Africa safaris

debd

Senior Insider
Just checked in and was surprised not to find an Africa section of the forum, unless I am just completely missing it. If so, my apologies.

We are just starting the process of planning our first Africa trip. Our son travels there a lot for work, so he has proposed what is likely a rather ambitious plan. It includes Nairobi, Amboseli, and Maasai Mara in Kenya, Kigali and Virunga in Rwanda, and Lusaka and South Luangwa in Zambia.

We are hearing about Premier and Abercrombie as tour options.

Would be interested in hearing others' experiences - good, bad locations to visit as well as tour companies, preferable time of year for travel.

Appreciate any input or insight
 
Africa is our favourite continent and we hope to go there soon again -- I've been looking at northern parts this time, perhaps around Morocco - Senegal - Ethiopia route but hopefully I can include some more traditional safari en route as well, perhaps to fly in to Morocco and fly back from somewhere in central.

Sounds like we would get along well with your son for travel plans :)

I don't know much about Amboseli NP but being next to the Lake Amboseli does sound promising, water is always good. Maasari Mara in Kenya is amazing for sun rises but I wouldn't rank it top on my list for animals -- plenty of various big cats though.

Rwanda absolutely! Amazing place! We did gorilla tracking on Uganda's side but both countries are high on our list. Gorilla tracking is among the best things one can do in Africa, just like walking safaris.

South Luangwa, yes! If you can drop on the Zimbabwe side, consider it. South Luangwa is great for walking safaris, absolute must if you're around. Zebras running around, giraffes looking over the trees at you, love it!

I assume you are leaving Botswana out for a reason. It's a great, premium destination and the delta provides amazing wet vs dry season differences. Chobe NP is also worth visiting there, a driving distance from Victoria Falls and nice variety of both sand and river. Always a safe bet.

Overall I would look into trying to get different type of nature and scenery, both sand and water. That will give you better variety of animals and you may also want to look if particular national park is known for high population of certain animals, for example Chobe was our best elephant destination. Also places that have less tourism will have less people, high season in Kenya and there are tens of vehicles around every major sight -- gets pretty annoying quickly. In Zimbabwe we almost had the park to ourselves. We prefer dry season or just before wet season but the seasons do give you variety and the scenery can be totally different.

One does need to visit Kigali Genocide Memorial but overall there's very little need to stay or visit any of the bigger cities. Focus on nature.

We've typically travelled "on our own", in Namibia we rent a car and drove around ourselves (fancy a flat tire in Etosha? :), always book a car with two spare tires. Usually we've booked the connecting flights between countries ourselves and used agencies for accommodation deals and local transfers. Natural World Safaris (https://www.naturalworldsafaris.com) and Africa Odyssey (https://www.africaodyssey.com) have worked great and they've got great web sites and guides to look at even if you don't book anything through them. Most countries have pretty good e-visa services if one is required, some countries like Mozambique are a bit more difficult. Overall travelling around Africa is pretty easy, don't have too tight schedule or connections. Kenya Airways is known for cancellations and delays, I would always have a plan B with them.

What comes to the countries we've noticed to prefer the less developed ones such as Rwanda, Uganda and Malawi. Local people seem to be more sincere there although all places have had amazing staff. Kids there are amazing, one doesn't see that kind of open curiosity in western world any more -- imagine a small kid trying your skin to see why it's so white..
In countries with more developed tourism such as Kenya and Tanzania there's quite a big cap between the tourists and locals, some locals threw stones at our jeep in Kenya that was pretty weird. (We try to avoid too fancy places anyway) We try to be super eco-sensitive around there but for example in Kenya there was worrying amount of trash around.

I hope this gives some idea, happy to answer any questions.
 
By the way, Petri, we are headed to St. Petersburg next April, with a stop in Helsinki, and a possible trip over to Tallinn.
 
By the way, Petri, we are headed to St. Petersburg next April, with a stop in Helsinki, and a possible trip over to Tallinn.

We visit St. Petersburg last autumn for the first time despite it being so nearby. Amazing city with so much history, great restaurants. I didn't even know that it has so many canals and is called the Venice of North. We'll definitely want to go there again.

Drop me a PM if you want any tips for Helsinki, cafes, restaurants, or something. https://designdistrict.fi/en/ is good to check if you have more time here and don't want to visit only churches and statues :) Tallinn has beautiful old town, we don't have that here and it's definitely worth at least a day trip.

Helsinki archipelago is "our thing" but April might be a bit cold for that, and it's a bit difficult to enjoy without actually living here. There are some tourist cruises around but I'd check for the ferries so that one could take a trip somewhere, walk around and come back.. Former military island, Isosaari, was just opened this year and there's a ferry that goes there.
Sveaborg, http://www.suomenlinna.fi/en/ is a must.
 
Thanks, pascaleschmidt. Helpful to know you have not only had a good experience with Abercrombie, but also have continued to use them.
 
We visit St. Petersburg last autumn for the first time despite it being so nearby. Amazing city with so much history, great restaurants. I didn't even know that it has so many canals and is called the Venice of North. We'll definitely want to go there again.

Drop me a PM if you want any tips for Helsinki, cafes, restaurants, or something. https://designdistrict.fi/en/ is good to check if you have more time here and don't want to visit only churches and statues :) Tallinn has beautiful old town, we don't have that here and it's definitely worth at least a day trip.



Helsinki archipelago is "our thing" but April might be a bit cold for that, and it's a bit difficult to enjoy without actually living here. There are some tourist cruises around but I'd check for the ferries so that one could take a trip somewhere, walk around and come back.. Former military island, Isosaari, was just opened this year and there's a ferry that goes there.
Sveaborg, http://www.suomenlinna.fi/en/ is a must.

We sort of interrupted the Helsinki, St. Petersburg planning to get the ball rolling on the Africa trip. Thanks for all the tips. Will plan to PM you. Still trying to figure out how to split up the trip. We arrive in St. Petersburg, and depart from Helsinki. Probably not the "perfect" timing weather-wise, but it just means bringing some layers. Have to be back before sailing season begins at home. ;)
 
Here's something to get you to the mood:


Spb has a lot more to see for sure, Helsinki and Tallinn don't really have that many sights so a few days will be plenty. Both are great for just strolling around, eating well and having coffee somewhere. Helsinki probably has more exhibitions around (Ateneum, Kiaska, Design Museum is also worth a visit). Tallinn is cheaper so a lot of Finns go there for short trips to eat well.
 
We have taken our children (two boys- now adults) five times to Africa- Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa. We have always made all of our own reservations direct with the game lodges, hotels and safari outfitters. We have had very good success and have managed to find many wonderful off the beaten track places where Abercrombie and the other tourist operators do not frequent. Then there is not so many Rovers and Land Cruisers racing to see the latest kill and so on. Our Sundowners and Safari brunches are always by ourselves with our trackers and guides. Abercrombie is one of the best. Wilderness-Safaris is another good company if you want to avoid doing all of the bookings yourselves.
 
Singita has also very nice places, similar to Wilderness. In some non-mainstream locations one shouldn't also be afraid of private parks. They'll have plenty of animals around as well and more privacy than the national parks. We had a nice moment in Zimbabwe in one of the large private parks with a black rhino running towards the land rover .. that wouldn't start :) One of those moments when you forget to take a photo but will remember the view forever.

I was just looking if we should escape xmas and NY somewhere. Morocco has some pretty good flights but it's a bit chilly that time of year and one may not be able to visit the mountain locations. But it looks a good time to visit Ethiopia. It's one of the oldest countries in the world and has never been coloniased apart briefly during WW II by the Italians -- that brought Italian food and espresso machines to the country. It's safe and has pretty low unemployment. It has some pretty interesting natural sights such as Danakil Depression, the hottest place on Earth and one of the lowest as well. Salt lakes, volcanoes, hot springs, lava lakes..
 
We have taken our children (two boys- now adults) five times to Africa- Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa. We have always made all of our own reservations direct with the game lodges, hotels and safari outfitters. We have had very good success and have managed to find many wonderful off the beaten track places where Abercrombie and the other tourist operators do not frequent. Then there is not so many Rovers and Land Cruisers racing to see the latest kill and so on. Our Sundowners and Safari brunches are always by ourselves with our trackers and guides. Abercrombie is one of the best. Wilderness-Safaris is another good company if you want to avoid doing all of the bookings yourselves.

We have always made our own arrangements, and our son, who works for IFAW, spends a lot of time in Africa, but I think we are feeling that,
for our first journey there, we may let someone else do the arranging. Appreciate your input, especially as "off the beaten path" travelers ourselves.
 
Singita has also very nice places, similar to Wilderness. In some non-mainstream locations one shouldn't also be afraid of private parks. They'll have plenty of animals around as well and more privacy than the national parks. We had a nice moment in Zimbabwe in one of the large private parks with a black rhino running towards the land rover .. that wouldn't start :) One of those moments when you forget to take a photo but will remember the view forever.

I was just looking if we should escape xmas and NY somewhere. Morocco has some pretty good flights but it's a bit chilly that time of year and one may not be able to visit the mountain locations. But it looks a good time to visit Ethiopia. It's one of the oldest countries in the world and has never been coloniased apart briefly during WW II by the Italians -- that brought Italian food and espresso machines to the country. It's safe and has pretty low unemployment. It has some pretty interesting natural sights such as Danakil Depression, the hottest place on Earth and one of the lowest as well. Salt lakes, volcanoes, hot springs, lava lakes..

That sure sounds interesting, on many levels.
 
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