walking tours
 

We have been on safari in Kenya 2 times and had the time of our lives. This trip we will forgo the game drives but would like to go on a walking safari for 2 days.
Have you been on one and was it great? Thanks for your suggestions.

Are you doing the walking in Kenya? I have heard Tsavo West is great for walking. If you stay outside the Maasai Mara, you can do walks in that region. I did a little walking at Lewa Downs in Kenya, a beautiful area. Also some great camel riding there. Lewa is a rhino sanctuary with black and white rhinos that are usually easy to see. I did not see them on foot, but saw lots from a vehicle and 3 from the camel.

I have done outstanding walking safaris in Zambia and am headed there for more in several weeks. You can walk in South Luangwa, North Luangwa, and Lower Zambezi. All wonderful. Usually you walk in the morning, then do an afternoon game drive that turns into a night drive. These areas are known for walking the high reputation is deserved from my experience. If you plan on only 2 nights, then N. Luangwa is probably out because it takes extra time and $ to get there and 2 nts is insufficient.

You can also do walking in Zimbabwe. I've gone in Mana Pools and Hwange, also Matoba Hills mainly for rhino tracking. These parks are known for walking and offer an excellent walking experience. The late afternoon game drive to night drive applies here too.

For 2 days you probably would want to stay at a camp and head out each day as opposed to a mobile walking safari where you walk from camp to camp.

One more walking option I've done and can recommend is Phinda in South Africa. You can spend 2 nights at their walking camp and do mostly walks, but hop in the vehicle for night drives. Phinda has 7 distinct habitats so there is plenty of variety in the walking.

At Phinda you can also do morning rhino tracking. I did that for 3 mornings and it was outstanding. I chose to do traditional game drives in the pm, but you could do a walk for general game instead.

Ngala Camp (Timbavati I believe) in SA is a walking camp with good game viewing.


I think you will really enjoy spending some time on foot to complement your past safaris in a vehicle.

I just saw another post of yours and if you are visiting gorillas, then you'll want to walk in Kenya or Tanzania probably.

Gorillas and Mara combine well, especially in Aug/Sept, which is when you were asking about. So I revise my answer to a Mara camp outside the park where walking is allowed instead of all those other possibilities.

Sanparks have some multiday walking trails with armed rangers in real big five country. Supposed to be good. Please search more info at sanparks.com web site.

Thanks for the good tips- I'm checking them out now. Walking sounds right up our alley!

Lynn, our thoughts are a some days in Uganda/Rwanda (gorilla and chimps) and are awaiting email responses from several companies that we've contacted. From there we hope to rent a car in Kenya and also do a walking safari. We don't plan on doing any game drives but wondered if you recommend Uganda and Rwanda for the gorillas & chimps or will just one country do it - what country?

Impacked,

If you went to Uganda, you'd have several chimp opportunities:

Ngamba island in Lake Victoria near Entebbe for viewing rescued chimps in a wild-like setting. These are not wild chimps. You may be able to arrange a walk into the forest with some of the chimps, usually the young ones. Numerous vaccinations medical documentations are needed. The experience is awe inspiring, though. For more info there is a current thread on Ngamba accommodations.

Chambura Gorge in Queen Elizabeth National Park
This is not easy trekking. The odds of seeing chimps are less than Kibale. You can see colobus and other monkeys. It is easy to incorporate a chimp trek with a stay in QE park. I know you can do some walking (not for chimps) with a guide there. I didn't, but others did. Plus the bat cave is there and you walk around there and to a nearby lake. Locals drive there from Entebbe and Kampala so you could probably rent a car and drive to QE.

Kibale
This has a good chimp viewing experience where they have become habituated. I was able to view them for long periods of time, which is typical.

Then in Bwindi, the Impenetrable Forest are the gorillas.

If you went to Rwanda, you can do chimp tracking in Nyungwe. There are walks to see colobus monkeys too--bigger troops than in Chambura Gorge in QE Park. I don't think these Nyungwe chimps are as habituated yet and I've heard the trekking can be very, very hard. I hope to go in Aug 2009, but will probably not try to see chimps, just colobus.

So for chimps, I think Uganda has better opportunities.

On the other hand, for gorillas, I found Rwanda to be slightly preferable because it is easier to see the gorillas in PNV than the Impenetrable Forest of Bwindi, the logistics of getting to PNV are easier than Bwindi, in July the temps were much less humid and cooler in PNV than Bwindi, and I was able to choose the gorilla groups I wanted to visit from day to day in PNV and in Uganda the groups were assigned when the permits were bought--well in advance of the visit.


You'll have to let us know how the car rental in Kenya works. That is not done often.

It's a little longer than two days, but check out this person's report who did a 12 day camp to camp walking safari in or near Tsavo -

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35026958

Lynn and Linda. Thank you for the info and clarifing the 2 different countries. I'm thinking we will go to Uganda,Rwanda and Kenya at this point.


BYW, we did rent a car in Kenya 5 years ago and did have to return one car to get a "slightly" better one but had a terrific time. We'll see how it works this year.

You'll have to tell us about both your walking and driving.

We're hard at work now. Hopefully, we can get it all pulled together by Aug. & will keep you posted.
Thanks, again