The heli ride from Vumbura to Duba would be less than 10 minutes, and definitely less than Duba to K

Can anyone suggest a company/specific pilot for a helicopter ride in the delta next month. We will be at Kwara and Duba Plains and want to do a one hour, doors off ride - primary interest is photography and possible aerial game viewing. If anyone has done this please comment on the experience, optimum time of day to be able to see otherwise inaccessible areas of the delta and game viewing. Is flying over concessions where one is not staying generally allowed? We would like to take the helicopter from either camp- my thought was the most convenient time would be one in which we are in-between game drives, car rentals in tampa meaning late morning early afternoon, but I'm not sure if this is the best time to do a flight.
The cheapest thing for you to do would be to charter a helicopter from Wilderness Safaris car rentals in tampa since you are already staying at Duba Plains. They have their own helicopter stationed at Vumbura Plains about 50 miles to the East. I chartered one in May 2010 and again in September 2011. In September we had to pay $10,000 for five hour. The going rate is about $1,500-$2,000 per hour. I have flown direct from Vumbura Plains to Duba Plains and it takes less than 30m on the helicopter. The flight from Duba to Kwara would be about 20m and the return from Kwara to Vumbura car rentals in tampa would be about 15m. Overall you need to pay for the 35 empty minutes (when you are not on it) plus your time when you are on it. The cheapest way to get helicopter time is to stay at Vumbura as there are no empty/dead legs for you to pay. I think Wilderness does it by the hour so you will need to do a 1 or 2 hour increment. car rentals in tampa The pilots name is Yuri and he used to be the at Eagle Island Camp in 2010 with Orient Express. I am not sure what happened to Anne.
I did not go on the September 2011 trip but Matt and Kelly from our office went and they took overhead video of every Wilderness Safari lodge in Botswana. They had to coordinate it all with the camp managers when guests were out on game drives so it was not easy. We have only finished cutting videos from Chitabe, Abu, Duba, and Mombo. Here is Duba (since you are staying there) and Mombo late in the dry season Sep 28, 2011.
For transportation on a set route, I can see the need at times for a helicopter. But it would be a shame if the lovely Botswana concessions had to contend with aerial car rentals in tampa distractions that were anything but very rare. That could be a huge deterrent to visitors.
The heli ride from Vumbura to Duba would be less than 10 minutes, and definitely less than Duba to Kwara. The surcharge between Duba and Vumbura for me was USD 50 (travelling charge between Vumbura and Duba since the heli is based out of Vumbura).
As I mentioned AKR1, in my PM, the cost was substantially less than what Craig has quoted here- seems Craig paid almost 80% more than what I did. Maybe they have a high season/green season pricing too But you are going in the same season I did.
Kelly and Matt had the helicopter and the pilot for two full days. What we paid for was five rotor hours (motor on). That is probably why it cost so much. We also had a staff member from Wilderness Safaris with for safety as Matt had to stand on the rails while filming.
Hi Luangwablondes - Let me clarify and I better disclaim this with to my knowledge . There used to be two helicopters permanently stationed in Botswana IN the Delta. One was at Vumbura Plains and one at Eagle Island. As far as I know, the one at Eagle Island is gone. Therefore, I would not say the use of helicopters is proliferating. Even if they were, they would simply replace fixed wing aircrafts since there are little car rentals in tampa or no additional beds being built on any of the major photo-concessions. The same number of people are still coming car rentals in tampa and going each year. Wilderness Safaris has, for the past two years, used their helicopter to transfer guests from Vumbura Plains to Mombo and vice versa. This is not guaranteed car rentals in tampa at the time of booking but it usually happens and is a surprise to the guests.