isabel

I'm looking to do my first safari in about a year or two from now. I'm an experienced independent traveler (48 US states, all Western and Central Europe) but for Africa I want an organized tour. I don't need or even want a 'luxury' tour but I also don't want to sleep on the ground - so something middle of the road. My friend just went on a Tauck tour and loved it, but I'd like to explore something slightly less high end. I'm pretty energetic (walk an average of 10 miles a day, many of my trips are 5 weeks in length) for my age (60ish). My priorities are scenery and (of course) animals - lions being way at the top of the list followed by other cats, primates, elephants, giraffes - and then all the rest. I'm pretty sure I want Kenya and Tanzania as opposed to South Africa. Not interested in cities.

So can you recommend some tour organizers that might fit my needs.

Thanks

burry

I am also interested in this answer. I wondered if it is better to book with tour guides who are located in Africa vs go with an organized tour from start to finish.

Leely2

isabel, do you mean a group tour or just an organized safari arranged by a single tour op, all transfers, bookings, etc., handled for you? Because that is very common and how I have done most of my trips, except the last couple where I arranged things using a few different companies for different activities/areas/countries.

What time of year are you thinking of going and do you have a budget that you want to stick to?

amyb

Hi Isabel and burry,

I don't think you need (or want) an organized tour at all. I've traveled solo to Africa 3 times now, about to do the fourth. You can contact a safari planner who will book you into camps. Once at the camps, it's very collegial and you eat in a group setting with other guests. You also may be put with another couple of guests for your game rides (but on some occasions I have not been with other guests). The benefit to not doing an organized tour is that you're not traveling en masse and having to conform to others' interests or desires. You could say to a camp manager when you arrive "I want to see all cats and no birds" and that's what the game drives will be. I do this on every trip. I'm not at all interested in birds or reptiles, so I say that. I want nothing but cats and elephants and that's what I get and if I'm sharing a vehicle with other people, they don't put me with people who want to see birds! If you're with a group of any size, you're going to suffer from having to have everyone's needs met.

I agree that you want either Kenya or Tanzania, especially for your interest with cats. The Maasai Mara area is an ecosystem that spans the Kenyan-Tanzanian border and is known as being one of the best places (if not the best place) in the world for lions, leopards and cheetah. I've been there 3 times, about to go back for my 4th and cannot say enough about the sightings there. You could split your time there with some place like Amboseli (for massive herds of elephants) or Ol Pejeta (for rhino) and have a very nice first safari.

If you were to arrive at a sighting that might take some time to pan out, like a hunt or perhaps a giraffe giving birth, if most of the group wants to leave and you want to stay, the group dynamic wins out. If you're solo or even with another couple people in your vehicle, you can sit there as long as you want. I cannot imagine it any other way.

I'd recommend reaching out to Access2Tanzania or my most recent safari planner Bill Given at Wild Source or Gamewatchers and let them know you're new to this and what your budget is, how many days you have and what you want to see. All three can put together safaris in either Kenya or Tanzania (my preference is Kenya, but others feel differently). I've traveled with all three safari planners and can vouch for their talents in putting together a well-planned safari. This way you'll end up with a very custom experience but you'll have other folks in camp to eat with and socialize with when not on game drives. The camps they put you in will be tents, but outfitted like an en suite bedroom at home. Real beds with mattresses, a desk and chairs, a bath with shower. I don't think you'll feel like you're roughing it at all! There is nothing like hearing lions roar all night long!

The reason I give Kenya the edge is that if you stay in some privately held conservancies around the Mara National Reserve, you have the ability to go off-road and get closer to the action/sightings. Staying in the Reserve proper in either Kenya or Tanzania (where it is known as the Serengeti) means you must stay on-road and no matter how far away the action is, you can't get closer. There are conservancies all over Kenya, so keep that in mind when booking. Only those staying in camps in the conservancies can go into the conservancies, but you can day trip into the Reserve itself if you want to. But to be honest, the last two trips I've not gone into the Reserve at all since the conservancies have been very generous with some exhilarating sightings!

Feel free to reach out to me privately with any questions, I'm happy to help.

isabel

Thanks for the responses.

amy - can you explain to me - when you are doing as you suggest, how do you get to the camps from where your first flight lands - and how do you get between the camps? I think what you are suggesting is to book into camps and once there they take you out on guided day tours - is that right? I certainly agree with you that I'd rather go out to see lions and giraffes rather than birds and reptiles so that part sounds great. But it's being in the arrival cities and getting to and between the camps on my own that worries me. As I said, I've traveled all over Europe on my own, but there you just hop a train or bus with frequent, scheduled departures. Obviously you can't do that in Africa.

leely - maybe I'm being dense here but what is the difference between a "tour" and an "organized safari arranged by a single tour op, all transfers, bookings, etc., handled for you"? Does a tour mean you are with the same group of people from start to finish and an organized safari means you go to different camps on your own but they arrange the accommodations? And how do the transfers work?

amyb

Isabel, a safari planner will handle the transfers for you. On 3 of my safaris, transfers were done by light aircraft between camps and included in the camp price. Your guide meets you at the airstrip and you start on game drives as soon as you get off the plane. On my first safari in Tanzania, we did the entire safari by vehicle, driving between camps and then flying from the end point back to where we started in Arusha. If you land in Nairobi at the start, you'll be met there and transferred to a hotel in Nairobi for an overnight if you land late in the day like most of us do, and then they'll pick you up in the morning and get you to the light aircraft that takes you to your safari locations. I think your point is well taken, that you'd be able to handle the transport between locations and sights well on your own elsewhere in the world, but a similar infrastructure exists in Kenya, you'd just want the safari planner to make those arrangements for you. I would not compromise and take a group tour just for that reason however. In short, you just need to get on the plane from your home to Nairobi. From Nairobi onward, someone will get you where you need to go if you book through a safari planner who can handle all that for you. If you're at all like me, you'll find it somewhat disappointing once you've booked the safari, because there's nothing left to plan since it's all handled for you. No museums, shows, restaurants to plan, no logistics like transportation or sightseeing to research. It's all just waiting to go. It is, however, far better than any trip I've ever taken in Europe once I get there. My once in a lifetime bucket list trip to Africa is about to become #5!

I won't speak for leely but the way I view a "tour" is when you're with a larger group of people all traveling the same route together, staying in the same places at the same time, much like Tauck tours are. Traveling with a custom itinerary through a safari planner is just you with the freedom to do what you want when you arrive at the camps. You're not tied to early or late wake up calls of a group or catering to the group's whims. A safari planner isn't selling one set itinerary to you that she's selling to 25 other people on the same dates. It's all about you.

amyb

I beg to differ with Jeffry. I've done 10+ day safaris in Kenya and wasn't with the same driver the whole time. Flying between camps, I was met by a camp representative on arrival.

Leely2

Yes, I meant "group tour" as opposed to what I guess amounts to a sort of private tour. It is very, very (embarassingly) easy as a tourist in African safari countries to have all your transfers booked, flights, pick-ups and drop-offs in Nairobi/Arusha, etc. So I wouldn't worry about that if I were you.

Marktendolee

Hello Isabele and Burry
I have been in Africa for more than five times, My experience in Africa is great and i have a couple of operators i have used in different countries. Briefly i can say that Africa is reach of beauty both culture and wildlife. I encourage you that visit a combination of two or three countries if you want to achieve your target for example Migration in Kenya will make you see the wonderful behavior of the animals like Lions, Leopards, and other cats hunting for the prey as the other animals move and cross the river to look for green grass.
For the primates the Gorillas, Chimpanzees and other species of Monkeys Uganda will make you feel the pleasure and ejoying fresh water boat cruise to the bottom of the mighty wonderful Murchison falls is great expereince.

Hence in my own experience i did seven days Kenya visting Lake Nakuru, Lake Naivasha and Masai Mara. In Tanzania we visted Serengeti, Ngorogoro and in Uganda we visited Bwindi, Queen Elizabeth , Kibale Forest and Murchison falls.

All the above i booked with local agency in Uganda and he did everything foe us sent us itinerary and booked all the lodges arranged all the pick ups and transfers from one air port to another and it was wonderful, we saved much more as compared to using an agent from European which adds his or her commission on the price. For help i suggest contact Ababa Safaris - Tours and Travel Agency Mr Robert he will give you all the necessary information and the price, the suitable time to vist all these countries and all your expectations in the trip before you go.

beatiejames

Gorilla trekking combined with the masai mara migration would be the perfect African Safari.

Leely2

I did that exact trip and it was indeed perfect.

burry

Thank you so much for your help. By tour, what I meant was a group of people usually organized with a tour group like Tauck or another. After reading your comments I do not think that is the way to go. I am interested in the Gorilla trekking and will look into it. Beatiejames and Leely2, do you have a specific groups you recommend to do that? Thanks!

Leely2

burry (isabel?), my info is too out of date; on my most recent trips (5 years ago!), I booked direct with the camps and I think for a newbie that might be kind of a hassle. If you search, you should be able to find lots of older threads with recommendations for operators that book multi-country trips. Also, it is somewhat of a specialized forum, but safaritalk.net is really good for research even if you never post a question. In Kenya I've used Kicheche camps and been very satisfied. I like green season for lower costs and fewer visitors, but many people feel otherwise.

Safari_Craig

Hi Isabel and Burry,



The entire upscale photographic safari industry (roughly $600 per person per night or more) is designed to cater to the needs of the individual traveler. The vast majority of the areas mentioned above are accessed by scheduled small planes. A scheduled small plane is sold just like a larger United or Delta plane in that you purchase a seat but, perhaps the plane only has 4-12 seats! The planes fly on schedules every day of the year with more flights added during the peak seasons. In some cases, mostly South Africa and Zambia, the wildlife areas can be accessed by commercial flights (large planes) where you can buy tickets on the internet or through an agent.



For example:

Kruger National Park private game reserves in South Africa: There are multiple daily flights from the Johannesburg international airport to the various dirt or tarred air-strips at the private game reserves adjacent to the Kruger National Park. FEDAIR is one example. You can also fly South African Airways or South African Airlink to various Kruger area commercial airports like Skukuza/SZK, Nelspruit/MQP or Hoedspruit/HDS. When you land at the airport or air-strip a driver/guide from the lodge you are going to visit meets you. Your tour operator or agent will book all this for you.

For the Masai Mara in Kenya, most guests fly to the safari from Nairobi on Safari Link or Air Kenya. These planes are often 12 seat Cessna Caravans or larger. There are many flights a day during the peak season from Nairobi Wilson airport to over 10 dirt air-strips in the Masai Mara National Reserve or the private conservancies adjacent to it.



One strategy I employ in booking my clients is to have the lodge receiving my clients book the incoming flights. That way, the lodge is responsible for getting them to the property and can’t disavow the guest if they no-show because the flight fails to perform. The airlines and the lodge management and our transfer partners in the cities are very helpful in the RARE case of flight delays and they stay with our guests at the departing airport/air-strip until the plan departs. In places like Botswana and Zimbabwe, the lodge often is owned by the same people that own the airlines or a lodge or group of lodges will have an exclusive arrangement with one airline. In that case, I would purchase a package from the lodge chain and sell it to my client. Marktendolee is not accurate in saying that agents add their commission on top of a safari price. That may be true for a budget safari but for an upscale safari the agents are remunerated on a net/rack basis which is sort of like commission. We collect money from our guests and pay the lodges a price lower than their website price (a.k.a. “published rate” or “rack rate”). Many lodges do not work directly with clients so you have to use an agent for many types of upscale safaris. Wilderness Safaris owns their own airline in Botswana and Namibia and Zimbabwe (they also do not take direct bookings). &Beyond and Great Plains contract with an airline called Mack Air in Botswana and African Bushcamps uses Safari Logistics in Zimbabwe.



The website price of most upscale safari lodges ASSUMES you show up with just one travel companion and share a room/tent with that person. The price almost always assumes you share a land rover/land cruiser with a maximum of six total guest and often just four. Some places like the Serian lodges in Kenya and Tanzania include a private vehicle at no additional cost for all guests. Most all lodges also can guarantee a private safari vehicle at an additional cost if you book far enough in advance.



Here are six basic accounting line-items behind the scenes for a typical safari on the first two days in Kenya:

Day 1.

1. Client arrives in Nairobi and is met behind security when possible (Trade Winds or similar). The meeting service behind security is dropped (not booked) for cost conscious customers. In Johannesburg and Kilimanjaro, these “fast track” services can save you 1-2 hours of waiting in immigration lines.

2. Client is met by a third-party transfer company (a trusted partner different in each major city) and transferred to a local hotel. Sometimes, the hotel does the transfer as places like Giraffe Manor and Emakoko include it in the nightly rate. The driver arrives at the airport well before you land taking into account traffic etc.

3. Local hotel.

Day 2

4. Client is transferred by the hotel or third-party transfer company to the Wilson airport. The driver/guide stays with client until the plane takes off.

5. Flight to the safari lodge.

6. Safari lodge guide meets you at the dirt air-strip (they know what flight you are on). The price at almost all upscale lodges is all-inclusive. This means the price includes the air-strip transfer, the room and all safari activities like land rover game drives, walks, etc. If you are with a group tour, the tour guide or escort serves no purpose in the animal viewing experience. You are basically supplementing their safari!



Feel free to ask any more questions.



Craig Beal

isabel

Thanks for that detailed information. It is rather overwhelming when you are just used to traveling independently in Europe and the US. But you are helping to make things clearer. I'll keep doing more research.

amyb

Isabel, take a look at Wild Source, Gamewatchers, Africa Travel Resource. I booked my next safari with Bill at Wild Source and his attention to detail and customer service was far beyond the previous Kenya trips I booked. As I said above all three are excellent safari planners and can handle multiple countries for you in Africa. For just Tanzania, I highly recommend Access2Tanzania, Karen there is as good at what she can pull off in TZ as Bill is in the rest of Africa. Karen also owns Treks2Rwanda (which I have also booked with with great success) if you are interested in gorilla trekking she could combine TZ and Rwanda for you. The reason I point you in the direction of those three is that they've been the best in my opinion at working within a budget (both time available on the ground and financially). They all also have access to many different types of camps all over eastern Africa.

What you need to decide before you contact a safari planner:
1) Your budget (excluding international flights) -- know that this is all inclusive usually, but for the tips. I take very little spending money with me as it's just tipping local staff. Sticker shock usually hits until you realize this is ALL meals, ALL entertainment, ALL room and board for the entire trip.
2) Days on the ground available and time of year (excluding travel time to Africa) -- migrations, rainy seasons, high seasons, all factor into overall costs and when it's best to go
3) Your interests -- Big cats? Elephants? Reptiles? Birds? Beach time? Village visits? Some areas are better than others for wildlife.
4) Lodging types -- do you need soaker tubs and swimming pools? Do you want to stay in tents in the bush (with beds and full bathrooms)? Do you need electricity/wifi/ solid walls?
Once you figure out those above, solicit some quotes from 2-3 planners and come up with some itineraries to compare. Run it by us here if you're unsure how solid the logistics are. I wouldn't stay anywhere less than 2 nights, as packing up and moving usually eats up more than 1/2 a day (and that's lost game drive time in my eyes).

Just an FYI but Kenya Airways is starting direct service from New York (JFK) in late October of this year. The flight would arrive early morning Nairobi time, eliminating the need for a hotel on landing that first night (usually flights from the US go through Europe first and arrive just in time for bed). That might be a consideration, although the flight is 14+ hours, it does eliminate any layover in Europe. The biggest factor for this flight for me is the early a.m. arrival time, the shorter overall transit time and the price, which is half what it costs to go through Europe.

burry

This is all great information. Can you tell me when the green season is? Can you explain more about being met behind security in Kenya -- or other countries? Thanks!

amyb

Craig can speak to that better than I can, but having been through the international airports in Kigali, Nairobi and Kilimanjaro, I don’t see the need. It’s all clearly posted where to go, in English. If you can get around any major European airport on your own, you’ll be fine. Other than expediting getting through immigration (which can be beastly due to long lines only, not any difficulty in communicating), it’s a really not necessary.

luciazuraida

I would suggest an organized tour to have everything well put for you from arrival to departure. There can be budget travel or joint tours if you want. Passionate Tours and Travel are quite reliable

luciazuraida

Low season : March-May(rainy season too) , Oct-Dec
High season: Jan-Early March
Peak season: June-Sept (because of the wildbeeste migration)