African Safaris - any tips or advice?

[dvcgirl67]

Down south at the posh lodges You will almost be guaranteed leopard sightings. Here in the middle it's a bit quieter but still have plenty to see. Enjoy!

Well, yes...we planned a "posh" bucket list trip to SA for May, 2020. We booked it nearly a year before and were soooo excited for it. And then the world fell apart. The travel advisor I worked with back then was great and she worked with us over the better part of a year to get most of our money back from the various hotels, lodges and vendors. Then our agent retired and moved to the U.K. So, the SA bucket list trip went on the back burner.

Then we went to Costa Rica last December and had such an amazing time viewing all of the wildlife that SA jumped back to the top of the list. I'm working with a TA from SA again and she's been amazing. What I've learned about "5 star" in the Greater Kruger area is that there's quite a range. We're at &Beyond's Nagala Tented Camp in Timbavati, and that's currently at $2,500 per night (for both of us). At Sabi Sands, we're at Londolozi Tree Camp, which is pricier....and they pride themselves on the leopards in their reserve, so we're quite excited for that!

One interesting thing at Londolozi....was that we were at their Private Granite Suites....and there are just three of them. Our agent reached out last month to see if we'd be willing to switch to their Tree Camp Lodge (8,000 rand less per night, per person...about $440 US less per night). She told us we could absolutely say no, but they were asking all three suites if they'd be willing to switch. Our TA said it was likely some VIP that needed/wanted all three suites. They offered us one night free which $4,200 value, plus the $2,200 less in room fee....was a $6,400 savings overall! So we said...yes, that seems too good to pass up. But then *she* said...let me see what else I can get out of them. She said that she sensed that they really wanted all three suites and would offer something in addition to the free night. She ended up getting us a private game vehicle for the entire stay (10 drives).... . The other two groups at the Granite suites must have agreed as we're now at the Tree Camp, and so now I'm kind of curious who the group may be.

 

[cedricandsophie]

So, my wife and I just put down a deposit on a true bucket list trip - we're taking our boys on a safari for our older son's college graduation and younger son's delayed (by a year) HS graduation presents. We're spending 8 days in Botswana at four different camps, plus two days at Victoria Falls and wrapping up with 4 days at aa beach resort in Mozambique.

We don't leave until next May, but are trying to figure out anything we will want to bring with us, plus how to pack lightly but enough to cover all of what we need. We know we'll need to get visas and malaria shots, but that is a while down the road.

Anyone done a safari tour? Any tips or tricks or general suggestions? Thanks.

We have been to Africa twice. The last time, July 2022, was fabulous. we started in Johannesburg and then flew to Botswana for a cruise on the Chobe river, The animal life was outstanding. If yiu have a chance to get on the river, take it. Then we went to Victoria falls And stayed at the Victoria falls hotel, A wonderful hotel. The falls are wonderful. You will take a long walk along them. If yiu have a chance for a helicopter ride over the falls, I’d highly recommend.
You will be passing thru several countries. South Africa, Botswana, Namibia (if you get on the river), Zambia, Zimbabwe. There is a lot of time showing passports and getting them stamped. While a bit time consuming, it gets to be amusing after awhile. So try to get annoyed.

we like Johannesburg and took some wonderful tours of Mandela home and a moving emotional walk around Soweto. You will be inclined not to want to do it. Please do and take your children To give them a reality check on how lucky we are to live in this country.
in addition to malaria pills, you should consider hepatitis A and B as well as tetanus. And make sure your covid shots are up to date.

I hope you go To Cape Town, It’s a beautiful town. And if there don’t miss Robbin Island where Mandela was imprisoned. Another moving experience.
on our trip was ended in Tanzania which was incredible.
You will have a memorable experience.

 

[Kestryl]

Just to hijack- does anyone have any specific tour operators/agents they can recommend? I've been digging through information for over a month for a trip to Kenya and I'm having so much difficulty. (Contacted several travel agents in my area- almost none would touch anything to do with Africa, and the one who did totally ghosted me and may have quit.)

 

[dvcgirl67]

Just to hijack- does anyone have any specific tour operators/agents they can recommend? I've been digging through information for over a month for a trip to Kenya and I'm having so much difficulty. (Contacted several travel agents in my area- almost none would touch anything to do with Africa, and the one who did totally ghosted me and may have quit.)

I'm not going to Kenya, just South Africa, but I found a good agent by reading and asking questions on the Trip Advisor Forums. For South Africa anyway, when people ask questions there are agents that specialize in those areas that answer questions. They don't push themselves on you, but after many exchanges back and forth and doing my due diligence on my agent, we hired her to help us plan our trip. There are also tons of people on those boards that have taken many, many trips to Africa and can point you in the right direction.

 

[Kestryl]

I'm not going to Kenya, just South Africa, but I found a good agent by reading and asking questions on the Trip Advisor Forums. For South Africa anyway, when people ask questions there are agents that specialize in those areas that answer questions. They don't push themselves on you, but after many exchanges back and forth and doing my due diligence on my agent, we hired her to help us plan our trip. There are also tons of people on those boards that have taken many, many trips to Africa and can point you in the right direction.

Thanks! I've been pursuing through the TripAdvisor forums- the problem I run into is that a lot of them just link to general sites with hundreds of operators and saying "do the research." So I'm definitely riding the struggle bus! Haha.

 

[soccerdad72]

We went with Safari Online. We filled out a questionnaire and they assigned a specialist to our trip. I think the final itinerary we went with was like version 7 or 8, and she was very quick to respond back to us on our requests.

Granted, we haven’t gone on the trip yet, so we’ll see how it all goes.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

Just to hijack- does anyone have any specific tour operators/agents they can recommend? I've been digging through information for over a month for a trip to Kenya and I'm having so much difficulty. (Contacted several travel agents in my area- almost none would touch anything to do with Africa, and the one who did totally ghosted me and may have quit.)

I got you!

First up is Gamewatchers. This place has a few different camps in several of the most popular destinations around Kenya. We only stayed at their Rhino camp in Ol Pejeta and it was fabulous, the whole experience, including the Endangered Species Boma (last two Northern White rhinos on earth) and Sweetwaters Chimp Sanctuary. I’m sure all the agents are fine but if you want a personal recommendation you can ask for Julie Roggow.
https://www.gamewatchers.com/porini...gG_qod0e3cdlQGTG2MKwKvob8SHwK2bxoCZPAQAvD_BwE.

Next is The Safari Collection which is, I think, four properties. (I actually got married at one.) This is definitely luxury safari level, but if you’re looking for a once-in-a-lifetime type of experience, then YOLO.
https://www.thesafaricollection.com/

Elephant Bedroom Camp in Samburu. A couple of wild bull elephants call the camp home, by their own choosing, and you will likely have very close encounters, including having to abandon your meal on the table and retreat to safety if they decide to show up while you’re eating.
https://www.atua-enkop.com/elephant-bedroom-camp

Speke’s Camp, located in a conservancy just outside the Mara. Conservancies can be a good alternative to staying IN the National Parks, as they have looser rules which can give you more freedom when it comes to getting out of your vehicle (for meals and sundowners, for example), and they are generally not as busy with tourists. We entered the Mara daily and witnessed a river crossing while there.
https://www.spekescamp.com/

So, the way this works. You can have a tour operator plan the whole thing for you with varying degrees of input depending on how much you want to be involved in the planning. So, you could contact Gamewatchers or The Safari Collection and pick out an itinerary from them, staying at their properties and they’ll handle all the dates and flights and transfers.

Or, what I did, just plan it yourself. That gives you the ability to mix-and-match what camps you stay at and choose your itinerary in great detail. It’s really not that hard. For example, you would book what days you want to stay at your Mara camp with the camp directly. Then, book a flight from Wilson Airport to the nearest airstrip to the camp. Contact the camp and tell them what time your flight will be arriving. They will send a driver/guide to pick you up and take you to the camp. During your stay, they provide all your meals, game drives, and transportation and then they will return you to the airstrip for your departure flight (that you will have booked yourself). Then, a driver at the next camp will pick you up from the airstrip at the next location, and so on.

I booked all of the above accommodations independently. The only pseudo-exception to that was Porini where I booked a “package” (really just two nights with some extra paperwork) because I needed them to obtain the permits for entering the Endangered Species Boma for us. Tourists can’t, or couldn’t at the time, do that on their own. Then I booked all the local flights between camps, flights into Tanzania and back, and a few nights in Nairobi on Hilton points at the beginning and end of the trip.

I would recommend any of the camps we stayed at with full confidence. They are all small, eco-friendly, personal attention type locations. Everyone we encountered was absolutely wonderful. I still keep in touch with a handful of the guides, and others, we met some 8 years later.

ETA: I’m pretty sure Julie can book you into camps outside of Gamewatchers properties, if you’d want assistance with that. She’s offered to help me with accommodations in Uganda and Rwanda (and Botswana?) so I don’t think she’s restricted to only certain camps.

 

[Travel60]

DH and I leave Jan 6 for 19 days in Southern Africa. Starting in/around Cape Town (wineries, Robben Island where Mandela was jailed, V&A waterfront). Then fly to Vic Falls/Chove NP. Then Rovos Rail for 4 days, stopping daily for safaris: Hwange NP, Matobo NP), to Soweto. Flying to Hoedspruit to stay at Kapama for game drives.

We have all the immunizations except malaria and given its complexity and the fact that there is not an outbreak now, opted not to do that. Just taking lots of DEET based spray.

We did buy tan/khaki/olive pants and tops but also have to "dress" for dinner on Rovos and at Vic Falls hotel - cocktail dresses, shirt and tie for men, nice shoes. Should be fun to get all that in our 44 pound luggage allowance!

Will report back in late January!

Reporting back after trip. I almost have no words worthy of describing this trip.

Cape Town and nearby Winelands and Cape Peninsula were beautiful. Saw the penguins.

Robben Island was a sobering window on mans cruelty to man. Our guide was a former political prisoner who continued to live in a small home on the island when released. When I asked him how he could stay he said that by the time he was freed, his parents and wife were dead. Everyone he knew was gone, he had nothing. He hopes by giving the tours he can help people understand what happened so it won't happen again.

Victoria Falls was amazing. I've seen both Niagara and Iguazu and VF tops both. Rainbows galore. We stayed at the Victoria Falls Hotel and it was lovely.

From VF, we did a day trip to Chobe NP. Saw lots of animals, birds, etc. very nice guides.

Rail Rovos had beautifully restored and appointed cars, excellent service and food. But lots of stops, often running late because of government rail issues. They need to work on that. We did a game drive, saw cave paintings, and learned about the Bush people at Matobo NP.

Our day in Pretoria/Soweto was another sobering day. After a delicious local lunch and drive by of Nelson Mandela's former home, we went to Kliptown, a section of town left devastated by Apartheid. All the Whites, Blacks and Asians were moved out of a formerly thriving mixed community and each sent to their own "separate" communities. Only the Coloreds (basically mixed heritage) were left to fend for themselves. No running water, no electricity. 45,000 people live in corrugated tin huts, use portapots, wash clothing and get water for cooking and bathing from several water pipes. Their kids walk miles to school, food is scarce. Unemployment in the whole area is 75%. Our guide grew up there and his sister still lives there. As we walked through, his young niece jumped into his arms. Kliptown is only one of many areas like that.

By far the best game drives were at Kapama Private Game Reserve that borders Krueger. We finished our "big 5" sightings and ate like kings. I would highly recommend a stay there.

 

[Kestryl]

I got you!

First up is Gamewatchers. This place has a few different camps in several of the most popular destinations around Kenya. We only stayed at their Rhino camp in Ol Pejeta and it was fabulous, the whole experience, including the Endangered Species Boma (last two Northern White rhinos on earth) and Sweetwaters Chimp Sanctuary. I’m sure all the agents are fine but if you want a personal recommendation you can ask for Julie Roggow.
https://www.gamewatchers.com/porini...gG_qod0e3cdlQGTG2MKwKvob8SHwK2bxoCZPAQAvD_BwE.

Next is The Safari Collection which is, I think, four properties. (I actually got married at one.) This is definitely luxury safari level, but if you’re looking for a once-in-a-lifetime type of experience, then YOLO.
https://www.thesafaricollection.com/

Elephant Bedroom Camp in Samburu. A couple of wild bull elephants call the camp home, by their own choosing, and you will likely have very close encounters, including having to abandon your meal on the table and retreat to safety if they decide to show up while you’re eating.
https://www.atua-enkop.com/elephant-bedroom-camp

Speke’s Camp, located in a conservancy just outside the Mara. Conservancies can be a good alternative to staying IN the National Parks, as they have looser rules which can give you more freedom when it comes to getting out of your vehicle (for meals and sundowners, for example), and they are generally not as busy with tourists. We entered the Mara daily and witnessed a river crossing while there.
https://www.spekescamp.com/

So, the way this works. You can have a tour operator plan the whole thing for you with varying degrees of input depending on how much you want to be involved in the planning. So, you could contact Gamewatchers or The Safari Collection and pick out an itinerary from them, staying at their properties and they’ll handle all the dates and flights and transfers.

Or, what I did, just plan it yourself. That gives you the ability to mix-and-match what camps you stay at and choose your itinerary in great detail. It’s really not that hard. For example, you would book what days you want to stay at your Mara camp with the camp directly. Then, book a flight from Wilson Airport to the nearest airstrip to the camp. Contact the camp and tell them what time your flight will be arriving. They will send a driver/guide to pick you up and take you to the camp. During your stay, they provide all your meals, game drives, and transportation and then they will return you to the airstrip for your departure flight (that you will have booked yourself). Then, a driver at the next camp will pick you up from the airstrip at the next location, and so on.

I booked all of the above accommodations independently. The only pseudo-exception to that was Porini where I booked a “package” (really just two nights with some extra paperwork) because I needed them to obtain the permits for entering the Endangered Species Boma for us. Tourists can’t, or couldn’t at the time, do that on their own. Then I booked all the local flights between camps, flights into Tanzania and back, and a few nights in Nairobi on Hilton points at the beginning and end of the trip.

I would recommend any of the camps we stayed at with full confidence. They are all small, eco-friendly, personal attention type locations. Everyone we encountered was absolutely wonderful. I still keep in touch with a handful of the guides, and others, we met some 8 years later.

ETA: I’m pretty sure Julie can book you into camps outside of Gamewatchers properties, if you’d want assistance with that. She’s offered to help me with accommodations in Uganda and Rwanda (and Botswana?) so I don’t think she’s restricted to only certain camps.

My hero! Oh, this is so reassuring. Gamewatchers sounds like our "easiest" course of action, though I'll consider a DIY version! I'm generally a "plan it myself" kind of person, but that's usually with at least knowing a few people who have gone before... I can count on one hand the people I know in real life who have been to Africa as a whole, and that was to Eqypt and South Africa for a conference, so I've been floating off on my own!

THANK YOU!

 

[Praise2Him]

Africa has been on my bucket list since my first visit to Animal Kingdom Lodge in 2001! I have a list of places I want to visit and have been overwhelmed in trying to plan (it’s a big continent)! Lol

DH and I took a river cruise with AmaWaterways this past December, and in browsing their website I found their trip called Golden Trails of Africa. It has every place I want to visit included, so we booked it onboard for 2025.

Even though it’s ’technically’ a river cruise, most of it is on land, with only one part on the river.

They also have other Africa trips with different itineraries, this just happened to be the one I liked best.

 

[gotomu212]

Three things I didn’t see mentioned:
Bring something for over your mouth if you’ll be there in the dry season at all. We went pre-covid and didn’t have handy masks everywhere but used bandanas. A lot of the dust flying around has… dung in it.
A sports bra may be very appreciated- you’re traveling over pretty rough terrain in an open jeep and depending on the situation you can accelerate a bunch.

Think through how you typically spend down time and think about bringing a deck of cards, books, etc. You’re basically on a drive or at your camp, and every place we’ve ever been once nightfalls if you aren’t at the bar/dining area you must be in your tent. Most of the camps would escort you to your tent from dinner. You can’t go out for a run or a walk and not that anyone wants to be glued to the TV, it also gets a little interesting when it’s night and 8 pm and the whole family is in the tent like um what now. These were all very nice glamping setups but if you are night owls it is a little different. The good news is you’re up at 5 a.m. so an early night is okay.

It is addictive. We‘ve been back so many times that we’ve even thought of buying a small place when we retire and running a camp.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

Three things I didn’t see mentioned:
Bring something for over your mouth if you’ll be there in the dry season at all. We went pre-covid and didn’t have handy masks everywhere but used bandanas. A lot of the dust flying around has… dung in it.
A sports bra may be very appreciated- you’re traveling over pretty rough terrain in an open jeep and depending on the situation you can accelerate a bunch.

Think through how you typically spend down time and think about bringing a deck of cards, books, etc. You’re basically on a drive or at your camp, and every place we’ve ever been once nightfalls if you aren’t at the bar/dining area you must be in your tent. Most of the camps would escort you to your tent from dinner. You can’t go out for a run or a walk and not that anyone wants to be glued to the TV, it also gets a little interesting when it’s night and 8 pm and the whole family is in the tent like um what now. These were all very nice glamping setups but if you are night owls it is a little different. The good news is you’re up at 5 a.m. so an early night is okay.

It is addictive. We‘ve been back so many times that we’ve even thought of buying a small place when we retire and running a camp.

The bolded is interesting. The camps we stayed at had nightly campfires and we’d sit around having a few drinks, looking at the stars, and swapping stories with the camp staff until we decided we were ready for bed.

 

[georgina]

We went with Safari Online. We filled out a questionnaire and they assigned a specialist to our trip. I think the final itinerary we went with was like version 7 or 8, and she was very quick to respond back to us on our requests.

Granted, we haven’t gone on the trip yet, so we’ll see how it all goes.

Please do report back. I am also thinking of this for 2025.

 

[gotomu212]

The bolded is interesting. The camps we stayed at had nightly campfires and we’d sit around having a few drinks, looking at the stars, and swapping stories with the camp staff until we decided we were ready for bed.

Some of this is definitely dependent on the area you’re in and what other perimeter situation they have in place and how resourced the staff is. I should also clarify that sometimes the “bar” is more the open communal space, but the key is you were also probably always with the guides who were on alert and constantly scanning for issues even when it seemed like they were relaxing around the fire.

The thing that we find so amazing is all the work that unintrusively goes in to making you forget you’re in the middle of a huge wild animal hunting ground. From the checks they do of your room right before you come back from drives/meals (and what they routinely find in there!!!), the wedding party we attended in a dry creek bed that had guides on edge as the drunk guests kept straying out of the light where a leopard was prowling, the elephant that was chased out of the compound when someone forgot to hook the top fence wire (but not before uprooting a huge tree), the “half a monkey” that was left in the jeeps and found minutes before we were strolling out to the cars, and the time they gently suggested we all finish our cocktails back on the jeep just as three lions were coming out of the bush. Those night at the fire you were probably at least once less than 100 yards from a predator that the guides were attuned to- it’s so amazing what we miss/don’t notice and the intense training of the guides.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

Some of this is definitely dependent on the area you’re in and what other perimeter situation they have in place and how resourced the staff is. I should also clarify that sometimes the “bar” is more the open communal space, but the key is you were also probably always with the guides who were on alert and constantly scanning for issues even when it seemed like they were relaxing around the fire.

The thing that we find so amazing is all the work that unintrusively goes in to making you forget you’re in the middle of a huge wild animal hunting ground. From the checks they do of your room right before you come back from drives/meals (and what they routinely find in there!!!), the wedding party we attended in a dry creek bed that had guides on edge as the drunk guests kept straying out of the light where a leopard was prowling, the elephant that was chased out of the compound when someone forgot to hook the top fence wire (but not before uprooting a huge tree), the “half a monkey” that was left in the jeeps and found minutes before we were strolling out to the cars, and the time they gently suggested we all finish our cocktails back on the jeep just as three lions were coming out of the bush. Those night at the fire you were probably at least once less than 100 yards from a predator that the guides were attuned to- it’s so amazing what we miss/don’t notice and the intense training of the guides.

Haha, nope, not me! Way too many close encounters to ever forget we were in the middle of a huge hunting ground! For a few weeks after we got back home, I kept catching myself scanning for wild animals before stepping outside.