Got a question for all you gentleman who operate in Africa. How many of you offer wifi at your camp and if so what is the charge? Is this for the entire trip or is this a daily charge or is it by GB. Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

quote:

Originally posted by Brian Clark:
Got a question for all you gentleman who operate in Africa. How many of you offer wifi at your camp and if so what is the charge? Is this for the entire trip or is this a daily charge or is it by GB. Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

You have to bring your own wifi and pay the normal non hunting observer rate for her!



Sorry about that bit of English humour but I just couldn't resist it!

More seriously, I take it you're asking if internet connections are available?

If so, it depends on where and who.

We usually have a B Gan around camp and charge the normal going rate at cost.

Some areas have cellphone reception and you can just buy a card etc on arrival.... I don't know what the costs are but they're not overly expensive.

Yeah, I was refering to internet connections and ball park price what some of the outfitters are charging for this service.
Thanks!

Brian,

That nice Mr Google will tell you b gan running costs and other options for the particular African country you want but the best thing you can do to save costs is to make sure you turn off ALL automatic updates on your laptop before you go online.

FWIW, if you don't want to rely on a 3rd party, you can hire b gans in the States if you want to.

Thank you, but I am more interested to hear what a going rate is from outfitters at their own camp, that Mr. nice google doesn't alway give up the correct info and mostly states their is a charge for this service but doesn't specify what the charge is.
Thanks!

Brian,

Oh OK.... in that case, the only useful info you'll get is to ask the individual operator that you're working with.

FWIW, we charge at whatever we can buy bandwidth for and don't add a profit margin on that at all but some would.

That said, larger and larger parts of Africa are getting cellphone coverage now and I can't help but feel that b gans etc will become a thing of the past within a few years.

Hi Brian
We offer Wifi out of our main camp, Tualuka Safari Lodge and the service is included in our day rates so no additional charges.

Regards

We just got fiber optics connected, and our broadband speed this morning was:

94.12 Mb/s download
21.92 Mb/s upload.

Bloody amazing improvement over the old days of 56Kb/s!

quote:

Originally posted by Brian Clark:
Thank you, but I am more interested to hear what a going rate is from outfitters at their own camp, that Mr. nice google doesn't alway give up the correct info and mostly states their is a charge for this service but doesn't specify what the charge is.
Thanks!

That's for free however we have a sat phone charge of $1.50 a minute. But often wise to bring your own.

Thanks all!!

The very first time I see a PH or some tracker using a cell phone is the minute the tip just got shot to hell. I take a sat. phone just to stay in touch with my family. I never inquire about business while on a hunt. The reason I am hunting 1/2 around the world is to forget about work.

The answers here will be many and varied I would imagine.

Those camps who have Internet connections will more than likely offer free internet usage from either their own machines or wireless connections from the clients laptops etc.

However with the notable exception of South Africa, who have massive amounts of bandwidth available due to the just ended world cup, most african countries offer pathetic internet facilities. I can tell you that this is my single biggest challenge in my business . It costs a fortune for a lousy service.

By the way Hartley, I agree with you totally. Cell phones in Camp are a no no(not that our camps have any cell access) but there is nothing worse than a PH or member of staff sitting with a cell glued to their ears every second you are in camp. Time and a place for everything!!

The camp I hunted from the last two seasons have free internet use. With the Internet and SKYPE its quite handy for those that think they can not leave their work (or AR).

h kittle: AMEN!

quote:

The very first time I see a PH or some tracker using a cell phone is the minute the tip just got shot to hell. I take a sat. phone just to stay in touch with my family. I never inquire about business while on a hunt. The reason I am hunting 1/2 around the world is to forget about work.

h kittle, then you better hunt with a unmarried PH, because, just like you, we like to stay in touch with our families as well. Granted, it should be mostly after the day's hunting though...

Sorry Karl I agree with Hartley Kittle. The client is paying for the services of a PH and there is nothing more annoying than a cell phone going off every few minutes and a PH getting up and walking away to hold conversations . I fully understand the need for people to talk to loved ones etc. I doubt HKittle was inferring that he had a problem with his or any PH talking to loved ones at all but rather that the use of mobiles etc should be discreet and not spoil the experience.

We have been taking our own sat modem teh past few years - hence the live reports from the camp at the end of the day's hunt.

I put the modem on when we are back at camp. And last year we had a wirless modem, so everyone in camp was able to get connected.

zimfrosty, maybe I misunderstood hkittle comment, but I distinctly got the impression that he meant NO cellphone EVER.

And maybe you misunderstood me too, as I mentioned in my post above, it should be reserved for after the hunt.

IMO I have found a good time to use the cell/ sat phone to be after dinner, and sometimes just after we arrive back in camp, while the client is in the shower.