lisa

Mark and I are considering another trip to Africa in early December of 2008, for approximately 2 weeks. So far we have been to South Africa (Kruger, Sabi Sands, Cape Town), Botswana (Kwando camps), and Tanzania's northern circuit. We loved them all and are now trying to figure out where we should go next for great game viewing & photo ops in early December. I was thinking maybe Namibia, Zambia, or perhaps southern Tanzania (Selous/Ruaha?), or Rwanda.

Of the places we've been so far, our favorite for wildlife was Serengeti, with the Okavango Delta a close second.

We are open to fly-ins or self-driving, and would prefer to try to keep accommodations & food under $300 per person per night if possible.

Would appreciate any thoughts you all might have. Thanks in advance.

kimburu

Since you didn't get a response yet, I'll at least bump you back to the top for another go. I won't be able to tell you about Ruaha until Ocotber, which is too late. Assuming you don't want to camp, I can tell you it is possible to do it and Selous for under $300 pppn, but taking into account transport costs you might have to stay just outside the park... unless you saved somewhere else, of course. I would double check the game viewing in Selous for December though. I have a suspicion that it might not be that good (but it's just a suspicion and could be wrong). Namibia is still not too expensive - it's easily within your budget and of course fantastic for photography. Etosha might not be at it's best for gameviewing in December but it seems to be good year-round. By now Zambia has limited options in that price range, but just from casual reading I believe it can just be done.

In all places December can be wet some years and not others, so you'd want to take that into account if self-driving. Namibia has all-weather roads.

lisa

Thanks for your answer to start the ball rolling! I've done a little more research now and am still very interested in Namibia, maybe including the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in SA as well.

I think we've decided against Selous & Ruaha for now based on the time of year, will save for another time.

Also am wondering if we should consider Mozambique? Don't know much about it but it seems it is starting to emerge as both a safari & beach destination.

Doogle

Hi there

Mozmbique is not a great Safari destination (YET) they are still busy reintroducing the game so give it a little while.

Part of South Africa you have not been to is the Eastern Cape and it is wonderful, the game again is not Kruger/Botswana/Kenya, but it makes for a onderful holiday. You could visit Samara (Cheetah reintroduction) and Kwandwe and then spoend some time on the garden route where you could do whale watching etc, and you could easily combine this with Namibia.

If you do Zambia, please do Zambia with flair spend at least 8 days in the lower Zambezi as the game there is outstanding!!! the walking safaris with bushcamp co are outstanding and excellent value for money!

atravelynn

In Dec, I would not choose the Lower Zambezi, but at other times of the year 8 days walking and canoneing it would be fantastic.

Check this site for best wildlife when.

http://www.africa-adventure.com/best_time_to_go

How about the Kalahari and Mashatu in Botswana?

Otherwise, gorilla tracking in Dec would be good, perhaps a bit wet. But for photos, when I was there in July and we had cloudless skies, a pro photographer was upset because his photos were not as good as when there are overcast skies.

BigT

Hi Lisa,

Namibia is amazing and for a truly special place have a look at http://www.wilderness-safaris.com/sa....jsp?camp=2178

You wont go there for the game viewing although heading to the north there is wonderful game in the Otasha Pan and the company, Wilderness Safaris is awesome. They are VERY eco friendly and have beautiful camps. Sossusvlei is a truly spectacular place, desert and sand dunes and not much else, amazing to hike up the dunes for sun rise and really like nothing else i have experienced on earth!

I would suggest looking at what Wilderness Safaris offer and poerhaps combining a few camps.

If you are into adrenalin sports, for something more unusual spend a few days in Swakopmund and do some Sand Boarding or Quad Biking through the dunes. Arriving there with the fierce coast line to one side and desert to the other is awesome.

Good luck and let is know what you decide.

BigT

lisa

Big T -- Looks great, but $$$ ?

Lynn -- Thanks for the link to which areas are best for game viewing at which time. And Mashatu is one of those places that I keep looking at every year or so. The prices for the tents are really appealing and it sounds like the game-viewing is pretty good. I'm definitely keeping it on the list at the moment. Not sure how we would get there, how the game viewing there would be in December, or how it would combine with the other places we're looking at -- but it might be too good an option to pass up. Mark is an avid cyclist and I think he would love the option of game viewing on a mountain bike!

Still interested in Kgalagadi too.

Also read a trip report on Deception Valley that piqued my interest. Anyone know how that would be in December?

amolkarnik

lisa - I have KTP on my Novermber 2008 plans. December is a great time to go as well, but for best choic of camps you need to move quickly.

lisa

We just successfully reserved frequent flier tickets from IAD (Washington DC Dulles) into Upington (UTN) and I have been doing lots of research into Kgalagadi & am getting very excited about this trip. Will book accommodations as soon as we figure out how much of our time we want to spend there vs. somewhere else. Since we would self-drive to & around KTP, Mark would then like to either fly or drive to another good game-viewing area (probably in Namibia, Botswana, or SA) but have this second half of our trip be with a guide or someone else to do the spotting & driving. What other destination do you think would combine well with Kgalagadi? Is it even possible to take a rental vehicle across the border into Namibia or Botswana if we rent it in Upington SA?

wildcatzoo

Border crossing with a rental car was very easy, although I just did SA to Botswana and back. The rental car company needs to give you a letter stating you have permission to cross the border, they are familiar with the documentation you need, just let them know in advance. And there was some road tax to pay, it wasn't much.

Nancy

thit_cho

As Nancy wrote, make sure you have the necessary approvals to take the rental car from SA to Botswana or Namibia. I rented from Avis in July 2006, and drove from Upington to Kgalagadi, and I wanted to return on the better road inside Botswana, but I did not have the necessary approval.

I'm not aware, though, of any game rich areas in Namibia or Botswana that are within easy reach of Kgalagadi by 2WD rental car; in fact, I don't think you can even drive into Botswana in a 2WD car. There are border crossings from SA into Namibia, but, at least when I visited, the crossing from Mata Mata (a camp in Kgalagadi) into Namibia had not yet been opened.

There's a very high end camp in SA that's relatively near Kgalagadi -- I think its owned by a very rich individual who moved a lot of animals into a private reserve.

Other than that, you may need to drive back to Upington, and then fly either via CPT or JNB to Botswana or Namibia.

I posted a trip report with photos from my July 2006 visit to Kgalagadi on this forum, and if you're interested, it should be easy to find if you search for Kgalagadi.

Its a great park, and you can get a lot more info if you peruse the forum on www.sanparks.org, which has a forum devoted to arid parks (mostly Kgalagadi).

Michael

amolkarnik

Lisa - Your best game viewing in Namibia is Etosha and this is a long way from KTP. A good days drive away. Dropping the car off in Upington and using flight to get around might be the most convenient way.