Hi. I'm planning a 4x4 overlanding trip next summer from Tanzania to Cape Town. I obviously want to visit some of the best national parks in the various countries along the way, but after reading about them I'm daunted by the prospect of having to book entry/accommodation months in advance (or, by the sounds of it, a year in advance for Chobe...)
I want to keep as much flexibility in my itinerary as possible, so was hoping not to have to make reservations months in advance which I may not be able to stick to (particularly if you need to pre pay for them which I assume you do.). Does anyone have any tips for planning entry to the national parks, or any views on how far in advance I need to book? I'm thinking mainly of the big parks like Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Chobe etc.
Many thanks

Probably not so exciting as camping in the park but you are able to arrive and pitch up at camp sites in Kasane which is just outside the Chobe gate without prior booking and horrendous costs. From these sites you can easily get into the park either in your own vehicle or by joining a group.
One thing you must not miss (and cannot logistically achieve when staying at Ihaha) is a sunset boat trip on the chobe river. This too can be organised from the town.

Margaret

Hi John,

Gnerally speaking the month you are visiting will make a big difference to the volumes of other visitors and therefore space. Booking is really only an issue in Botswana (particularly), RSA and Namibia (ie Etosha). And even having said that there are often reasonable alternatives ie staying outside the park.

You don't need to worry about booking in Tanzania or Kenya if you are heading for the public campsites- they don't actually take bookings as far as I could tell. If you want to book "special" ie exclusive sites (which are pretty special) in Serengeti or Masai Mara then you do need to get sorted in advance. There are lots of options at the gate for the Mara.

Botswana is slightly different in that there are restricted camping slots in the parks and there are also relatively few options outside the parks (with the exception of Kasane for Chobe - NB Senyati is the place to try and get into to - it has it's own waterhole. Outside of the peak period ie June - September you can usually get something - even if it isn't your first pick.

Etosha the campsites may fill up but there are options at the gates.

In RSA you will almost always get something in Kruger (as they have such a huge volume) but KTP - a personal favourite of mine - does require advance booking for most of the year as visitor numbers are heavily restricted. Other parks not a problem. If you are planning on spending more than 5 or 6 nights in parks get a Wild Card and you'll get a years admission. We sent 2 months in the parks and saved a fortune.

Zambia isn't a problem. Kafue is pretty sparsely visited and South Luangwa has lots of good options at the gate.

If you can provide more detail in terms of your expected months of travel and intended destinations I can give you a more detailed answer.

Great, thanks.
Itchyfeet, I will post my rough destination plans and timings on here over the next few weeks, so any extra information after that would be much appreciated.

John

We travelled through Namibia/Zambia/Botswana in Jan to March this year and had not problems with parks. Easter would be a problem what with school holidays. We can recommend Chobe Safari lodge for camping, its just a few Km from Chobe park. Track and Trail in the Lower Zambezi is well worth the long drive (the road is being rebuilt but won't be finished any time soon. Etosha,Waterberg Plateau,Krugar were also visited by us on a turn up and see basis. Sossusvlei was busy but they found a space.
Good luck.

Thanks Vengamos. We won't be in Africa around the Easter period, so will at least miss that peak season.

Very loosely, our route (commencing July until January) will be across Tanzania from Dar to Uganda (via ARUSHA/NGORONGORO/SERENGETI), into Kenya (MASAI MARA) towards TURKANA NATIONAL RESERVE and SIBILOI (we're aware of the security issues in that whole region, so we'll just see how things look nearer the time) and on to Ethiopia (OMO N.P., SIMIEN MOUNTAINS N.P., Lalibela) before turning around and heading back through Kenya and Tanzania and on to Malawi (Itchyfeet - thanks for the info you posted on Oerg's thread re Malawian N.P.s), Mozambique (GORONGOSA N.P.), Zambia (ZAMBEZI N.P., LUANGWA N.P., KAFUE), Botswana (CHOBE, CENTRAL KALAHARI GAME RESERVE), Namibia (ETOSHA, SKELETON COAST, DOROB N.P.) and S Africa (Northern Cape and finishing in Cape Town).

I appreciate any one of those parks could merit a whole guidebook, but my query is really whether I should expect any problems getting into them/getting a place in a campsite without a reservation. Based on other information that has been posted I'm feeling fairly encouraged, perhaps with the exception of Chobe? We have a pretty flexible itinerary, so can afford to wait a day or two to get into places. I've heard that gorilla treks in Rwanda sell out ages in advance though - do you know if it's any easier in Uganda?

Another question I had was about maps. Are good quality maps generally available for each country in the bigger towns, or is it better to get them all in the UK before I leave? If so, any tips on who to get them from? We are taking Tracks4Africa on a garmin GPS. We haven't bought the gps yet, so do you have recommendations for which is most suitable? I was thinking either the Garmin 60 or 62s...

Thanks, John