Options
Kenya & Tanzania Safari 2025
My spouse and I are considering the Kenya & Tanzania Safari in 2025. My spouse has mild scoliosis and pain in her lower back due to deteriorating discs. We are wondering about the arduous nature of the game hunts and 4-wheeler treks in order to determine potential discomfort in light of the physical conditions described above. Any insight derived from your experiences would be appreciated. Thank you!
0
Comments
I have lower back issues. I did bring a blow up cushion, but never used it. Be aware the ride can be very rough. I have mild scoliosis and arthritis in my lower back. I don't have disc issues . It's really hard to say how rough the rides will be. There are a lot of deep ruts in the roads
We have done this trip three times. My wife just had an injury of some sort that we have not sorted out. So our fourth trip is in jeopardy. Her problem would be sitting in an airplane or a safari vehicle for many hours. You do not have to do all of the game drives. It is a beautiful trip. Many of the drives are required to stay on roads that are not smooth. If you are not comfortable doing a speed bump, forget about it. The normal game drive is a thousand speed bumps.
I probably should have said doing speed bumps without slowing down.
There are no game ‘hunts’. 😀. Safari vehicles are usually converted Toyota Landcruisers. As stated above, you never know how the roads may be
I suggest consulting with your doctor.
Classifying the routes taken during game drives as "roads" is rather kind, and a bit of a stretch. Most, except those near the camps are nothing more than unimproved dirt tire paths, some with significant ruts, pot holes (some deep ones disguised as puddles), and very irregular terrain. The "puddle" shown was deep, deeper than 1 ft. and a tractor was needed to pull us out. Everyone had to get out of another vehicle in the same spot. I don't know if the passengers avoided getting their feet wet and muddy. After being alerted to game via radio, the drivers will race off via the shortest path to get there before other vehicles.
As British says, consult with your doctor. The husband of a forum participant, had to be medevaced due to back issues aggravated by the game drives. They ended up arranging their own flights home because there was some issue causing delay with the Tauck medevac. He was transported, surrounded and stabilized by pillows in the back of a safari vehicle during the 25 mi. / 55 min. drive from the Four Season Serengeti to the Seronera airstrip. The airstrips are mostly dirt and the aircraft small. I don't remember if they eventually were medevaced via Nairobi or Cape Town. You might want to PM mazalea.