Safari suggestions
 

Greetings all,
I am on the very first step to research a safari trip. First time for myself and friend - we want to see the real thing..not a backyard with animals! Can anyone toss suggestions on good groups providing all encompassing safari trips? Who to avoid?! We do not have any set date and just want the best possible experience. Thank you in advance for any suggestions or info

We loved the Northern Circuit in Tanzania.
Our process: read guidebooks to figure out where we wanted to go. Emailed multiple Tour Organuzers to request ititneraries and quotes. Went back and forth a few times with questions.
Eventually settled on EASY TRAVEL and couldn't have been happier.

Thanks! I will take a look. Since we have a bit of time all suggestions are appreciated. At this point it looks like we will be stopping in Amsterdam for a few days then flying to Africa. Just the thought of this trip has got my blood racing!!

Hi Janelle,

May I ask where you live? Through a 30 member organization called Safari Pros, I know many of the top safari planners in North America. I may be able to recommend someone you can meet with face to face. That is the best way to plan a safari IMO when possible.

Craig Beal

Thank you everyone! Lots to think about and research. We live in N California just south of San Francisco.
The time frame is a bit up in the air at this point..within the next 2 years so we are not hard pressed to make arrangements yet. Just wanted to get started on types of services and what is out there

As a friend and competitor Kili has my highest endorsement!!

Kili McGowan
Managing Director
Next Adventure, Inc.
We take safaris personally!
738 Gilman Street
Berkeley CA 94710 USA
Tel: 510 526 7027
Fax: 510 527 0187
Toll Free: USA & Canada 800 562 7298
www.nextadventure.com
email: [email protected]
CST #2024489-40

Craig Beal

FYI - Kili is in Botswana and should be home next week.

Craig Beal

Here is another Bay Area resource albeit quite far north:

David Tett
President
Email: [email protected]
Bushtracks Expeditions
824 Healdsburg Avenue
Healdsburg, CA 95448 USA
Ph: (707) 433-4492 (800) 995-8689
Fax: (707) 433-0258
Bushtracks website: www.bushtracks.com

Craig Beal

Thank you!! Lots to explore and research

I met Kili's husband Jeremy (Next Adventure) on my last safari when he was checking out the camp I was staying at. After a long chat over a sundowner, I decided I'd work with him on my next safari. They seem very well connected and I appreciate they've visited so many of the camps they recommend.

That said, I have used Access2Tanzania and Treks2Rwanda, sister companies based in Minnesota for two safaris now and I can't recommend them highly enough. Karen is the co-owner and they employ their own guides and own their own vehicles on the ground in Tanzania and Rwanda. (It is important that whomever you choose doesn't sub-contract out so you know what you're getting) Karen's attention to detail and organization is amazing, and I found the best price for what we were getting through her. Both experiences with her companies were flawless.

I booked my last Kenyan safari direct with Offbeat Safaris. The package I bought included air and transfer to/from Nairobi to the Mara and included getting me from Nairobi airport to the Wilson airstrip to fly to the Mara. I got a stay 6/pay 5 deal. Dealing with them directly was completely fine, I couldn't beat the price elsewhere and it was the best all-around Kenyan safari I've had to date. The game in Mara North right now is hard to beat, and I've been in all the main conservancies around the Mara now.

Please look into staying in the conservancies as opposed to the main Reserve if you head to the Mara (or anywhere else in Kenya, for that matter). The benefits to you are far less traffic (only people staying in the camps in the conservancies can game drive there), being able to off-road, being able to do night drives. The benefit to the conservancy is that you are supporting the effort to keep that land safe for the wildlife and free from development. I've stayed in conservancies in Ol Pejeta, Amboseli and the Mara and each has been a very quiet, low traffic experience.

Thank you amyb!
I will look them up
I appreciate the info, so much to learn before we go....excited with the idea of conservancy would prefer to support that type of group

janellebc, you may also want to venture over to www.safaritalk.net That site has a forum with tons of trip reports, photos, a trip planning forum. The collective knowledge of all the folks there is immense. They've been on dozens of safaris themselves all over Africa. I've planned all my safaris by asking questions there and reading others' trip reports to see what may interest me. They are very active, lots of new posts every day and the amount of promoting trips and services by safari planners and tour operators is extremely limited, unlike here and TripAdvisor, so you get more "safari-goer" reviews and experiences. They can help with defining or validating an itinerary based on budget and interest, how to book, what to pack, when to go, how to get there, etc. Fodors is a good place to start but I can't imagine planning a safari without Safaritalk.

Great! I will check it out. Thank you!

Wonder what was removed by moderators.....

Dear Janellebc

How exciting that you are looking at Africa as a destination. It can be very overwhelming as there is SO MUCH information online. I will certainly try and give you some pointers - Firstly I would like to suggest that the two of you work on designing a custom itinerary vs. joining a group safari. You will find that if you are working with the right people, the costs can be comparable however traveling on a custom designed itinerary offers and experience that is geared specifically towards the two of you. A group tour uses a cookie cutter itinerary for a specific region and has a group of 12 or more traveling on the same journey. On a custom designed itinerary you will meet so many people along the way, it really offers the best of both worlds at a comparable price.

I can give you many suggestions, however I think it is most important to determine what the two of you envision for this trip. By narrowing down what it is you want to experience and what your expectation are for the trip, will allow me to give you appropriate suggestions. Let me give you a few examples of questions you need to ask yourselves:

1. While I understand that you want an authentic game viewing experience, many countries in Africa offer this. There are some additional activities you may not be able to experience in all countries, here are a few; Do you want to combine your safari with a city experience? Some people combine a safari with a visit to Cape Town for example. If you want this sort of experience I would suggest focusing on countries in Southern Africa. Countries like Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda just to name a view are safari heavy and access to the combination of a safari and westernized city experience is not easily achieved. If you are wanting a combination of a cultural experience while on safari, a country like Kenya might appeal as here your guiding is generally done by Masai, who wear their traditional attire and you can immerge yourself in gaining firsthand information on who they are as a tribe. In South Africa, this sort of experience is harder to come by as the country is very westernized.
2. While on safari were you thinking of driving in an open 4x4 safari vehicle or a pop-up top vehicle? Specific countries are limited in certain ways, so you want to make sure you expectations are met.
3. Do you want to walk while on safari? Some countries like Zambia for example is known for walking safaris whereas other countries focus on 4x4 vehicles with very short bush walks to learn about the fauna and flora but by no means trekking large game, like properties in Zambia are known for.
4. Where you thinking of water based activities like mokoro (traditional kayak) and motorboats as alternative options to game drives? This again would be country specific.
5. Many people think of the great migration when they envision a safari – this would be specific to Kenya and Tanzania depending on the time of travel.
6. Primates would again be focused in 3 main areas, Rwanda, Uganda and Congo. You can easily combine a primate experience with a safari in East Africa.

These are just a few questions I feel are important to answer before deciding on where to travel. The other factors are budget and time of year. Having some idea of your ideal budget would allow me to make appropriate suggestions as well as the time of year available to you for travel. Each region/season offers something unique and different, it is definitely important to determine what your goals are for this trip to ensure your expectations are met.

I hope this information helps.

Marguerite Smit

Great questions, above, to help you focus on what you want.

Don't worry/wonder about what was removed by the mods---very likely some blatant advertising by an agency.

I used Gamewatchers on last trip to Kenya. stayed in two of their Porini camps.

An often overlooked game area in Kenya is Samburu. IMHO< a do-not-miss if you are going to Kanya. I love Uganda--but it will be more than "just" a safari experience there.

Thank you so much for the options and ideas! Lots to research. This is such a treat, the process planning us at least 1/2 the fun! Lots to learn

YIKES!!!!!!
This is just a place to share information for peet's sake!!
The idea is to get different points of view.....
I appreciate people taking the time to share their knowledge each and every one of them.
Please don't make this a pi$$$ing contest.
Life is way too short for that

Again, thank you one and all for your info

hi janelle!

We have just returned from 12 days on ground in Kenya. We used Gamewatchers and had a great time. We decided to focus only in Kenya to minimize travel time. I can share more details if you email me.

our stay included:
- Giraffe Manor - amazing. google it. enough said.
- Samburu
- Ol Pejet, a
- Masai Mara - (2 different camps)

I can recommend the camps, the locations. I also second the thought of staying in conservancies rather than the park itself.

What time of year are you thinking about? While everyone wants to go during migration, it can get crowded. We actually loved April - lower crowds, booking availability, and the abundance of babies everywhere. One of our favorite memories is watching the prides of lions with all the cubs - and how active and playful they all were. The cubs were as young as 2 months and so energetic. For example, we watched them running around playing tag with a wildebeest tail from the recent kill. We only had a bit of rain our last game drive for about an hour and it never impacted anything.

June is also a great time for Kenya. Yes, you do get the "tall grass" but fewer people.

Glad you had a good trip, surfmom. I've never used Gamewatchers but over the years I have seen them recommended a lot. And the price is certainly good.

Hi Leely! yes, we had a fabulous trip. It was all we expected and more.

Gamewatchers booked us in a combination of their own properties - Porini Rhino as well as other camps... a bit more luxurious. The most luxurious was probably our least favorite.

editing my thousands of photos now....

Wow, you must be really anxious about your trip. Am sure you gonna love it. I would suggest visit a local maasai home than the ones setup for tourists... It is more natural and captivating

Okay,
Think we have narrowed our interest to Tanzania. Probably 4-5 day safari.
Been looking online several sites. Anyone had experience with Tanzania Expeditions?? Looks like there will be a total of 4 of us traveling together. The TE offers what appears to perfect trips that decrease in price by the number of folks booking together.
Any feedback would be appreciated!!

Janelle, I just have to jump in here to say hi to an old friend that I see has posted here as I haven't been around for awhile - but first as mom said it is rude to not answer the original poster if replying, I will throw in my opinion - After 5 safaris I feel that Kenya is a fabulous destination for first time safari goers! We have been to South Africa once, and Kenya/Tanzania 4 times. Our fifth time in East Africa was to be a Kenya only (well OK, we did throw in Zambia and Zimbabwe at the last moment)at this very moment, however, a serious health problem stepped in on April 25th and we had to cancel our May 13th month long trip. I just talked to our friends in Amboseli today, they of course are having the time of their lives even though we are not there.

But all that being said - Tanzania too is an excellent first time choice, but my heart seems to belong in Kenya.

And now to say hi to an old friend - HELLO LEELY! Over the last couple of years I have been on the board occasionally to read posts, but have not seen many of the 'oldies but goodies' - I think of you often!

janelle, TZ is a great destination, but 4-5 days is pretty short, distances between parks are long and travel can be rough/slow. Are you planning to fly or drive?

HI LYNDA! I am sad to read that a health problem forced you and Jim to cancel your trip. I hope you are all doing much better now.

I've not been back to Kenya in almost five (five!) years so I too am mostly off the board. Work has kind of gobbled up this sort of trip for me for the time being; I can't really plan things much in advance these days. Hoping maybe 2019... Like you, for some reason my heart belongs to Kenya. You may remember that I went to Tanzania for my first two safaris but there's just something about Kenya...

Having been to both Kenya and Tanzania I can also agree that Kenya wins hands down with me too!

4-5 days is not nearly enough time to even do the northern circuit in Tanzania if going by vehicle. You don't want to be packing up & moving every day. The preference is to stay a minimum of 2 nights at any one camp.

Why don't you post the itinerary you're looking at so we can provide some feedback on it. Sometimes the safari packages spend way too much time in transit and not enough time actually on a game drive.

Not clear where you are flying from but if coming from North America that's an awful long way to go for a 4-5 day safari unless you have something else included in your itinerary.

Oops just saw you're in California...I'm on the west coast of Canada...a very long way to fly for 4-5 days.

Will you be including time at a beach anywhere such as Zanzib if TZ is your choice?

We are combining our safari with a Nile cruise. Figured since I was flying all the way from California I would cross something else off my bucket list.

We will be stopping in Amsterdam 2 days prior and 2 days post Africa to help,with the time difference. Thank you for the advice re 2 days per stay on safari...makes perfect sense. Will look into longer stops or fly between camps.
Thank you everyone for your input!! I will post more when I have a better handle on the possible itinerary

I also like to stop somewhere in Europe to break up the flight and adjust to the time change. So take the 2 days in Amsterdam going there however one night on your return home should be enough, yoh can always sleep when you get home, then add that day somewhere in Africa.

It would be good to know why you chose Tanzania as it would give us a better idea of what you're looking for.

If there's 4 of you it might be worthwhile to look into sharing the cost of hiring your own vehicle and guide and making your own itinerary. You may find the cost just marginally more but you'd get what you want rather than a company's set itinerary.

I did the northern circuit in TZ over 6 days on my own with a driver & vehicle starting in Arusha then flew to my next destination from the Serengeti. Warrior Trails was the tour operator I used out of Arusha and I was very happy with them.

Clamian the owner is a Maasai so we stopped in his village along the way for a real cultural experience.

At least coming from the US, if you connect in Europe you always arrive in Kenya or Tanzania just in time for bed. I just push through the long travel day knowing that when I get there I go right to sleep, which actually helps me with jetlag. Then I wake the next morning and am off to the savannah first thing. I only get 2 weeks off at a time and want to maximize the time in Africa. Laying over anywhere in Europe always means packing for a second climate too, at least when I travel in February, so that's another consideration.

I agree with Kath though, you really ought to look into private safari especially if there are four of you. You'll be able to set your own itinerary, daily schedule and stay or move along at sightings as you four wish, not at the whim of a larger group.

Thank you will put some feelers out ....
My traveling buddy I'd Dutch so that's why the stop over both ways of the trip. I've never been to Amsterdam-should be interesting

KathBC-
Can you give me a ballpark number for the price for your described trip??

That first trip was 6 years ago so I imagine prices have changed since.

A private vehicle with driver/guide could be around $250 - $350 per day but when you divide that by four it's well worth it to make your own itinerary and do exactly what you want and when. Maybe someone here can give you a more current rate.

Most tour operators get preferred rates from certain properties. Give them your budget and they'll provide you with accommodation options. Then go to Africa Travel Resource (lots of photos) and Trip Advisor and choose which places speak to you the most and are within your budget. List them here and ask for feed back.

Do yourself a favour and stay in at least one tented camp. Altho a bit pricier than a lodge they really are the best way to experience Africa and get you that much closer to the real deal.

Click on my name and you should be able to find my trip report where you can skip to the Tanzania part.

Be prepared for the addiction to Africa so many of us here have...it's contagious! :)

In the last couple years Tanzania has implemented a value added tax, so prices at camps are noticeably higher than they were even when I went a few years ago, making TZ a more expensive option than it used to be. My safari in 2013 was about $400 pp per night for four of us, with a private vehicle and driver/guide for the entire time. My trip report is also on here.

I second the suggestion to talk to Africa Travel Resource, they will give you an itemized itinerary. I also think very highly of Access2Tanzania, with whom I went in 2013. If you give them a budget and your travel style, they will come up with a suitable itinerary, and you'll be in their vehicles and with their employed guides, not subcontracted out to an unknown entity on the ground in TZ.

we adjusted to the time easily on the way to Kenya - with just a 3 hour layover in Frankfurt. We arrived in Nairobi at 8pm, got out of the airport, and to our hotel, ordered room service and crashed. Woke up the next morning on local time. Had we stopped en route, it would have felt like "killing time", because all flights from Europe arrive in the evening.

On the way back, it was brutal - we left Nairobi at 10pm, arrived Frankfurt at 5:30am and had until 1pm for our US bound flight. We got a day room at one of the connected hotels in Frankfurt. It was wonderful to shower, put on clean clothes, eat breakfast from the club lounge, use a normal desk for work/studying/reading.

But we did it that way to maximize our time in Kenya. I would do it that way again. We were on the ground 11 days in Kenya - loved having time to do so much.

Here's another tip of the hat to Kili McGowen at Next Adventure. We returned a week ago from our first trip to Africa which she put together for us. (Stay tuned for the TR.)

Kili listens! Her proposals came in at our target budget, and she put together a series of safari camps which gave us a great variety of experiences in animals and terrain.

We interviewed 3 companies at the outset:
Ker Downey's agent did not listen to our objectives, came in way over our target budget, and kept suggesting expensive add-ons. Fish Eagle, out of Houston, was incredibly responsive and provided a lot of food for thought. They also came in at our target budget. We opted for Kili for the already stated reasons, plus she is based in our hometown. It was great to be able to meet with her face to face.

Thank you everyone for the great suggestions. I will meet up with my travel buddy and go over the options.
I'm so excited to have the chance to do such a trip!
I'm sure I will be back with more questions.
Happy weekend all!

Amyb!!
I have contacted access2tanzinia-they want to give credit to who recommended their group. If you are interested in getting some discount on your next trip give me your info so I can pass it on.

Hello Janelle, lots of suggestions have been made to you but have you got any about Uganda, if not then think about it because going to Africa and you miss out on visiting Uganda, the Pearl of Africa, may leave your story incomplete if you were to narrate to some one about Africa. Still I have some great operator I could recommend as best for you in not only Ugandan Safaris but also East Africa at large.
kind regards,
Atidu.