Safari- best time of year and what did it cost you?

[Shadowboy]

I’m turning 40 and my bucket list holiday is a safari (on horseback so less invasive)
we’ve been quoted £14,000 approx for 1 week next August.

I’ve been told it’s cooler so more pleasant but that it will be drier and look yellow (the colours don’t bother me- but I would like to be able to see some animals.

for 7 days /family of 4 is this about right?
is August a good time of year to visit?
the quote was for South Africa.

Blimy that's expensive! I was hoping to go in the next few years but had imagined about £10,000. Is a dream of mine!

September is better. Have done it twice on a self drive basis. That was Kruger. Was about 15 years ago that we last went but I’d be amazed if it was anything like £5k.

Hmmm I wonder if I should try getting more quotes as it sounds like the company is expensive!

it may be the horseback side perhaps that’s making it cost more too.

thanks both!

Bloody hell that’s a lot. I booked direct, and the camp helped to arrange a transfer from the airport. Aside from flight and transfer we paid about £150 a night for three of us. Which included all meals and 2 game drives a day. Granted this was a few years ago but £14k sounds bananas.

We did South Africa in July or August in 2012. We chose then to make it less hot. Had a fab time, 8 days safari plus 2 nights either end in a resort. Booked with 'go to Africa'.

How does doing it on horseback work? On our evening drives we got back after dark.

We went to Pilansberg and Madikwe, flying to Johannesburg.

This is just from a quick random search. Flights and transfer on top obviously https://www.kambaku.com/en/rooms-adventures/specials/wild-weeks/

Are your family all experienced riders? Some horseback safaris are quite intensive, I’ve not done one but friends have, and it included quite long days in the saddle and some fast gallops!
Ive safaried in S Africa (private reserves such as Shamwari), Kenya (still probably your cheapest option), Botswana and Zimbabwe. All good in their own way, all have pros and cons.

September is the best time. Try Newmarket Holidays their safaris are reasonably priced, but you’ll be looking around 3k per person as a minimum and it won’t be horseback.

That sounds roughly right. We went when the rand was very low about 7 years ago and it was £8k then plus our dc were little so cheaper.

there are safaris and then there are safaris. You can do it as an add on to a beach holiday in kenya fairly cheaply (although Kenya is no longer advisable as a beach holiday destination). You can then do a luxury camp in South Africa which is a completely different experience and pretty pricey for the nice camps. We’ve done both (four times). Both great experiences from the perspective of seeing wildlife but no comparison in terms of a luxury trip (food, accommodation etc)

Yes we all have horses at home. Dad is rusty but yes. We’ve done riding holidays before but never on Safari which is a dream of mine!

You are sure to see animals, but do they really take horses close to big cats? Is that actually enjoyable for the horses?

Ok that’s good then, the riding part won’t be a problem. What my friends said is that their riding safari was very much a “riding experience in the bush” much less emphasis on seeing the animals. They did see giraffe, zebra etc. but nothing up too close. Whereas on the safaris that I have done, we saw everything up close including Big 5, baby cheetahs, leopards with their kill, baby rhino, sailed down the Chobe river, boated past hippos etc. We could also stay and watch and photograph as much as we wanted to, I can’t see your horse standing patiently whilst you waited for a leopard to show itself in a tree. So if you want the full animal experience, I don’t think you’ll get that on horseback.
Could you compromise and stay in more than one place, so do a couple days riding then move on to a driven safari, best of both worlds? If you haven’t safari’d before, it would be a shame to miss out on so much more than just the riding.

We did September in Tanzania and it was glorious. Quite a few years ago so quite probably not relevant but we used Expert Africa and they were very good.

*quote

August in South Africa is perfect timing - you see so much. Ant's Hill is good for horseback safari, but you will see more animals if you also go to the Kruger. And Beyond camps are incredible.
Spend as much as you can afford, and then some... it's worth it.

We went 8 years ago for, I think, £12,000 for 2 adults (no kids), so the OP's quotation sounds a bit on the cheap side. I'm not sure it's ideal if you have young children.... you get up at 4 or 5am for the first drive of the day, so I don't think it's really a family holiday if they're unde4 about 11 or 12.

In the past, I’ve spent over 10 years living in Africa and was a keen rider. Riding in the bush is fantastic but won’t be cheap and it’s also not really the way to see lions, leopards and cheetahs - understandably horses don’t like them! You might get an exhilarating gallop out of it though.
I’ve seen elephants, buffalo and antelopes on horseback and it’s amazing- the smell of the horses disguised the human smell and you can get closer.
You can do a normal vehicle safari and tack on a day or half day riding experience- that would be cheaper.

It is Ants hill that the quote is for. I’ve been told we can ‘swap’ some of our safaris out to other reserves to see more of the big 5 which sounds ideal.
£14,000 is pretty much a touch over budget for one week of holiday but it is something I’ve been keen to do for as long as I can remember

Ours were nearly 8 and just 13 when we went. We thought that they might not want the early mornings after a bit, but they did all 8 days both morning and evening. It probably helped that DD2 was/is animal mad.

There was a 6yo with another family in our land rover for a couple of days, who was bored stiff and thus not well behaved, and then a teen who got a bit freaked out near a buffalo, just when we all needed to be calm.

Wondering how on horseback you change layers of clothing. We used to start with 1 layer and end with about 9, or vice versa.