First time Safari-budget
 

I am not into luxury by any means. I am aware that safari's in general are spendy. <BR><BR>I am a single female wanting to travel on Safari with a good company for about 12 days or so. Can anybody reccomend a company that is good for those on a tighter budget than Micato or A & K? Web sites would be great if you have any! Thank you

My wife and I are leaving on Sept 15 for a 12 day safari in Tanzania. Our ground operator for the safari will be Kibo safaris, we booked them through a company called Borton Overseas (check out their web site for more information and prices www.bortonoverseas.com). We will be doing a mobile camping safari. Like you, we are not into luxury, and we looked at the Micatos and A&K's and really didn't want to pay that much. But we also didn't want a participatory camping trip either. Kibo offers a good in-between trip. I believe you can also book directly with Kibo if you don't want to go through a middle man. Their web site is www.kibosafaris.com.<BR>Hope this helps

Thank you! I will check out the websites. With the company you booked with, did you have an agent who walked you through it? I am a bit nervous about booking something this major online.

Actually, we really went through 3 levels I guess. We used a local travel agency, and then through them we booked the trip with Borton Overseas, and Borton uses Kibo safaris as their ground agents in Tanzania. And in looking at the prices posted on the kibo website and looking at the price that we paid, it doesn't look like it cost us any extra to go through the travel agencies. And we also let Borton Overseas book our flights and they got us a great deal versus what we would have paid booking that part on our own.

My husband and returned this past April from a Kenya safar through 2Afrika. It was 9 days, including air/game drives/lodges/meals and a wonderful guide plus all transfers from NYC for $1,795.00 Per person. Plus tax, that's INCLUDING air. It was just wonderful!! They have, a $200.00 single supplement or will partner you with someone if you prefer. Their website is www.2afrika.com. Honestly we stayed at the same lodges, saw the same animals drove in the same vans as people paying $15,000. pp on A & K. <BR>Truly it was the adventure of a lifetime, and the groups are small, maximum 6 people, we only had 3 others in our group. I highly recommend them.

Africa, I would also agree with the previous post. On our recent trip to Tanzania with 2Afrika we had the company of a single female and I thought she had a great time. Our group of 6 had the three of us, a couple from the Seatle area and the gal from Maryland. Most of our meals were as a group so there was always mixed conversation regardless of couples, singles, trios or the family of 5 guys in the other van in our tour. I too saw the vehicles from the more expensive companies staying where we stayed, eating the same meals as we, etc.<BR>Good Luck, Dick

Thank you so much! I check out the 2afrika web site and loved their prices and programs. Where there any of the parks that weren't quite up to par that often get a lot of hype? Is the Serengeti or Masai Mara worth it? how abot Lake Nakuru? I very much want to visit both Kenya and Tanzania. Any advice on which safari?

Also, what is your opintion of the Ngorongoro area?

Well we didn't go to Ngongoro so I can't comment on that, and actually Masai Mara and the Serengeti are attached, part of one great huge ecosystem that crosses two country borders, Masai Mara on the Kenya side and Serengeti on the Tanz. side.<BR>I must be frank with you. Masai Mara FAR FAR FAR exceeded my expectations. I didn't want to be dissapointed, so I kept saying to my husband, well, we're going in the rainy season.. we may not see many animals etc.<BR>OH MY GOD.. I just could NOT believe the number of animals we saw at both Masai Mara and in Lake Nakuru. We saw, elephant, rhino, hippo, crocodile, lion, cheetah, leopart, buffalo, wildebeest, eland, ostrich, turtles, gazelles, gosh! I can't even remember how many that is a really abbreviated list. I remember at one point in the Masai, we just parked up on the ridge and there were animals as far as the I could see, you couldn't count them all, it was just so amazing. Thousands of them. We also, saw a pride of lions right after a kill, and a big male with an "ex-topi" carcass. The three people we were with, (two women who came together and a single male who paid the supplement) went on a baloon ride and apparently flew over this amazing pride of lions 100+!! It was far more animals then I would ever expect to see. You will love it.

WOW!!! Sounds awesome. What month did you go in?

We went in Mid-April 2002. I don't know if we were just lucky or what, but it's my understanding that climate is changing. We had some scattered rain,, and one afternoon with a really dramatic thunderstorm but it timed itself out perfectly to coincide with our mid-afternoon break. The rain didn't cause us any trouble at all.

You will find quite a bit of info if you do a search on "Kenya" and "Tanzania" on this board. As to Ngorongoro Crater it too is an amazing place. Glad we went into Crater earlier in the morning as cats seemed to be out much, much more than later in the day. Even saw a leopard on the ground. Did see quite a few more vehicles but guess that should not be surprising given the rather small size of the crater. Also, got to see 4 different rhino although at a distance. Have other comments on the previously mentioned posts under Tanzania.

http://www.exodus.co.uk/<BR><BR>I will be booking their 16day Kenya & Tanzania camping safari for $1470pp in Jan. This safari is for the young & adventerous types and covers many different activities & large distances. Other safaris that I’ve come across, they have more leisurely time between the morning & afternoon game drives. While others appreciate that, we wanted to absorb as much as possible in our limited time in this fascinating continent. But that does mean you do drive more on those dusty and often rough roads. You also get to spend 3 days in Zanzibar as a nice relaxing way to end your trip. This definitely is not luxurious but if you are looking for a budget safari but don't mind roughing it a little, you should check them out. <BR><BR>Since I haven't been on it yet, I can't really give you first hand accounts but in my research I was able to talk to someone who have done this safari. They gave great reviews and even said everything exceeded their expectations. They said most campsites have pretty good facilities like showers, etc. For your reference if you are interested in Exodus, I can email you my correspondence with Janice who used them. They also have operators who have been on it and can help answer questions.<BR><BR>Happy travels.<BR>

My husband and I leave next month for 18 days in Kenya and Tanzania. I also looked at Micato, A&K, Big Five, etc. and balked at their prices. Was referred to Roy Safaris Ltd. out of Arusha, Tanzania. They did an itinerary at very luxurious camps for about half of the others. A friend just returned from 16 days in Tanzania with Roy and said everything was great. Check them out. One of the things they focus on is customer service and they are worth looking into. Good luck with your trip. I took over a year planning ours, and it is almost time to go. Yahoo!

Thank you to everybody who offered advice. The Exodus Safari looks great, but so does 2Afrika. I will do a bit more research and I can't wait to go, have been waiting my whole life for this. If anybody else has anything to share, please let me know! Thankx

I have been to Tanzania three times, and used Fortes Safaris, a local company with offices in Mwanza and Arusha. The e-mail address for the office in Mwanza (Lucas Fortes) is [email protected] They do inexpensive private safaris - you can camp or stay at hotels. The nice thing about Fortes is they do all day game drives. I have been to Kenya, Zimbabwe, South AFrica, Uganda, Botswana and Namibia on safari - Tanzania tops them all, especially the Serengeti. Etosha in Namibia rivals Serengeti; the Okavango Delta and Chobe in Botswana are also wonderful. Drifters (out of Jo'burg) do great camping-participation safaris throughout Africa. I think their web site is www.drifters.co.za; empail [email protected] We used them for a 16 day safari in Botswana and Vic Falls - $1295 several years ago. Namibia's Etosha Park is also great - we used Chameleon - less than $100 a day for camping safari. E-mail is [email protected]<BR> Kenya has become very touristy and sometimes the park seem overrun. Samburu in the north is nice, as is Ambolesi (camping below Mt. Kilomanjaro.).<BR> If you like further information, please contact me at [email protected], as I don't check this web site regularly.

Forgot to mention - you can always combine a trip to Tanzania with a stop in Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable Forest to do gorilla tracking. It's a short flight from Kampala to Mwanza, Tanzania. I have the name of a guide I've used twice there if interested.

Thank you! I am very interested in the Trekking in Uganda. Exactly how difficult is the hike though? I have always wanted to do it, but am slighty nervous about it being to hard for me. I am not in good shape, but not in poor shape either. :)

Actually I looked into gorilla trekking in Uganda. It just sounds so wonderful, however, be advised that you will need to apply possibly a year in advance to get a permit to do so. There are only a couple hundred gorillas in the wild. We tried to get permits over a year in advance and had to change dates several times as non were available for our first choice dates. (You are only allowed half an hour with the gorillas, and they only let 6 people at a time venture to visit the groups). But from what I understand the experience is absolutely unbelieveable. In terms of difficulty, you are going with an experienced trekker guide, and often times have to crawl on hands and knees through muddy jungle, I suppose there is no way of knowing how strenuous it will be until you actually are on the trail. Each Gorilla permit is several hundred dollars, but I wouldn't put off doing this as the gorillas are SO endangered. Good luck whatever you decide. If you are interested, I actually was communicating with a tour person who handled Uganda, she was very responsive and I got all of her references etc. She was out of the UK but just delightful to work with. We ended up deciding it was just a little too expensive for us this year.. but it is still on my to-do list.

<BR>Look into Overseas Adventure Travel out of Boston. I had a trip booked for the end of December last year, but cancelled after 9/11. Had I known that things would have calmed down I'd have gone anyway. I am now planning to go the end of January. They are a little more than 2Afrika but trip is 19 days vs 14 days and includes many interesting extras as well as being able to book pre or post trip extensions. See their site at oattravel.com. They also do not charge for sigle travel if you are willing to share(even if they do not match you). Let me know how things go. I am really looking forward to my trip!!