safari options for first-time safari goer
 

hello,

my husband and i are planning a trip to africa (south africa and tanzania) in august.

based on the info i gathered in this website, we have a lot of options as to where to go, each with different experiences.

would appreciate some guidance as to where among the places below we should go:
selous
ruaha
serengeti
londolazi
kruger

was not planning to consider kruger, but read some pretty good reviews about londolazi.

any advice would be helpful.

thanks!

Londolozi all the way

Hopefully, you are planning to have adequate time to do those 2 destinations. Many times people want to do Southern and East Africa and they try to squeeze too much into too little time.

If you are going to East Africa in August, I'd suggest Kenya's Masai Mara over Tanzania's Serengeti if you are interested in seeing the Great Migration, which is a natural wonder. You'd probably have to snap to it because pickings may be getting real slim by now.

If you do decide on Tanzania, the Northern Circuit (Serengeti, Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater) is where most first-timers usually go. Selous and Ruaha are in the much less visited Southern Circuit, but they are terrific places to visit.

Londolozi is not an area of South Africa, but is a camp within Sabi Sand Game Reserve which adjoins Kruger National Park. KNP and the surrounding game reserves comprise the Greater Kruger National Park region. There are many outstanding camps/lodges in the private game reserves and Londolozi is right among the best.

I wouldn't waste probably valuable time and money sitting on a plane and in airports when you could be watching game. More travel = less time seeing what you came to see.

Choose either Tanzania OR S. Africa.

There are many other good parks you can see in Tanzania, eg Katavi, Mahale, Tarangire, Manyara, etc.

seeker - you have three posts regarding your upcoming honeymoon safari. I would suggest you keep all under this thread so it's easy for you to find and for those replying to follow your progress.

As others have mentioned, if only 9/days for Tanzania and as August is right around the corner, best to get moving on this as space is booking quickly. See the other threads/replies to see what's doable with these 9/days in Tanzania. Just click on your name and those will appear so you can re-review.

If you also wish to visit South Africa, it would be nice if we know how many TOTAL days you are allocating for the honeymoon, and as mentioned in other threads... it'll take at least a day to travel between East and Southern Africa, with some weird flight schedules and relatively high fares. Have you even looked at International airfares if flying (from wherever your home country) to East Africa and/or South Africa? For a trip as you mention, you'll have to fly into one country and out from another. See Kayak at www.kayak.com for flights/schedules/prices.

We also have no idea what your estimated budget might be which is especially important. Many find they have champagne tastes but beer budgets. As example, Londolozi located on the Sabi Sands private conservancy adjacent to Kruger park... last I checked was charging about $1,500/person/nt. Though there are others in the same range or more competitive (though as lovely) at lesser cost and possible 'extended stay' discouts. Likewise, there are many properties in Tanzania at the same price, but most in the very Northern Serengeti (best for the migration during August), can run in the range of $650+/person/nt.

I'd suggest you get your thoughts together with the info so far from the replies already posted, then you can return here (on this thread) and we'll be glad to assist best we can.