Anyone do an Overland Safari?
 

First-time thinking seriously of a Safari. Has anyone ever "roughed it" on one of these overland trips? I'll be going alone and I like the idea of being with a young, fun group (and also saving $). I'm looking at Intrepid Travel, OverlandingAfrica, and Rivers and Safaris. Any experience with these operators? Thanks.

I went on a fantastic trip to northern India with Intrepid last year so I would really recommend them as a company, but I've never been on one of their Africa trips. Have you looked at the Lonely Planet boards, too? Probably a lot more overlanders there than on Fodor's. This board does have a lot of great information about places in Africa, wildlife, packing, photography, etc. no matter what style of trip or budget you choose.

I did a Dragoman overland trip to Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda last summer and had a fantastic time. There were quite a few different company trucks following a similar route and some were more "party buses" than others. There is a lot of travelling involved, several 12 hour days and you are expected to help out with chores and cooking and put up your own tent. Dragoman has a local cook on most of its Africa trips, which some other companies don't, plus two drivers/guides. I enjoyed the trip so much that I'm doing another one in Southern Africa in 6 weeks time!

I did a 6 month Overland (London to Capetown) back in '93 with Exodus Expeditions and loved it, so much so that I did a 6 month Sth & Central America Overland also with Exodus on my return to Sydney. I found it hard to adjust to Society when I came back from Africa that I had to "escape" to another 6 months in Sth America ;-)
However, it can at times be something like BigBrother, and a spell of a week or so away from the vehicle is a good idea.
I saw and experienced things I shall never forget and forged life long friendships.
Highly recommended :-)

Cheers
Marc

Thanks for your responses. I think I'm going to do this. Unfortunately I'll only have about 10 days to safari (plus two or three in Capetown), but it sounds feasible.