DebitNM

So far, I know is that we will start in J'berg and end in Capetown. ALL I have to do is fill in the middle!

cindy_shyrow

Jambo,
Karibu Kenya!
You could tour Kenya and Zanzibar as well

HappyTrvlr

Deb- I would value Safari Craig's advice. His mother, a South African, founded the company as well as another highly rated travel agency, both based in the Minneapolis area.. They know their stuff!

twoaussies

Hi: My husband and I spent two months in Southern Africa in 2005 and included Victoria Falls, Chobe National Park; then to Cape Town where we picked up a car for six weeks.
This September daughter and I are returning with only a month. We are concentrating on animals, and will include walking with lions, patting cheetahs (in Oudtshorn), sleeping with elephants in Knysna and Addo Elephant Park in tents.
Self catering accommodation in S.A. is great and quite reasonable, especially when you can go food shopping with the locals.

kellyee21

twoaussies: many of these types of animal interaction activites exists in South Africa but the ethics at most of these are highly questionable. All will claim that they are doing it for conservation reasons but most true conservationists do not agree. Lion cub petting/walking is among the worst due to the connection to canned hunting. Cubs are taken away from their mothers at a very young age (usually 2-3 weeks)to be hand raised by humans and petted by tourists. When they get older they will be used in walks until they become older and too strong. Then what happens ? This is where it is really unclear because these places will not divulge where they are selling their lions to. We do know hundreds of lions are hunted per year so these lions are coming from somewhere. And please know that lions raised in captivity will NEVER be able to be released into the wild as many places claim.

There is a lot of information out there if you just start searching but here is a start:

http://www.cannedlion.org/cub-petting.html

Riding elephants is also highly controversial as African elephants cannot be easily broken and often extremely cruel methods are used for this. You mention sleeping with elephants in Knysna, and the park there has also been accused of abusive practices (I did say accused, I dont believe it has been proven but it is something to consider)

http://www.theguardian.com/environme...rrific-cruelty

There is a ton more information out there if you take the time to seek it out.

There are so many wonderful places to see animals in their natural environment here in South Africa that could cover month and months that don't include these questionable practices. I hope you will do a lot of research before participating in these activities (and I dont mean just reading the claims they make on their own website) so at least you understand what you are in fact supporting.

DebitNM

Thank you, kellyee21 for that information.

Conservation should not = cruelty of these beautiful animals.

sandi

kellyee21 -

Thanks for providing the info above about direct human contact with animals. There are some things about safari that are simply 'no-no' and petting lions or riding/sleeping with ellees are some of them.

I made the decision after first safari some 20/yrs ago and then almost yearly these past 10/yrs, I'd never set foot in a zoo. And for every child who asked to visit a zoo, the reply was always NO, you'll go on safari some day and see the animals in their natural environment, and glad to say they have. Now we can only hope that

sandi

... continued (sorry) the ongoing slaughter of ellees, rhinos, lions and other, will leave nothing for safari goers to enjoy and learn from, rather then only have a book with pictures of these species.

All too sad what's going on worldwide with the destruction of game - tigers, sharks, dolphins, and on and on. We all have to get behind or directly involved with the organizations that are truly conservationists and doing their utmost to stop such slaughter regardless the species.

Believe me 'seeing' the game is as worthwhile as would be 'touching'. I can spend hours watching a herd of ellees... how they interact with one another and especially protect the babies; likewise, a mother lion/cheetah/leopard moving their little ones (new born) being moved from one safe hiding space to another.

Keep this in mind during your planning.