Booking safari and beach independently

[BoysRule]

We're looking to do an African safari and beach holiday in Mauritius next Summer. I've had quotes from Yellow Zebra and Trailfinders but I'm wondering if I can do it cheaper on my own.

I booked a California fly drive holiday on my own and it went well. But safari all seems to be through companies. Has anyone done this and can offer advice?

We’ve done it ourselves. We used avios for the flights, then booked a lodge and transfer in South Africa (we didn’t fancy driving) and a one way flight with Flysafair from Johannesburg to Mauritius. For the hotels in Mauritius we found you could get better rates through and agent (happy to put you in touch with the agent we used).

It's something I wouldn't stint on. I would (and recently have done) do it through a company. You'll probably have to use a tour company for the safari element in any event as I'm not sure you can even enter the parks without an official guide who are all tied to the tour companies - and they cover all the logistics.

I suppose you could do a self-drive trip without the parks but you'd miss out on so much.

A safari/beach trip is one of those trips where you get what you pay for and ours was worth every penny.

We used Tour Compass and did Tanzania and Zanzibar but they do other combinations of destinations.

Or of course you could go with Wherehas2023gone's post😁

Thank you both. I'm wondering about finding a local safari company and doing the rest on my own.

I suppose it depends what type of safari you are looking for. We’re just planning to stay in a lodge in Manyoni reserve for 4 nights which includes game drives etc. During my research I’ve just realised how vast the safari market is!