Going on Safari.....advice needed

AudreyHepburn

Hi all,

Myself and a friend (two women in our 20s) are planning to go on Safari this summer, probably in Kenya. This will be the first big holiday either of us has taken (for financial reasons) and I was looking for a little advice. We already know that we are going to go for a beach and bush holiday but we don’t really know what to expect and what we should do to prepare.

Has anyone been on such a holiday? What advise would you give us? Is a beach/bush holiday the way to go? Would you recommend Kenya?

Also if anyone has ever used the AfricaSky website….how did you find it?

Thanks in advance !

bamboozle

i'd head to the Serengeti, you should probably see some part of the great migration as the wildebeast head towards the masi mara , possibly even the river crossing where they have to pass the waiting crocadiles.

we went to serengeti for 2 weeks followed by 1 week in fundu lagoon on pemba island which is just off zanzibar. Best trip i've ever done.

CricketDude

Leave out the beach part. you can go to a beach any time.
Masai Mara, Ngorogor crater and Serengeti would be the ones to go for. All 3 if you can.

Try kumuka.com

PhoenixParker

Did a holiday in Kenya a few years ago with a group of female friends.

Flew to Nairobi, took a safari to the Masai Mara from there.
We had that pre-arranged because the guidebook suggested it. Did it via email with one of the operators listed in the guest book. It was fairly cheap and cheerful.

They brought us back to Nairobi, from where we took the train to the coast. One night in Mombasa then a taxi down the coast to the first beach resort that would take us and looked decent.

Fantastic holiday. Kenya is an absolutely incredible and fantastic country. Beaches are spectacular, wildlife is spectacular, Nairobi is cool. Go, you won't regret it. It is dodgy after dark but everything there happens between sun up and sun down anyway, so it's not a problem. I hate getting up early, never done it in my life, but I didn't sleep past 7am any day I was there. It's the light, and the atmosphere of an African morning.

mel.b

I've just gotten back from safari in Kenya and Tanzania:) I went with Intrepid who do small group tours and would highly recommend them.

The tour that I did had 2 nights in the Serengeti and 1 night in Ngorongoro crater as well as the other stops. I think it was the time of year (dec), but the Serengeti seemed 'empty' to me - it is such a vast place that searching for animals can sometimes be a needle in a haystack. Saying that though we did see a couple of herds of elephants, hippos, zebras, giraffes, wildebeest and the highlight....5 lions up a tree:D

Upon leaving the Serengeti and heading towards the ngorongoro we saw the migration - thousands upon thousands of animals. Our guide said that this area received less rain than the area we were in in the Serengeti. As a result, the grass was shorter which makes the animals feel safer as they can see predators. In the serengeti the grass was all at least knee high. We also came across a cheetah just lying in the sun not far from the road.

The Ngorongoro crater was amazing. We saw two groups of lions, including a pride stalking buffalo for a hunt, two black rhinos, as well as flamingo, zebras and all the rest. I much prefered the Ngorogoro over the Serengeti as the crater is much more contained and therefore spotting animals is much easier.

The trip I did was all camping which was actually fun. We all helped with cooking, cleaning etc. The camps were also unfenced and we actually had buffalo and an elephant walk through the campsite at the Ngorogoro crater which was incredible.

I spent a few extra days in Nairobi and organised to visit the David Sheldrick Wildlife Orphange which was such a moving experience and the griaffe centre where you can kiss and hand feed giraffes...so cute. I also did a trip to Hell's Gate National Park and rode through the NP...the only one in Kenya in which you can do so and finished with a boat ride on Lake Navisha to get close to the hippos.

A number of people on my trip were continuing onto Zanzibar and I wish I had too, but at least it gives me an excuse to go back!

The trip was really reasonibly priced - under E700 for 8 days and you don't need a lot of extra money (unless you are buying wood sourvineers which are EXPENSIVE (even when you bargin)). Intrepid often have specials and I got my tour for 40% off which made it E415 which was incredible value.

I checked out the other overload trucks as well and geckos seemed to have the nicest, comfiest trucks, but you pay the price for it as well.

Feel free to send me a PM if you want more info.

AudreyHepburn

Thanks for all your responses so far!

mel.b that would be a great help thanks! It sounds like you had the holiday of a lifetime!

Are there any things we should be wary or cautious of? I'd assume if you stay with a tour group then you are safe?

Also assuming you'd shots etc before you go?

bungaro79

went to tanzania last year and we used basecamp tanzania who were fantastic!! we decided on doing tanzania over kenya because we wanted to do the serengeti and ngorongoro and we weren't let down!! saw all of the big 5 (think ngorongoro is the only place in east africa where you can see rhinos still). we went to zanzibar after the safari which was amazing too.

not sure about kenya but if you go to tanz then you'll need to a few shots alright, they will actually check to see your yellow fever cert when you arrive at the airport though.

miss.piggy

Mel b - was this the "serengeti trail" tour you did? Did you go alone? What were the camping facilities like?

mel.b

Yes, it was the serengeti trails intrepid trip. The camping facilities were mixed. In the Serengeti they were poor. The campsite we stayed at had probably about 60 people there with different overland companies. There were two female toilets (squat drop toilets) and two showers (i think...i went without as i didn't fancy a cold shower!). Really for the price you pay to enter the park ($50usd a day + $30usd a night for camping (inc in your tour/kitty costs) the facilities are poor) Ngorogoro was similar, however we found a disabled toilet and shower that was a full 'western' setup - proper flushing toilet, tiled floor etc. To me, it showed that they have the ability to put in proper decent facilities so there should be any excuses for the standard of other toilets. I missed having a shower here also...was going to but then buffalo started wandering through the camp and i decided it wasn't such a good idea to go wandering around in the dark!

I went alone on the tour. There were 20 of us all together...6 of us came alone and the other 14 were couples. Was a mixture of Australians, Irish, American, Canadian, English and a kiwi.


The other facilities were fine - proper toilets & showers so it's just the serengeti and ngororgoror that are very basic. My tip is to take a stick of vicks inhaler or similar that you would have when you have a stuffed nose from a cold and hold that under your nose while you use the toilet and you will be fine!! Really blocks the smell:p

I had to have yellow fever vaccination (although it wasn't checked), typhoid and Hep A. My polio, tetnus, hep B etc vaccinations were all up to date so i didn't need them, but if you aren't you will be advised to get them also. You will also need anti malarials. I took Malrone which was fine but it is expensive...20 tablets cost me €90:eek: that was for an 11 day stay (start one day before during and for a week after). If you go, ask the doctor for doxy instead...you have to take it for longer but it is a lot cheaper. However it also makes you sensitive to sun, so cover up. I have 'australian' skin tans easily and i got badly burnt on my second day (although i didn't have any sunscreen on:o. The sun is hot there)

In the group i always felt perfectly safe. The only time i didn't was after i had walked to the atm and withdrawn a heap of cash and was walking back to my hotel. I was actually just really paranoid. I was perfectly safe and nothing even came remotly close to happening, but Nairiobi does have a reputation and this put me more on edge than normal.

Geckos seemed to have the nicest overland trucks (a mixture of seatinf from forward, rear and centre facing) but you pay for it - i think they are a lot more expensive than intrepid. The intrepid truck was fine, not a lot of leg room but not quite as bad as ryanair!

CricketDude

You can upgrade to a "hut" at most campsites for about $10. Its well worth it. You get a bed and your own show and toilets and electricity.

I was there in July and the migration was on. 5 million wildebeast, zebra etc, as far as the eye can see. and lions and cheetahs hunting them all over the place You have to keep stopping in the middle of them the place is so full of them. Cheetahs will even sit on top of your truck waiting to pounce.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serengeti#Great_migration

http://www.google.ie/search?q=lake+nakuru+national+park&hl=en&safe=off&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=ZbM6T_r3MMSLhQfWxPSGCg&ved=0CH4QsAQ&biw=1218&bih=715#hl=en&safe=off&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=great+migration+kenya&oq=great+migration+kenya&aq=f&aqi=g-S3&aql=&gs_sm=3&gs_upl=6826l8404l0l8954l6l6l0l2l2l0l421l701l2-1.0.1l2l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.,cf.osb&fp=5ef13d6d77583c71&biw=1218&bih=715

You can get balloon rides too.

And in Nairobi, the elephant orphanage and the giraffe sanctuary are musts as mel.b said. And throw in a visit to Carnivore too to eat all the game you can eat.

And lake Nakuru where you can see the Flamingos, Rhinos etc would be easy to add in too.

http://www.google.ie/search?q=lake+nakuru+national+park&hl=en&safe=off&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=ZbM6T_r3MMSLhQfWxPSGCg&ved=0CH4QsAQ&biw=1218&bih=715

Dont even think about it. Book it. Im going again next year.

mel.b

With the intrepid trip there is no option to upgrade to huts and there weren't any huts anywhere near any of our campsites. Several other companies also used the same campsites as us, so i would read any trip notes carefully to see if this is an option.

Don't let the camping put you off...just take an inflatable mattress with you!

Mill21

I went to the Masai Mara in Kenya... Loved it!! would love to go back.

I'd recommend this place :Mara Timbo Camp
http://www.maasaimara.com/accommodation/maasai-mara/mara-timbo-camp
they are on facebook too. Its owned by germans but they werent there.

We stayed in Mombasa. Lovely hotels but some beaches are better than others. I think the ones south of the ferry were the really white ones.

We took a flight from there and we met the guide at the airstrip. We stayed 2 nights and it was fantastic... seriously I'm wanting to go back so bad writing this. Its a great experience.

Our camp was lovely. I don't rememeber the price cos it was organised thru a family friend, but it was worth it. The tents aren't really tents and theres a great shower/ bathroom (individual) and lovely food.

I'd take the more expensive option, because I wouldn't really be able to deal with something that basic, when you are so far from civilization. The people working there were lovely and they gave you a "butler" which was a girl who who come around to make sure you didn't need anything. She probably would have done anything for you, but I would have just felt bad. They had a generator that ran from 6/7pm until 2am.

Look at their fb page for photos and details. Their website seems to be down but this is their email welcome@maratimbo.com

If you need more info let me know