amycyma

hi all. i am totally new to this site. i am in the early planning stages of a trip to Africa with my son for his college graduation.
My first big question is where do i want to go? Tanzania or Botswana.
we will have a total of 14 days including travel from and back to US.
I had always envisioned myself in Tanzania, but as i am reading, Botswana may be less crowed with people. ( I want to see the animals, but not with a dozen vehicles also at the same spot.)
There are opportunities to do night drives and walks in the private concessions of Botswana.

So any comments and observations from anyone who has done both would be great!! but if you only did either Tanzania or Botswana, but considered the other, can you share with me your reasons.
thank you all in advance for you thoughts

atravelynn

You are not the first to pit these two destinations against each other.

Check out some of these sites

For June
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35095738

For July, 1st trip
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34781676

In general
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34935136


This one includes Kenya along with Tanzania vs. Botswana
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34781676

Please post again as you get further along in your planning.

amycyma

many thanks atravelynn, ( i like your screen name, it took me a while) i will check out those sites. Truth be told, I really really wish i could do them both. But after reading many of the posts elsewhere, maybe I should not think of this as my "once in a lifetime" trip.

marcharris

it really depends when you want to travel and how much you want to spend. Botswana has less tourists for sure but that is because it is more expensive. Tanzania would also be easier if you wanted a beach extension somewhere like Zanzibar

raelond

I went to Botswana on my first trip to Africa as I wanted more remote locations with less people. It was a wonderful experience. Tanzania, however is also wonderful, just different. We went in March and didn't find many vehicles at any of the sightings. Flying in and out of camps in Botswana is expensive, especially in high season, but landing on a dirt runway in the middle of nowhere is very exciting. We didn't have the cultural experiences we had in Tanzania. If you go to Botswana, include a trip to Victoria Falls if you can.

traveler318

Since you are limited in time, you may want to take into account travel time. When planning my first safari, I considered Tanzania, Kenya and Botswana, eliminating Botswana eventually due to the apparent need to go through JNB. From the west coast of the US, that is a very long trek. If you are on the east coast, it may not be so bad. We ended up going to Tanzania, as we could fly directly to Kilimanjaro via Amsterdam. We also liked the fact that there was less need to fly once we were in Tanzania (only one flight needed in our 11 night safari).

Although the Crater and central Serengetti were crowded in places, we found many areas to be uncrowded, especially in the early mornings. We would sometimes go hours without seeing another vehicle. We saw all the animals we possibly hoped for and then some. I don't think you can go wrong with Tanzania.

atravelynn

Amycyma

Some people even start planning trip #2 before they leave on trip #1. But I think you need to button down #1, if you are going shortly after school graduation.

I was checking out some places for June in South Africa due to the favorable rand to dollar situation and my first and second choices of dates were filled. I know you are not going to SA, but I mention that as an example not to dawdle even in these dismal times when fewer people are spending/traveling.

girlpolo33

Here are a few points to consider. Botswana is a vastly different travel experience than Tanzania. I loved both, but the differences are significant. Botswana is stunning, verdant and quite literally the 'Garden of Eden'. The game viewing is intimate, with smaller herds of animals and few vehicles. Some camps specialize in water-based activities (mokoros and motor boats). You see very few people (locals or tourists). Tanzania offers vast herds of plains animals and, of course, predators follow the prey. If you prefer a less crowded area, the Western Serengeti was sublime. Planning your trip to coincide with the Migration would provide you with an unparalleled game viewing opportunity. If you can visit the Ngorongoro Crater at an off-peak time, the experience is remarkable in every way. Also, we found Tanzania to provide good 'value for money' and it was nice to have a private vehicle and driver for a reasonable charge. If I had to choose a final trip to Africa, my destination would be King's Pool in Botswana and African Horseback Safari in Botswana. If I were able to do a second 'final' trip, it would be Western Serengeti. I imagine you would love both.

amycyma

WOW. many thanks for ALL the information. What i think i am realizing is that wherever I go it will be wonderful, as i will be in Africa, my dream, soon a reality.
as i live on the east cost, the travel times really doesn't seem that different whether to Tanzania or Botswana. I do think i would really like to go to Victoria Falls, so that leads me to Botswana.
as far as cost, i got info from CC africa today, and the women indicated that due to the exchange rate, she felt that Botswana or South Africa was less expensive than Tanzania ( Hmm, i find that difficult to believe, but i will look into that). as far as Beach, not at all interested in that, i would much rather be in the bush.

But traveler 318, i am listening to the fact that you never boarded another plane until you left. As you travelled from the Serengeti to the crater, i am assuming it was similar to a game drive, but how long was the longest journey??

Are there opportunities to in some way experience the African culture, without being intrusive in either Botswana or Tanzania???

traveler318

We had one flight, Arusha to Lobo airstrip, but it did stop en route. It was Air Excel and the plane held about 10 passengers, so it wasn't too small (my fear). It was very calm weather and a smooth flight.

The longest drive we had was from the western Serengeti to Ngornongoro Crater. I think we left about 8 am and got to our lodge at about 6 or 6:30. However, we had game drives in the Seregenti before lunch and spent about 2-3 hours in the Crater before heading to the lodge, so the "travel time" was only from lunch at the Serengeti gate to the entrance road to the Crater, 2 hours maybe a bit more.

Similarly, the drive from Tarangire gate to Arusha was 2 or 3 hours. So most of our time spent in the vehicle were game drives. That said, we did have three very long days (including the one described above) where we started in the morning and drove all day, but those were by choice to maximize game viewing.

Hope this helps.

atravelynn

I have not done this in Tanzania but would like to during the dry season. Check out Lake Eyasi where You can go hunting with the Hadzabe tribe. You could spend 1 or 2 days there prior to going to the Ngorongoro Crater. For those who do not want to go on the several hour hunt, a visit with the women can be arranged. Maybe search for Hadzabe on this forum, there have been some reports on this activity.

Also in West Kilimanjaro, TZ there are cultural activities. You could fly between there and Arusha or drive it. This area is especially good for eles in June and July and that's when I'd go there.

There are numerous opportunities to visit Maasai villages in Tanzania around the crater or other places. I have done that and it was very nice, but not my best cultural activities. You could also go to markets near Arusha.

Botswana is one of the least convenient areas I've found for cultural interaction just because you often fly from remote camp to remote camp where there are not too many people.

PredatorBiologist

As Lynn says due to the remoteness cultural visits are rarely offered or promoted in Botswana but that means you can find some unintrusive opportunities that are not a tourist show if you are interested in seeing how people are living. From Delta Camp (and I imagine other camps in the same area, Eagle Island Camp, Gunn's Camp and Oddballs) you can mokoro over to a different island with a small local village and see your guides home. People do not all stop what they are doing and do a dance for tourists, etc., rather they keep going about their business unless you approach to talk with them. I found it an interesting opportunity to see how peoples houses are constructed, the living conditions as well as getting some insight into the local political system and social life. Others would have perhaps been disappointed because there is no show or activity, its simply walking around a quiet village. The only tourism slant at all was a group of about a dozen women gathered together before we left and laid out their extremely affordable handcrafts and jewelry. They would stand back and talk with one another and only tell you a price if you asked about one of their items, that was it, not pressure selling like I have found in other places and beyond that 10 minutes of shopping it was just walking a village and not a tourist event.

My favorite cultural experiences are with the bushmen in Botswana. That is clearly organized for tourists but an important way to share the skill and knowledge of the First People and when done well it does not feel touristy but rather fascinating. I did get to visit an unofficial bushman settlement in the No Man's land west of the CKGR while staying at Grassland Bushman Lodge but this was not something on the standard menu, usually things can be arranged if you know who to ask.

amycyma

thanks predatorbiologist. i am saving your comments into my rapidly expanding Africa folder. What i am understanding, albeit it may seem slowly to all of you wonderfully experienced Africa fodorites, is that SO MUCH is possible, and i can really make this trip my own, i just need to let my desires be known, and a good tour operator and guides and will help me make it a reality.