Africa

Baggsy

Baggsy

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Going to do a couple of safaris in Africa.
Should be interesting in Kenya and Tanzania.
Anyone been yet? It’s good to get around and see other people, places and cultures. Though, this one, like Galapagos, is more for the wildlife.
 
Baggsy said:
Going to do a couple of safaris in Africa.
Should be interesting in Kenya and Tanzania.
Anyone been yet? It’s good to get around and see other people, places and cultures. Though, this one, like Galapagos, is more for the wildlife.
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Yep I did a week back in '18-'19. We did a Lake..the name escapes me currently, then Serengeti and then Ngorongoro Crater.



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But the total trip started off in Victoria Falls-Zimbabwe, hit Tanzania then ended in the Seychelles.

Would recommend all 3. If you need general itinerary stuff, booking ideas or queries feel free to ask.
 
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We’re doing two weeks and the itinerary is all set.
I think it’s with National Geographic.
Wife seems worried about pickpockets and robberies. I’m not sure where she got that from.
 
Yup, a couple of months ago, done Jo-burg, capetown, spent a couple of days in Kruger National Park.

Take your wife's good advice and not be out at night time. You'll know why when you get there
 
Like anywhere on the planet, there's parts of town you simply stay away from when you`re not a local.

I'm sure it happens, but more likely you'll get get an attempted scam. "buy this rare jade elephant my son carved, yours for $50" Guy bought it from another shop a few hrs away for 10% of that for sure.

Overall the people in all the countries we visited were extremely nice and made us feel safe.
 
ToSlow said:
Yup, a couple of months ago, done Jo-burg, capetown, spent a couple of days in Kruger National Park.

Take your wife's good advice and not be out at night time. You'll know why when you get there
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A tip from a friend who worked in some chancy countries. People going into iffy areas put on trash clothing to avoid standing out but still got mugged. They forgot about their nice shoes.
 
A buddy took his family on a safafi. For weeks before he had the kids checking their shoes for scorpions before putting them just to get in the habit.
 
I went to Kenya for three weeks almost 20 years ago. It was awesome. You can't have enough camera if you want pictures. Don't bother taking pictures of animals without a long lens as you end up with thousands of where's waldo where you try to remember why you took the picture. If you don't want to carry a big lens, enjoy the moment and let the pictures live in your memory. I was shooting mostly with 400mm on a crop body and I had one of the smaller setups of people with real cameras. Lots of P&S cameras but the pictures of animals from them are unusable.

I spent some time at Nakuru, Maasai Mara, Amboseli (45C+ in the shade), Samburu, drive through Tsavo, diving at Watamu, climb mount Kenya, a tea plantation (breathtaking green glow off the plants), Sheldrick wildlife nursery (awesome), and some normal tourist crap like visiting markets and villages.

@Evoex Flamingos in lake? If so, probably Nakuru.
 
Africa is the most beautiful place i've ever been, and i've seen a lot of the world. it will not disappoint
 
I just got back from both Tanzania and Kenya in June. Serengeti National Park for 4 nights with One Nature in Tanzania and 4 nights in Maasai Mara with Angama in Kenya. I can't say enough about the experience, I've run out of superlatives. We saw every safari animal you can name, and most of them right up close with babies. We brought my boys 13 and 14 and felt safe the entire time. We spent time in Arusha and Nairobi and also felt safe. Obviously be careful with your valuables, especially in the markets, but the people are very friendly. Unfortunately now I can never go to a zoo again!
 
GreyGhost said:
I went to Kenya for three weeks almost 20 years ago. It was awesome. You can't have enough camera if you want pictures. Don't bother taking pictures of animals without a long lens as you end up with thousands of where's waldo where you try to remember why you took the picture. If you don't want to carry a big lens, enjoy the moment and let the pictures live in your memory. I was shooting mostly with 400mm on a crop body and I had one of the smaller setups of people with real cameras. Lots of P&S cameras but the pictures of animals from them are unusable.

I spent some time at Nakuru, Maasai Mara, Amboseli (45C+ in the shade), Samburu, drive through Tsavo, diving at Watamu, climb mount Kenya, a tea plantation (breathtaking green glow off the plants), Sheldrick wildlife nursery (awesome), and some normal tourist crap like visiting markets and villages.

@Evoex Flamingos in lake? If so, probably Nakuru.
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Flamingo in the crater.
 
ToSlow said:
Africa is the most beautiful place i've ever been, and i've seen a lot of the world. it will not disappoint
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People said the same thing about North America before we put skyscrapers in 😎
 
Evoex said:
People said the same thing about North America before we put skyscrapers in 😎
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Africa might not be that far behind, the south anyway.

China has started buying up lots and has started building power grids
 
China is actively involved in building power plants in Africa, with a focus on both renewable energy and traditional power sources. This includes solar, wind, hydropower, and coal-fired plants, often financed and constructed by Chinese companies.
 
There is also a kazillion dollars worth of natural resources in Africa that China would like to be part of . And Russia , and America. My niece was a missionary for three yrs , twenty twenty to twenty twenty three . She was based in Kenya , which is pretty stable ? Still got mugged twice , occupational hazard . It’s an amazing continent and I think needs to be seen before the political fronts change again.


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My former tenant was born and raised in a tiny mountain farming village in Uganda and my wife and I had the opportunity to go and meet his entire extended family and stay with them. It was a much better experience than being a traditional tourist!

We also went over to Bwindi Forest to see mountain gorillas in their natural habitat and that was more amazing than any safari I’ve ever been on. Sometimes we were close enough to touch the babies or even the silverback’s!


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We roamed around Africa for a couple of years on our bikes and during that time booked a few safaris.

Our first foray was a private game reserve in the Okavango Delta which they turned into a safari. Very lux. Cost five figures for two people for a week, but included flights out and back from Maun, the tourist base in Botswana. Seeing the Delta from an airplane is definitely part of the experience, IMO! In the park, no other safari vehicles allowed but the ones owned by the private resort, so it was a very personalized, very private experience. Two or three trips out a day, depending on your preference. Because it's private property, the routes are staggered so you do not see any other vehicles when you are out.

We did a public safari in the Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, but was still organized by a tour operator out of Arusha. No flights, so was a lot cheaper, but was A LOT of driving. Also, accommodations were not as lux as the Okavango safari. The main issue with public safaris is that all the tour operators have "cartels" which try to out-race other tour operator vehicles out of the best spots for viewing the big cats, which is what tourists pay to see. Safari vehicles from each company are in constant communications and will keep each other apprised of where the cats are, but when word gets out, it's like a free-for-all with armies of safari vehicles racing across the plains to get to the cats before they roam away. Kinda ruined the safari experience for us, IMO.

Having gotten a feel of what the safari business offered and figuring out what we liked/disliked, we opted for a self-drive at Kruger in South Africa. Our ZA friends have an old Landie that we all piled into and we shared self-catered accommodations inside the park, bringing in groceries from the local Pick'n Pay. Park fees were very cheap and total for four people for a 5 days/4 night stay, all in, was $1000, so $250 per person for the entire long weekend. Was really enjoyable going at our own pace, not sharing a safari vehicle with strangers, and Kruger provided us with a map which led us to all the hot spots to view all the animals we wanted to see. For us, we would totally do a self-drive again if we wanted to go safari in Africa.
 
Heading to Nakuru tomorrow.
 
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