A dozen different ingredients for a quality safari...
 

Leave out one ingredient and it may just ruin the flavor of your safari!

Here are just a dozen different elements that I thought of quickly that go into a successful safari. They are all pretty self-explanatory so I won't go into further detail unless asked.

However, I would appreciate it if my fellow safarigoers would add to the list, rearrange the list by priority or comment on the elements I have provided.

Ingredients To A Successful Safari

1. Quality Guiding
2. Quantity, Quality & Diversity of Wildlife
3. Beautiful Landscapes
4. Location Of Camp
5. Attentive Hosting
6. Nice Accomodations
7. Variety of Safari Activities
8. Value For Money
9. Quality of Food
10. Comfort Of Vehicle
11. Interesting and Likable Fellow Safarigoers
12. Safety (ARE THERE LIONS LIVING IN CAMP?)

Okay, so I expanded on that last one...having a hard time getting over my ordeal at Mbuzi Mawe...anybody know a good therapist! ;)

I'll give you my top 5:

1.) Great guiding/tracking
2.) Ability to drive off-road
3.) Diversity of wildlife (including predator diversity)
4.) The vehicle and it's seating configurations
5.) The camp hosts and their ability to help make your stay/experience very good.

Hari

Hi Rocco,

Nice list...

Picking the appropriate season/weather conditions comes to mind.

Having a "contact person" available (real time) for assistance during safari for "unpredictable circumstances beyond my control"

Hey by the way...why didn't you post this "lion story" of yours under my post a few weeks ago about "is it scary staying in tents alone"? I probably wouldn't do it if I read it right?

Ok, so if I was SpaGirl...I would want a nice pool w/ private pool boy that brings my umbrella drinks and cool wash cloths, applies lotion, a salon for mani's/pedi's, tanning bed, well you get the idea.

OK , I am replying to this quickly but

1. area of camp for wildlife - as in
a great area should have quality
and diversity

2. ranger/tracker combination

3. going off road is essential

4. like minded and easy going
fellow vehicle guests

5. nice food and comfortable
accomodations

6. friendly staff

7. ranger who is preferably a
photographer

Kind regards,

Kaye



Kind regards
Kaye

Rocco,

The things that really matter to me, roughly in order of importance but sometimes inseparable, are:

Feeling of wilderness;

Diversity and quantity of wildlife;

Expertise of guides;

Freedom to go off-road and undertake night drives;

Vehicle suitability as a camera platform;

Small camps;

Camp managers to be qualified guides or able to relate fully to their clients' experiences.

<i>Camp and vehicle comfort and food quality are quite low on my list. They need only be 'reasonable' for me. Luxury dilutes wilderness as far as I'm concerned. </i>

John

Rocco for me the two things that go to the top of the list when I am looking at options are:

1)Quality/Quantity and Diversity of wildlife
2)Location of Camp (for me the wilderness feeling that afrigalah mentioned above)

The balance of these two is essential for me. Even outstanding game activity in a large lodge with &quot;traffic jams&quot; at animal sighting setting won't work for me and neither will a wild, beautiful remote area with poor wildlife viewing. If I have to &quot;shade the slide bar&quot; in one direction or the other, I will move it slightly to the more remote area and sacrifice a bit on the wildlife.

Quality of guiding would run neck and neck to the above two and these three factors take precedence over any camp amenities for me.

Other subcategories of your list for me are:

Camp View/Wild life
- Quality of wildlife viewing from the camp itself. Is the camp situated on a river or water hole.

Variety of Activities
- Walking (I can't sit a a vehicle for 7-14 days straight)
-Night Drives

Attentive Hosting

For me this extends to the focus and flexibility of management. I prefer the focus to be on wildlife viewing and that focus to supercede everything. So for example, is the camp flexible in providing meals if game drive is outstanding rather that returning at a set hour because it is &quot;dinner time&quot;.

And if I ever find a remote bush camp with all the above that also has GREAT Coffee and not Nescafe instant I will be one happy camper.

I'll play - this is my order of preference.

Variety of wildlife with an abundance of predators

Good guides/trackers

Ability to go off road and drive after dark

Photography minded/trained driver

Good hosts that make you feel welcome

A max of 6 per vehicle and good vehicle mates

Lastly, good food and rooms

besides trusting your agent's advice and suggestions:
1. good location~close to game, variety of game, uncrowded sightings, nice views during &quot;siesta&quot; time, animals in camp, night drives
2. guide/spotter/guard~ knows their stuff, enthusiastic about their job, wants to please and educate
3. food~the more the better, the better the happier I am (I'm a pig!)
4. open vehicle, no more than 6 co-operative, non-whiny safari-goers in the vehicle
5. friendliness of staff~ makes you feel like a guest instead of just a paying customer
6. variety of activities
7. accomodations

In order:

1. Quality Guiding and Tracking (NB Tracking can be done from a vehicle, but only by very good guides. in my opinion quality guiding includes being familiar with and aware of photographers' needs - WS guides are great at this).

2. Location of camp (which, as Kaye points out, is directly correlated to Quality, Diversity, and Quantity of Wildlife -- for me this also includes Beautiful Landscapes, though this is less important than game-viewing)

3. Off-road and night driving

4. Availability and cost of private vehicles

5. Comfort of vehicle (I have a bad back, and an uncomfortable vehicle can really affect my safari - you'll see this in the upcoming section of my trip report)

6. Interesting and Likable Fellow Safarigoers (IMO this includes having a child-free safari if one so chooses)

7. Hospitality (from managers and staff - making you feel really welcome in camp and making sure that everyone is well-looked after, whether they are a party of 14 or a solo traveller. Mombo excelled here)

8. Comfort of accommodations (meaning a decently sized tent or room with fans and plunge pools for hot weather and hot water bottles for cold weather)

9. Quality and Variety of Food (and willingness to accommodate my dietary requirements)

10. Variety of Safari Activities

11. Curio shop (the main requirement here is fleeces, hats, gloves, scarves, etc rather than fancy jewellery.

I don't see Value for Money as an ingredient per se -- if a camp's performance in the areas above is reflected accurately in its price, it is giving good value for money even at Mombo prices.

Cheers,
Julian

In order:

1. Safety - I put this first because any safari in which I contract some tropical disease, become infected with some ghastly parisitic worm, lose a limb to a ravening Hyrax, or end up dead is not a successful safari.

2. Guides - The guides make or break a safari.

3. Traveling Companions - Traveling companions that are interesting, engaging, and share the same interests make a safari much more enjoyable. When they're boring, have different interests or priorities, and are at odds with your personality, you can end up dreading meal times and safari drives because of them. (IMO this includes having a old-geezer-free safari if one so chooses) ;)

4. Location - if we're bundling quality and quanitity of wildlife along with season and landscapes, then this is the whole point of a safari. I want a sense of remoteness and of being in the wilderness.

5. Food - if the food is good, I can put up with some issues on the accommodations. If the food is consistently bad, then I'm likely to be rather surly.

6. Accommodations - should be comfortable, but appropriate to my idea of a safari. I know people have different notions of what safari accommodations should be like - camps or lodges, and how they affect the &quot;feel&quot; or &quot;style&quot; of safari. As long as I can pick the style I want and the various lodges/camps delivers on what they're selling, I'm fine.

7. Hosts - Excellent and efficient service contribute a great deal to my relaxation on safari. The last thing I want to do is become upset or angry because of some problem. Or, have to worry about my arrangements.

8. Vehicle - whether a motorized vehicle or a mokoro, the vehicle should be comfortable, clean, and well maintained. And, the driver should know what he's doing - both in driving the vehicle and doing field repairs.

9. Respect for the environment, local peoples, and culture - I would personally feel uncomfortable on safari if I felt the guides or hosts were doing anything that would negatively impact the environment and animals, or if I felt like the local peoples were being exploited.

10. Variety of activities - not really a big deal with me. I'd do mostly game drives anyway.

Agree with all of the above, but would add...be sure to take along...
Your sense of adventure, as well as humor. And remember to have a &quot;go with the flow&quot; attitude. Somehow the unexpected, unplanned events have a way of working out to be some of the greatest of memories!
Laugh, relax and savor each and every moment!