This section of The Wildebeest Safaris website is dedicated to help you understand the different facets that ‘safari’ can encompass so you can have a feel for what type of safari best fits your style. As we plan I will make sure that you know your options and craft an itinerary that is customized to best fit your desires. As I present the many factors to consider I give my planning philosophies and explain why that is my preference. If your preference differs that is great and I assure you we plan around what you want at all times!
Factors to Consider
This is written as a planning guide that should be used by any consumer to become educated. If you work with The Wildesbeest Safaris you can believe these things will be well explained but if you try another agent please use this to your benefit to ensure a properly planned safari.
The Basics: African Safari Time & Cost
As with any type of travel the first thing you need to determine is how much time do you have to travel and an idea of your budget. International airfare and lodging will usually be the two largest items in your safari budget. For safari travel it is often helpful to think about your budget in terms of per person per night. For example to stay at a lodge is often quoted as $1500 per person sharing. In addition to lodging costs the other largest expense is transfer costs, i.e. how do you get around. Many lodges include game drive activities, meals, and many even include drinks and laundry so it is important to know what is included. On the lower budget end your price may just include lodging and everything else, even your game drives may be additional costs. Make sure to have a clear understanding of what activities and amenities are included in any price quoted.
Beyond these major costs other typical expenses include vaccinations/malaria meds, guide and staff tips, trip insurance, and visas. Camera equipment, binoculars, reference books, and perhaps some safari clothes are common purchases but not required.
When to Go On Your African Safari
There are two different ways to approach this.
- Are you flexible to go whenever you want?
If so you can look at the other factors to determine the places that you most want to see and then pick the best time to be in that location for wildlife viewing. For example: you may determine that you really want to visit the Okavango Delta region of Botswana when it is crowded with elephants. I would then recommend late in the dry season, thus a trip in September to mid-October would be optimal. - Are you tied to a particular vacation time?
Many people must travel during a certain time of the year. Fortunately there is always a great safari destination for the time you need to travel but you may want to let your timing dictate where you go. For example: perhaps you have always wanted to go to see the wildebeest migration and you always thought you would like to go to Kenya. Your vacation is in February, luckily this is a spectacular time to see the migration because it is their calving time. However, the migration will be in the Serengeti (Tanzania) and not in Kenya at this time. If you only have a week to go and wanted to see the migration it would be wise to forego Kenya at that time and instead safari in Tanzania.
Other things to consider:
Off Season/Green Season:
Typically the ‘off season or green season’ is because it is the wet season. In most year round destinations rain is not a big problem, of course there are exceptions and some years are worse than others. It can make some areas inaccessible and because of the moisture grasses grow higher and trees fill with leaves providing more cover for the wildlife and thus often more work to find them. The higher availability of water allows wildlife to disperse as opposed to dry season viewing when many animals may be tied to specific dwindling water sources.
All that said there are some very good year round destinations and for the budget minded prices can be more than 50% lower at some lodges. The green vegetation can be beautiful in pictures and the lack of dust can be refreshing. This is a very good time for those with tight budgets to visit the prime destinations. Especially give consideration to the time very close to being ‘in season’ as nature does not follow dates on a calendar and the first couple weeks of ‘off season’ may have sightings and conditions identical to in-season for a significantly discounted price.
What African Countries Should You Choose For Your Safari?
There are a number of countries that provide outstanding safari experiences and it is often easy to combine multiple countries on one trip. Each country has its own special highlights and a corresponding fan base.
What Types of Safaris are There?
A huge number of different types of safaris have developed at this point. In general the best way to simplify is that all safaris can be categorized according to four criteria:
- Type of Accommodation – i.e. tented, lodge, mobile camping, self-camping, etc.
- Mode of Transportation – i.e. fly-in, private guided land rover, mini-van, self-drive, walking, etc.
- Focus of Safari - focus – game drives, canoe/mokoro, walking, one of many specialties (birding, gorilla trek, professional photographer lead, etc)
- Social Dyanmic – private, group trip, paired with others at camp, etc.
Of course many safari itineraries are a blend of these criteria using more than one type of accommodation and having different focuses throughout the itinerary and so on. I will expound on each criteria to provide a clear understanding of the major options to assist in selecting what best fits your needs.
Safari Areas (Private Concessions, National Parks, etc.)
The type of areas your safari in is very important for what activities can take place. Ordinarily governments dictate what is allowed within what designated land areas.
- Private Concessions
- National Parks
- Game Reserves - National Reserves - Game Management Areas
National Parks
National Parks are often built around the key wildlife concentrations or other areas of great natural value. Because of that they often offer the best wildlife viewing experiences in a given area. National Parks tend to have more infrastructure that allows for mass tourism to occur and have corresponding larger lodges and/or many lodging options to serve the demand of visitors. Because of the number of visitors there needs to be some restrictive rules which usually means defined road areas for drives and the need to return to camp by a certain hour before dark. In many parks no walking is allowed either. Due to high visitation and the road restrictions predator sightings are often crowded with large numbers of vehicles. While there are some drawbacks National Parks often feature must see sightings and thus need to be included on some itineraries. Safari within National Parks also tends to be cheaper than private concessions and thus can be of good value. There are also some tremendous National Parks that are greatly under visited providing opportunities to visit enormous wilderness areas without any crowding.
Game Reserves - National Reseves - Game Management Areas
Most governments have public lands that support photo safari tourism but are not designated as National Parks. Rules of such areas can vary widely from being the same as National Parks to being similar to a Private Concession. Generally they fall somewhere in between, often with night or road restrictions but many fewer people than National Parks. If an area of interest lays in such an area ask what the restrictions and allowable activities are.
What Other Kinds of Activities Can Be Incorporated Into a Safari?
There are a multitude of activities that can be incorporated into a safari. In addition to common activities like game drives and walks there are a wide range of activities depending on where you visit such as a hot air balloon ride, microlighting, snorkeling, tracking a radio-collared animal with a researcher, etc. If there is something unusual of great interest it is important to identify that and plan to be in an area that has the activity on offer.
