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Trying to decide between Elegant Africa & Botswana, S Africa , Zambia
Hello
We are looking at both of these trips. If anyone has been on both or even one I would love to hear about the trips.
We usually travel to Europe and have never done anything like Africa. Comment on things like - the pace, the accommodations, variety and just overall pros and cons. Thank You ????????????
We are looking at both of these trips. If anyone has been on both or even one I would love to hear about the trips.
We usually travel to Europe and have never done anything like Africa. Comment on things like - the pace, the accommodations, variety and just overall pros and cons. Thank You ????????????
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Pace---very early morning starts. Very little exercise
but you need to be agile and able to climb into the high sided vehicles on both these tours. If you have issues climbing, then chose an East Africa tour, the vehicles there are much lower to get into. I am fit, but being short, I find it tricky. If you have back issues, this could be a problem.
Accommodations are fabulous, except for the Camp Kalahari on the Botswana tour, but that was still my favorite location on that tour for specific reasons.
Highly recommend arriving two days early on these tours to help jetlag, relax or do extra things not included on the tours, whatever type of traveler you are, we arrive early, maybe do something extra but also have at least a half day 'chill' where we get a massage or something like that because the Tauck tours can be tiring. We like not to always be with everyone, trying to chose to dine on our own sometimes when we have a choice, it's nice to just enjoy a meal rather than make conversation every mealtime.
Get all your shots!
We have been to Africa five times now and plan to go again.
This isn't British but my husband and I took the Botswana, Zambia and South Africa tour Aug. 26, 2017. It was a trip of a lifetime. The itinerary provides something for everyone. Zambia is all about the falls and the rhino sanctuary. The Royal Livingstone was a great place to start this trip. While we had activities, it wasn't so harried and you had down time before the safari portion of the trip. Botswana was my favorite. All three camps were wonderful. Food was good, people were warm and pleasant. Accomodations exceeded our expections. Even the rustic Camp Kalahari provided everything we needed. The pace is fast. We left our camps by 7:30 a.m., returned between noon and 1:00 p.m. for lunch and back out around 3:00 or 3:30. Most nights, we did not return until almost 7:00 p.m., went straight to dinner and then to our rooms.
Cape Town is a big city. We did a tour of a garden, District 6 museum, went to the Cape of Good Hope and then had our choice of Seal Island and Boulders Beach.
Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions.
Crackeroo
I am also wanting to do Botswana Tour. I have done the Tanzania/Zanzibar and of course saw so many animals. Did you feel on the Botswana tour that you saw enough animals on the trip? And, looks like mode of transportation on animal safaris varies from canoe, ferry, helicopter, jeep. Is that correct? Did you enjoy the variety?
Our tour director told us the quantity of animals were larger in Kenya/Tanzania but there is a greater number of species of animals on the Botswana, Zambia and S. Africa tour. We were lucky enough to see the Big 5 and 8 of the Big 9 (didn't see the Cheetah). We were not disappointed in the number of animals and birds on this trip. In S. Africa, some of our group went to Seal Island. On the way to the island, we had a humpback whale swimming next to the boat. On the island with the seals were penguins.
Yes, there are planes, trains and automobiles on this trip. All provided a different perspective.
We loved everything about this tour. Would do it again.
I think that the Botswana trip sounds more "physical" than the Elegant one ? With very little downtime.
I won't lie , we do enjoy a little downtime but this trip seems more interesting to us.
Love hearing the stories and input. Would love to hear more ???????????? Thanks
This topic requires a bit of research and personal decisions! We are booked on the 25 May 2019 departure but selecting a date was not easy. There are a number of things to consider-
Water level over Victoria Falls- if you like a lot of spray, don't mind not being able to take photographs up close, or will have a camera/lens that will allow you to take photos from a distance or from the air (helo, ultralight), go in early-mid summer. The rainy season which runs from November - March has an extended impact on the falls. The flow can become many smaller rivulets in the fall, however, and may not truly be "Mosi Oa Tunya"- "The smoke which thunders"- that you see in photographs.
Water level in the Okavango Delta- this water starts as rain 1000+ mi. away, to the north in the central highlands of Angola in January - February, so it can take awhile to reach the Delta. It drains into the Cubango River which flows south through Namibia, away from the sea, gathering ever more water until it finally reaches Botswana, where the river becomes known as the Okavango, and becomes a vast delta over the next four months (Mar - Jun). Water levels peak between Jun - Aug "when the delta swells to three times its permanent size, attracting animals from kilometers around and creating one of Africa’s greatest concentrations of wildlife". Water makes it easier to navigate the waterways by mokoro canoe, but too much can make travel by safari vehicle difficult. On the other hand, go too late in the fall when the water has receded and navigation by canoe may be difficult to impossible.
Temperatures- you will be south of the Equator, especially so in Cape Town, so you will have very cool evenings and mornings (North American summer = Southern Africa winter). Cape Town is way down there so will be cool just about whenever you go during Tauck's touring season.
Daytime Temps- you will not be in high plains which moderate the temps in the Serengeti/Maasia Mara in Tanzania and Kenya, so when Sept - Oct and later roll around in Botswana, it can get darn hot!! One source said "October is the most challenging month for visitors - daytime temperatures often push past 40 °C (104° F!!!) and the dryness is only occasionally broken by a sudden cloudburst." You can check the temps out in the Before You Go or any weather website. Daytime temps in Botswana where you spend the majority of time will be pleasant in the Summer months (Botswana winter months), so think layers so you can peel them off as the temps rise during the day.
Effects of water levels on animal sightings- it has been said extremely low water levels tend to encourage animals to congregate in denser groups at watering holes which themselves dry out fairly quickly.
But, if you read all the safari guides, they will invariably say there is no bad time to go!
My recommendation is to dig into travel and weather websites- write down pros and cons, then chose a date- or just spin the bottle! : )
We are looking at June 1st, 2019. We have a deposit down. I always enjoy reading your reviews ????????
Thanks ????
Thank you for all your input.
I haven't been on a Tauck trip that wasn't great.
Happy Trails ????