Hi Jalen,
I had to watch the Vikings game but I am back! I am sure a person from Michigan was happy to see the Pack go down, especially after the Hail Mary against the Lions a few weeks ago…
I don’t recommend taking a group tour to Africa unless the group is a private one put together for you and friends/family. The biggest reason is that I think the experience and value you receive by going on a tailor made trip (one you put together yourself or put together with the help of an independent agent) is a far superior safari experience. Also, the least expensive way to go on an upscale safari is plan a tailor made trip. Tailor made simply means you choose the dates & lodges and are the only person/couple on your exact itinerary. You simply fly on the various airlines that connect the places you want to go and book what is often called a game-drive package at the safari lodges. You still have full assistance at all airports, private transfers to hotels, etc. The high end safari industry is designed to be most cost effective for a private traveler on a tailor made trip. More on this below.
For a flight example, this airline
http://www.fedair.com/ has multiple flights per day from the Jo’bur airport to the various lodes in the Kruger private reserves. This airline is the most convenient way to fly to the Timbavati (Tanda Tula is a lodge there), Thornybush (Royal Malewane is here), Manyeleti (Tintswalo is here) and western part of the Sabi Sands (Dulini, Singita, etc). Fedair also services the Madikwe game reserve which combines well with the Kruger for a second safari experience. Fedair has even more destinations! All you do is pay what is called a seat-rate which means if you and your travel companion are the only people on the plane they probably lose money but they make a lot if it is full. You pay roughly USD $300 per flight (each flight is different in cost). There are more airlines or at least branded flights, that can be used to get to various lodges on seat rates. Angel Gabriel and the Malatu express come to mind.
You can also fly on South African Airways (or Airlink) from Jo’burg to either Nelspruit/MQP, Hoedspruit/HDS, or Skukuza/SZK. Together, these three airports service almost the entire Kruger ecosystem. Once you land you transfer by road roughly 10-120 minutes to a lodge. There are also small planes that fly from MQP to the lodes to save time. The Skukuza airport is less than 15 minutes by road from lodges that A&K and Tauck (for example) use on their 2016 tour series (I am not recommending these tours). There are non-stop flights each day from each of these airports to Cape Town so you can go on safari and then Cape Town or the other way.
In Kenya, two airlines called Safari Link and Air Kenya (not Kenya Airways) connects all the major wildlife areas and offer seat rates as well. Virtually all the upscale safari lodges in Kenya have an airstrip with an hour or less of their property serviced by these airlines. There are exceptions of course.
I mentioned “game-drive package” above. Here is what I mean: The website price listed for the vast majority of 4 and 5 star safari lodges assumes you arrive with one other person and share a room with that person. It also assumes you share a land rover/land cruiser with up to 6 total guests per vehicle. I don’t know any upscale lodges that put 8 on a vehicle and I know a few that put only four (MalaMala Rattrays comes to mind). Typically, you will have the same guide and same fellow guests on your land rover/land cruiser at each safari lodge. The good thing is, if you don’t like them you never see them again when you leave that lodge! That is not the case with the tour group where the loud talker, the bragger, and the drunk will be with you for your entire holiday!
So, you will still be on a group tour if you book a tailor made trip. You simply won’t have to travel with the same 20 people on the entire trip; the group will change every few days. You meet new fellow-guests at each lodge.
I have inspected most of the 2016 Tauck, A&K, and Micato tours. With no exception from what I have seen so far, you can go to the same lodges and hotels at the same time of year on a tailor made trip for less money. In other words, traveling privately is cheaper than going in a group on the exact same trip! I suspect this is because you are paying for a superfluous tour escort (the lodge managers fill this role when you travel privately) and also paying for the profits and distribution costs of the group tour operators. You are sometimes also paying a brand premium as well. Micato charges the largest brand premium from what I have looked at for 2016. If you are seriously considering a Micato trip I STRONGLY encourage you to get a quote for the same trip from an INDEPENDENT safari tour operator here in the US for a comparison before you put down deposit. Most likely, the independent agent will not recommend the larger (sometimes massive) properties that Micato uses on their tours and the independent agent will encourage you to stay at smaller, more intimate properties with a better sense of place.
In Cape Town, if you want to tour in a group vs. privately, then companies like Hylton Ross, Ilios and Wilderness Touring Cape (and many more) offer day tours in small groups. Again, like the safari lodges, if you don’t like the people on your day tour you say goodbye and never see them again after about 4pm. I recommend doing private touring with a guide selected by your agent (almost all guides are independent contractors of the aforementioned tour companies) for maximum social compatibility with you and your travel partner.
There are plenty of companies in the US that contract directly with almost all the upscale safari lodges in East and Southern Africa and can put this trip together for you for less than a group tour and the same or less than booking directly with the lodges (where possible). These companies are also tour operators and would be legally the same type of entity; they simply choose to offer tailor made trips instead of group trips.
The Sabi Sands have been mentioned above. I have said many times on many forums that the private reserves in the Sand River Valley in the Sabi Sands offer the best odds of seeing the big five and many other species on any given day in Southern Africa. I have been to the Sabi Sands many times in every season and it always “delivers”. I feel the same way about the Masai Mara in Kenya for East Africa. If you must travel in May, I suggest avoiding East Africa because of the short rainy season. South Africa or Botswana would be stronger May options. If you go in June, you could get excellent shoulder season rates in Kenya and perhaps catch the migrations (not crossings) moving up into the Masai Mara in the far north of the Serengeti. South Africa and Botswana are good in June and June is also a strong shoulder for Zambia.
I hope this helps. Shout if you have more questions!
Craig Beal – owner – Travel Beyond