a week in africa
 

hi... we are a family of four planning to visit africa in july 2013. children are 17 & 14. we have 7-8 nights. +- one night. never been there before. please suggest where... kenya ? tanzania ? or ??? combination of safaris alongwith some other attraction would be great... dont want to go towards south africa (since wanna do it as a separate trip) .

Hello Adit

I would suggest South Africa for a first safari. I have been on many safaris now, but our first family safari was in South Africa and it was perfect. Why?

South Africa is the most developed country in Africa and one can easily get to the private reserves near the incomparable Kruger Park. The private reserves give you a sense of the bush without getting too deep in. You are almost guaranteed to see predators and the so called big five. Also for a first safari understand its VERY expensive and perhaps 7 nights is optimal. South Africa comes with the unique advantage of having a world class non-safari destination- Cape Town and its surroundings where you can easily spend the second week of your vacation. As an added bonus, I ( admittedly vaguely) recall a week in Capetown for my family of four in a great apartment with a rental car cost me the equivalent of one night on safari. Also although your children are older, mine were younger and seven days was the outer limit of their interest in safari at the time.

Best of luck.

I would suggest extending to as many days as you can manage. Tanzania is a great location for a first safari and in July you may see the migration depending on where you go in the Serengeti. If you only have 8-9 days I'd say concentrate on just a safari. That seems too short a time to combine with beach time in Zanzibar for example (a popular accompaniment to Tanzania safaris).

thanks ... i shall go by AKR advice... shall book for south africa. this way , we would have the best of both. spend 3-4 nights at kruger , do the garden route drive and spend few nights in cape town....
thanks a lot for your advice

Agree with AKR South Africa is best for short safari.
"spend 3-4 nights at kruger" No, you want to spend 3-4 nights in a private reserve that borders Kruger Nat Park. That is, either the Sabi Sand reserve, check out MalaMala - http://www.malamala.com/ . Or, the Timbavati reserve, check out Kings Camp - http://tinyurl.com/l7ys4fk .

regards - tom