Anyone done an african safari? Where did you go? Which travel firm did you go with and would you recommend them? What time of year did you go? Whats the best time of year? How long (in days) is long enough? Any help appreciated. Thanks

Stayed in a private reserve near Kruger for our honeymoon. Daily trips round the reserve or we just drove into Kruger for the day. Amazing experience.

I'd love to do a "real" Safari (i.e. in tents on the Masia Mara or something)

Read Dervla Murphy books.

You'll be inspired enough to go off and do it on your own without the insulating layer of a guiding organisation.

Then you'll have a real adventure not a manufactured experience.

Africa is worth it 🙂

I did three days in the masai mara for my honeymoon in october 08. Loved it, but that was long enough. Can't remember which company I was with, but would do it again. If I were to go back I would go where they film big cats diary, meant to be the best in that area.

It was very luxurious, which was nice, but roughing it would be more exciting.

Thinking about something camping based – love a bit of camping. Any ideas?

For our honeymoon in January, we did a two week truck tour through Intrepid, taking in southern Kenya and northern Tanzania, inc Masai Mara, Lake Victoria, Naivasha, Nakuru, Serengeti and Ngorngoro Crater. Camped most nights, amazing experience. Brilliant value for money compared to a "normal" safari, and the variety made the trip – you do get safari fatigue after a while.

We did the safari thing in 2005 to South Africa & the Kruger National Park – possibly the best holiday we've ever had.

We flew to Jo'burg then a short hop to an airport close to Kruger, followed by a short drive into the Park. We stayed 2 nights in the North, 2 nights in the South & one night in the middle. The accommodation was fantastic considering where we were & the cost of food & drinks was ridiculously cheap as the Rand was 10 to £1. We were in long-wheel based landrovers with raised seating so that you could look over the people in front.

We saw the big 5 & even went on a night safari which was great fun. The game drives are first thing in the morning so getting up at 5am to be ready to leave the lodge at 6am was a struggle but well worth it, then back for a cooked breakfast. The guides we had were first class & we saw so many different animals & birds. There was also a late afternoon drive too which got back just before they shut the lodge gates at 6pm.

We went with Kuoni in late September and we would highly recommend them. The weather was dry & warm not too hot & not too cold. We also did 5 days in Mauritius afterwards to relax & get over the safari. Our one regret …. not having a digital camera at the time. We have lots of pics taken on film to remind us of the time we spent there.

PS If you are a bit sensitive then beware, you will probably bear witness to one animal eating another but hey that's life on Safari

We did 10 days safari in Kenya last August (were advised that late Aug / early Sep is the best time to do Kenya as the migration is underway at that time). We didn't camp but did stay in a few very nice lodges.

We did masai mara, tsavo, amboseli, lake nakuru and lake naivasha. A fair bit of travelling but all very worth while. We saw the big 5, got very very close to Leopard, Cheetah and Rhino, guides were great and staff in lodges all very friendly.

Two drives a day didn't leave much time for chilling out but it was well worth it.

Would highly recommend doing a balloon safari when you;re there, very early morning but well worth it to see the sun rise from your balloon as you float towards champagne breakfast!

We went with Hayes & Jarvis, could highly recommend them.

After the safari we did a week on the beach near Mombassa, sun beer & beach was a great way to relax after the safari.

Botswana – generally it is only high end but it was our honeymoon – we did one of the game reserves near Chobe for three days and two days in the Okavanga Delta in one of the Wilderness Safari camps. The former was very strong on seeing animals, we had a guide and a spotter (important at night because you need someone to shine a torch) on our truck which we only shared with one other couple – no sticking to tracks, we went everywhere. Guides were not fixated on the Big 5, but we saw Lions, Buffalo (a 2000 herd) and countless Elephants. In addition to what you expect, we saw Wild Dog, Hyena, Cheetah killing (we spent about an hour with them) and an Aardvaark which is very rare. I wish I could remember the name of the company, they were very good, no set times for drives – if there was stuff to see we stayed out.

The second camp was a bit more corporate, pretty rigid timings but still was fantastic. Less game, probably time of year (May) but we still saw alot although we only had a driver on our truck for the daily drives> They did throw in an extra late night drive post dinner – this time with a spotter. One of our drives was water based on a canoe.

Worth looking at Wilderness Safari because they can deliver a complete package and you can cut out some of the middle men.

To decipher this post a typical day I think is early morning wake up (day break), morning drive, return 10ish for late breakfast, sleep, lunch, afternoon drive about 4 to 8 or 9, dinner + drinks after if you are up to it which we were not.

I used to run a safari camp (and guide) in Botswana called Oddballs, its still going and is probably one of the best places to go for a good value "real safari" still not cheap but you really do get what you pay for. no being stuffed in to a landrover or mini bus and waiting in a queue to see animals around a salt lick. The safari's are a mix of walking and dug out canoe in what is one of the last true wilderness areas. Seeing lion, elephant etc whilst walking is something you won’t forget in a hurry. I still miss the place like mad! Relativly close to Vic falls etc as well so you can raft the Zambezi, sky dive bungi jump and all the other stuff too if you want.

Let me know if you want more info on what to expect etc.

Thanks for all your help, I have looked at some of the recommendations and they all look good.

Tonyl – is this the oddballs site http://www.oddballscamp.com/ ?

Can you suggest good and bad times of year? We have 2 weeks in November and are considering safari as an option, however we may only go once so if another time of year is better would prob go somewhere else in Nov and do safari another year.

Bit alarmed about the salt lick thing – is this standard practice?

Thats the one! November is Ok but remember it will be the summer there so pretty hot if you are not used to it. Also rains often start in November which spreads the wildlife out a bit. Oddballs is a good camp I working in Botswana as a forestry officer for a couple of years before working at Oddballs and I got to see a lot of the camps in the Okavango and Savuti areas and Oddballs was one of the best. One of the reasons I ended up managing the camp was because I new it was so good and had a really good laid back feel and at the same time the local village got a really good deal from the camp.

Some areas (not Botswana) rely on low cost high volume tourism and lay out salt licks etc to attract the animals also you can find yourself in a convoy of minibuses all going to look at the same animals. By foot and dug out really is the best way of seeing the wild life you get to see all the smaller stuff as well!

Knowsley quite good 😆

We went here a few years back with Exodus, and it was amazing – really can't recommend it enough:

http://www.kicheche.com/camps-mara.shtm

Check the reviews on Tripadvisor:

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g294209-d325482-Reviews-Kicheche_Mara_Camp-Masai_Mara_National_Reserve.html

It is (or was) part owned by wildlife photographer Paul Goldstein who is one of the directors of Exodus. Fantastic location, knowledgeable staff and you are not isolated from local culture as you are with other places in the mara – all the staff are local Masai. It's an unfenced camp so you can't wander around at night without an escort (elephants and lion have been known to come inside the camp), but all of the tents have verandas facing right out onto the plain. We had a hippo about 30 metres from the campfire one night, and some other members of our party had a lion roaring outside their tent one night. Loads of lion, giraffe and elephant in the area – also saw a cheetah on our last day. Exodus are a great outfit to travel with too. We did a few days at Naivasha / Nakuru on the same trip which were also excellent, but Kicheche really was the highlight.

I'd second doing a balloon safari – unique experience and a fantastic way to see the wildlife and get a perspective on the vast landscape.

We did the Mara in aug 2006 and stayed in Governors' Camps – luxury tents, amazing food and a fantastic guide – you keep the same person for your stay so really get to know them. Aug/sept is best (as said above). Make sure that whoever you go with, they use 4x4s not minibuses – you can get to harder to reach places, are more open and more chance of getting window seats. We were very fortunate and got a driver just for the two of us so we got to choose every single thing we did. An absolutely amazing experience. We also travelled through Kenya (same lakes as mentioned above + a night in Niarobi. Then had the second week in Mombasa relaxing by the pool.

I've had a very successful trip to the South African end of the Kalahari (helped by the best guide ever) and also liked Etosha in Namibia (despite being saddled with the worst guide ever). But I'm a complete sucker for Gemsbok. 🙂

Going to Selous in Tanzania next month.

Have a look at Zambia, especially Luangwa. Not many tourists though not cheap but you can pull in Victoria Falls after.

Couldn't get the pic to link last night (pratting around on my phone).

Here it is…

I'll drop my friend MrGill a line, he knows a place you can shoot baboons!

It's an enormous tent, in a marquee. 😀

MrNutt – Member
I'll drop my friend MrGill a line, he knows a place you can shoot baboons!

Unless you have the guts to get in close and do it with a spear or knife, that's a sport for yellow psychopaths.

Of course it may be your guts…

BigDummy – Member
It's an enormous tent, in a marquee.
POSTED 58 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

Yep – with 'a man' who did a turn-down service and brought us coffees and biscuits to wake us for our early morning safaris. As far removed from camping as I have ever experienced 🙂

Botswana. But I'm biased.

Tuli Block if you want to ride mountain bikes while you're on holiday.

Maun is a good starting point for:
Wildlife: Okavango Delta, Moremi, Savuti
Culture: Tsodilo Hills
Vast horizon and sleeping under the stars: Makgadikgadi Pans

Top Gear drove across Botswana a few years ago: Makgadikgadi, Savuti/Moremi etc if you want a quick preview. (I know where the Lancia is, if anybody wants to make an offer)

What's your budget?

Old Bridge is a starting point, along with AfroTrek (shonky website designs attest to their no-frills nature…)

Another one with good locations is Uncharted Africa.

If the sky is the limit then Wilderness and andBeyond are the way to go.

Oddballs has a good reputation, but not sure how good the Okavango Delta is right now because it is really full of water – hitting 30-40yr records for flood levels so a lot of wildlife has moved to the periphery.

Getting campsites in the national parks is a problem due to local "entrepreneurs" speculating on the booking of campsites and selling the pitches to tour operators/independent travellers. Obviously not a problem if you book with a tour operator!

Opinions vary on the best time of year – it depends on your interests and tolerance to heat. October-April is summer/rainy season: spends a few days warming up to 30-40C, a couple of days crash-bang tropical storms to cool it down, repeat. April-October is winter/dry season, temperatures drop to single figures at night with occasional frost, can be windy and dusty.

Away from the Okavango Delta game tends to be more concentrated around water sources during winter: more predictable, easier to find and see due to lack of leaves. The Makgadikgadi can be a problem in the rainy season.

Some really good links here, I haf only really looked at the obvious, like explore and exodus etc.
Good to hear no one has had a bad experience.
keep the ideas coming!

If the delta is really flooded then the wildlife will be spread out,there will still be loads to see but you may struggle with some of the bigger mamals consider Chobie or Savuti instead perhaps in Botswana?

I went to Madikwe in South Africa (near Botswana border) on my honeymoon which was really good. We stayed in a cool campsite (http://www.thebushcamp.com/) with no power and a odd little fire thing that provided hot water, it was really, really good but dead basic.