Safari Holiday

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MrEarl

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Hello,

Can anyone provide information, or share past experiences, on a Safari based holiday, please?

I'm open to suggestions on possible locations, what time of year to travel, what to build into the trip (or exclude) etc.

I'm starting from zero with this one, so any help would be much appreciated.
 
It's a long time now but we did a Kenyan safari and a week on the beech in Mombasa after, as our honeymoon back in 2005
IIRC we did a two week safari which included all the usual places like Masai Mara, Lake Baringo, Tree Tops, and Amboseli to mention a few

It was a very much, you hit the ground running type of holiday and even though you had down time, you just wanted to keep going
I don't remember much about the traveling from place to place but 20 years later I still can recall the game rides and the sights we saw
Having a drink one night at Tree Tops watering hole and watching the nightlife and other travellers shushing the open top game ride bus as a tiger walked by and me thinking he doesn't give two hoots about the noise, are two moments I'll never forget

We went all-inclusive and the food was excellent with all the usual stuff and some other foods that you won't find in our supermarkets
We travelled late February and the weather was perfect, goldilocks even
We used Kuoni back then but I'm sure Tropical Sky would have a similar package
With regards to price now, these are not cheap holidays and would be very much classed and once in a lifetime type trip
but the whole experience and memories that you'll gain will be worth every cent you pay
As for the beech part in Mombasa, you could pick anywhere in the world when your doing all inclusive and you'd be happy
It's just somewhere exotic to put the feet up and get pampered

Oh and yes we got to see the big five!!

Sorry have to made a small edit,
The tiger memory was actually on an Indian trip we did the next year which is also another option for safari's
 
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Also been a while, 2005 since we did Kenya safari trip. Week long, full on trip - didn't bother with a beach extension after as some do. 1 night in a small lake area, 1 more night in Lake Nakuru (which used to be pure pink with flamingos, I believe it is no longer unfortunately), then a few days in the Masai Mara. We did it in August, which is near the time of the migration. If you decide on the Mara or Serengeti (same park basically just across different countries) that time in August is unreal, where if you're lucky you'll see the crossing of the river!
Game drives were generally in the morning, lunch & late afternoon. 2 basic hotels, then a luxury camping tent in the Mara. Drivers were accommodating & one day we had a picnic on the plains!
We seen the big 5 and loads more as you do!
I can't remember the company we used, it was a UK one as I was living there at the time. Heathrow to Nairobi.
We did get vaccinated for the usual, and took malarone for Malaria.
In 2005 it was expensive but not crazy. Presume it is these days!

Something we've done that is one of the only things I class as once in a lifetime, was a polar bear 'safari' in northern Canada, Churchill, but one where you're based in a remote lodge, and you hike with armed guides to see the bears - you're not on a tundra buggy. Took 6 flights to get there including a cesna to the lodge! That was back in 2009 and then it was crazy expensive (2 jobs helped pay for it!). Now it's out of reach to most people, but as good as the safari in Kenya was (and it was superb) this polar bear trip was next level - and polar bears make a lion look like a house cat in terms of size! (This was with Churchill Wild - https://churchillwild.com/ )
 
The Dublin based travelexpert.ie has a few Safari ideas on her website. I have used her recs before and always very good & practical. The safari ones are from a few years back though.
 
Been there many a time over the years and the company we used was from the centre of Nairobi called Savuka Travel. I'm not sure if its spelt correctly but it used to be in the centre of the city.

You can you have the safari for as long as you want and to be honest with you we saw the big 5 but we had enough after 3 days as we had seen everything that we needed to see in that time. We went a bit native to get an authentic experience and that is what we got sleeping on a camp site with the masai mara under the stars minded by the masai tribe themselves to keep the lions and wild animals away at night time.

It was quite cheap but I wouldn't have swopped it for a posh tour of the safari for the world. We sat around a camp fire singing songs at night time drinking Tuskar beer and in my opinion the nicest beer I have ever tasted and in the day time we traveled around mainly in the early morning to catch the big kills from the big 5.

Had lunch out on the ground and met loads of people on the tour. You will notice a lot of the time its gone very commercial and sometimes you see more Hiace vans with tourists than you do animals.

So to sum it all up you will love it and you can go all inclusive but it wasn't for us. So for me a week would have been way to much for me to take when there is so much more in the country also to experience.

Kenya is a great country but it goes with a health warning in the sense that walking around Nairobi you need to be aware of characters around you that may drag you down an alleyway to rob you and at night get a taxi from place to place. Having said all that we went drinking around Nairobi and enjoyed the craic and it was really good and while you're at it go to the Carnivore restaurant to eat the big 5. You will have a pain in your jaw bone from chewing there is so much eating to be done.

If you're going down to Mombasa take the first class train from Nairobi to Mombasa where it will feel like the Orient Express back in the 1800s with a silver service the whole way down. Its an over night trip and you should enjoy it if it is still going on. Mombasa was brilliant also and the beaches to die for but word of warning, don't venture from your hotels at night time to the beach if you don't want to get mugged. Having said all that I love Kenya and you will enjoy the humour and its not exactly expensive either.

So if you have any questions I will try to answer them if I'm able
 
Cervelo said:
It's a long time now but we did a Kenyan safari and a week on the beech in Mombasa after, as our honeymoon back in 2005
IIRC we did a two week safari which included all the usual places like Masai Mara, Lake Baringo, Tree Tops, and Amboseli to mention a few
Click to expand...
Same here. I found the game parks in Kenya very crowded with tourist busses. We also went to Tanzania and I would highly recommend that. Ngorongoro crater is probably the most spectacular and magical place I've ever visited, and that includes the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls.

All that said the amount of large game animals in both countries has reduced massively over the last few decades. The place I most want to go is the Okavango Delta in Botswana during the rainy season.

Overall I'd much prefer a holiday like that than a trip to New York or a fancy beach resort. That said the coral reef off the Kenyan Coast is the second largest in the world so it's warm tropical waters and white coral sand, not to mention some truly awesome diving and snorkelling.
 
Two things, getting older is terrible on the memory, the African trip wasn't my honeymoon, that was the Indian trip
So Africa happened in 2004 and India was 2005 both great holidays and well worth the expense back then
Purple said:
That said the coral reef off the Kenyan Coast is the second largest in the world so it's warm tropical waters and white coral sand, not to mention some truly awesome diving and snorkelling.
Click to expand...
Don't remember the Indian ocean off the coast of Mombasa but when we were in Sri Lanka after India, it was like a bath it was that warm,
I could have stayed there forever
 
I've travelled with both Exodus and Explore on several occasions and would recommend both of them. Abbey Travel are the agent for them in Ireland so you could discuss your requirements with them.
 
Probably of little help today but for all our long haul touring trips in the noughties like Africa, India, Peru and China
We used G Adventures or as it was known then Gap Adventures
Back then I thought they were great, offered a good all round package that I couldn't really fault
The food, the restaurants, the accommodation, transport and guides were all of a very good standard
The size of the groups varied on each holiday from us and another couple to a group of about a dozen people at most
And every one of those holidays ran like clock work so much so that we were delighted to find out that our up coming touring part of our holiday trip to China and Japan is with G Adventures

I can only presume that the other 3 you've listed will be of the same standard so I'd be of the opinion to pick the tour that ticks all of the boxes you're looking for in this type of holiday

One bit of advise I would give though, and I'm not sure if you're doing this or not, is to use a travel agent like Tropical Sky or whoever you choose rather then trying to book everything yourself for two reasons
1. The price, we've found over the years that there generally is very little in pricing between the two options, if you end up paying more it's usually only a couple of hundred euros but sometimes it can be considerably cheaper as the travel agent can sometimes access better deals
Like this years trip to Japan, I think we have saved a few thousand compared to when we priced it last year doing flights and tours separately
2. If something was to go wrong on the trip, you've only one phone call to make and they, your travel agent should sort everything out for you
I was in the middle of nowhere in China near the 3 gorges damn when I got a phone call to return home for a family emergency
And it really was one phone call and everything was looked after from the internal Chinese flights to Beijing, Accommodation in Beijing, to the next available flight home they did everything for me and kept me informed of everything along the way

Another bit of advise I'd give is get a credit card that comes with travel insurance and book the holiday with it so as you don't have to worry about any of that area at all
 
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