Safari trip - where do I start!?

[VacationQueen]

We want to book a safari trip for 2027. Where do I start? So far, every website I click on takes me to a form to be completed with our details. This, and not recognising the websites has me worried! Some of the websites don’t even have details of where we would be staying.

We have been told to book Botswana and Mozambique, some have made comment about Zanzibar and it not being the nicest place and another family member mentioned going to the Seychelles and opting for an East African safari. It’s all added to the confusion. We’ve been told to budget £30-50k, does that sound about right? (2 adults)

I would massively recommend Home to Africa, they put together an amazing safari for us in Uganda, we got to go chimp and gorilla trekking as well as more traditional safari drives, it was absolutely amazing. They sorted all the accommodation, safaris, permits, everything, we just had to book our flights. It was about £11,000 all in excluding the flights for family of 4 so very reasonable considering all the amazing stuff we got to do.

Have a look at https://gondwanagr.co.za/ Driveable from Cape Town. We had the most fabulous stay over Xmas a few years ago. You really don’t need to spend £30-50k to have an amazing experience. Make a safari part of a trip, see Cape Town and the Winelands too.

I am certainly going to do more research but you have all been very helpful. It would be nice to go next summer so we have a bit of time to plan. I have friends who lived in South Africa for most of their childhood/ teenage years and they loved home, the stories they have told me put me off going! I think that is feeding into me wanting some sort of organised trip as well, the safety element.

Weather in South Africa, particularly the western cape can be iffy as its winter time during the uk summer months

Watching with interest as I would also like to book a safari.

If you are worried about safety I would go to Botswana. For me, i would do two lodges for 2 or 3 nights each.

https://www.namibia-tracks-and-trails.com/en/

if you decide to go for namibia these people are excellent

eta they will arrange a bespoke itinerary for you including travel and any camp/hotel - not just the lodges on their site

How many days do you want to be looking at animals, OP?

3-4 days is likely to be enough for us (I can’t be sure as we have never been but that seems to be average).

OP I would highly recommend Gane and Marshall. Proper family run business that regularly visit the places they sell and have long standing relationships with the operators in the destinations, and they had lots of different accommodation etc to choose from depending on budget. I was really very impressed with them.

We booked with audleys. Flew business class, stayed in the best safari lodge (was voted best in the world couple of years ago) also went to a few other places round SA, hired a car… total cost was around 13K for 10 days! Deff look at audleys

It’s inclusive of all food and drink and game drives as far as I know, but fair enough (I genuinely don’t know what they’ve paid in the past, but I know it’s being refurbished at the moment so presumably 2027 prices have been hiked up anyway!).

Op can recommend Original Travel. Pricewise similar to Audley, for us about £10k for 2 several years ago in a couple of private reserves in South Africa. If we went again think Botswana would be great although more expensive. SA didn’t seem too safe outside the reserves and crime stats high.

We’re going to be doing a safari next year!
2 adults flying to Johannesburg and then a 3 hour transfer to where we’re staying for 10 nights and it’s costing us less than £8000!
Weve also got a private chauffeur that’s going to be picking us up from our house and driving us 4 hours to the airport and the same when we come home!

Did you organise this yourself or did you book through a travel agent?

We have also used Aardvark safaris twice, once South Africa and one to Botswana. They are great. I just phoned, told them my budget, sort of thing I wanted and they came up with an itinerary. Great organisation and all went like clockwork both times. Thoroughly recommend for a safari novice and sensible prices for very good accommodation and game drives

Try Trailfinders - they have a safari division and can book the flights etc in one package..https://www.trailfinders.com/holiday-styles/safari-and-wildlife

@VacationQueen I have done many safari holidays. I’ve been to most of East Africa and South Africa. So here’s my take.

Cost depends on quality of lodge. Some are luxurious, and you pay a premium. The animals are the same if you go down a notch!

For me, ignore beach resorts. Go for a better safari. I strongly recommend Wildlife Worldwide and Expert Africa. Safaris are their business and they know where to go and when.

South Africa - Sabi Sands (Nottens bush camp is great) and Hluhluwe Imfolozi are fantastic. Try and avoid rewilded farms.

Zambia - amazing. Zambezi lodges or the Luangwa Valley. Some of the best viewing, walking safaris and night drives.

Botswana. Okavango delta and Moremi. Small aircraft flights necessary but some of the best wildlife viewing and variety.

These are my top 3 but Tanzania is also good and Kenya for the wildebeest migration - but very very busy! Stay in the parks - eg Little Governors camp in the Mara is great.

So what animals actually interest you? Lions, leopards, elephants, cheetahs, smaller game, giraffes, wild dogs, rhino hippos, buffalo? You need to think about this because some reserves are strongholds and others are not. If you want something special, ask Wildlife Worldwide! Eg Rhinos are abundant in Kruger. Leopards - Sabi Sands. Wild dogs - Moremi in Botswana. Lions - decreasing numbers but nearly everywhere. So what would you like to see?

We are doing similar thing this summer. We are doing self drive. We have young children so don’t want long days and if they’re struggling we can cut a day short. The major cost is flights in school holidays. To give an idea of park costs visit kws.go.ke.

I have been to Kenya 3 times, Kruger in SA and just came back from Botswana in January this year. You need to look into all options really and decide what suits you. Also remember to factor in weather patterns when you plan to go. The cheaper options sometimes have a lot of tourists, so are you fine with looking at a pride but with 8 other Jeeps or do you want the secluded just you experience. Kenya is good for a first safari with so many national parks, SA has beautiful landscape but we saw less game than Kenya. Botswana has been my favourite to date. If you do go there then I highly recommend the Okavango Delta and Chobe but the whole country is beautiful, you can't go wrong. I have also been to Zanzibar twice and had an incredible experience. You do need a beach break as safari can be tiring, early drives and long drives on uneven terrain. All part of that fun! If you have that sort of budget go to Audley or Kunoi and they will do everything for you. I have heard good things about Trail finders too.

Why don't you go into a travel agency and get them to do it for you? Tell them what you want and they'll come up with options.

Have a look at:
https://www.robinpopesafaris.net/

https://www.craigdoriasafaris.com/

I need to find one online as we only have TUI!

Makgadikgadi pans

Agree with pp - what is it you particularly want to see on safari

for me Botswana was the best because it’s more exclusive ultimately. You come across animals and there won’t be another human in sight.

if you are keen on elephants then hwange in Zimbabwe is the place to go. Or amboseli in Kenya for the big tuskers. For rhino some of the private reserves near Etosha in Namibia have good viewing opportunities

if you can narrow it down then it will make it easier to pick a provider

Zambia is also very exclusive. You can avoid others for days! @VacationQueen You need a specialist safari company that really knows where wildlife is! I highly recommend Wildlife Worldwide. They have knowledge experts and what animals and time of year you go really matters. Avoid TUI! Or indeed any general holiday company. They don’t know habitats, seasonal migration or best locations. You really must talk to specialists.

There are good sighting in Zimbabwe but it’s off the beaten track. it’s not a hot spot though. From the uk, both Zambia and Botswana are 3 flights these days to get to the best parks. However camps in all of these are nearly all smaller and intimate. South Africa normally 2 flights and you can certainly avoid crowds if you choose wisely. Kenya - straight into Nairobi, then a flight or road. Tanzania has hot spots like the NgoroNgoro crater, but once seen, never forgotten! Stunning. Namibia is 2 flights then a drive to Etosha. So think carefully about the time you have, flight costs and what you most want to see.