In message <1102447239.159317.206310@c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>
"Joel" wrote:
> Eben..I particularly liked your approach and this is how I primarily
> plan trips in the US and abroad. For whatever reason I'm getting
> intimidated by the thought of putting this together. Let's say I take
> your approach and I pick East Africa/Kenya and settle on three parks
> for a 2 week period. Do you have names or web sites of some local
> companies that do private safaris like you describe? How does this
> work with staying at a lodge/camp? Do they meet you there or do they
> arrange the whole thing for you? For example, I decided to stay at
> the Mara Serena Lodge for three days which costs $250 per night (this
> is an example). They do their own morning game drives (probably 6
> people in a Land Rover). I want to have a vehicle to myself for the
> day where the guide will speak English, point out game, accommodate us
> for photography, etc.. I think this is essentially what you describe.
> I'd MUCH prefer to do it this way assuming the costs do not get out of
> hand.
>
> For travel purposes, where or whom can I contact to arrange flights
> between camps if I choose not to drive between them
I'm just going to butt in here...
(Talking of Kenya/Tz, I haven't been to SA)
If you choose the right company, one which really specialises in 'tailor
mades', you can arrange whatever you want with them. You will meet your
personal driver/guide in Nairobi, say, and he will stay with you for your
whole trip. You could also opt to do some of the trip with your driver/guide
then fly to another place, either to cut the journey or because you're going
to a private ranch.
BTW, if you book through a sizeable company they often have a group discount
with the lodges, so can save you money, even allowing for their markup. I
book in the UK so that I'll have ATOL protection obviously, but also to save
money this way and on flights. Things may be different in the US, I couldn't
possibly say.
Such as Serena Lodges offer various fly/stay packages.
You pick a package and fly between the different lodges.
Advantage: save travelling along bumpy roads.
Disadvantages: Africa lives much of its life outside houses: you can learn a
lot as you travel along said bumpy roads, and its interesting.
You have to get used to a different driver/guide at each
lodge, maybe on each game drive.
You may get lucky and find that no-one else wants to use the
lodge vehicles: most people come on a vehicle and go out with
their driver/guide. However, I don't think they'd guarantee
you a private vehicle on this sort of arrangement: most
lodges only have a couple of vehicles, and would be unlikely
to alienate other paying fly/stayers by not having a vehicle
available for their game drives.
flying is more expensive, and doesn't always save much time,
as the internal flight schedules aren't always 'to schedule':
you can spend a lot of time waiting for your flight (think
"African time").
If you want to mix and match lodges e.g. Serena/Block/Intrepids/whatever,
get a tour company to cope with the logistics.
(BTW, it might seem that the local guides will know their local 'patch'
better: this is probably true in some of the expensive private ranches, but
not necessarily in such as the Mara, Samburu etc, as the 'general' guides
tend to be in and out of these parks constantly. In general the newbie
drivers learn the ropes in Nairobi NP and by being the 'second' driver in a
larger safari (more than six people between two vehicles after their basic
training.
Basically, decide what you want to do, then contact two or three companies
to see what they recommend and see how they would put together the trip for
you: they will arrange everything you want. They might be able to suggest
changes that would either enhance your trip or save you money, but make sure
this is for *your* benefit, not theirs.
My two usual bits of advice:
Don't try to cram in too many different place on one trip, or you'll spend
most of your time travelling between them.
If visiting Kenya, visit Samburu/Buffalo Springs.
For the rest, it depends on your main interests.
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" |
