And Beyond
Mar 27th, 2023, 08:11 AM
#1
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And Beyond
we are considering an African safari and using And Beyond for the trip. The suggested itinerary by them is as follows based on our desire to do the gorilla trek in Rwanda, the mass migration and Victoria Falls: October 1,2024 arrive Johannesburg one night there then on to Old Drift Lodge at the Falls, fly to Nairobi with one night at hotel then on to And Beyond Bateleur Camp for 3 nights, then to Grumeti Serengeti River Lodge for 2 nights, then to And Beyond Ngorongoro Crater Lodge 2 nights and lastly to Kigali, Rwanda for 2 nights at Silverback Lodge for gorilla trek.
Has anyone had any experience with And Beyond or stayed at any of the Lodges mentioned above?
Has anyone had any experience with And Beyond or stayed at any of the Lodges mentioned above?
Mar 27th, 2023, 08:43 PM
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we are considering an African safari and using And Beyond for the trip. The suggested itinerary by them is as follows based on our desire to do the gorilla trek in Rwanda, the mass migration and Victoria Falls: October 1,2024 arrive Johannesburg one night there then on to Old Drift Lodge at the Falls, fly to Nairobi with one night at hotel then on to And Beyond Bateleur Camp for 3 nights, then to Grumeti Serengeti River Lodge for 2 nights, then to And Beyond Ngorongoro Crater Lodge 2 nights and lastly to Kigali, Rwanda for 2 nights at Silverback Lodge for gorilla trek.
Has anyone had any experience with And Beyond or stayed at any of the Lodges mentioned above?
Has anyone had any experience with And Beyond or stayed at any of the Lodges mentioned above?
And Beyond has a very good reputation. But for me, that kind of trip would not be of interest. I prefer to concentrate on one area rather than jump around from SA to ZIM to KENYA/TANZ and then Rwanda. My advice would be to choose either SA (Sabi Sands/Kruger); VicFalls; and maybe Bots. Then go to Kenya/Tanz another trip, maybe along with Rwanda. Your tour sounds like a lot of time lost in transit and therefore, far less time in the bush/on safari. Post the exact itinerary and I will explain, or just take a look and see the time lost in flying, transfer to camps, etc.
Mar 28th, 2023, 06:34 AM
#3
I agree with ekscrunchy. You mention that you want to gorilla trek and see the migration, but you fly into Johannesburg 2000 miles away and spend time there, which is neither? I did gorilla trekking in Rwanda (and saw some of Rwanda) for 5 days, then went to the Mara in Kenya for 6 days. That was plenty of moving about for a week. Africa isn't really some place to try "if it's Monday it must be South Africa" kind of travel. I'd have them spin up a refined itinerary or you'll spend so much of your time in transit and conversely so little seeing anything. Or reach out to another safari planner who will understand that... Expert Africa, Wild Source, Africa Travel Resources, Treks2Rwanda with its sister company Access2Tanzania (if you do Rwanda/TZ) are all companies I can vouch for.
Mar 30th, 2023, 01:53 PM
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We used & Beyond’s predecessor, CC Africa, many years ago. Our agent was surprisingly disorganized and inattentive. (She’s still there since we receive email from her address.) The experienced Fodorites here revised the proposed itinerary and I am still grateful to them. We did stay at Bateleur and the Ngorongoro Crater Lodge, both of which were excellent properties with experienced, personable guides.
Last edited by Marija; Mar 30th, 2023 at 01:58 PM.
Mar 31st, 2023, 06:28 AM
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We used & Beyond’s predecessor, CC Africa, many years ago. Our agent was surprisingly disorganized and inattentive. (She’s still there since we receive email from her address.) The experienced Fodorites here revised the proposed itinerary and I am still grateful to them. We did stay at Bateleur and the Ngorongoro Crater Lodge, both of which were excellent properties with experienced, personable guides.
Marija! How good to "see" you again!!
Interesting about the travel mess up with CC AFRICA. I've made a number of safari trips, all but one of them in southern africa (botswana, SA, Zimbabwe) and I use a travel planned based in CapeTown. She also arranges trips to Kenya/Tanz and she is absolutely fantastic. I will post her contacts if OP is interested.
Apr 2nd, 2023, 06:08 AM
#6
I'm just back from Kenya. The last camp we stayed at was for 2 nights. As nice as it was, it wasn't worth it as it required 2 flights and 8 hours travel time (Mara to Amboseli). I'd suggest you stay a minimum of 3 nights in any one location.
Last edited by Jackie; Apr 2nd, 2023 at 06:32 AM.
Apr 5th, 2023, 08:25 AM
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I’ve been to all those countries, but on separate trips. Vic Falls goes well with Hwange NP and Chobe NP in Botswana. I’ve been gorilla tracking in Rwanda on a separate trip, but it would be possible to combine that with game parks in Kenya or Tanzania.
I’ve been to the southern Serengeti Ndutu area in February when the herds were calving, but thought they would have moved past Grumeti by October, crossing into the Mara, as this &Beyond graphic shows, but of course with the migration nothing is certain from year to year.
https://www.andbeyond.com/advice/afr...eat-migration/
It would be sad to fly into Johannesburg without sampling anything South Africa has to offer, especially since you will be so close to Kruger and the high end private concessions around the park. Since my daughter married a South African I have been travelling to Cape Town, which doesn’t have any good nearby game parks, but it is a complete contrast to anything else on the African continent. October is whale watching season on the Western Cape. There are always African Penguins, and the city has world class restaurants at a reasonable price, plus the winelands around Stellenbosch and Franschhoek.
I’ve been to the southern Serengeti Ndutu area in February when the herds were calving, but thought they would have moved past Grumeti by October, crossing into the Mara, as this &Beyond graphic shows, but of course with the migration nothing is certain from year to year.
https://www.andbeyond.com/advice/afr...eat-migration/
It would be sad to fly into Johannesburg without sampling anything South Africa has to offer, especially since you will be so close to Kruger and the high end private concessions around the park. Since my daughter married a South African I have been travelling to Cape Town, which doesn’t have any good nearby game parks, but it is a complete contrast to anything else on the African continent. October is whale watching season on the Western Cape. There are always African Penguins, and the city has world class restaurants at a reasonable price, plus the winelands around Stellenbosch and Franschhoek.
Last edited by Heimdall; Apr 5th, 2023 at 08:32 AM.
