In message .com
wrote:

Thanks for all of the information.

As far as adventure goes, we would probably like something which gave
us a good taste of Africa, both wildlife and culture. Admittedly a
safari probably is not the best cultural experience but I would think
there are ways to increase your exposure. We spent some time in Peru a
couple of years ago and had a great experience meeting the local
people. This may be less important as we will be on our honeymoon and
won't want an itinerary which is too extreme. The ten days in Peru were
exhausting.
In Kenya, you can generally visit tribal villages pretty easily. You
pay usually between 10 and 20 USD per person, but you get pressured
into buying stuff you don't want at the end of your visit. You
shouldn't feel guilty if you don't want anything, as your entry fee is
substantial in local terms, but if you're the only ones there, as we
were, it's difficult. You can often arrange these visits via lodges,
but if you wanted to be sure, you could have it written into your
itinerary.
In Tanzania, you can often visit tribal or local villages too, but we
didn't see them offered so often out of lodges. Again, if getting a
tailor-made trip you could get visits built in to your itinerary.

I will have a 100-400mm IS lens (slow 5.6 at 400mm) with me but I would
like to get some close up shots as well. It sounds like the open air
vehicles in Botswana might be better for photography. I suppose we can
find a private safari in Kenya which would offer the same flexibility.
I didn't find the open air vehicles in Selous or in Namibia any better
than the open hatch-top minibuses which are generally used in Kenya or
the open hatch-top 4x4 in Tanzania.
What will make the most difference is having a private, tailor-made
tour, then *you* do what you want to do and don't have to compromise
with non-photographers, i.e. you can choose when to stay longer at a
particular place, waiting for a cloud to shift, or an animal to turn,
or to move on. Also you can set your own itinerary.

Do you have any recommendations on which tour group to use?
The last time someone asked here which company I used, I told him and
got well slagged off *by him* for promoting a company! (If you really
want to know, it's in my site, or google back, or email!)
So I'll just say that there are lots of good companies. If they link
with reputable operators in your country they will be fine.

If you decide to go with a tour group, make sure that a window seat is
clearly shown as guaranteed. The smaller the group, the better.
Whether with a group or private, make sure that you get everything in
writing before you book. If it's not on the itinerary, you won't get
it, or you'll need to pay extra. Read the itinerary very carefully. If
you can't work out why one trip is much cheaper than the other, it
might be 'hinted at': for example I read an itinerary which had
entries like:

Day 3 Optional pre-breakfast game drive.
Breakfast at lodge
Post breakfast nature walk with lodge naturalist
Afternoon: what will you choose: catching up with your reading
and relaxing around the pool or a game drive?

.... what might not be immediately obvious from that is that the only
thing that is 'included' in the tour price is the nature walk. The
game drives cost extra: probably about 40USD each, maybe more by now!

You'll have a great time.
And don't assume you'll only go once!

Safari njema

Liz

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