Has anyone been to Costa Rica or an African Safari?

[Fiona8121]

Looking at different options for a potentially big holiday next summer. Already looked at the Maldives just not sure our boys would love it enough to justify the price.
The husband has always wanted to do a safari but I know absolutely nothing about them or where to even start. Any recommendations/advice? It would be August and my boys would be 11 & 13.
Similarly Costa Rica? Heard some great things about it?

I’m in the same position. Watching with interest.

How long are you going for? African safari would be less jet lag than Costa Rica, so if you are doing less than 2 weeks I would bare that in mind.

Costa Rica has rainforest and August has a fair amount of rain!

I could do 2.5 weeks. Good point about the rain in Costa Rica!

I’ve done the safari.

Started at Nairobi and then did a big circle to go back to it. Staying in various different hotels on the way and driving through different national parks.

Honestly, it was amazing.

Oh this is pretty much my dilemma for next year, following with interest!

What sort of budget?

I've done both. I had a brilliant time doing both but I'd recommend Costa Rica more (and have been back several times).

You could always combine them and go to Rafiki safari lodge in Costa rice. You won't see the same animals of course but it's really excellent.

We went on safari in South Africa. Combined it with some time in Cape Town and flew up to Victoria Falls in Zambia. We were there for around 3 weeks in total, and it was amazing. Our DC were around 15/16 at the time. We stayed at a lodge alongside Kruger in Sabi Sands. It was our best holiday ever. We spent the last couple of days in Johannesburg, visiting a township, Lillesleaf Farm and the Apartheid Museum - just to make sure our DC remained aware of how lucky they are!

If you are thinking about an African safari, check the country's wet and dry seasons. You want to go when its dry.

I've been twice to Zambia on safari. Recommend Expert Africa or Yellow Zebra Safaris.

Recently discussed at length here:
www.mumsnet.com/talk/holidays/4599405-which-country-in-africa

I’ve done both although neither with DC.

Costa Rica is my favourite country that I’ve been too. The first thing I’d say is you mostly go for the micro-fauna. If you are interested in birds, reptiles, frogs and insects then it’s heaven, although the monkeys, sloths and tapir are quite easy to spot too (and adorable). We didn’t see any big cats, but some people we met did. If you want to be shown big, impressive animals with minimal effort it won’t be the country for you - most tours set off at the crack of dawn or at night time and require lots of patience! It’s accessible when you are there (we drove ourselves from place to place, but organised transfers are plentiful) and the people are genuinely very friendly. The food wasn’t stunning - I’m not sure you go to central or South America for a gastronomic tour though. There are hundreds of little microclimates across Costa Rica, but generally august will be a bit more wet than average. The beaches on both sides are simply phenomenal. The main touristy areas are north, around Arenal volcano/cloud forest and Manual Antonio national park. A trip to the south of the country really is worth it though, if time permits.

We tagged on a safari to a trip to Cape Town a few years ago. It was in a lovely little reserve near Port Elizabeth, called Amakhala. Alongside being small, it party appealed as it was malaria free. The animals were as incredible as you would image. For me, 4 days at the lodge were plenty. You obviously can’t just set off on your own into the reserve so you are quite tied to the lodge and their timings. The food was plentiful and beautifully cooked. It will be cooler in August, but again this will reduce numbers.

Flights to both will be expensive, but I suspect far more expensive to Costa Rica, if you want to go directly.

Hope that helps! Have fun planning!

We did Safari in Aug 2012 with 2 children aged 7 & 13. This was our first big adventure with the DC.
We went to South Africa, as we wanted somewhere politically stable.
We flew into Jo'burg as we wanted a Malaria free area.
We did

• 2 nights Sun City to recover and acclimatise (many people will look in horror at this, but it suited us)


• 4 nights safari Pilansberg


• 4 nights safari Madikwe


• 2 nights Sun City to relax before flying home

We went with go2africa who tailored the holiday to us. It was fab. 8 days was a good solid amount, and my DC went on all morning and evening drives (DD2 animal mad). We had taxi transfers and felt safe throughout. The rangers on the drives were knowledgeable.

Safari on the Mara- Kenya is amazing! However a few days is enough- early mornings etc but beach is fab too.

We stayed in Durban in an Airbnb (nice beaches, felt quite safe) and then had a week or so up the coast in St Lucia and did some day safaris in the Hluhluwe game reserve and the iSimangaluso wetlands reserve with local companies. I wish I'd booked accommodation in the game reserve but it was all full.
Saw LOADS of animals and birds on the safaris. Brilliant!
I would say, look for smaller reserves as you get a better density of animals. And S Africa is definitely better with regard to time difference to the UK.

I'd love to da a walking safari one day.

I would also recommend doing a tour of South Africa for your time and budget.

We did it a few years ago and was the best holiday of my life.

Split as follows, 3/4 days in each of the following:

City - Capetown inc. Robben Island

Wine Region - Stellenbosch and Franschhoek inc. The Long Walk

Safari - take your pick

Beach - The Garden Route or other beach resorts

City - Jo'Burg

You'll get so much more out of your trip this way.

But I'd highly recommend going through a specialist to help you book it it and arrange transfers etc - we used an agent in CPT.

I've done both (before children). 2 weeks in Costa Rica as part of a round the world trip and month in Kenya/Tanzania for our honeymoon.

Costa Rica we went in November as we were hoping to see turtle hatching (but ended up having a 3 day torrential downpour instead). I'd check the likely weather for the time you want to go - other than the downpour we only had a couple of other days with rain and it would be for a few hours in the afternoon. CR is brill for zip lining, white water rafting and horse riding. We did San Jose, Monteverde, Arenal, Torteguero and Puerto Viejo. I would probably only do 2-3 places if going on a short holiday and had jet lag to consider.

African safari we went with the company Intrepid, in August. They were great. They do various different trips of different lengths. I think the shortest safari one was 7 days (this is 8 years ago now though). We did the 23 day East Africa route through Kenya and Tanzania, ending in Zanzibar. We got to do several safaris as part of that - Masai Mara, a walking safari, Serengeti and the crater - but also lots of other experiences and interactions with the locals. Ours was a truck and camping tour (the tents were great!), there was also the option to upgrade to a basic room with ensuite most nights if you wanted to (we did a couple of times). Obviously there's are lots of different places you can do safaris in Africa, so it would depend which country you want to go to. August seemed a good time weather wise though.

Hope that's somewhat helpful...

If you go to South Africa, just be aware that it's winter in August. The days generally aren't too bad, the evenings are colder.
You can fly to Nelspruit, hire a car & then drive yourself around the Kruger Park. Then either fly or drive back up to Johannesburg area where there are more private reserves.

I would definitely be guided by climate, there is not much point going for outdoor activities and nature if it’s going to be tipping it down the whole time.

For safari you have a wide choice of locations with different weather patterns so can probably find somewhere that is good in Jul/August. I seem to recall Kenya and Tanzania are good bets.

For Costa Rica it sounds like winter (Dec-April) is a better bet but summer isn’t too terrible.

I would say 2 weeks safari is too much as it could get a bit samey (and expensive). I would suggest a combination of safari and other things. For example from east Africa you could add on a visit to Zanzibar, diving at Tofo in Mozambique, various beachy islands off shore. No doubt there are loads of other options too. South Africa of course has masses to see. Namibia too.

If you speak to someone like Imagine Africa they could point you towards some ideas/best climate.

Prob circa 12k max if possible

That sounds great hope you don't mind me asking who did you book with?

Was that through a tour operator?

Many years ago I did a 7 day safari in Kenya from Nairobi followed by a week in Mauritius. It was perfect. If you go to Kenya don't miss the balloon ride at sunrise.

Honeymooned in Costa Rica, it was absolutely wonderful. Highly recommended. One of the few places we plan to go back to in retirement.

You can definitely do a great holiday for that but might have to pick carefully for safari destincations.

Are you happy to organise it yourself or do you prefer to have it managed by an agent?

I personally think 2.5 weeks is a bit long for just a safari. As others have mentioned, that is the perfect amount of time to do a few things. I am biased as I am in SA, so you could do a few days of safari, some beach, some touring around. August is the end of winter, its not very hot in the day (average about 20 or so) but the nights are cold. But that is also region dependent, as KZN for example, rarely gets very cold.