Dieuwer

I am looking for mid-range safari tour operators/lodges that are best suited for solo travelers.
With "mid-range" I mean taking the plane to Sabi Sands/Kruger instead of a 9 hour van drive, and staying at lodges for around $500-600 per night. So, no budget trips but not over-the-top luxury either.

Any suggestions?

livetowander

1) Do you have a preference as to where you go for safari i.e. Eastern vs. Southern Africa? You mention Kruger so you may have already settled on South Africa.

2) What month do you plan to visit?

3) Any particular animals you'd like to see?

4) What would make you more comfortable as a solo traveler? For instance, some lodges have group meals where everyone sits at the same table and others don't, which would you prefer?

There are so many options available, the better you can describe the type of experience you seek, the better the chance you will get it.

Dieuwer

1. South Africa: Sabi Sands/Kruger
2. July (2017)
3. No particular animals I would like to see, but a decent mix would nice.
4. Group meals sounds good to me. Otherwise, I would be sitting by myself at a table.

johan rebel

Only if you choose to.

Lodges that are too big to seat all guests at one table will usually have one table per vehicle, i.e. all the guests who share a game drive vehicle also sit at the same table at mealtimes.

In my experience only a small minority of lodges allocate separate tables to each and every group/party. Even in those cases solo travelers will be joined by their guide or a member of the lodge management, unless the expressly wish to eat alone.

I've on occasion been the only guest at a lodge for periods as long as two weeks. The entire staff took turns joining me for dinner.

Although solo travelers are usually a small minority, all lodges happily cater to them. Some, especially the most expensive, do not even charge a single supplement.

Johan

Dieuwer

That is good to know.
Any suggestions for mid-range safari tour operators/lodges?

johan rebel

Lot's of choice, and personal preferences vary.

Ngala Safari Lodge might be a good choice. They will close this week for a full refurbishment, and reopen again in June. Amenities should be top notch in July. Rack rate is under US$400 at the current exchange rate, and you may well get a stay-X-pay-for-Y-nights special.

Ngala is wedged between the Timbavati and the Kruger NP proper, has a very large traversing area by private lodge standards, and good game viewing. You should pretty much see all they have to offer if you stay four nights, except perhaps some of the rarer species.

Various lodges in the Sabi Sand (of which, at the risk of repeating myself, I personally am no fan) should offer a very similar experience, and there are plenty of options in the Timbavati and the Klaserie too.

Shindzela (Timbavati) is rather basic, but they have the huge advantage of not having to share their property with anybody else. No line-ups, no standbys, no ten-minute viewing slots.

Gomo Gomo, Baobab Ridge and Nthambo (Klaserie) all share the same traversing area. None of these are really luxury lodges, but the amenities and catering are perfectly fine.

Kings Camp, Kambaku, Umlani, Simbavati (Timbavati) all offer more luxury. The farther north you go, the lesser the concentration of game. Don't expect to see large herds of anything but elephant and buffalo in the north.

As far as I'm concerned, nothing beats Pafuri, wedged between the Luvuvhu and Limpopo rivers on the Zimbabwe and Mozambique borders. Stunningly beautiful, but not really a place for those on their first (and perhaps only) safari. The area is huge, roads and tracks are few and far between, you cannot expect to have the lions and leopards lined up for you.

Johan

livetowander

I've heard good things about Garonga, but have not been there myself.
http://www.garonga.com/

In addition [moderator edit], in view of combining I'd recommend ATR for an agent, I've used them twice and have been very pleased with their listening skills and flexibility. http://www.africatravelresource.com/

johan rebel

Garonga will close March 1 - June 1 for refurbishments.

Johan

Dieuwer

What do you think of Elephants Plains Lodge? It was recommended in the other thread.
Am I correct in assuming you prefer Timbavati because it is one of the larger, continuous reserves?

johan rebel

No personal experience of Elephant Plains, but friends of mine visited a few years ago and thought it was pretty meh. They (nor I) are typical safari guests, however.

My gripe with the Sabi Sand is that it is pretty much messed up. Under the euphemism "veld managment", they've cleared the bush left and right, built dams and put waterholes on every corner. They have also been known to chuck in 600 blue wildebeest or so to make sure the lions don't go hungry or run away to the KNP.

In an environmental assessment some years ago, the Sabi Sand scored a miserable 1 out of 5. The Timbavati did a bit better at 2/5, and the Klaserie managed an almost impressive 3/5.

Now this should not really matter much to the average guest, to their inexperienced eyes the enviroment looks natural, and they will see more game than they otherwise would have. I, however, do notice, and find it more than a little annoying.

Furthermore, I'm no fan of line-'m-up game drives where deceiving guests is part of the routine, although this is not restricted to the Sabi Sand.

Johan

Dieuwer

Sounds almost like you are describing a Disney World experience (Animal Kimgdom).

Dianne_AfricaDirectUSA

Hi Dieuwer!

Certainly the Greater Kruger area of today is different than what it was like in the mid/late 1920s when it first opened the gates to tourists BUT I certainly don't think it's as contrived as Disney's Animal Kingdom at all. Yes, there are more lodges and yes, they are more jeeps but I have never felt misled by the game viewing experience and I have never have had a client felt as such either. There are definitely areas of the private reserves, for example, that I think have more lodges and thus more jeeps sharing traversing rights and this might clog up the game viewing. That bad luck could certainly taint the experience I guess. But, from my own experience, I have traveled at peak season many times and personally have never experienced that. Plus we are talking about a massive area, larger than the state of New Jersey, so the animals still move freely which makes the bush ever changing. So I'm sure that tourism has adulterated the experience but so has everything changed from a bygone era.

I think going on safari is about what you want the experience to be, what you are looking for, and what are your goals for the trip. And, if you are lucky enough to go on safari more than once, then all that changes. For many repeat safari-goers, they look more and more for that raw authentic experience in the bush. I guess what I am trying to say is that it is really about your objective and your perspective more than anything else.

With regard to lodges, there are plenty of mid-range safari lodges and they range depending upon your travel style. Truly, something for everyone! There are also a number of lodges that don't charge a single supplement or surcharge which as a solo travel is something that I would take note of. With regard to traveling solo, most lodges do a pretty good job of making sure that you feel comfortable. I have put together a number of trips for clients traveling solo as an extension of business trips in Jo'burg or Cape Town and they have all felt safe, comfortable and included wherever they have gone or in whatever activity.

I believe that if you work with a good safari/travel planner who spends time listening to your objectives and interests for your trip, you will have an amazing time. Going on safari is a truly incredible experience and the feelings will resonate with you long after you are home. That's why there are those of us who are so passionate about the bush and who share their information, and, if lucky enough, return again and again and again..

Hope this is helpful!

All the best,
Dianne
Africa Direct USA

johan rebel

No, not quite that bad.

However, it gets a bit ridiculous at times.

Some lodges uses headsets for radio comms, to ensure that the guests cannot hear what's going on. If they run a really slick show, your vehicle will pull into a sighting just after the previous one has disappeared around the corner. The guide will then turn around and explain to everybody how lucky they all are to have found this fine leopard lazing just on a bough. Meanwhile, I'm looking at all the tire tracks on the road and trying to figure out whether we are the fourth or fifth vehicle to pitch up.

It get even funnier when you then chance upon, say, a lion, which the guide did not know about beforehand. You come around a corner and almost drive past the lion before the guide hits the brakes. He and the tracker then look at each other with "What the . . . ? " expressions on their faces.

Lodges who have their radios on speaker, usually use safari pidgin in an attempt to keep guests out of the loop. This is a form of English with enough Shangaan/Tsonga/Zulu/Afrikaans thrown in to confuse most people. I'll happily provide a glossary on request.

A few lodges, on the other hand, insist that all radio communication is in English, acting on the sound principle that their guests should be kept informed at all times of sightings, not kept in the dark. Most of these are in East Africa, in my experience.

You also get lodges that send out trackers to look for game half an hour or so before the game drives go out. One innovative lodge uses a quadbike/ATV for the purpose. Or used to, because the guy on the ATV once managed to get himself stuck in the middle of a herd of elephants, and afterwards declared that he would never get on that vehicle again.

Having collared animals on the property (for research purposes, of course!) also comes in very handy.

I prefer lodges that search for animals the old-fashioned hard way. That above all means relying on highly skilled and experienced trackers, who are very hard to come by these days.

Johan

johan rebel

The worst example of this is no doubt Madikwe. The theoretical number of vehicles that can be out on game drive at the same time is over 60, if you include the so-called corporate lodges. Now Madikwe is a big place, but popular sightings often attract such crowds that the number of available standby slots runs out. Going around slowly in circles or waiting at the nearest intersection for your turn is not my idea of fun. To make matters worse, when your turn does come you are restricted to ten minutes viewing no matter what happens, as there are any number of vehicles are waiting in line behind you.

Even in Madikwe there is a solution to this. Stay at the right lodge, get the right guide, switch the radio off and head to the remote southwestern part of the reserve.

Elsewhere, the same princple applies. Pick the right lodge to avoid the crowds.

It definitely has. The worst example of this is the whole Big Five concept, which reared its ugly head in the mid-90s, if I remember correctly.

It was initially a very smart South African marketing trick. As just about the only country where rhinos can be seen regularly and reliably (not for much longer, if the poachers have their way), leading tourist to believe that five specific mammal species should be the main or even only focus of a safari put the rest of Africa at an imaginary and contrived disadvantage.

Unfortunately, it worked. The term is well established, and just about every safari goer has the B5 at the top of his bucket list.

Makes no sense whatsoever to me, but there you have it.

Having said all this, I realize and fully understand that the vast majority of safari guests will be more than pleased if they are shown the B5 and some other big animals, with a few colorful birds and sunsets thrown in. The ugly dams, ecologically damaging waterholes, and bush cleared to resemble parkland will not even be noticed.

I'm the one who is the odd man out here.

Johan

maal99

Hello.

I'm in a similar situation; planning to go to South Africa in November. I was hoping to take a 4-day safari for around $1000-$1500. Based on some of the comments here, seems like that may be an unreasonable expectation. Should I plan for fewer days, a different region, or just expect to pay more?

I certainly don't need full luxury but since I will be traveling alone, I do want a location that has a good price/experience for solo travelers (e.g. private room but group meals). Age isn't particularly a factore but I'm mid-30s if that helps. Timing is flexible as I plan to be in South Africa for the first two-three weeks in November. I'm not particular about animals but a good mix would be nice and unique animals would be a bonus.

Thanks for any recommendations.