Originally Posted by
threepointkid
Thank you again for your input. I think what I was not clear enough about was that I have already experienced a more traditional safari setting once at RockFig in the Timbavati and Londolozi in the Sabi Sands. Next summer I will be visiting Silvan and Londolozi in the Sabi Sands, so the purpose of Tswalu is to go after a different landscape and different set of animals. It just so happens to be in SA. Magashi in Rwanda is intriguing, but really the uniqueness of Tswalu is what wants me to pair it up with Rwanda, rather than doing say Tswalu + somewhere else in SA in 2026 and then waiting another year or two to do Rwanda. I think based on what I've read in the thread above that there are mixed feelings on the pairing of destinations requiring commercial flights and there certainly is the risk of missing a flight or experiencing delays, but to experience two spectacular destinations like this, I think that I am willing to bite that bullet to be able to do so. I appreciate everyone's feedback!
We're going to the Rift Valley next year to visit multiple camps in both Kenya and Tanzania. Staying close to 3 weeks. There is one part I am worried about. We will need to fly two different small shared charter aircraft. One from the Mara North Conservancy to the Kenya/Tanzania border and then manually get all our stuff across the border, clearing immigration and customs at the same time, and then take a second small shared charter flight to an airstrip in the SE corner of the Serengeti. I like to over plan everything when it comes to flights and I don't have the highest opinion of the really small airlines/charter operations. We've been burned by aircraft suspiciously hours late. Never a now-show, but that is my nightmare scenario.
But it will end up being 17 days in camps all over both the Mara and the Serengeti. Hopefully spectacular days/nights.