Going on a 3 night safari when we go to kenya We will be going on a tour bus with a pop up roof. In the holiday company tips on safaris It advise good footwear .. Do they mean trainers or good sandals with straps or something different?
And another rather silly question I am just under 5ft. will I be able to see out of the pop up roof(Iknow there are windows ) or will I be clambering on the seats for a view..... not that mind!

We are still hoping to go to Tanzania next year but do not want a package as we want to tailor make our holiday.

Does anyone know how easy that is to do? We are looking for walking safaris mostly and do not want a luxury holiday - basics will do. What is the best way to get from Dar es Salaam to the Selous for example? Has anyone done what we hope to do and would they recommend it?

Thanks

Hi,

We are looking at Zanzibar next year, and found this website usefl - it's got stuff on Tanzania too so might be of some help?

http://www.africatravelresource.com/index.asp

LisaMJ x

Lisa
Great website for info!

Thank you, I'll check it out!

bellaoz

hello,
can anybody out there help me with safaris choices. I am visiting Kenya in September, myself, partner and 16 year old son, I need some good sound advice and/or recommendations for which safari company to choose, after looking at other holiday sites - DM Tours, MICS Safaris and Kenyan Adventures seem to be the most popular, can anybody give me any feedback.
Also what prices should we be looking at, for a 4 day/3night tsavo east tsavo west amboseli i have been quoted between £320 and £400? each.
Any advice would be appreciated, as i do not know whether to book before i travel or book when i arrive??
thanks

I have spent all morning brousing this site, and I have had a lot of answers to questions before I even begin! My partner and I have booked the Voyager resort for August 06' for our honeymoon, and I absolutely cant wait!! We would love to go on safari but I dont know if it is best to book this before we go or wait until we arrive?? which is cheapest??

thanks

We are hoping to go on Safari in August 2007. Can anyone give any advice on the best place to go; we're thinking of South Africa, Kenya or Tanzania. We have 2 kids who'll be 14 and 9 and are absolutely animal mad! We would also like to spend a couple of days relaxing on the beach to finish off our holiday and recover from the early mornings!!
Any help gratefully appreciated.

Hi, We are also hoping to go in late July, early August 2007.
We were interested in a deal with First Choice only to find that they won't take children under 12. A lot of companies who do safaris are very strict with child ages. A couple of them even said that we would have to book a private safari vehicle as some people do not want to be disturbed by kids
even though mine will be 17, 14 and 10!!
Hayes and Jarvis were really helpful and gave us lots of ideas. We like the idea of spending 6 nights at the hotel, 3 nights safari, and then 5 nights hotel.
Hope this will help you out a bit.

Hi Jakejaz,
I was in the same dilema while arranging for my safari in January. The three companies are equally good but I ended booking my safari with MICS Safaris the reason was that they were very efficient in communication and providing me with all the necessary information. Their rates were far much better than the other two.

I would recomend that you book your safari in advance, this will save you a lot of your precious holiday time. You will get better rates than when you book direct in Kenya.

All the best

Just back from Kenya, we were going Micksafaries but had no answers to phone calls on their various numbers. Even hotel could get no reply, did not see any Vehicles with Mickksafaris logos 23 -25 March in Tsavo East or West.
We went Gibran Safaris from Barclay Center Diani beach(gibransafaris.com). The 3 day 2 night Tsavo East & West was a journey to paradise. The Guide Ringo sat at the head of the drivers / guides table at Kilaguni Safari Lodge. We had 3 wonderful days saw more animals than expected. Safari was far cheaper than Thomson and we think far better.
Also did Mombasa / Fort Jesus at night, Paradise Island swim reef and dolphins plus Mombasa by day then Bamburi Nature Trails (Kenya's Eden Project without domes).
Would reccomend Gibran without reservation we were treated so well.

Hey,
we are going on safari in July and have been advised trainers but ones from Millets/Blacks, especailly if u have no sense of balance!
hope that helps

hi ..knitter/ailsa .. ..reference your query(footwear) its better for you if you wear trainers or that type of foot wear,then if you want to you can stand on the seats to look out ,if you wear high heel shoes you will possibly damage the seats,......as for looking out so long as you are carefull its much better to look out of the sun roof e.t.c....by being care full i meant depending how fast the transport is going.....regards..johndoe...

knitter 46
Wear whatever will be comfortable in hot , very hot weather. I wore strong Receptor Sandles, being diabetic my feet need to breath.
Have a look at some of my safari pictures you will see our driver & guide Ringo had old red flip flops and he drove for hours.

http://s41.photobucket.com/albums/e279/dariusdave/?start=0

You are not supposed to leave your Safari "Mini-bus" in the "Park", so the only walkink is at your Lodge or Camp.
We had 3 great days Tsavo East & West, saw far more elephants than I expected. Go and enjoy a wonderful holiday.

I have just booked for Kenya October 2007 with First Choice, check out eclipsedirect.co.uk as same company but can be cheaper!

Strange H&J are helpful re safari as they are part of First Choice also?

I am booking my safari direct as First Choice group will not take our 9 year old. I think Thomas Cook or Virgin will but I wanted to book asap to guarantee school holidays. First Choice aircraft also superior to other charters.

Satao Camp appeals to us as it is tents and for a 1 night safari it was very reasonable based on this years prices, our son will love to camp and I am happy it has on suite facilities. Reviewed well on trip advisor. Any lodge that is owned by Serena Group should also be good.

Let me know if you want the web site, it is at home and I am currently at work!

Website would be great, thanks

I went to kenya in february with my 2 children ( 10 and 8 ). Had a fantatsic time. 1 week safari ( Amboseli, Lake Nirvasha and the Masai Mara ). A lot of travelling but the kids coped with it fine. Then went for a week in Malindi for a weeks beach.

We went with Somak Holidays who do a lot of different safari and Beach holidays.

Other people we met on our second week just booked a beach holiday and then booked a 3 day safari while they were out there saying it was much cheaper.

Kind Regards
Stewart

tour company we are booking our safari with is http://www.dmtours.com selected 2 nights Galdessa camp plus Serena Kilaguni £260 pp extra £65pp if select Finch Hattons camp for Kilaguni. Private car ect full board park fees.

http://www.galdessa.com
http://www.serenahotels.com (Kilaguni Lodge)
http://www.finchhattons.com

They do offer cheaper lodges like Voi and Severin Camp, this company came highly recommended on tripadvisor.com and they replied promptly.
Just trying to decide for definate which accomodation and they are taking booking for October 07. 10% deposit now and balance when arrived in Kenya. This company is closed throughout May so bear in mind if no reply from them.

1 night started at £140 Voi
We booked our accomodation with First Choice, we have to pay for the hotel whilst on safari but at leaast we do not have to pack up and store luggage at hotel. Other benefit is our safari is excellent accomodation with just us in a private car, no large groups. The price seemed very good for the accomdation.

Hope this helps

Hi
We booked last year with Cosmos to go to Kenya..they use Somak for the Safari. My children were 16 and 14. We stayed at Tsavo East and West and Ambrolesi - saw loads of animals except the rhino. Saw a pride of 18 lions and cubs early one morning walking in front of our bus and a leopard going for the kill..

I have heard of some companies not taking younger children though

We then stayed at the Voyager hotel for 12 days - really lovely. I think it is worth doing the safari first - you can advise and exchange experiences with those at the hotel who are going later etc..

Tina x