What time of year to do a safari and what country?

[Anonymous]

Dh and I want to do a romantic safari and beach vacation after. We were thinking Tanzania and then Zanzibar. Any other recs? How much should we budget? We want nice but don't need over the top.

[Anonymous]

I went to Tanzania in November- after peak season, which was nice..our tour was about 3500$for safari (including high end )hotels and meals and about another 1500$ for air travel- due to meeting up with my cousin who was coming from another U.S. City, I needed to get on specific flights traveling btwn Ammaterdam and Kilimanjaro-- so you could probably find a better ticket price

[Anonymous]

I did South Africa, Botswana, and Zimbabwe in August (many years ago). Good temperature - it's their "winter." Great variety of safaris in Botswana - Okavango Delta, Moremi, etc.

[Anonymous]

Its been years but I did a safari in Tanzania and then went to Zanzibar. We stayed at a place right on the beach there called Kendwa Amaan Bungalows. Our room was right on the beach and it was quiet, secluded and lovely. As for safari, it depends on what you want. The parks are pretty spread out -- are you going to spend all your time in the Serengeti or do you want to hit the major tourist spots (Ngorongoro, Tarangire, etc). But each was packed -- lots of green jeeps surrounding any big animal. It was a great trip.

[Anonymous]

Serengeti

[Anonymous]

Masai Mara

Unbelievable experience - and without a doubt the most memorable location we visited and we have traveled through much of the world.

[Anonymous]

Cumberland, Ohio

[Anonymous]

Peak season for East Africa is July-September/early October, mirroring the migration northwards. Sometimes the migration begins earlier, sometimes it begins later, it's always difficult to guess correctly.

Kenya and Tanzania generally have the same animals but slightly different experiences. Kenya is much more developed than Tanzania and has better infrastructure so it's easier to get around by car from one park to another. If you begin/end in Nairobi, there's more to see and do in Nairobi. But Tanzania's charm is the sheer space. The Serengeti, for example, is much bigger than Masai Mara. I love both countries but for different reasons.

There are generally three levels of safaris, from the most expensive to the least: luxury camping, hotels/lodges and then basic camping. Luxury camping safaris are fabulous. Staying in hotels and lodges is quite nice but depending where you are you leave the game park to stay in the lodges/hotels outside the park (although at other parks they're inside the parks). Basic camping varies greatly.

I have to say that African safaris is one of those areas where the more you spend, the more you do get out of safaris. You can do it cheaply but it always comes at a cost, such as being crammed into a long bus with dozens of people and not guaranteed a window seat, long (long!) drives between the game parks rather than flying, mediocre lodges/hotels or extremely basic camping facilities. However, the real difference is the quality of the guides, which makes a huge difference in what you get out of a safari. A good guide knows everything about the wildlife and where to find the best wildlife and all the good guides know each other and are constantly relaying to each other via phone where a leopard's been spotted.

We did a luxury safari two years ago in Tanzania for two weeks in July. Didn't go to the beach at the end, it was two solid weeks in the bush, in various parts of Tanzania. Cost was 5K each plus the airfare, which we used miles for. We're going to Kenya again this September for 10 days and will be in the game parks the entire time save one day in Nairobi at the onset. We're spending 3K each not including airfare.

A really good safari operator in Kenya is Gamewatchers safaris. They're part of the luxury Porini group, which has fantastic luxury camps within their own preserves in the national parks, but they also offer, at a big discount, basic camping safari where you stay in basic tents in the same preserves but everything is provided for and have the same quality guides (see my point above about the importance of having good guides). You can find them by googling online. They're very easy to work with and know everything about safaris and where to go and what options and can work with you to tack on a beach vacation in Zanzibar at the end (avoid the Kenyan coastline at the moment, too risky).

I haven't been to Botswana. It'll probably be our next destination.

South Africa is wonderful too, but a different beast altogether. Different safari vibe. Still great, mind you.