1Konsultant

I am planning a trip to Africa in August and am hoping I can get some advice. I lived and worked in JHB for 3 months last year and went on a few safaris (e.g., Kruger), but this is my first time in E. Africa. The plan is to spend half the trip in Kenya (a good friend is doing a legal internship in NBO this summer and we wanna see Masai Mara) then the other half in ZA. We're limited on time, but this is the itinerary thus far:

Travel
Day 1: Overnight flight IAH-ZRH
Day 2: Spend day in ZRH (adjust to jetlag)
Day 3: Day flight ZRH-NBO, arrive in the evening

Kenya
Day 4: Spend day sightseeing in NBO
Day 5-7: 4-day, 3-night safari in Masai Mara to see Great Migration
Day 8: last day of Masai Mara safari, return to NBO, afternoon flight to CPT

South Africa
Day 9: See Table Mountain, Robben Island (CPT)
Day 10: Drive and spend day in Cape Pointe, Cape of Good Hope (CPT)
Day 11: Spend day in Stellenbosch (CPT), fly to JNB in evening
Day 12: See Apartheid Museum in morning / Lion Park in afternoon, hang out with friends in evening (JNB)
Day 13: See Soweto in the morning, fly back to US in late evening (via LHR)

I recognize it's a bit rushed, but we're time constrained on both sides. A couple of questions:

1) Does the itinerary seem realistic overall?
2) Is a 4-day, 3-night safari in Masai Mara enough? Anything else we should see while in E. Africa (Tanzania? Zanzibar?)?
3) Any suggestions on a good-but-not-too-$$ guided safari package in Masai Mara? We're looking for something nice but are a bit constrained on price (looking to spend <$400-500, not including a balloon safari which we also want to do). I hear the luxury tents are better than the lodges in terms of being close to nature. Also, any other must-dos (e.g., walking safari)?

Thanks!!

1Konsultant

mee

Can't comment on Kenya, but I would re-arrange your time as follows:
Day 9: V&A Waterfront & Robben Island
Day 10: Cape point / Hout Bay & Table Mountain
Day 11: Either Stellenbosch or the Wine Route
Day 12: Apartheid museum, Soweto
Day 13: Lion park, then fly out.

This way the geography works in your favour, and I think you will get better value for your time. Also builds in a bit of time for shopping (and eating!) at the Waterfront in CT, which I think is a must...

Hope this helps
-- Mike

roadwarriorafrica

[QUOTE=1Konsultant;7987634
Kenya
Day 4: Spend day sightseeing in NBO
Day 5-7: 4-day, 3-night safari in Masai Mara to see Great Migration
Day 8: last day of Masai Mara safari, return to NBO, afternoon flight to CPT


2) Is a 4-day, 3-night safari in Masai Mara enough? Anything else we should see while in E. Africa (Tanzania? Zanzibar?)?
3) Any suggestions on a good-but-not-too-$$ guided safari package in Masai Mara? We're looking for something nice but are a bit constrained on price (looking to spend <$400-500, not including a balloon safari which we also want to do). I hear the luxury tents are better than the lodges in terms of being close to nature. Also, any other must-dos (e.g., walking safari)?

1Konsultant[/QUOTE]

For August 2007, if you don't have confirmed reservations, you may be struggling. The Masai Mara is extremley busy from 1 July - 31 March, close to 100% occupancy.

Is your spend per night, or for 3 nights? An average tented safari camp on a flying package will cost you about US$1000 - US$1200 per person sharing. Try and get in touch with a travel agent in Kenya, and see what they can book for you.

krazykat

4 days in the Masai Mara is more than enough. If you want to, you can visit the other game reserves in Kenya e.g Amboseli or Samburu. I went with Suntrek Safaris twice and they had some good prices

Redhead

Can you give some ranges of the prices? I'm looking to go in August/Sept 2008 and will be using miles (I hope ) to get to Nairobi. I'm hoping to spend around $2,000 per person for the safari

bradfordm

We actually skipped Robben Island at the urging of several folks in Cape Town. We were instead encouraged to visit the District Six museum and do a Township Tour. We did just that...I think every tour starts with District Six and moves onto the townships ----- we ended up having the driver take us back to the District Six museum to explore it a bit more. Neither of us had any regrets on skipping Robben Island.

Though you're seeing Soweto, so it might be better if you did go to Robben.

We used Hylton Ross Tours for the township tour. Tour was conducted by a really nice guy who lived in Khayaletsha Township. There were just three of us on the tour and it was much more personal. We saw other tour companies passing us in 24 passenger mini-buses. Our driver took us to several out of the way locations and seemed to know everyone in Khayaletsha.

Tour company was recommended by our Guest House (booked by them) and was also suggested by another tour company!

http://www.hyltonross.co.za/

Sweet Willie

bump,,,

1Konsultant

One of my friends is in NBO for the summer, so we went through a local referral and got a decent deal. We're doing a 4 day / 3 night safari -- 2 nights in Masai Mara at the Mara Sarova Tented Gamp and one night in Lake Nakuru at the Sarova Lion Hill Lodge-- for $750 per person. This is all-inclusive and covers all transportation, park fees, lodging, and board. I think a 'normal' range for 4 days / 3 nights during high season really depends on what you want -- budget safaris can be as low as $300-400, mid-luxury is $600-1200, and ultra-luxury safaris can be as expensive as you want. Ours is a bit cheaper than usual because 1) we have a group of 4 and 2) we are driving from NBO as opposed to flying (flying would have increased the price $300-400 per person). We looked at a number of lodges and camps, but we felt that the Mara Sarova would have provided a unique luxury tent experience. The nice thing is our guide, a referral who owns his own small safari company, has agreed not to add anyone else to our group, so we effectively have a private safari. In addition, we're doing a balloon safari + champagne brunch on Day 2 for $385.

As far as transport to/from NBO, I used UA miles. For the same 120,000 miles in C, I'm also stopping over in CPT and JHB for 4-5 days. Fares ex-US are anywhere between $1500 - $5000 in Y (depending on when you buy) and $8000-ish in C.

PM me if you want specific details on the guide or itinerary. I'll try to post an update after the trip.

My advice would be to book early to ensure you get your seats and spots in the lodges / camps you want. Also, if you can book directly through a safari company in KE, it's usually a bit cheaper than if you do it from the US / EU.

1Konsultant

State fan

I've been working on safari pricing for several weeks now. On the low end of standard accomodation for Kenya/Tanzania you are looking at roughly $290/day/person. This includes meals, guides, etc, but does not include any flights between parks or countries. The permanent tent camps and mobile camps are more expensive.

What will eat your budget up quickly is the flights between parks. It is a Catch-22, however, in that flying maximizes wildlife viewing time and, therefore, allows you to see more in less time.

hugochan

in Cape Town, you have to be flexible. Since it is winter in S. Africa, the weather might not work in your favor. I was there in the 4th week of June, and the Robben Island trip was cancelled 4 out of 5 days.

The day I arrived, it was very cold, windy and rainy. So, basically, I could not do anything, except staying in the hotel. I did browse through the mall at Victoria Waterfront.

The second day, it was still raining, I signed up for a private tour and went to Cape Point and Boulders Beach to see the penguins. I went to Victoria Waterfront and Robben Island in the afternoon. I suppose you know by now that only the official tour that leaves the Nelson Mendela Gateway at the Victoria Waterfront actually lands on the island. The wave was too high that they used a slow boat instead of the high speed boat they advertised. It took an hour to get to Robben Island, and some ppl were seasick. We landed on the island with perfect weather though, and the sun was shining. It was a really strange feeling. It was a very good tour I had to say. You got to see a lot and listened to a lot of stories. There was also a picture perfect point to take picture of the Table Mountain and Cape Town. However, if you wish to visit Mr. Mandela's cell, you're out of luck, as it is under maintenance.

The third day, we had perfect weather. The Top of Table Mountain was completely covered by cloud for the last two days that I was in Cape Town. Although my room had a perfect view of the mountain, I did not get to see much. When it finally cleared up the third day, I had signed up for cage shark diving, thus was not able to go up to Table Mountain.

In JNB, your intinerary seems very nice, however, to me the Apartheid Museum is really a big disappointment. There's really not much to see there, besides tons of TV screens. The whole museum is like a big room with lots of TV shows on. The thing is those documentaries can be viewed from DVDs or a History Channel show or so, not necessarily need to travel all the way to the museum. The cradle for human kind is far more interesting in my opinion.

LongingForORD

Wow, I am really surprised to hear of your disappointment in the Apartheid Museum. I found it very interesting. There was a photography exibit while we were there and that was excellent also. If you are going to tour Soweto, try to also visit the Hector Pieterson Museum. I had never heard of it and it was amazing.

bostonbali

I just got back from a safari in the Masai Mara. Two of us went for a 5 day/4 night trip to Lake Nakuru and Masai Mara. We went 'budget,' with Nairobi Backpackers. Cost came out to $95 per person per day all-inclusive (transportation to/from Nairobi, all meals, accomodations in beds inside tents, all meals, 2 game drives per day).
We stayed at a campsite right outside Talek gate, which I found to be a good location.

I believe a 4-day, 3-night itinerary is fine for the Masai Mara. I would not do any less, since you spend the majority of the 1st and last day driving to/from NBO.
In hindsight, I would have probably skipped Lake Nakuru. While it was interesting, we wasted a full day (8 hours) traveling from Lake Nakuru to Masai Mara.

The ride is also rough and long. The best thing we did was decide to fly back. This allowed us a bit more time in the Mara, and more importantly, got us back to NBO (Wilson Airport) around 12:00pm, so that we had a few hours to check out the city before our evening flight back to Europe (and then to the US). Our flight was $125 with all taxes with Air Kenya. The flight was also very scenic - definitely a better way to go than drive back!

Let me know if you have any other question, I'd be happy to help any way I can!
Bostonbali

hugochan

I have also been to the Hector Pieterson Museum, and I don't like it very much either. Maybe it is due to the different expectations between us. To me, I would like to view more actual exhibits of things that have been used at the time, like the demonstration boards, clothing wore by the police or weapons used by the police, etc. Although that one is better than the Apartheid Museum, to the sense that it put you right on the spot where the conflict had taken place. Also, the design where you can view the conflicts spots and relevant buildings from different windows in the museum is brilliant in my opinion. I understand that it might not be always possible to get exhibits other than photographic representations, but I just don't see the reason to travel all the way to a museum to view pictures and documentaries that I can view online or from DVDs. That's just my personal opinion.

In Soweto, I like the house where Mr. Mandela has stayed in, as well as Winnie's house. The old mine workers quaters is also interesting as well.

hugochan

If you're deciding whether you want to skip Robben Island, you can view some pictures that I have posted for my recent trip to S. Africa. I have not had the time to upload all of them yet, but most of Robben Island has been uploaded.

http://travel.webshots.com/album/560198265GqKGJp

peachfront

It might have been the time of year -- we visited Kenya in January -- but I would not skip Nakuru with its clouds of flamingoes and trees covered with different species of eagles like Christmas ornaments. Agreed the roads are something else though. And more time spent in the Mara is a very good thing.