African Safari Advice please :)

Permanently_confused

Hello everybody!

I've decided that I'd really love to go on African Safari as a well-done to myself once I am close to my goals with money and as it's not too far away (I count 12 - 36 months as not far!) I thought I had better get planning!

I know it won't be like a cheap last minute deal, I am expecting to have to save around £2000.00 per person at LEAST; there will be two of us going. Ideally, I'd like to do from ten days to two weeks maybe - is this long enough/ too long? Also, will places let you put deposit down and pay bit by bit if you're booking so far in advance?

If anyone has any experience of great agencies/ lodges/ safaris/ excursions/ money saving tips I'd love to hear them. Any stories of your experiences would be good too, positive or negative.

Thank you in advance, have a lovely day :T

Incapuppy

Fabulous advice and info to be found over on the Trip Advisor Kenya forums. If you want money saving advice then book your safari with a local operator; you will save a fortune compared to booking it via a package in the UK and there are lots of glowing recommendations for various operators.

Barneysmom

You will love it, I am jealous :cool:

We didn't stay in one place for the whole time, we went to various places including Cape Town, Tsitsikamma (where I could live forever quite happily!) , and Addo elephant park.

I'm not sure what advice to give you really, shop around and find the park with the animals that you want to see.

The flight I can say choose your footwear carefully as it's a long 'un!
On the way out, I was told to wear my hiking shoes to save weight in the case. But my feet and ankles swelled so much I was in pain for a day after.
So on the way back I wore crocs (I know they don't look sexy! - you could wear sandals) and had a brilliant flight.

When buying souvenirs the rule is Haggle Greatly!

jobbingmusician

I had an amazing holiday in Namibia, which involved camping. And I mean camping, not glamping. Tents were provided but you would need a VERY warm sleeping bag WITH HOOD. Great and inexpensive way to do it, though, and you feel MUCH closer to the animals (you normally sleep in a fenced off area, sometimes with waking guards).

Permanently_confused

@Incapuppy I will be checking out the Tripadvisor forum but it's not normally so great for advice on booking with a view to saving money. I'm definitely looking forward to reading people's recommendations and experiences!

@Barneysmom thanks for the footwear advice - can you remember how much you needed to take with you in general and what were the most important things?

@jobbingmuscian I could do camping for two days but I wouldn't want to do any more than that really. Considering the prices for lodges, two days camping looks like it would save me at least £200 so that's great advice!

Would anyone be willing to share how much they paid for any aspect of their holiday or meals whilst there/ trinkets to bring back etc?

Candles_by_Lisa

We have family in South Africa and they took us to the Kruger National Park. We stayed in a lodge for 3 nights and it was fantastic can't remember the prices but can highly recommend the park.

Barneysmom

Moneywise things were about the same as here, except for a jar of Gold Blend which was about a tenner and Cadburys chocolate bars were more too.
But fresh steak was dirt cheap, I wish I could have filled my suitcase with it to bring home.
Some places we had self-catering and other times ate out.

Same with our accomodation, we'd have cheap it sometimes and have posh others.
Always always wherever we stayed was aboslutely spotless.

At the Addo, they did a big pile of my washing and over (by next day) for £6 equivalent which was brilliant as I hate travelling with dirty stuff in my case. It was all ironed too, even my pants

Take a sim-free mobile and buy a local sim card.

Or there are places with wifi you can use if you need to contact anybody in the UK for any reason.
Take plenty of suntan lotion too, and check if you have to have any jabs at your doctor's before you go too.

One of those blow up pillows for the flight is handy, and if you have to stop at Dubai bear in mind the heat will hit you like a rocket.

lisaloo1977

We just did 6 weeks in South Africa including a self drive around Kruger National Park for 9 nights. It was amazing.
Check out sans park for info on the self drive option. You can rent a car and save a fortune. You can also do guided tours out of the camps for a small price, much, much cheaper than doing a lodge.


http://www.sanparks.org/

The bungalows are great and you can change the accommodation right up to when you leave if better becomes available. You can also pay off as you go with a small deposit with the final balance due around 6 weeks before you arrive.

I did a blog of our trip, there is info on our time in the park at the start of it.
http://cooperfamilyfootstepsaroundtheworld.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/not-so-fast-furious.html

If you have any questions I'm happy to help.

sandsy

First decision is probably which area of Africa, eg. East Africa such as Kenya or southern Africa such as South Africa.

Also the time of year can be a key factor in choosing a safari. In aouthern Africa, generally visiting at the end of the dry season when the grass is short and water is only available at major waterholes/rivers gives better animal sightings.

I'm a big fan of South Africa which lends itself easily to independent travel which can keep the cost down as well as letting you organise a completely personalised itinerary. Be aware of the malaria risk in certain areas although this reduces to virtually nil at specific times of year. South Africa also offers opportunities for alternative destinations before or after your safari such as stunning Cape Town of the picturesque Garden Route. At the right time of year, you can also do activities such as whale watching.

I'm a bit biased having lived there for several years. But take a look at the South Africa Tripadvisor forums which are pretty active with many helpful contributors willing to help you plan a trip.

SomethingWitty_2

We deliberately did not book anything in advance to save cash. The type of experience you are looking for, and who'll be with you (kids? how many? anyone with mobility issues?) will affect the type of safari you have- in particular whehter you go for a luxury lodge or a camping style thing. Lodges for example will up the cost massively, and you can have a realy enjoyable luxury camping experience for less than you would think.

We flew to Tanzania (Dar Es Salaam), and on to Arusha, which is something of a Safari capital. You WILL be hassled by plenty of touts in Arusha, ignore them. There is a wide variety of reputable and not so reputable companies to choose from - your lonelyplanet/rough guide is your frined here. They each cater for different budgets and tastes and we shopped around for the best deal. Most of these companies simply re sell their packages on to other operators.

Our party of four was after a budget Safari, which in the end turned out to be anything but! We went with Sunny Safari for three/four days camping safari which worked out (including tips) at something like $300 pp(2 years ago now)? This was inclusive of meals, park entry, guide, and was run fantastically. It was just four of us and a guide and a cook. Our "cook" was something of a master chef and we saw plenty of game. We did three main parks: Ngorogoro, Tarangire, Lake Manyana. The trip had an optional extension to the Serengeti. The camping experience, far from being grotty, was really nice - we were in lovely campsites with all mod cons and massive tents.

It sounds like you have a lot of days free. In ten days we managed to squeeze in a safari and a stay on Zanzibar, so we basically had a tropical beach holiday and a safari in one trip - truly unforgerttable - you may want to consider something similar? No accomodation was booked in advance but it was easy to find and a real adventure.

I wish you the best of luck, my main piece of advice really is do not feel you need to book anything in advance and stay flexible - plenty of companies offer safaris and will book at short notice. Tanzania was also a brilliant place to see all the main stuff - zebra, lions, hippos, a rhino, leopard, monkeys, plenty of elephants and so much more - It is an experience I will never forget!

Permanently_confused

@SomethingWitty thanks so much for your post, I want to go on safari now after reading it! This may sound obvious but I'm assuming the $300 per person did not include flights?

There will be two healthy, fully mobile adults going. No children. Both of us are quite happy sleeping anywhere but if we were doing more than four days I would want a lodge for some of it.