charter747

Hello. I live in the states and want to use my never used passport to explore the African continent some time this year. I'm thinking of going the later half of September or the first half of October. I'm a 40 year old black guy and will be travelling alone. Currently, my target spots include Egypt, Tanzania, and South Africa, and maybe Morocco. I'd like to find an inexpensive guide to take me on a safari through the Serengeti(1-2 days). Other than the safari piece, I don't really have a plan or destination. I guess I just want to see the main attractions. I'd probably fly in to Egypt or South Africa(Cape Town?) from Minnesota, then work my way south/north using African air carriers. I'll stay in hostels/hotels as I go.

I'm hoping to keep the entire vacation to around $12,000 US dollars. Google flights is saying $900 for a 1-way ticket from Minneapolis to Egypt in September/October; it's $1100 for a 1-way ticket from Minneapolis to Johannesburg in the same time frame. The return trip from Egypt/Johannesburg will be about $1000 us. Rounding up, looks like round trip air fare from the states to the African continent can be had for $2500. That leaves about $9500 to use for air travel on the African continent, hotels/hostels, tour guides, food, visa fees, park entrances, and other incidentals.

Is 2 weeks enough time see the best of the best of the African continent? Does my budget seem reasonable? Is the September/October time frame a good time to go?

Thanks in advance.

Lst

September is a good time for the Serengeti safari. It's dry season, animals can easily be spotted. For 2 days you can visit around the central area called Seronera it's known to provide game throughout the year and September is a good time. It's around 8 hours of drive from the city of Arusha which is where you will be coming in there's flight that arrives and departs from Seronera or you can visit Tarangire/Ngorongoro on the way.

Gardyloo

Welcome to Fodor's!

Top of my head, I think two weeks is not enough time for such an ambitious itinerary. You might be able to accomplish the flight plan, but the logistics once you're on the ground can become quite daunting. There's an expression you'll soon learn, "TIA," for "this is Africa," that covers a lot of the things that just happen in traveling around. Planes arrive late, ground transportation doesn't meet expectations, things like that. And finding "inexpensive" guides for areas like the big national parks in Kenya and Tanzania can be pretty difficult. You might want to look at flying to Johannesburg and renting a car to visit Kruger National Park, which allows self-driving within the park and offers budget accommodations in well-equipped "rest camps."

I'd probably focus on building a timetable and budget that contains realistic estimates for hotel and transportation costs and timing. I don't think you have as much time to plan as you'd like, and you may find yourself having to reduce the list of destinations. But I may be wrong, and only you can find out if that's the case.

Happy planning!

progol

Welcome to Fodors!

To follow up on what Gardyloo has said, I recommend that you put together a list of just what you want to actually see in each country and then look at it realistically in terms of cost and travel. What is it that you want to experience? There are so many sides to each of these countries, and just saying you’d like to visit them doesn’t begin to tell us what your interests are. What you describe in your initial plan sounds like you will be in transit rather than actually seeing anything. I know the feeling of wanting to see it all, but, trust me, you’ll “see” far less if you try to cover so many places.

I haven’t traveled to South Africa or gone on a safari, but I have been to both Egypt and Morocco (separate trips), each for about 2 1/2 weeks, and barely scratched the surface. My style of travel might not be yours, but in 2 weeks, I’d generally stick to one country or at least try to focus on a trip that flows easily from one to the next.

I would identify the things that are of interest and then prioritize, once you get a better idea of traveling from one place to the next.

The other option would be to find a group tour that fits your interests as closely as possible.

Comicman

With only 12 days you would do your self a real disservice trying to do more then 1 country.
Get the guidebooks for the 3 places you want to see and see what place has more you want to do.
Trying to do more then one of these will insure you see little of the places you go, Remember travel time can be slow.
Personally 12 days for Morocco is a great amount of time allowing you to see a lot of very nice places.
Doing a big game safari can be a life time experience it also can be very expensive.
Good luck.

charter747

I narrowed down to fewer places and narrowed the scope. This seems reasonable yes?

-Go on a gorilla trek in Uganda
Thinking I'll fly into Kampala or wherever the trekking company says I need to be. Will stay wherever is most convenient to the trek jump-off point. Most expensive piece here will be the trekking permit which goes for $700. Total cost for segment: $2,000

-Do a 2-3 day mini safari in the Tanzania/Serengeti
I plan on flying into Seronera, Tanzania, renting a vehicle, camping equipment and finding a guide to travel with me, then heading west towards the Mara River. I read that the animals will be hanging out there due to it being the dry season. I'll camp out for one night then head back towards Seronera the following day. This seems like the best option that saves money and gives me freedom; I’ll be able to chart my own path and avoid all the other tourist traffic—right? This is the piece I’m most uncertain about. Do I need to plan this out or do you think I could just show up there the day of and find a vehicle, guide, and equipment and be on my way. With all the permits, lodging, and fees, this should only be like $3,000 even during the peak season.

-See Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe/Zambia
This seems easy enough. Little logistics. Just find a room and walk to the falls. $1500

-Visit the pyramids of Giza and the Egyptian Museum in Cairo
This is also easy. Find a room and take Uber wherever I want to go. $1500

Round trip flight from US to Egypt: $3000
Flights in Africa from country to country: $3000

I don't plan on spending much time in any given place. I only need to spend at most 2-3 days in each place. I plan on flying out from the states Sept 21/22, taking a day to let my body acclimate to the time zone, then starting the vacation in earnest. I plan on flying back to the states 10/6. Seems like the logistics for the Serengeti and Uganda pieces will be the most difficult. I'm actively emailing/communicating with companies now to set everything up. I'm also working on all the visas.

Order of the trip currently is Serengeti, Uganda, Zimbabwe/Zambia, then Egypt.

Comicman

I am glad you dropped Morocco.
But I still think you are trying to fit to much into your 14 days. This will be mind numbingly exhausting.
Since you have been to Egypt , why not add those days somewhere you are going to be able to enjoy the places you go to.
I always find travel times in Africa to be more on the slow side.
Now saying all this I envy all the places you will see.

msanders5497

Deleted

charter747

Does it change your opinion if I tell you I'll be flying to all the countries and not driving. Precision air, Auric air, Rwanda air, and others all have flights that will get me where I need to go.

I'm getting that alot that my plans are ambitious. I'm traveling alone with a single backpack and satchel bag for what it's worth.

I'm flying into Cairo from Minnesota, then to Dar Salaam, then to Seronera, then back to Seronera, then to Entebbe, hopefully taking a bus to Kampala to see the big monkeys, then off to Victoria falls if time permits. Then finally back to Cairo for the trip home.

It seems simple and doable in my head. Yeah, if time starts to run out, I'll save the falls for the next trip.

amyb

You seem determined to do this, so maybe this won’t help. But try it anyway.

Write the numbers 1-14 down the side of a piece of paper. Presumably those are your actual number of days on the ground, and does not include the days to get to the continent.

Next to each day, write what you expect to do, in hours. For example:

1: Rent jeep/gear, pick up guide. Drive to safari destination. XX Hours
2: Safari all day
3: Safari all day
4: Drive back and return jeep/gear/guide. XX hours. Can you do this in time to get flight to Entebbe? Is there time to also get the bus to Kampala?
5: Travel to Kampala, if you haven’t on day 4. If you have, gorilla trek. (They generally only go out once a day in the early morning, so if you haven’t made it here on day 5, you have to wait for the next day). Are you only trekking one day?
6: Gorilla trekking or return to airport for next destination…can you get to the airport in time to get a flight to the next destination?
Etc etc.

Number of hours for gorilla trekking is imprecise, it depends on how far you have to go to get to them, and how long it takes to get back. It would be difficult to commit to a bus/flight on the same day.

You get the picture. Frame it out. So far on this outline I’ve done two of your destinations, very superficially, and have eaten up 6 days. And that’s assuming you can accomplish some serious logistical hurdles like travel, acquiring vehicle/gear/guide and making buses and flights in the same day, but I echo what someone said above, Africa is like no where else in that what you’re used to being possible usually isn’t there. Good luck with this.

LAX_Esq

Great advice. OP needs to sketch this out exactly, and also look up actual flight schedules/times, to see if it even works. Just generally listing out a route and an approximate number of days is useless.

There's nothing wrong with aggressive / busy travel and it works for some people, but OP needs to make sure it's even feasible.