African safari for the not-totally-adventurous type?
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Anonymous
| I know it seems like a waste but... We have a group ages 12-75 and wondering what a more pampered safari would look like? Most of the group are very enthusiastic; just trying to convince the doubter that this is a good idea. Obviously, this would be a splurge trip. |
Anonymous
| Check out Abercrombie and Kent. It's $$$ but they do all different kinds of safaris. |
Anonymous
|
Most safaris really aren’t that adventuresome. Yes, you’re in the bush, yes, it’s glorious, yes, it’s fabulous. But it’s very limited too. You spend the typical day on two game drives and are rarely allowed to walk around on your own. The camps are heavily monitored for the wildlife so the danger factor is quite small as long as you follow instructions to the letter and don’t wander off or leave your tent in the middle of the night.
Lots of great safari operators who’d be more than happy to help you and who can answer your million and one queries. Norman Carr and a Robin Pope in Zambia are fantastic, Gamewatchers in Kenya is also fabulous. You will get luxury serviced camps. These three operators can arrange the whole safari for you as you’ll stay in their camps and it’s literally like booking a resort hotel. Easy. Otherwise it’s also worthwhile to talk to safari brokers, who are people who can organize the safari for you and often have good deals with premium and midrange camps in various parks. They can also easily add on things to the trip such as a weekend in Victoria Falls or Zanzibar. My advice is to go to safaritalk.net and browse their many threads about booking safaris and where to go and what to see. You’ll get a sense of what works for you. For example, when I go on safari I am all about the bush and happily spend two weeks on game drives deep into the parks. But other people find one week just enough and are happier splitting that time with other activities, so they’d prefer a week in Kruger and a week in Capetown, for example. |
Anonymous
| Thanks pps! |
Anonymous
| Have a look at Giraffe Manor and the Safari Collection. They have a number of luxury properties in Kenya. |
Anonymous
| Adventures by Disney does an Africa trip. I suspect that's probably as un-adventurous as you can get and that they keep it all very comfortable. |
Anonymous
| I'd choose a luxury safari lodge in South Africa. Look at Shamwari. |
Anonymous
| Check out the Singita properties. |
Anonymous
|
hi-
Depending on how many people there are in your group you may have a hard time finding a lodge that can accommodate all of you in separate rooms/suites. I would suggesting reaching out to some of the tour operators or searching for some of the resorts that have a large villa you could stay in as a family. We stayed here in January as a couple and loved it-- http://www.klaseriesands.com/ I would also suggest South Africa, its the least adventurous of all of the safari areas. If you REALLY want to keep it low-key you could look for one on the Garden Route, rather than in the greater Kruger area.... but if you are going to go all the way to Africa I think it is 100% worth it to go to the more established and wild Kruger area. You dont want to feel like you are in a glorified resort zoo.... Let me know if you have questions- I researched for a year before our trip 
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Anonymous
| Good Earth Tours is the best. They booked us in the nicest camps and hotels and customized tours for us and are very reasonable. |
Anonymous
|
Another high end safari would be Micato Safaris. (https://www.micato.com)
You didn't say what the doubter's issue was - it is the $$, the fear of the wild animals, too far to go, etc? |
Anonymous
Varying in degree, mild to moderate: fear of wild animals, concern about being too far from bathroom facilities, and general “if I’m spending $10,000, I don’t want to sleep on the ground/in the wild/with a mosquito net/with bugs/in fear of wild animals/communal facilities, etc....” ($ is not an issue; this group loved Australia but we didn’t really get much out of Sydney). |
Anonymous
Is your friend also the girl in the honeymoon thread that thinks the Maldives and Hawaii aren't nice enough? Just kidding! I would order your friend a Micato Safaris brochure. They are beautifully written and make everything look sumptuous. If not, check out classictravel.com . I read once there about how they planned a "safari" consisting of 4 days at the Four Seasons Serengeti and 4 days at the Four Seasons Seychelles. I would rather do a Micato personally, but hey, it might be a compromise. Your friend could stay at the pool all day if it were a thing. |
Anonymous
| At your price point you will be sleeping in beds (not on the ground) with an ensuite bathroom with hot and cold running water even in a camp with tents. And no communal facilities unless its the dinning area or pool. Do not think that what we call tent camping in the US is what will occur in Africa. Some of the tent camps in Africa are equivalent to 5 star hotels. Also any of the guides for the high-end safaris will be top-notched and will know how to keep you safe from wild animals. You need to talk to the operator about the kids in the group. Some safari camps have lower age limits and agents/operators can recommend specific camps/lodges for kids/teens. The people on "safaritalk.net" can give you tips for taking kids on safaris (e.g. own binoculars, camera, etc). |
Anonymous
| What about Madikwe so you don't have to worry about malaria (last I checked but you'd need to recheck)? |