Would you go to Kenya/South Africa alone?

[OvOp]

DH works away A LOT. He's ruled out any long holiday this year because of work commitments.

I've had a particularly trying year with illness and a death in the family. This summer I'll finally finish my university studies (postgraduate mature student) so want to celebrate by treating myself to the trip of a lifetime.

I'm animal mad, have volunteered for many years with various animal charities and often holiday alone with seeing wildlife as my primary goal. So, I'm thinking my treat will be a safari!

I'm currently deciding between:

• 10 days in Kenya, seeing the Masai Mara, Amboseli, DS elephant orphanage and giraffe centre

Or

• 2 days Cape Town, Garden Route tour (7 days), which includes penguins, whale watching and Addo elephant park, then one week at Kruger.

Both trips are a similar price. I'd be joining group tours for both. SA offers more variety of wildlife but Kenya provides a far larger concentration of animals in far smaller reserves. It's also more of an authentic safari experience.

Whichever trip I don't do, I'll likely do it another year with DH (although god knows when that'll be).

So would you do either alone?

If so, which one would you prefer?

I've been keeping an eye on the news and trip advisor forums for updates on the water shortage. I really don't mind abiding by the rules and reducing water usage but would be worried about it getting significantly worse after day zero. I'll be holidaying in September so who knows what the situation will be like then.

Thanks so much for all of the advice and reassurances. I'm no closer to making a decision though you've just made me want to do both even more - and now I want to do Namibia too. You have made me feel less anxious though, I need to remember it's a group tour so very different from travelling solo.

SA is probably the better of the two to do with DH as we could self-drive and really soak up the wildlife (I don't drive). But the thing that I keep coming back to is that SA allows for nearly double the amount of time away for the same cost as Kenya.

I know this is most definitely a first world problem btw so apologies if it's comes across any other way.

Ive been to both solo - and another eleven African countries as a 27 year old backpacker. Not even a group tour. Both are absolutely fine. I’d recommend Kenya though just for the animals.

To echo bradley I would avoid SA purely because there's a water crisis. Not just because it'd be putting more pressure on resources but because people are more prone to violence/unrest when basic supplies are threatened.

If your planning another trip with your dh I'd hold off and see what the situation was like at that time.

I travel solo in both most years - and on an organised tour, you'll be perfectly safe: so pick whichever itinerary appeals to you most, and have a brilliant trip!

I think there are better parks in SA than the Kruger, but maybe better on a tour as we always drove ourselves. I loved in SA and would do what you're suggesting, esp on a tour.

I'd recommend Kenya this time as a safari would be ideal for a guided tour. I went backpacking in Kenya (and other neighbouring countries) with DP many years ago and it was great. A tour would be a good way of getting to meet other people and be good for your confidence.

Then go to SA with your DH another year. We went when our dd was a toddler. We hired a car and combined SA (Garden Route, Cape Town, Addo) with Namibia (Sossusvlei - amazing sand dunes in the desert). Didn't go to Kruger because it's malarial and dd was so young, but would like to go back there one day.

How about Botswana? It has amazing wildlife and if you go to Chobe you can also visit Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe as the borders of all 4 countries intersect there. There are some lovely places to stay and you could also visit the okovango delta, which is the biggest inland delta in the world and has huge numbers of game. It's a lot more 'natural' as a safari experience than kruger and Botswana is generally safer than SA.

The Garden Route is fabulous but in September, I'd imagine it could be pretty soggy and chilly. Much more fun in their summer time. Namibia was amazing for the vastness of scenery and lack of people. We went in Sept and the temperature was great. I haven't been to Kenya, but suspect you'd see more wildlife there than in Namibia.

I have been to Tanzania with Explorer. I think they go to both countries you mention. As long as you stay in the group, they are very well organised, you should be fine. Never wander off by yourself, even during the day. It is not the U.K.

I am recently back from a family holiday in Kenya. I would happily go back alone. It's a wonderful country and we felt really safe. The Masai Mara is amazing!

Have you considered Botswana? My PiL live in SA & we did a trip to Chobe a couple of years ago & I loved it. I felt very safe, we happily walked around at night & saw so much wildlife. We did it self drive but there are lots of organised tours. We also did a day trip to Zimbabwe to see Victoria falls which was amazing.

SA is a beautiful country with lots of amazing things to see but it's not a particularly safe country. It's not somewhere you can truly let your hair down & relax although the garden route is better than most places. With the current water issues & political instability id probably steer clear this year & consider it again when DH can go with you & you can hire a car & experience lots of different places.

Wherever you do go you need to consider the weather when you go as certain times of year are much better to see wildlife than others. September/ October are good before the rains come as all the animals are around the watering holes.

We went to Kenya last summer and I'd highly recommend. Not been to SA but my husband has and said he felt a lot less safe there. Kenya is fine for a solo traveler. The people are lovely and the animals are just amazing. Enjoy!

Not been to SA, but I found Kenya pretty safe. I would imagine you might get a bit of sexism travelling as a single woman, and there will be areas to avoid at night; but that's true of the UK too. I can't imagine any risks if you are doing an organised tour and sticking to tourist spots.

Avoid the north of the country towards the Somalia/Ethiopia borders. Visit the Gede ruins if you get chance.

I’ve name changed for this as it might give away who I am...

I did an organised overlanding tour from Nairobi to Cape Town going through Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa. It was the best experience of my life and I would completely recommend any of the countries to visit. We had a mix of couples, individuals and friends etc on our trip but we very quickly bonded as a group.

The scariest bit is flying in alone but if you get a taxi straight from the airport to the hotel where the trip starts, then the scary bit is over. I’d suggest going with a company that has slightly larger groups (we had about 20ish which felt right) so you don’t run the risk of ending up on a trip with just two other couples for company etc.

My personal favourite places were the Okavango delta in Botswana and everywhere we visited in Namibia - because of the absolute remoteness and stunning landscape. You would have a trip of a lifetime going to Kenya or South Africa and if it’s animals you are most interested in then these are the best two - safari in Kenya/Tanzania was amazing.

So in answer to your questions, yes absolutely you can go alone. I’d pick Kenya if you want to see animals plus experience a very different culture or South Africa if you want to see animals in a place that feels more familiar, want to see vineyards etc, and I loved Cape Town.

I have travelled around Kenya extensively alone, and never felt at risk. It's the most beautiful country and I found the people incredibly friendly.

Have a fantastic time wherever you go.

Thanks so much everyone. I think I agree that SA isn't the best choice for this year. If I wait to do it with DH then we can do all of it self-drive, like PP have, and miss out the bits tours include that I'm not all that interested in.

Kenya it is!

Thank you all, you've been such a great help.

Serendib, Hefzi, and anyone else of course, can you recommend a tour group (if you can remember them)?

I'll check out Explorer. It'd be great to bring the cost down a little in order to extend my stay. The tours I've found so far are really expensive so I'm keen to do some comparisons with recommended tour operators.

Thanks again.

SA no - because I have no interest in going.
Kenya if I was going to see animals then yes
But other than seing the animals I’d have no reason.
All places are dangerous because everywhere has bad people
Just take usual precautions.

I’ve travelled around Asia alone and all was fine. Go for it

I forgot to say, thank you for the Botswana suggestions. I'd love to visit Chobe and the Okavango delta but may save that for the third visit I'm really keen on having the authentic, savannah & plains style safari experience on this trip.

Maybe first visit could be savannah safari in Kenya, second - bushy safari in Kruger and third - wet safari in Botswana!

I regularly go to Kenya alone abd woikd also go to South Africa.

In fact Op, I’m going again very soon and a part of my trip will be Nairobi to Mombassa by rail.

Yes. No problem. And did when I was 22, along with thousands of other single travellers.

I went with dragoman and would definitely recommend them. I think intrepid are very similar too and they possibly run joint trips in some places. Their trips involve lots of camping and cooking/sitting round the campfire in the evening which was a highlight for me. They are in the middle budget wise - obviously cheaper than the luxury/hotel based trips but probably (and justifiablly) at the top end of the overlanding type trips.

Cape Town has a drought. Not South Africa. It's a big country

In Namibia Etosha is brilliant, OP, and the wildlife great there. Sossusvlei with it's amazing sand dunes and there is a whole town that is a ghost town under the dunes. Can't remember it's name! Namibia's main drawback is that it is Atlantic coast not Indian Ocean so there's nowhere like Mombasa. I used to live in Kenya and whilst you'd be fine as part of a tour don't go off track.

Explore are really good, imo, OP - but I've also heard good things about intrepid, G and Dragoman: and Oasis Overland if you're on a tight budget. I'd just pick the one with the itinerary that appeals to you the most!