Which Type Of Safari Best Suits Your Needs?
Which Type Of Safari Best Suits Your Needs? A Complete Guide :Whether you travel alone or with a group, each of these areas and each country has something special to offer. When you book with Focus East Africa Tours, you can be sure that your arrangements have been planned by experts. If an unexpected issue does occur, our tour guide, a local host, or a tour operator representative will typically be able to help you.
Choosing the Safari that is Right for You
There are two main safari regions in Africa:
ü East Africa: Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, D.R.C, Tanzania, and Uganda
ü Southern Africa: South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Malawi
We advise you to make a list of your holiday objectives before you start looking at what is available. This will make it easier for you to compare the options while keeping in mind the factors that are most important to you, such as what you want to see and experience, when you want to travel, and so on. There is no such thing as a silly question when it comes to organizing your well-deserved vacation, so don’t be afraid to ask us if you have any.
There are only a few ways that you can experience a safari:
ü Lodge and/or Camping Safari
ü Guided Safari
ü Specialist Safari
ü Fly-In Safaris
ü Lodge Safari
Lodge and/or Camping Safari: Suitable for everyone.
This type of safari requires you to make reservations at a safari game lodge of your choice, whether it is luxurious or basic. The lodge itself arranges game drives and game walks. The atmosphere of the lodge, as well as the specific ecology, climate, terrain, and environment where the lodge is located, which determine the kind of wildlife you will encounter, are the main draws of a game lodge safari experience. For instance, there are lots of elephants in Chobe, Botswana. The annual migration is visible in Tanzania’s Serengeti. The diversity of Kruger Park and Etosha is well known.
Guided safari tours
Ideal for those who are more active and want to experience as much as they can. The more traditional type of safari—guided safaris—offers more options than you might realize. Their duration, group size, and price range vary. Additionally, contingent upon group sizes, they might or might not have set departure dates for the itinerary.
You can also make private guided arrangements if you only want to travel with a small group of friends or family members, such as two or three. The full range of options is covered by the itineraries, from luxurious tented lodging to five-star lodges and back-to-basics camping.
Experience Variety: Guided safaris can also be packaged to suit your tastes. As you move from lodge to lodge, or lodge to camp to lodge, on a mobile safari, you cover a large area and can observe changes in the biodiversity and the spread of wild animals.
Specialist Safari
ü Suitable for the serious adventurer and the seasoned die-hard fan.
ü Most appropriately described as exclusive and private for small groups.
ü Some safaris include game drives and game walks along with luxurious lodge accommodations and rustic camping.
The “Real Deal, Up Close and Personal: Other safaris are real “frontier style camping, and you will be taking part in camp life’s daily activities, such as tracking down game and communing with nature. These safaris may also depend on the season relying on the presence or absence of rain. Suitable for the serious adventurer and the seasoned die-hard fan.
For instance, during the drier months when vegetation is sparser, it is simpler to take pictures of wildlife. You’d be surprised at how simple it is to conceal an elephant bull behind some vegetation or fail to spot a lion three meters away in some short, dense grass.
Most appropriately described as exclusive and private for small groups. Some safaris include game drives and game walks along with luxurious lodge accommodations and rustic camping.
Specialist safaris are excellent for:
ü Photographic or video safaris
ü Species-specific interests, i.e., birding, crocodile egg hatching, tracking games, environmental research, and so on.
Independent Safari or Self-Drive Safari
Suitable for those who have a strong sense of adventure. These trips have no “group” and no guide. You have peace of mind knowing that your private group (friends or family) accommodations have been reserved in advance. Everything else is up to you, including when you want to wake up, what activities you want to do, and where you want to eat. The destinations you want to visit and the time you have are taken into consideration when creating your itinerary.
Be prepared to be flexible when making your reservations. Your Focus East Africa Tour consultant is highly knowledgeable about distance and time logistics as well as the route you will take. When you take into account potential road conditions, the time of year, etc., and the possibility of traveling at only 30 kph, sixty kilometers in the city are not comparable to sixty kilometers in the wilderness. Ways of getting to your safari destination.
By Road: Most of the time, your safari guide or a representative of the operator will meet you at the airport or pick you up from your overnight hotel and drive you to your lodge location.
Fly-In Safaris: suitable for those with a lot of sight-seeing, remote travel, or time constraints, even when road transportation is readily available. Fly-safaris that make use of light aircraft are very well-liked, and for those who value their time, traveling directly from one location to another or from a city to a game lodge saves a significant amount of time.
Remote lodges are more comfortably reached by light aircraft than by taking a long, difficult route. The operators of these flights offer meet-and-greet services, so you will be greeted at the airport after your arrival flight and guided to your light aircraft.
On a far-flung fly-in safari, your pilot doubles as your tour leader and goes everywhere with you. Although self-drive arrangements are convenient for many people and suitable for some nations (South Africa and Namibia are good examples), more remote regions like Botswana, Tanzania, and Namibia may only have access to light aircraft travel.
ACCOMMODATION BEFORE AND AFTER YOUR SAFARI
You will be staying overnight (at least) in a hotel unless you are flying into a country and your safari operator meets you at the airport, or returning from your safari and continuing directly to your departing flight.
There is no doubt that accommodations are important to the success of a trip, especially if you intend to spend a few days in the city at the beginning or end of your safari to sightsee and meander. The most significant one, according to many travelers includes: The descriptions, locations, and types of lodging provided by the featured hotels should be carefully considered.
Be mindful of the hotels’ locations as well. Hotels that are a short distance from the city’s center shouldn’t be a problem if you plan to explore by tour bus or have a rental car. On the other hand, you might favor hotels that are centrally located if you anticipate having a lot of free time in the cities you’ll be visiting.
THINGS TO THINK OF WHEN COMPARING TOUR ITINERARIES
ü Do you feel at ease with how much time will be spent during the tour traveling by safari vehicle, overland, rail, or other mode of transportation?
ü Is there a great deal of walking involved?
ü Is there enough free time for you to go shopping or explore on your own, or is it too much for your tastes?
There are enough options for tours and safaris to let you get as close to your preferences as you can without having to make too many compromises. Everyone has a different level of energy and sense of adventure.
FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS
A lot of research goes into creating reliable and interesting itineraries for guided safaris and tours. This is especially true for destinations that are less developed, where a lack of infrastructure can turn independent travel into more of a hassle than a vacation.
A certain level of security and peace of mind is offered by traveling under guided arrangements. The tour guides themselves are knowledgeable and approachable. On excursions that take place in wilderness areas, naturalists are welcome. You might have a brief visit from local experts who can share their insights on particular locales, cultures, or pursuits.
On a guided tour, some people ponder whether they’ll have enough independence. On group tours, many of our tour operators include free time, providing travelers with the best of both worlds.
CONDITIONS OF TRAVEL
Conditions for each tour are provided when you inquire about making a reservation. This information merits much more consideration than it typically does. There are many significant topics covered, such as information on reservations, cancellations, refunds, and the availability of insurance. Make sure you are familiar with the cancellation, departure date change, refund, and penalty policies. These policies should apply to both the land and air portions of the trip.
Meals, lodging, transportation by air, sightseeing, luggage allowance, health information, and other costs that are not included in the price are additional significant items that are typically covered by the Conditions page. Remember that even though the Conditions page may not be as visually appealing as the other pages, it is just as vital to making the best choice for you.
PRICE
Make sure to confirm what is and is not included in the price. For instance, is international airfare included in the price, or are only land arrangements included? Any questions you may have can be discussed with a travel consultant. Other elements like optional excursions, service fees, taxes, weekend air fares, and high-season surcharges could raise the cost. There is frequently an additional charge for single accommodations and transfers if you are traveling alone.
TOUR ITINERARIES
You can expect to see and do the things listed in the daily itineraries on our websites as a general guide. The places you’ll actually be visiting, as opposed to those you’ll just be driving through, should be noted on your itinerary; these are frequently denoted by terms like “see” or “view.” There is a significant difference, so you should be aware of it to avoid being dissatisfied.
When you travel with Focus East Africa Tours, you can be sure that your arrangements have been planned by experts. In the unlikely event that an unforeseen issue does occur, a tour guide, a local host, or a tour operator representative will typically be able to help you.
