Is it possible to do some sightseeing, short safari, and the like in Kenya/Tanzania on the cheap - say <$50 day?

What have you been able to do on the budget side? Comfort I'm not particularly concerned with.

Wow! You need to visit the Lonely Planet "thorntree" discussion forum. Lots there for East Africa on the cheap. I am not a good person to ask. My trip to Kenya was the most expensive trip of my life (and it wasn't very expensive, compared to numbers I see thrown around on other forums of flyertalk) but I was paying for the services of an internationally known expert on birds of prey and probably the best damn "local" bird guide I've ever encountered in any country. Well worth the money. If you are a generalist, I'm going to tell you flat out -- the animals do not hide from you in the Mara, and the guides are all in touch on walky talkies to tell where there are cute lion cubs, cheetahs with babies, hunting leopards, etc. So if you don't care about comfort, you could probably go with the low bid. You'll see the same stuff, you just might not sleep in the same tents or drink in the same bars.

From what I've found so far I doubt it although if you found public transportation and stayed at some of the public campsites you might be close to $50/day if you gave up eating. Many parks have an entrance fee of $20-50/day plus guide fees. What I've found is most budget safaris in Kenya will run min of $80/day and Tanzania $100/day. If you exclude safari/park entrance fees you certainly can have a great time for $50/day. Here's a couple links to check:

http://www.lets-go-travel.net/ look under the hotel tab

http://www.nairobibackpackers.com/html/aadventures.html have gotten good reviews at LP Thorntree boards

What I'm hoping to do is to take a package safari that will allow me to stop in the middle at a park like the Masai Mara or Serengeti and stay at a budget tented camp/banda for a few days and then pick up an incoming group for the return. Many of these camps are outside the park and you can avoid daily park fees and arrange you own guided walks.

If you are interested in more information you can PM me.

I'm seriously researching budget African safari/travel but with a longer timeframe than you. I'm looking at various packages from www.africantrails.co.uk but I want to go for at least a couple months and possibly even the 43 week Trans Africa. I have no problem 'roughing' it for a long time.

I think you'll have a very difficult time in that region doing what you want for under $50/day all costs included especially with the US Dollar in the toilet right now. For a short term trip I haven't seen too much under $100/day.

I went on a low budget trip to East Africa last spring, including Kenya (trekking on Mt. Kenya) and a 4 day safari in Tanzania. We had to pick between Masai Mara and Seregneti area -- went with the latter and really lucked out as we timed it just right for the migration. Went to Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti National Park, and Lake Manyara. Our actual cost for the safari was about $150-200/pp/day including guide, park fees, and staying at lodges inside the park (2 nights) and one cheapie motel near Lake Manyara.

Going in low season you could probably get closer to $100/day if you have a group of people, shop around and bargain with the tour companies, and camp or stay in cheap inns outside the park borders. But I'd agree that the park fees alone will kill your budget and you will have really hard time around $50/day.

For me, it was well worth the extra money to get inside Serengeti and Ngorongoro and have an experienced guide with a real live landrover, at least for a couple of days. (We weren't even allowed to get out of the car in Serengeti except at the tourist centers -- apparently a tourist had been attacked by lions.) Except for the gorillas in Rwanda, it was the most money we spent anywhere and it was worth every penny. If I hadn't been sick, we would have saved money camping, which would have been fine except for the rain. We didn't get to do a walking safari in Tanzania but it was definitely a fun experience later on in the trip, and in retrospect, maybe we could have traded the day in Lake Manyara for a day of walking safari and saved a little money.

PS bring your own binoculars -- worth the money and the weight!

there are four kinds of safaris.

You can do a straight camping safari. You can do a safari on a giant truck or bus like vehicle. You can do a lodge type safari or you can do the kind where you are in fancy tents (many with regular private bathrooms attached).

the first two are pretty cheap. the third can run from about $1,500 up to who knows where for 8 days, depending on how many people who go with (and not including air fare)

Does anyone have camping safari experiences to share?

What do you want to know about camping safaris? I've done it in Kenya and Tanzania. Neither are cheap but it's cheaper in Kenya (but the roads are worse). It's wasn't that much more money to stay in a lodge. There weren't really camping safaris in Uganda but I saw some cheap trips organized at hostels.

Here is what I paid in Sept 2006 (not including tips for the driver, guide and cook):
A 3 day safari to Amboseli - 19,000 Schillings or about $280
a 4 day safari to Masai Mara and Lake Nakuru - $575

My 2006 Lonely Planet says that budget safaris in Kenya should cost $65-$80 per person per day. $85-$100 in Tanzania.

Saw a lot of wildlife. The food was good. Bring your own water. Very basic toilet set up. A cold water shower if you were lucky. I would sleep in a tent or banda. I was in a van where the roof popped up (for photos) with other people also on safari. If you want a private safari its going to cost more.

I paid a lot more for my safari in Tanzania to Ngorongoro & Serengeti but this was a private safari. 4 day is like $910 and 5 day was $1100.

I booked the safaris when I got there because I had the time to shop around. It's much more expensive if you book it from home.

Due to political violence, safari business is in collapse in Kenya right now. If you just show up, you will find all sorts of on-the-spot deals. (Obviously, that doesn't apply to park entrance fees.)

For the same reason, you won't find bargains in Tanzania, to which the trade has migrated.

What do you want to know about camping safaris?

Well, I found this 11-day tour (http://www.go2africa.com/southern-adventure-south) from VFA to JNB for under $500. I've only camped in the US and not since the early-90s. I'm wondering what camping conditions are like in Africa. I don't know if my "old" bones could take it or not.

What do you want to know about camping safaris? I've done it in Kenya and Tanzania. Neither are cheap but it's cheaper in Kenya (but the roads are worse). It's wasn't that much more money to stay in a lodge. There weren't really camping safaris in Uganda but I saw some cheap trips organized at hostels.

Here is what I paid in Sept 2006 (not including tips for the driver, guide and cook):
A 3 day safari to Amboseli - 19,000 Schillings or about $280
a 4 day safari to Masai Mara and Lake Nakuru - $575

My 2006 Lonely Planet says that budget safaris in Kenya should cost $65-$80 per person per day. $85-$100 in Tanzania.

Saw a lot of wildlife. The food was good. Bring your own water. Very basic toilet set up. A cold water shower if you were lucky. I would sleep in a tent or banda. I was in a van where the roof popped up (for photos) with other people also on safari. If you want a private safari its going to cost more.

I paid a lot more for my safari in Tanzania to Ngorongoro & Serengeti but this was a private safari. 4 day is like $910 and 5 day was $1100.

I booked the safaris when I got there because I had the time to shop around. It's much more expensive if you book it from home.

Actually, booking ahead is NOT much more expensive. We went to Kenya and Tanz (Ngorongoro, serengeti) on a private safari staying at luxury camps (Little Governors, Migration, Tortilis, etc) for $250 per day. this was during shoulder season (November) this is only little more than your 5 day safari at $210 per day. we booked from US, but with a Tanz company.
but park fees have gone up a lot now, especially in Tanz.
I agree with previous poster that tourism collapsed in Kenya. Camps are empty and you should be able to get some great deals.

Well, I found this 11-day tour (http://www.go2africa.com/southern-adventure-south) from VFA to JNB for under $500. I've only camped in the US and not since the early-90s. I'm wondering what camping conditions are like in Africa. I don't know if my "old" bones could take it or not.

It shouldn't be too bad. Do you like camping in general? In the camping safaris sometimes its a sleeping bag in a tent, sometimes a sleeping bag in a banda and sometimes a small cot/thin bed in a bigger tent.

That itinerary looks good. Maybe you can email them and ask what the sleeping conditions are like.co

There's a great option about three hours from Nairobi, Kenya called "the Ark." It's built to look like Noah's ark, and it's in the middle of a huge game reserve. There's a salt lick and watering hole just outside the ark (they supplement the natural salt) so there's always wildlife aplenty.

There's an upper deck where you can observe, but it gets chilly out there at night. The lower decks have a huge glass wall where you can watch from the comfort of a couch. The rooms are all wired with a buzzer (That you can turn on or off), that can alert you to specific animal sightings. It was something like 1 buzz = elephant, 2 = rhino, 3 = zebra, 4 = hippo, 5 = lion.

I was there in July of 2003, and it got down into the low 50's at night (and the windows have bars and screens, but don't really close). They brought each guest a hot water bottle, and I slept like a baby (when I finally decided I'd seen enough).

On the lowest deck, there is a room you can go into that has several openings for taking pictures. They're just holes in the wall with no glass. Sometime around midnight, I was sitting on a couch, wrapped in a blanket and drifting in and out of consciousness. I awoke to the sight of something crawling in through one of the photography holes. I thought it was one of the bobcat-looking creatures the kitchen staff had fed scraps to during dinner (think Cujo meets Garfield). I jumped up and quickly closed the door, fearing we were about to experience the Kenyan version of the Mississippi Squirrel Revival - a wild cat loose amongst us. I guess I looked a bit panicked rising so quickly from my sleepy state. One of the hotel staff began laughing hysterically at me, because he knew it was just a genet cat. He laughed so hard that some of the animals we had been observing decided it was time to move on (they encourage no talking above a whisper on the inside observation levels and no talking at all on the outside observation level). That was my cue to sneak off to bed.

The Ark was quite reasonable for the experience. We did, however, travel at a time when concern over terrorist activity in the area had recently caused BA to suspend flights to Kenya. Our trip had been planned for about a year, but we were glad that BA lifted their suspension several days before we were to leave for Kenya.

Be sure to leave some extra time to eat at the Carnivore restaurant near the airport in Nairobi!

Generally speaking, the campgrounds and facilities in Southern Africa (S. Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia) are of very high quality. Hot showers and flush toilets are common. Try to stick w/ privately owned camps -- the public sites are sometimes inferior.

There is a historical reason: during apartheid South Africans (and Rhodesians) were limited in travel opportunities so they liked to take camping vacations. A network of private campgrounds grew up to serve them, usually offering much greater comfort and service than government-run facilities. (Although the national parks in S. Africa and Namibia are just fine.)

The campgrounds in E. Africa tend to be either very luxurious, i.e, very expensive, or very basic.

I did a trip in Jan to Uganda and Rwanda to see gorillas. I booked with a Ugandan company and the cost was about 60% what a US or UK travel agency was charging for the same trip. I found the agency on line. Checked it out in Brandt and also with the ministry for tourism in Uganda. I would imagine there are local agencies in Kenya, too. You might give that a try.

Thanks for your input, experiences and suggestions. ^