Well, I am not there, never have, but I guess I'd might chip in my 2 cents.
I've been following the Maun info for over 2 years now. Both here on the forums, and on various blogs (thumbs up Csanad
) Back when I was still saving up for my PPL. Took a gap year off Uni, travelled to cold Norway, was with and without a job a couple of times, once for almost 3 months.
But guess what, when you're persistent, things actually happen for you.
I saved up enough to get my PPL. Went back to Poland, got PPL, finished Uni, learned Norwegian, and with a fresh Masters diploma in IT and Econometrics went straight back to Norway to work cleaning hotels. Why? 'Cos I want to pursue my goal.
Now what I seem to notice is that people in the modern, so-called civilised world, with Internet, cellphones, and all that fancy stuff we got are hell-bent on feeling 'secure'. Steady job, steady career, that kind of stuff. Well, for me, all that is but an illusion. You can never know what tomorrow brings. Sure, you can (and should) be prepared for what might happen, but the truth is we can't fortell the future.
My point is - from all the info that's been posted here, and there's been tonnes of it - one thing clearly stands out. There are NO guarantees. At all.
But the last time I checked, work in aviation never had any in the first place, at least not after the last 'crisis'. I am fully aware of that fact right now, still in the early part of my training towards being a commercial pilot. I have no illusions that when I complete it, a job will be handed on a plate to me.
I fully understand where e.g. Cactus is coming from - 5000$ is a lot of money. And you get no guarantees.
But hold on, you already spent at least ten times that on your training, didn't you? Well, you had no guarantees then either...
(btw I guess that by 'majority of people' lilflyboy means that the majority of people who showed up had around 250hrs, not that the majority of people who showed up landed a job)
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, your attitude to the trip is the key factor here. If you DO spend the money to get there, but DON'T manage to land a job, and DON'T enjoy the trip itself, then you just wasted your money. If you do enjoy it, however, the money is not wasted - c'mon, it's Africa, you'd probably never see the place if it was not for that job hunt, while you're there you might just make the most of it, right?
You can not be sure if you will get a job, but you DO have full control on wether you'll enjoy the trip. And for me the decision of go/no go boils down to just that.
I guess it's two more seasons before I get sorted, but I will visit, you can count on that.
Good luck to you all. Make the most of it.