In message . com
"Joel" wrote:

Hello to all. My wife and I are contemplating a safari to trip to
Africa this coming year. This will be our first time there. I've done
some reading in the newsgroup and the overwhelming response seems to be
to visit either Kenya and/or Tanzania for the first time. I had
originally planned on visiting South Africa, renting a car and going to
Kruger and Hluhluwe-Umfolozi but now I am not so sure. Some of my basic
parameters for putting together this trip a

1. I will spend between 9 - 12 days in country excluding travel days
from the US and back..
Try for as many days as you possibly can.
If necessary, postpone it until you can afford it or accumulate more days'
leave if these are issues.

2. I personally dislike tours, have never used one although I realize
that independent travel to game parks while possible may be self
defeating. Without knowledge of animal behavior and how to approach, I
may essentially be driving around for a week and spending a lot of
money to do so.
Agreed.
A good driver/guide is worth his (in EA it mostly is 'his') weight in gold,
and doesn't actually add much to the cost as their salaries are relatively
very low (they rely on tips).
They know where things are liable to be, and tell each other, either in the
drivers' quarters or out in the field where different things are 'on the
day'. They are understandably very reluctant to share this info with someone
who isn't employing a driver.
Even if they did, the info is likely to be along the lines of "near where
the elephant that used to come into X camp died", or using directions you
may not be able to use, like needing to identify a certain clump of trees or
plants.


3. I have no desire to be on a bus with 8 -10 people looking through a
small window and constantly driving around. I suspect that in order to
fully experience the parks that one must be patient and wait for things
to develop. I suspect that I will not get that on a typical safari
minivan.
You can, if you get a private sarfari.

4. I am not looking for this to be a photography trip per se. Being a
photographer myself, I will use a specialized photography photo safari
trip at a later date for that. This trip is designed for both my wife
and I to enjoy and savor.
No reason why you shouldn't get both.
A good driver/guide is used to dealing with photographers, and should be
able to position himself to the best possible angle for the animal and the
light. Of course, if you can avoid the usual 'minibus circle' around big
cars, it's much easier. Or sometimes, you just need to wait: most people
just want to take a quick snap, and their vehicles quickly move on.


5. I do not necessarily need 5 star luxury surroundings but we are not
interested in camping out in a small tents. Tented permanent camps are
fine.
Tented permanent camps are often 5-star luxury, and are usually more
expensive than Lodges.
Nice, though. :-)


My preliminary questions a

1. Is it advisable to use a tour company the first time around? What
do I gain or miss by doing so?
Yes.
Gain: experience, local knowledge, the best possible help should things go
wrong.
How good are your vehicle maintenance skills?
What will you do if you break down out in the middle of nowhere - maybe out
of cellphone range?
What if you're so held up you can't make your next destination by sundown?

2. Where does one find reputable companies to deal with?
I recommend Express Travel www.etc-safaris.com, and have travelled with them
in Kenya five times.
(The last time I looked on their site, they really just featured their
'off-the-peg' trips, but they really specialise in tailor-mades. If you can
afford it and it's logistically feasible, they can organise it.

There are plenty of other reliable companies, not all of whom do tailor-mades.
Try to get personal recommendations or contact them for yourself, to discuss
what you'd like to do. What will be difficult on your first trip is deciding
if they advise you against a particular element of a trip is whether they
just 'can't be bothered' or if it's good advice for a good reason (just
because a route exists on a map doesn't mean it's easily travellable, and
something which looks as if it should take only an hour or two might really
take five or six. This can also vary by season: some roads are destroyed in
the rains and rebuilt each year.
However, on such a short trip, you probably won't be going to any of the
more unusual places.

3. Is it possible to combine self touring on several days and hire
guides/driver for other days? Kruger has options like this where you
can pay to go a game drive.
It's probably possible in Kenya, but I can't see any real value in this.
Especially on a first trip.
In Namibia the general practice is to self-drive between lodges/homestays
etc then join in with the lodge's activities when you get there.

4. Would I better off spending several days on a private reserve?
Although it costs significantly more I might have a better experience.
You might.
You might not.
Sometimes on private reserves you're basically looking at ranched animals.
Depends how you feel about that!
But then even in the game reserves, animals are relocated for various reasons.

Any information would be greatly appreciated and I will certainly ask
more pointed questions as I research further.
Thank you in advance for your responses.
You can snuffle around my website for lots of info about Kenya, and some
info about Tanzania. Nothing to sell and there's a hints and tips section
which answer some of your questions in more detail.

Safari njema

Liz
--
Virtual Liz now at http://www.v-liz.com
Kenya; Tanzania; Namibia; India; Seychelles; Galapagos
"I speak of Africa and golden joys"