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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Abercrombie & Kent.  I'll let you know at the end of September if they still live up to their rep.[/quote]

DP - please do, we are looking at one with them also!  Have a great time.  Everyone I know says it is life changing.[/quote]

I promised I would come back to this thread after my safari with Abercrombie and Kent to say whether or not I thought it was worth it using a luxury travel outfit.  The honest answer is that I don’t know if it is worth it.  Principally because I don’t know what mid-range tour operators offer so I can’t really compare.  But I will try to describe the trip so that you can come to your own conclusions.  Just so you have an idea, I am a seasoned traveler (Kenya was my 73rd country and Tanzania my 74th).  I have never used a travel agent or a tour operator (except when the only way to see something was to use a licensed guide).  I have lived on 4 continents and am bilingual (though it didn’t help here).  I have travelled the world’s capitals and some very remote regions.  In other words, I have a pretty good notion about how to get about.

This was a 12 day safari that included Kenya and Tanzania.  The itinerary was Nairobi to Amboseli National Park to Arusha to Manyara National Park to Ngorongoro Crater to the Serengeti (via the Olduvai Gorge) to the Maasai Mara to Nairobi.  We stayed at some very luxurious hotels and resorts.  The Serena in Nairobi, the Amboseli Serena Lodge (this one wasn’t very lux in my opinion, though rustic and cool), the Gran Melia in Arusha (stunning), the Ngorongoro Oldeani Mountain Lodge (beautiful but an inconvenient last minute change), the Melia Serengeti Lodge (gorgeous), and the Little Zebra River Camp (individual safari tents – very cool place though I am not sure if “luxury” describes a tent with a concrete slab floor).

To give you an idea of who goes on this trip, the ages ranged from 36 to 84.  There were only three of us under 65.  The 36 year old young woman, me at 59 and the 36 year old’s 61 year old new husband.  After 11 years together, they finally decided to marry (this information was included to avoid polemic about May-December relationships).  Of the remaining 14 in the group, 6 were 67-75 and 8 were 77-84.  Overall, it was a great, fun group with a keen sense of humor and adventure.  They made it really fun.

On to the safari.

I had no idea they were so grueling.  I was quickly disabused of the notion that a “luxury” safari would be comfortable.  You are on hard-packed, rutted dirt roads for hours every day (9 hours when driving from Ngorongoro to the Srengeti) in a Landcruiser safari vehicle that began life as a Landcruiser pick-up truck manufactured in various countries in Africa.  They are NOT the Landcruisers you see in the parking lots at Starbucks and Whole Foods with luxury interiors, soft seats, air conditioning that works well, well-sealed against the environment, independent strut suspensions, etc.  These are steel framed, steel bodied vehicles with leaf-spring suspensions that are built to get pounded by the environment and get pounded on a daily basis.  This is not unique to A&K.  Every tour operator uses the same truck.  The difference, and a disappointment to me, was that A&K does not seem to replace their vehicles as often as Micato, Tauck, Kensington or some other tour operators.  So the AC doesn’t work as well, they squeak a lot, the windows don’t seal as well as they could, and little things like that.  But these should be the type of things that distinguish “luxury” from “ordinary”.  And it is important because the dust is never-ending.  It isn’t a little dust it is a lot of dust.  At the end of the day, you every tour operator uses the same tracks, roads and pathways so you are in the company of dozens of other groups seeing the exact same animals.
My principal problem with the vehicles that we used were their age and the fact that A&K filled them to capacity.  There isn’t much room to sit and the 2 seats in the rear are extremely uncomfortable (little leg room and being behind the rear wheels you bounce like you’re in a washing machine all day).  The general consensus amongst our group was that it would be best to limit the number of passengers to 5.  Seating one person up front with the driver and using only 4 seats in the rear.  That would seem to be more consistent with the notion of “luxury” in this context.

The Guides.

I had great driver/guides.  At A&K, their guides are required to have college degrees, they are all tri-lingual (English, Swahili and one other language at least) and they are required to have had driver/guide experience for years before joining A&K.  Ours were encyclopedic in their knowledge of the history of the respective countries, the various tribes and communities, the animals, plants, habits, conservation efforts, etc.  As an added bonus, the drivers in my sub-group were extremely friendly, outgoing and really, really nice guys.  I imagine this is one of the things that distinguishes a luxury safari.  I don’t know that though, so ask around.

Accommodations.

As I indicated earlier, the places we stayed were quite nice.  With all of the beautiful surroundings and rooms one would expect from a Four Seasons, Ritz, Rosewood, etc.  Spas, gyms, massages, pools, beautiful gardens and rooms.  However, good luck using any of that!  Your day is packed.  Up and breakfast at 6.  Out the door at 7-7:30.  Back for a late lunch at 2.  Back out going through the parks at 4-4:30.  Return about 6:30 to 7 and then dinner.  By the end of dinner most people were absolutely exhausted and asleep by 9ish.  To repeat again the next day.  So using any of those perks of a luxury resort isn’t really practical.  Some used the pools during break times.  I got my camera gear ready for the next outing, downloaded photos, did some minor processing and sent them off to friends and family.

Food.

You would think that staying at a luxury resort and paying the premium for that would guarantee at least a real treat when it came to food.  You would think wrongly.  Every meal was a buffet.  Generally, consisting of various regional and south Asian dishes (and I do like the cuisine quite a bit).  It was not the sort of buffet you find at, for example, a luxury Dubai resort.  It was, in my opinion, good to mediocre.  I have had much better food at ultra-cheap Indian and Pakastani restaurants in Bur Dubai in Dubai (which I use as a reference since many people seem to have travelled to Dubai).  So to me, that was a disappointment.  I don’t think that paying the premium was reflected in the food.  Others on my tour thought it was great food.  Just a different perspective I suppose.

Extras.

The lux companies tout some of their extras as distinguishing features.  A&K touts your ability to have laundry done for free!  Helpful, but it is available only once during the safari (contrast this to Micato which has it available every day).  Another was a visit to a Massai village in Ngorongoro.  Interesting, but not essential.  You also are not told that this is an opportunity for the Maasai to peddle their tourist trinkets to you.  There were number of these extras available, but no one really though they were worth much.  But opinions vary and visiting a banana grove, a Maasai village or a small town market may be worth it to you.

Clothing, insects, vaccinations, cameras, etc.

Is khaki/green clothing required?  No.  You aren’t creeping through the bush.  You’re on a truck.  But, the clothing you buy will get filthy with dust every day and those colors mask the dust.  You don’t really sweat and can shake most of the dust out, but it was nice not to look like
 Pig Pen in Charlie Brown every day.  As an added bonus, at least for me and those on the tour, our safari director accepted donations of clothing people were likely to throw away at the end of the trip that he would deliver to his home village.  Nearly everyone donated a considerable amount of stuff.  I gave 6 shirts and a couple pair of pants I would never wear again and in total cost me less than 150 dollars.  I was planning on throwing it away in Nairobi (leaving it in my hotel room) anyway since I wasn’t returning to the US immediately (I am writing this from Brazil).  Hopefully it does find a new home.

As for insects, I got 1 mosquito bite.  I treated my clothing with Permethrin and brought 100% Deet with me.  I used the Deet 3 times.  Once when the game drive was late afternoon and was through marshland so the mosquito factor was high.  And twice when there were after dark happy hours, get-togethers at the lodge.  If you are susceptible to mosquito bites, bring Deet.  I didn’t find it necessary.  Treating my clothing seemed to keep the gnats away during the day, but the flies just laughed.  Tse tse flies were not a concern on this safari.  They are present elsewhere.

Vaccinations.  If you read the CDC pages and other references, yellow fever vaccinations are not required.  But Tanzania demands a yellow card for entry and exit.  So get them.  But, if you don’t, that really isn’t a problem either, it will just cost $50 and an official yellow card certifying you have been vaccinated will appear in minutes.  No injections required!

Cameras.  I brought 2 Canon R10 mirrorless bodies and several lenses.  I took 13 thousand photos.  Necessary, absolutely NOT.  95% of the people used their phone cameras and got very nice pictures.  Some stunning.  So any notion that you have to have real pro or pro-style gear is misplaced.  With that said, though, a phone camera will not allow you to get actions shots (my cameras shoot up to 24 frames per second and I have some spectacular action photos), they don’t have the reach I did (I was able to capture a grainy photo of a black rhino that was a mile away), since you aren’t in control of where you shoot from, pictures are often back light and you end up with silhouettes.  Phone cameras really don’t allow for the same degree of post-processing and I have been able to turn dark shadowy pictures into colorful scenes.  Also, if you are intending to print, I am not sure the quality that a phone camera will produce.  But if FB and Instagram are your goals, your phone will capture 90%+ of what you want.

I hope this helps.  I guess when evaluating whether or not the lux premium is “worth it”, you need to adjust your expectations of what you mean by “luxury”.  Safari is not Hawaii, the Maldives, London, Paris or Dubai.  Plan accordingly.

Finally, cost.  My 12 days was, not including airfare, 19,000.  This included the single supplement, 1 day with a private driver/guide in Nairobi and tours of the Sheldrick Trust, the Giraffe house, lunch, and a couple other spots, and a hot air balloon ride over the Serengeti.  A very similar safari with Micato starts at 37,000.  One couple I met on my safari priced out Micato and, including airfare, would have been 50,000 per person.  I don’t know what they paid for this one, but it was considerably less.

Is it worth it?  I don’t know.  One BIG advantage to the lux travel groups is support and infrastructure if something goes wrong.  For example, our lodging was commandeered by the Tanzanian government for a conference and we needed a quick change.  A&K handled that and we were put up in another absolutely gorgeous resort/lodge at the last minute.  Also, I asked what would happen if a truck broke down.  A&K has a fleet and the issue would be resolved in a couple hours.  If a smaller outfit faced that problem, it would be a real problem.

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