Booking a SAFARI abroad

[Codner pharmaceuticals]

Pay as much as you can! We went to Cotters on our honeymoon. Just the 2 of you in an open land rover with a driver and guide and cool box full of beer. We saw others out there who were being driven around in closed Suzuki vans with 20 Germans...

 

[Safeway]

I am flying out there on my honeymoon a week Saturday (14th) for two weeks. We package booked everything (because I couldn't be bothered with the potential hassle of booking stuff off our own backs). We are doing a 2 night/3 day safari in Tsavo (where I have just found out there is no wildlife ) and will then be all-inclusiving it amongst a load of fat Brits.

All together it is costing £4k

Four grand? Ouch! You're not staying at the Bamburi Beach hotel are you?

We're looking at doing Tsavo East/West and Amboseli. A lot of the reviews on Trip Advisor are really positive, but it sounds like it depends on how good your guide is at finding the animals.

Really want to do a hot air balloon ride as well, but they're 300 quid EACH for an HOUR.

 

[KZNSeagull]

I concur with this, we went a couple of years ago and stayed in Samburu, Naivasha and the Mara. It's absolutely worth paying as much as you can as you definitely get what you pay for. £700 for 2 for a 3 night safari is peanuts, unfortunately.

Indeed. I dunno about Kenya, but to give you some idea, a 2 night stay in one of the top lodges in South Africa where me and the Mrs went on our honeymoon 16 years ago, is +- 600 quid per person per night!! Think it cost us about 100 quid on honeymoon and it was well worth it, but at those prices we will not be going back again for a while!!

 

[sten_super]

Four grand? Ouch! You're not staying at the Bamburi Beach hotel are you?

We're looking at doing Tsavo East/West and Amboseli. A lot of the reviews on Trip Advisor are really positive, but it sounds like it depends on how good your guide is at finding the animals.

Really want to do a hot air balloon ride as well, but they're 300 quid EACH for an HOUR.

No not at the Bamburi.

We have 3 nights at Pinewood Village Beach Resort, deluxe room half board
Pinewood Village Beach Resort Hotel Reviews and Photos, Ukunda, Kenya - TripAdvisor
Then a 3 day/2 night safari based at Voyager Ziwani, in Tsavo West
Voyager Ziwani, Tsavo West Hotel Reviews and Photos, Tsavo National Park West, Kenya - TripAdvisor
Then 9 nights at Voyager Beach Resort, superior sea facing room all inclusive
Voyager Beach Resort Reviews and Photos, Mombasa, Kenya - TripAdvisor

We are definitely paying a little over the odds due to booking a package through a travel agent (Hayes & Jarvis) but to be honest I'd rather this than the hassle/stress of of having to sort out our own connections, etc.

 

[Springal]

We did a 1 day trip in South Africa during the world cup, saved about £60 each by booking it through our hotel out there, INCLUDING 60 min transfer from our hotel to the park and back. Was bloody great experience. Make sure you are in small trucks, no bigger than 9 seaters say and you defo want an open sided jeep that can go anywhere.

Alot of the parks have trackers on the animals so you should be pretty safe all year round to see 'something.'

 

[Philcounty]

Tsavo East and West is a fun ride from Mombassa, and is v pretty in places, but doesn't have much wildlife.
.

Although the Mara definitely has a larger density of animals, I disagree about Tsavo not having much wildlife. We saw everything apart from Leopard, we encountered hundreds of elephants, a couple of lion prides, two amazing Cheetah encounters and even were very lucky to bump into a pack of Wild Dogs and then there were all of the other game like buffalo, impala, ostrich etc. I think the main difference between Tsavo and the Mara is the terrain, the Mara has large plains so you see vast numbers whereas Tsavo has denser vegetation so you tend to see animals in clearings or at waterholes. We did a Tsavo East, West and Amboseli safari which does work out cheaper than travelling to the Mara and Amboseli is also excellent with large open plains and more of a Mara feel (you also have the bonus of Kilimanjaro in the background at Amboselli).

I would definitely recommend going with a local safari company rather than a uk based package company. We went with http://www.safarihitskenya.com/ (other local companies are reviewed on trip advisor if you look at Mombasa attractions) and had a vehicle to ourselves whereas First Choice customers at our hotel did a shorter safari in a bus with a whole load of other people and paid more for the privilege.

 

[Everest]

Go to Croydon. Just as reallistic.

 

[Driver8]

I went to Kenya in Jan and did three days in Tsavo and Tiata Hills and we had a great time. We booked the safari through Neilson but you could save money going direct to www.elephanttrailsafaris.com - or you could contact the guide directly jobkinyanjui@yahoo.com as he suggested we do that if we went back.

Job was very knowledgeable and a good guide.