Hi,
Hope you don't mind me jumping in here...
I own a travel company and would be very wary of any company offering
safari drives for less than $100 per day (speaking of Tanzania or
Kenya). First, the park fees are $30 - $50 per person per day, so
check to see if the sites that are offering safaris for $70 - $100 even
include your entry fees. A camping safari will run more than $100 per
day... and that is WITH a bunch of people. Bill is right on the money
there.
If you want to go for a quality experience, I would suggest spending
the money required to match your expectations. I don't mean dishing
$600 per day, but for LODGING (not ground tents), and meals that are
not shared affairs around a picnic table... AND if you want to be able
to get out and take photos at your own pace, you certainly will not
want to share an "overlander" or even a completely full van where
people will be jostling for space when The Photo steps in front of your
lens.
Sorry there's no good Cheap safari out there that will give you the
experience you hope to have. A camping safari is excellent if you are
not bothered by sleeping on a ground mat, raising a mug with a group of
strangers-soon-to-be-friends, and if you are there for the sheer
experience of being in Africa. If you are looking for more, you're
going to have to pay for it.
PS: the Crater is one of the most expensive parks with a daily entry
fee AND a "service fee"... the Serengeti has the daily fee and a
"transit fee" tagged on.
safari njema!
Lisa
Bill wrote:
> >mazda610328 wrote:
> > Thanks much, Bill. It's helpful.
> >
> > I just checked some website covering consolidated Safari Operators
> > info. and found that the cost per day ranges widely. For budget ranges
> > around USD 70-100 per day per person, is it normal price or cheap?
>
> Sounds very low to me given the cost of park entry fees etc ... my
> guess is on a trip like this you are sharing a jeep with many other
> people, doing one game drive mid-day instead of doing one in the early
> AM and another in the afternoon, and staying at the cheapest
> accomodations ... I don't know much about Kenya, maybe Dave Patterson
> or Hans-Gorg Michna (who both know Kenya well) can chime in with some
> words of wisdom on this and correct any misconceptions I have.
>
> > what's the lodging quality I could expect, clean & acceptable or lousy?
>
> I don't know ... in Tanzania pretty good lodges like the Serena or Sopa
> chains are running around $400 double per night with all meals while
> the "Wildlife Lodge" chain with supposedly lousy service, shabby rooms
> and indifferent food are around $200/night/dbl rack rate. Comparable
> lodges in Kenya are supposedly cheaper (the Serena in Masai Mara is
> under $300 double, for comparison), but I don't know what you'd get if
> paying $100 per person for the vehicle, driver, park fees, food and
> lodging ...
>
> > And~ when you were in Tanzania, what did you do there? Watching animals
> > all day long?
>
> Our goal was to get in as many game drives as possible and photograph
> animals ... you can see how we did at this site ...
> http://members.aol.com/bhilton665/africa/ ... if you have limited time
> to look at pics these are the pages that are most popular, with the
> cheetahs, lions and birds ...
> http://members.aol.com/bhilton665/tanzania_rainy_2006/cheetah.htm
> http://members.aol.com/bhilton665/tanzania_rainy_2006/lion_fight.htm
> http://members.aol.com/bhilton665/tanzania_2006/cheetah_T4710.htm
> http://members.aol.com/bhilton665/tanzania_2006/lion_T2707.htm
> http://members.aol.com/bhilton665/tanzania_rainy_2006/birds_all.htm
>
> To get shots like this we have a private vehicle so we can stay out as
> long as necessary and, especially important, leave the lodge at first
> light ... most people wait for breakfast at the lodge and get to the
> animals about 2 hours after the best action.
>
> > How long does it take to travel from Masai Mara to Serengeti?
>
> They are adjacent, the Masai Mara is basically just the northern
> extension of the Serengeti ecosystem ... however Tanzania shut the
> border crossing many years ago so it's not feasible to drive directly
> across the border there and most people return to Nairobi, then to
> Arusha and then to Serengeti ... for the months you mentioned there is
> more going on at Masai Mara so if you go there I wouldn't stress out
> trying to reach the Serengeti to see lower numbers of the same animals
> ... in Sept and Oct I think the best parks in northern Tanzania are
> Tarangire and Lake Manyara plus the Ngorongoro Crater area.
>
> Bill
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