I haven't been to Africa during December-January, so I'm not here to offer any specific advice other than to NOT "just forget it". Africa is magical.

There is hope... and then there is reality.


Thanks again guys for all the wonderful feedback. I have done my fair bit of research and speaking to agents and am back with some news.
Afterall- your words especially ring true.

1. For my budget of 5k total inside africa, we were not able to make Botswana. The connections were pretty expensive.

2. Even eastern africa was surprisingly pretty expensive for Dec. It cost a min of 6k (really cheap with 2n arusha), not including any incidentals, transfers etc.

3. The best I could do in South Africa was 3n sabi (simbambili) and 5n capetown. This also is just above the budget, but the cheapest of all the options.

So as Hari and a few others have pointed out, for our budget it boiled down to two things.

a. Just do self drive in Kruger.

b. Consider self-camping trips in other parts.

Considering the fact that we are not really active campers, even in the US, my wife did not feel comfortable doing an all camping tour.

Result: Unfortunately, we have decided that we will have to pick option 4 and wait till we save enough budget and vacation time to really make an african trip worthwhile. Even though it was pretty hard for me to take initially, I have also reconciled that spending 2k pp on international fare and just leaving 2.5k for africa part and having such a tight budget is probably not too much fun.

So for now, I postpone. But sometime pretty soon (hopefully), I will make a great trip and as always, you guys will be the first to know.

I really appreciate all the forthright and passionate feedback I have received.

Thanks
Aravind

In most South African Parks accomodation is in buildings, with all of the necessary equipment to self cater in the bigger parks lodges also have restaurants.

I went to Tanzania in March and found a great package with www.masaitravel.com. The Serengeti is a great first experience and is within your budget.

I am going to South Africa in September but will spend all the time on safari and am skipping Capetown because I really want to experience the wildlife.

I forgot to add on my last post the following

We recently spent 12 nights in Kruger at Bushcamps which are nicer than the Main Camps but do require reliance on self catering. This cost ZAR 12,000 or under $2,000 you would need to add the cost of hiring a vehicle and petrol. I am sure you could come in well within your budget if you took a shorter trip. Book eraly to avoid dissapointment this can be done online at the SANPARKS website.

Hello all,
After lots of dilly dallying and yes again- no again moments, we have decided to make the East Africa trip this Dec after all. We have increased our budget to 10k for the whole trip and the number of days to 14 (including airline travel).

After all your feedback, we have decided that to minimize transfers and maximize wildlife viewing, we should pick East Africa. Got a great deal on the international airfare and have about 3-3.3k per person for the Africa part.

I will open a thread for east africa specific information, but just wanted to thank you all again for the forthright feedback.
Thanks
Aravind

Hi Aravind,

You will have a fantastic time!!!

Cheers
Hari

That's great news Aravind, I'm glad you found something that works!