How did you choose?

There are so many tours to Africa. How did you choose which one you wanted to go on?

Comments

  • edited September 2015
    Unless you plan to take family with children and therefore have more options (e.g. "Bridges" tours) you actually only have four Africa tours (Egypt & Jordan: Timeless Treasures, Ancient Lands is still suspended and will likely be so for quite sometime):

    Botswana, South Africa & Zambia
    Kenya & Tanzania: A Classic Safari
    South Africa: An Elegant Adventure
    Tanzania: Serengeti to Zanzibar

    Prices vary by time of year and between tours (listed in order most expensive to least expensive above). Each tour is 12-13 days but each offers a slightly different experience. With K&T and T:S-Z you will see large herds of animals on the expansive plains of the Serengeti and adjoining Masai Mara. The groups of animals will be smaller on the B,SA,&Z tour than K&T but you will see more river/delta dwellers. Depending on the tour, you will have between 2 and 7 on-tour flights on small, turboprop commuter-sized "bush" aircraft often operating from dirt or grass runways- that matters to some people. K&T averages 30 travelers, while B,SA,Z is smaller, averaging only 20. On K&T you spend 3 nights (2 in 2016) at the fabulous Mount Kenya Safari Club and 2 nights in the equally fabulous Serengeti Four seasons and two nights (3 in 2016) in a "tented camp" (though it is a Fairmont!). On B,SA,Z you have more nights in tented camps.

    You might want to make a little matrix from information provided in the tour and lodging summaries and highlight the categories that you consider desirable or most important.

    If you only plan to take one "Trip of a Lifetime" consider K&T or SA: Elegant Adventure. But personally I would do your own ranking- few travelers take just one Africa tour after they have been bitten by the bug! The question is not what Africa tour to take, but which one to take first, second, etc. . . . . !

    Also, look at the "pricing and availability" page. The two most popular, K&T, and SA: Elegant Adventure, offer the most departures by far- but they fill early, however,- many dates are totally booked over a year in advance!


  • Would like to clarify that the South Africa Elegant Adventure is part City and Culture experiences which we found excellent. It is not just a Safari experience by any means.
    I have done three of the four tours offered and have the fourth booked. If value is important, I would chose Tanzania, Zanzibar, it offers the best number of Safari days in the best amount of time without wasting the time of flying here and there between areas that eat up parts of the days. People also forget that most of the Serengeti is actually in Tanzania. I am biased, Tanzania is my favorite country in Africa ( so far). If having a balloon experience is also high up on the list, the flights are very much more likely to be cancelled on the K and T tour than the Tanzania tour, they rarely have to cancel a flight.
    Like Alan says, it will probably not be your only trip to Africa, once you get that bug in your blood. I will go back again to Tanzania when I can.
  • These responses to the original question have really helped me, thanks for the advice Alan and British :) also thanks for asking the question Roz haha.
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