anyone gone on safari?

Z

zed

Legend
As in africa, judging by the similar threads topics that popped up, this might be confusing Im not talking about the browser, (also a non hunting safari)
If so any tips?
I and my gf are gonna go in about 2 months but havent booked anything yet, From what I've gleamed the serengeti is the best place in the world, but if anyone has any contradictory info, I'm all ears
what I'm wanting
~a week
~see all the major animals
~$5000 US + airfares extra so maybe ~10,000

afterward I'm planning to go down to SA overland through malawi,zimb etc so doesnt have to start & stop at the same place

cheers zed
 
I haven't been to the Serengeti, but I wasn't too far away in Kenya. I went around 5 years ago and visited Masai Mara, Samburu, and a lake with a lot of Flamingos and Rhinos nearby. We saw lions, elephants, cheetahs, leopards, giraffes, etc. I think we saw the leopards at Samburu. We also saw wild dogs which is apparently uncommon as our guide was very excited. They had just finished a hunt. I think that was Samburu too, but my memory may be off.

I didn't have a cell phone with me, but was surprised the guides were able to use their phones pretty much everywhere.

You'll have an awesome time.
 
I spent a few nights in a the major park in South Africa, forget the name too lazy to google, but it was the major public one.
Amazing experience, crappy food.
We stayed in the public camps, accom was actually ok, but the food was very poor :(

saw all sorts of animals, discovered I'm into bird watching/spotting, and African Elephants are HUGE, and scary!
had quite an interesting and very memorable experience with a rouge Male. We wer ein a large 4x4/SUV, and if it wanted to take us out, we wouldn't have stood a chance.
 
My old co-worker went to Rwanda in the 1990s and all he got was a bumpy ride to the nearest border while out watching the wildlife (luckily). Needless to say they didn't go back to pick up their luggage at the hotel.
 
3dcgi said:
I haven't been to the Serengeti, but I wasn't too far away in Kenya. I went around 5 years ago and visited Masai Mara, Samburu, and a lake with a lot of Flamingos and Rhinos nearby. We saw lions, elephants, cheetahs, leopards, giraffes, etc. I think we saw the leopards at Samburu. We also saw wild dogs which is apparently uncommon as our guide was very excited. They had just finished a hunt. I think that was Samburu too, but my memory may be off.

I didn't have a cell phone with me, but was surprised the guides were able to use their phones pretty much everywhere.

You'll have an awesome time.
Click to expand...
Nice one, Yeah like I always do, I'll be getting a local sim card in each country, man I remember the old days of travelling without one, I dont think I could go back.

vjPiedPiper said:
I spent a few nights in a the major park in South Africa, forget the name too lazy to google, but it was the major public one.
Amazing experience, crappy food.
We stayed in the public camps, accom was actually ok, but the food was very poor :(

saw all sorts of animals, discovered I'm into bird watching/spotting, and African Elephants are HUGE, and scary!
had quite an interesting and very memorable experience with a rouge Male. We wer ein a large 4x4/SUV, and if it wanted to take us out, we wouldn't have stood a chance.
Click to expand...
Gotta watch out for the hippos they're the most dangerous animal in africa apparently, I'm not expecting the food to be great, though I'll eat anything, I've had in the past dogs brains, rats, raw snake head etc

Pressure said:
My old co-worker went to Rwanda in the 1990s and all he got was a bumpy ride to the nearest border while out watching the wildlife (luckily). Needless to say they didn't go back to pick up their luggage at the hotel.
Click to expand...
yeah I know someone who worked in the dutch embassy in rwanda then.

Booked my trip yesterday, 23 days safari, tanzania, kenya, uganda, rwanda. Should see all the main animals, most looking forward to the gorillas, hopefully we can get in close. Also checking out any Idi Amin history.
 
havent got my plane ticket yet, but just checked, qatar airlines are doing very good deals at present, only a 27 hour flight and at $400 cheaper than the next cheapest. Im on this tomorrow/ or monday (stopover in qatar) 27hrs!!! until now I was expecting 32-35hrs fight there as thats all the top hits, qatar airlines (*) was out of my pricerange. praise allah for the qatar 'crisis' (which will prolly be a non event on my return flight)

(*) just hope they are generous with their drinks
 
We stayed on a private reserve in South Africa for our honeymoon about 10yrs ago. Its still several 10's of sq km. The lodge we stayed in was pretty luxurious.

In the 4 days that we're that part of our holiday it gave us the best chance of seeing the 'big 5' over going to the Kruger. The guides will radio to each other where interesting stuff might be. It's still a lot of driving around seeing nothing but warthogs and anthills.

It's still very surprising how easy it is for massive animals like elephants to hide. It's quite a shock round a corner and have a herd stood quietly munching away on stuff. We had a baby one have a charge towards our jeep and then chicken out. :)

We borrowed a 600mm zoom lens, which was able to get some good photos, but the more range the better for shots really. Gorillapod? mini tripods or similar are useful to perch your camera on the side of a stopped jeep.
 
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