last-minute booking with our group tours.
** Will the same trip be offered in the future ? - going forward we intend to change destinations and itineraries each year, so it is very unlikely that any of these will be repeated.
** Will you still be offering tailor-made safaris ? - Absolutely. We don't just do group tours. We never have. Right from the start (1993) by numbers of clients, more travel on tailor-made safaris than with our groups.
I hope you have stayed the course and reached the end, and I promise no more lengthy emails to you.
In case you are not aware, we do release tours and announcements/updates through our Facebook page and you might like to follow us there : https://www.facebook.com/wildlifesafariconsultants/
I hope that you might consider joining me and our like minded adventurers during the next 18 months, and of course please share this with your friends :-)
Best regards and stay well,
Dennis
On the 1st June I announced our planned small groups which I will accompany over the next 18 months. After the restrictions of Covid I am hoping that many of you and your friends may be interested in joining one of these.
As I have previously written, I am changing the nature of our groups by offering destinations and experiences which I believe are some of the best available, and have not necessarily being offered by other operators, or that are locations which are overwhelmed with tourist numbers. You may have also noticed that after almost 30 years (next year is the big one) we have shifted our theme to "for the experience, not just the photograph". This is deliberate as we have been seen as just for photographers and exclusively for wildlife. While both of those aspects will be prominent in many of our tours, I want those who travel with me to share some of the experiences that I have had as a global traveller since the early 70's !!
I have already written to you about a small group tour to Madagascar this October. After 20+ years of regularly visiting Madagascar I totally agree with David Attenborough that it is "like no other place on earth", and like him I have great joy revisiting the "big island". If this October is too soon for you to travel, then next year I will take another group, but with a very different itinerary. This year's is a circuit that I haven't offered before, but it is a truly rewarding one that I have personally undertaken quite a few times.
For 2023 I offer:
* Feb 5th - 27th Feb. Rajasthan and Gujarat. Recent travellers to India have shared with us the real situation in India, and it is open and safe for the Covid wary traveller. My very first step into Rajasthan was in 1972, and I have truly lost count of have many visits I have made to the "Sub-Continent". I decided that I would like to offer what I think are some of the best parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat. Many of these experiences are not on the usual tourist route, which is great, as many of you would have been overwhelmed in India by the shear numbers of tourists. This tour is not too rushed and in smaller comfortable vehicles, rather than coaches. I already have bookings for this tour so if you had thought about this part of the world, then let me know right now so we can send out the itinerary to tempt you.
(* 25th July - "The Great Migration" - this is a tour I have led many, many times so it is no surprise that it is already full. In the future we will be offering very different wildlife tours to the not-so-travelled areas.)
* 27th Aug - 18th Sep. "Remote Botswana". This tour is still being finalised .... it is very different, and taking a little while to pull all together. Botswana is one of the top wildlife destinations and not only does it attract a large number of tourists, but they tend to all flock to the same areas. This tour is travelling to two main areas - the Central Kalahari and the Boteti River/Makgadikgadi. A third area is still be worked on. If you google reports on these areas you will understand why this safari will be very, very different. Even if you have been to Africa a few times, this one will be another experience. Let me know if this tempts you and I can add you to the "interested" list !!
* 1st Oct - 24th Oct - Madagascar - as mentioned above, a yet different itinerary for 2023's tour.
* 5th Nov - 29 Nov India - "The Great North". This tour is one that you will not see anywhere else (even my ground operator in Delhi looked at it twice !) There are jewels in the north of India that individually are amazing, but just not offered together. This tour brings together - Amritsar (the Golden Temple) - Rishikesh (yoga and "The Beatles") - Lucknow (totally undiscovered stunning city, with remnants o f "The Raj" ) - Assam (tea, rhinos and and a very different cultural community) - Darjeeling (toy trains, tea and views of the Himalayas) - Kolkata (the Ganges, British legacy and amazing city). It is a very mixed bag, but again it avoids most of the tourist hot-spots and reveals a different face of the "Sub-Continent". Even if you have been to India and undertaken the normal tourist routes, you haven't seen all of this ....
Q&A:
** We are often asked how many people in these groups ? - the minimum is six but usually no more than twelve
** What is included ? - this varies a little from tour to tour, but normally our price covers pretty well everything
** What about airfares ? - within the tours domestic flights are included, but the International flights from Australia are always kept seperate, as some people have their favourite airlines, wish to redeem frequent flier points, wish to travel in Premium Economy or Business Class, or come from various locations where connections may be different. So the International Airfares are in addition to the tour cost and we will assist all participants in booking the best connections and best prices.
** How far in advance do you need to book ? - as we have small groups, the sooner the better. You will see above that our July 2023 trip is full already..... 12 months/6 months is the range of booking in advance. As we approach the departure time we release extra rooms we hold, so there is never a possibility of a last-minute booking with our group tours.
** Will the same trip be offered in the future ? - going forward we intend to change destinations and itineraries each year, so it is very unlikely that any of these will be repeated.
** Will you still be offering tailor-made safaris ? - Absolutely. We don't just do group tours. We never have. Right from the start (1993) by numbers of clients, more travel on tailor-made safaris than with our groups.
I hope you have stayed the course and reached the end, and I promise no more lengthy emails to you.
In case you are not aware, we do release tours and announcements/updates through our Facebook page and you might like to follow us there : https://www.facebook.com/wildlifesafariconsultants/
I hope that you might consider joining me and our like minded adventurers during the next 18 months, and of course please share this with your friends :-)
Best regards and stay well,
Dennis
