# Have you ever been on a safari?



## optimist (Jun 1, 2009)

If so, which country? what time of year? did you go on a tour or organize it yourself? did you use a timeshare? 

We are trying to plan one for the family (2 kids, 18 and 16) for next summer. Thanks for any suggestions.


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## Mimi39 (Jun 1, 2009)

We went to South Africa and had a timeshare exchange through RCI to Kruger Park Lodge.  From there we took day and night game drives into the park and another game preserve.  We were there is October and the weather is very good.


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## Carolinian (Jun 1, 2009)

I drove my own rental car around in Kruger Game Park in SA, which is fabulous.  Did not do timeshare that trip.


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## ScoopKona (Jun 1, 2009)

optimist said:


> If so, which country? what time of year? did you go on a tour or organize it yourself? did you use a timeshare?
> 
> We are trying to plan one for the family (2 kids, 18 and 16) for next summer. Thanks for any suggestions.



I spent weeks on safari in Kenya.

Organize the trip yourself -- IN THE COUNTRY YOU PLAN TO VISIT. Buying a safari via telephone or website is like buying a timeshare from the developer. You'll be paying for mostly marketing expenses. 

In Kenya, at least, the safaris are basically communism at work -- you buy a safari tour, and you get put on the next available Land Rover heading in your direction, no matter who owns the Land Rover. 

In the Land Rover we were in, people had paid anywhere between $20 per day and $200 per day.  Price seemed to be dictated by how far away people booked, and how far in advance. Even the people who paid megabucks for the "luxury tours" ended up on the same Land Rover.

Unless you're spending the big bucks for the 5-star hotels that dot the game parks in East Africa, plan on a "no frills" camping experience. You'll find that the people in the 5-star hotels are the type of people who want to go on safari wearing Prada.


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## optimist (Jun 1, 2009)

Thanks for the replies. Do you have a sense of how the experience of a safari might be different in SA as opposed to Kenya, which is the first country that pops into my mind when I think of a safari?


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## ScoopKona (Jun 1, 2009)

optimist said:


> Thanks for the replies. Do you have a sense of how the experience of a safari might be different in SA as opposed to Kenya, which is the first country that pops into my mind when I think of a safari?



In SA, you'll see different animals and probably won't catch malaria. (I've had malaria _five times._ ) But there is a lot more crime.

Kenya really surprised me with their uprising last year. It's the last country in Africa I would have expected to get violent. But it's a beautiful place, with wonderful people, wonderful weather, and wonderful things to do. "Wonderful" is the only word to use when describing Kenya.

Just bring plenty of chloroquine for when (not if) you get malaria. You can't take quinine as a prophylactic, either. All that does is delay the symptoms -- you're still infected. The malaria in East Africa is highly quinine resistant. Once you feel the flu-like symptoms, dose with chloroquine as per your doctor's instructions. See a doctor who specializes in infectious diseases before you go.

And make sure you get hepatitis shots. One less thing to worry about.


PS -- There is an II timeshare on the coast of Kenya, south of Mombasa. But why bother? The place to be in Kenya is "in a Land Rover."


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## MULTIZ321 (Jun 1, 2009)

Also consider Botswana - http://www.botswana.co.za/


Richard


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## optimist (Jun 1, 2009)

ScoopLV said:


> In SA, you'll see different animals and probably won't catch malaria. (I've had malaria _five times._ ) But there is a lot more crime."



Thanks for your insight. This seems like a tough choice!   malaria or crime 

What is it like having malaria? does it incapacitate you? ruin your vacation? or do you take the medication and feel better quickly?  
If we are bound to get it, is it really worth it?


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## Mimi39 (Jun 1, 2009)

Regardless in what country you are going to it is very important to start malaria prophlacisis before going.  It isn't a choice between one or the other  malaria or crime.


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## ScoopKona (Jun 1, 2009)

Mimi39 said:


> Regardless in what country you are going to it is very important to start malaria prophlacisis before going.  It isn't a choice between one or the other  malaria or crime.



My doctor told me that taking quinine derivatives as a prophylactic was ineffective in East Africa. You can still catch the highly-resistant strains that live there, and it simply delays the onset of symptoms. The fact that I was in Africa for months was probably another reason. You don't want to take quinine long-term.

Malaria isn't that bad at first. It's kind of like the flu, without the sinus problems. You'll have a bad fever for a few hours, then it will clear up and you'll feel fine for a few hours. This keeps cycling. You eventually dehydrate to death. Seeing as I was in Kenya, my strain was P. vivax. 

There are some strains that are worse than others -- cerebral malaria can kill people quick. Find a doctor who specializes in infectious diseases before you go. 

It's better to not be bitten by mosquitoes in the first place. (You can also get the damnable little paramecia from tainted water. So drink only bottled water.) The mosquitoes that spread the disease only come out at dusk, so before the sun goes down, lather up with the best DEET you can lay your hands on.

Here's more info:

http://www.malariasite.com/malaria/Prophylaxis.htm



Seeing Kenya, however, was _well _worth it. Climbing Kilimanjaro was also fun.


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## x3 skier (Jun 2, 2009)

optimist said:


> Thanks for your insight. This seems like a tough choice!   malaria or crime



Seems to me there are probably a lot more Mosquitoes that Criminals but what do I know?.   

Cheers


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## Dollie (Jun 2, 2009)

*Medical advice for traveling in Africa or other exotic places*

We’ve found the best thing to do is visit a travel clinic once you know your itinerary.  They are experienced with people doing this type of travel.  Ours is at a large teaching hospital.  They will evaluate your current heath (are you up-to-date on all your shots?  Polio, hepatitis, etc); look at where you are going and decide what medical precautions are necessary (yellow fever shots, malaria pills and when you should be taking them, etc).  They can give the necessary shots and prescriptions for the pills.  The hospital usually has a pharmacy where you can get the pills (our local pharmacy doesn’t carry malaria pills).  They also prescribed a broad-spectrum antibiotic (I think that’s what it’s called) just in case we got food poisoning or picked up some other nasty stomach bug.  They supplied flyers that described precautions to take and what over-the-counter medicines we should carry with us.

The first time we used them we had to meet with the doctor to get everything done.  The next time we called, they already had our records, so they were able to set things up over the phone.  We just had to stop in and pick up the pills.  We were up to date on everything else.

Leave enough time to do all this.  The travel clinic can be busy and if you react to any of the shots, you want to be sure the reaction is over before you start to travel.  Plan ahead for the clinic visit.

Our first trip was to Tanzania to follow the great wildebeest and zebra migration on the Serengeti plains; our second trip was to Capetown/Cape of Good Hope in South Africa followed by a tour of Namibia.  Both trips were fantastic and quite different.  They were done with a small tour (no more than 16 people) and two naturalists along with the driver/tour guides.  A good tour guide knows where to look for the animals, how to spot them, and communicates with other tour guides so that everyone knows “where the action is”.  If you do this on your own, I think you might miss a lot.  Our naturalists were experts in birds, animals and culture; they really added to our enjoyment.  You should bring a good digital camera for pictures with lots of memory (our first trip we took over 1200 pictures) and invest in a good pair of binoculars, one pair for every person.  You don’t want to be passing binoculars around.  We found the investment in the binoculars was well worth it; we bring them on every trip anywhere now and always find we use them.

We have been on 4 trips with the same naturalists (Alaska, Bhutan, 2 African trips) and each trip was always worth the extra price, however, they have now retired and will no longer be leading trips or I would recommend them to you.

Enjoy your trip to Africa.  It will be quite an experience.


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## optimist (Jun 2, 2009)

Dollie said:


> Our first trip was to Tanzania to follow the great wildebeest and zebra migration on the Serengeti plains; our second trip was to Capetown/Cape of Good Hope in South Africa followed by a tour of Namibia.  Both trips were fantastic and quite different.  They were done with a small tour (no more than 16 people) and two naturalists along with the driver/tour guides.  A good tour guide knows where to look for the animals, how to spot them, and communicates with other tour guides so that everyone knows “where the action is”.  If you do this on your own, I think you might miss a lot.  Our naturalists were experts in birds, animals and culture; they really added to our enjoyment.  You should bring a good digital camera for pictures with lots of memory (our first trip we took over 1200 pictures) and invest in a good pair of binoculars, one pair for every person.  You don’t want to be passing binoculars around.  We found the investment in the binoculars was well worth it; we bring them on every trip anywhere now and always find we use them.
> 
> We have been on 4 trips with the same naturalists (Alaska, Bhutan, 2 African trips) and each trip was always worth the extra price, however, they have now retired and will no longer be leading trips or I would recommend them to you.
> 
> Enjoy your trip to Africa.  It will be quite an experience.



Thank you Dollie for your suggestions. I think you are right, having a guide will make sense for us as there is a learning curve every time you visit somewhere new, especially where you are so unfamiliar, and it makes sense to take advantage of experienced guides.
Do you remember the company that the naturalists worked with? Maybe that would be a good place for me to start looking. Thanks!


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## Dollie (Jun 2, 2009)

optimist said:


> Do you remember the company that the naturalists worked with?



Sorry I no longer have that information.


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## Werner (Jun 2, 2009)

I am Dollie's travel companion and wanted to second her advice about the travel clinic and conducting your trip through a serious naturalist-based touring organization.   

But I wanted to add a note about timing the trip.  In Tanzania the trip was timed to coincide with the arrival of the herd of 1.5 Million wildebeest and zebra on the Tanzanian Serengeti in Late February.  This same herd migrates between Kenya and Tanzania during the year following the rains.  The last 4 nights of our trip we were in a tented camp in the Serengeti within a half hour 4WD ride of the migrating herd.  At one point we were on a slight rise and, with a bit of WAG type estimating, we computed that there were about 300,000 animals in view at one time.  It was an amazing experience.  And in the middle of this herd our driver guides spotted a pair of young lions sizing up the menu for the evening meal.  We drove to within 30' of the lions, who could care less about us.  

In Namibia the trip was timed to arrive at Etosha National Park at the end of the dry season, in late Oct.  At that time most of the waterholes are dried up and the animals are forced to go to a few year-round waterholes.  Of course the predators know this and also hang around the waterholes.  Our guides knew that the routine was not to drive madly from waterhole to waterhole looking for game but to wait patiently at one waterhole for several hours at let the game come to us.  And they did.  Every 1/2 hour the population and mix would change, springbok, zebras, kudus, oryx, wildebeest, giraffe, and many other groups, all drinking together.  If lions were visible around the waterhole they disrupted the whole process.  But if they were there but not visible it got very exciting.  We were among the few tourist safaris that ever gets to see a lion kill happen and it happened right in front of us.  We were watching  the activity at one waterhole for 40 minutes or so, mostly springbok, but eventually a small group of zebra arrived.  Suddenly two lions, one hidden in grass near the zebras, one hidden in grass almost under our noses the entire time we were there, took down one of the zebras.  It was noisy, ugly, beautiful, and exhilarating, all at the same time.  During the rainy season the animals are dispersed all over the area since water is readily available and I doubt that the experience would be anything like the one we had, even excluding the lion kill.  It started to rain the day we left for home.  

These kinds of experiences are what people go to Africa for.  I'm not sure I would want to spend that kind of money without knowedgeble guides to ensure that you get best chance of having the experience most people dream about all their lives.


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## pranas (Jun 2, 2009)

ScoopLV said:


> In SA, you'll see different animals and probably won't catch malaria. (I've had malaria _five times._ ) But there is a lot more crime.
> 
> Kenya really surprised me with their uprising last year. It's the last country in Africa I would have expected to get violent. But it's a beautiful place, with wonderful people, wonderful weather, and wonderful things to do. "Wonderful" is the only word to use when describing Kenya.
> 
> ...




Scoop, are the doctors still prescribing those huge orange pills once a week pills that you start before your trip.  When we spent time in West Africa my daughter and I took them and did not get maleria.  The medicine was toxic for children so the doctor had to confer with experts at the state level before deciding to give her  a reduced dosage.  Said it was better to take the medication than risk getting maleria  We also had to get  cholera and yellow fever shots.  Those cholera shorts were quite painful.


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## optimist (Jun 2, 2009)

Werner said:


> I am Dollie's travel companion and wanted to second her advice about the travel clinic and conducting your trip through a serious naturalist-based touring organization.
> 
> But I wanted to add a note about timing the trip.  In Tanzania the trip was timed to coincide with the arrival of the herd of 1.5 Million wildebeest and zebra on the Tanzanian Serengeti in Late February.  This same herd migrates between Kenya and Tanzania during the year following the rains.  The last 4 nights of our trip we were in a tented camp in the Serengeti within a half hour 4WD ride of the migrating herd.  At one point we were on a slight rise and, with a bit of WAG type estimating, we computed that there were about 300,000 animals in view at one time.  It was an amazing experience.  And in the middle of this herd our driver guides spotted a pair of young lions sizing up the menu for the evening meal.  We drove to within 30' of the lions, who could care less about us.
> 
> ...




Thank you so much for sharing your experience. It sounds amazing, and I felt like I was there just reading it!  
It sounds like the country is not as important as figuring out the kind of experience you are looking for and the animals you want to see.


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## nonutrix (Jun 2, 2009)

Optimist,

Our family has been on three safari trips since 2001, the most recent trip was in July- August 2008.  We've been to Botswana, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.  Wouldn't recommend Zim now (went there in 2001 before it was really bad).  We always did private trips, since the camps we like to stay in are very small, i.e. only 6-10 guests at a time.  I know a very good company that can put together a private, individualized itinerary for all price ranges.  They are based in Botswana and have been in business for years.  The owner, who we've met and even been on safari with, is a national legend in Botswana.  I'm not selling anything, I just have had a good experience with them.  Send me a pm if you are interested.

I agree with the other poster's suggestion of going to your local travel clinic to discuss medical issues like shots and malarial prophylaxes.  Local American Dr's don't have the experiences to deal with exotic diseases.

BTW, we love Africa!

Good luck!

nonutrix


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## ScoopKona (Jun 2, 2009)

pranas said:


> Scoop, are the doctors still prescribing those huge orange pills once a week pills that you start before your trip.  When we spent time in West Africa my daughter and I took them and did not get maleria.



Different strains for different areas. 

Find a doctor who specializes in infectious diseases. The guy I consulted was an expert in vivax and travelled to East Africa extensively for malaria research. Not only did he give me all the shots and pills I needed, he was right there with advice like, "Here's what you take if your ears start ringing and you have a fever." "This is what hepatitis feels like when the symptoms start manifesting." He even knew some decent cheap hotels. 

There's a doctor like him at every major university medical school and hospital, usually in the research department. You can't get that from a travel clinic.

Pick your area first, then find someone on the internet who researches malaria in that area _for a living._ Not hard at all to find on google. Not only does that doctor have the bleeding-edge information on the disease situation incountry, he or she goes there often. 

Better information than you're going to get here, that's for sure.


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## fnover (Jun 3, 2009)

optimist said:


> Thanks for your insight. This seems like a tough choice!   malaria or crime
> 
> What is it like having malaria? does it incapacitate you? ruin your vacation? or do you take the medication and feel better quickly?
> If we are bound to get it, is it really worth it?



I spent a month on safari in Kenya and did not get malaria nor did anyone I was with. We all took a drug prior to leaving ( I think it was mefloqualine)., it is taken prophylacticly. We were on an A&K tented safari, although it was expensive it was a wonderful trip.


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## travelbug (Jun 3, 2009)

I lived my childhood in West Africa.  I would love to do a safari in East or South Africa as an adult.  What good information everyone has here!  This thread should go in a sticky note.

Don't be afraid of what 'might happen' healthwise.  All you can do is be as prepared as you can be and the travel clinics are a fabulous resource.  And if you get ill, well, it is part of the experience of Africa.

Returning to the U.S. to live my adult life gave me great grief healthwise.  Hard to adapt to the cold and molds and bacterias of America.

Marilyn


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## Werner (Jun 3, 2009)

Optimist;  Here are 3 links to tours that are similar to the itinerary we had in Tanzania.  You would have to talk to any of these companies to find out about seasonal variations in the game viewing but a couple of them talk about getting into the migrating herds from tented camps, either within the basic tour or as extensions.  

Natural Habitat
National Geographic Expeditions
Abercrombie and Kent

We do not know any of these directly.  As we mentioned before, our guides have retired.  A previous poster mentioned A&K.  We know from folks we met on our other tours that National Geo runs good trips.  We are planning to do a Galapagos trip with Natural Habitat next Winter.  

Our Tanzania tour included;

Arusha National Park - small numbers of zebras, cape buffalo, antelope and others, but mainly the stunning Colobus and Blue Monkeys and great scenery, lots of birds.
Tarangire National Park - Elephants, elephants, elephants...  3000 of them, and all covered in red dirt.  If you've been to Hawaii you will recognize the color; lava mud.  Lots of birds
Lake Manyara Park - Olive Baboons and Hippo pools, Flamingos
Ngorongoro Conservation Area - Must see! A huge volcanic crater containing a self-contained ecosystem.  Most of the large grazers such as wildebeest, zebra, cape buffalo, various antelope, even a few rhino, and predators like cheetah and lion, scavengers like hyena and jackal and of course lots of birds.   This is the first place on this tour where you see the African landscape that you remember from all those Wonderful World of Disney and National Geographic Specials that you saw on TV in the 60's and 70's.  Acacia trees, grasslands, and large herds of grazers.  
Olduvai Gorge and the East African Rift Escarpment - Site of the Leakey's pioneering discoveries in human evolution.  Not as dramatic a vista as the Grand Canyon, but like the canyon, it is a place to pause and ponder.  
Serengeti National Park and Serengeti Conservation Area - Everything is here, large non-migrating herds of grazers, all the predators, birds, hippos, rhinos, and, in season, the migrating herds of wildebeest and zebra.  The tented camps are usually in the Conservation Area and are multi-compartment platform tents. (The best food we had on that trip was at the tented camp; cooked on a wood-fired open grill and a cast iron oven placed on wood coals.)
I didn't mention them but giraffes were everywhere.  We took hundreds of pictures of giraffes.  They are so graceful and photogenic we couldn't stop ourselves, it even became a tour joke that we were all addicted to them.  Even on the last day, with hundreds of pics in the camera, we were still taking more pictures of them.  

The Cape Town and Namibia tour was different.  It was spring in Capetown and we toured botanical gardens, saw whales and penguins and, of course, birds.  Namibia was mostly the Namib Desert, the cold water west coast of Africa and inland, Erusha National Park in the dry season.  

My recommendation would be to look into an East African Tour, Tanzania or Kenya, as a first tour to Africa because it will be more like what you expect Africa to be, unless you have a specialized interest like gorillas, or the desert or the rain forest.  There are other tours to all those areas also.


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