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SAFARIS |
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Before arranging a safari, think about whether you want comfort or a
more authentic experience, and whether you want the convenience of
having it pre-booked as part of a package holiday, or the independence
of picking and choosing once in Kenya itself. Remember, too, that the
parks and reserves can also be visited privately, allowing you to set
your own itinerary - sometimes an attractive alternative to an organized
trip
Types of safari
Air safaris , using internal flights to get around, will add enormously
to the cost and comfort of your trip and give you spectacular views but
a much less intimate feel of Africa. On the other hand, long bumpy
drives to meet the demands of an itinerary can be completely exhausting
(and impossible for the physically infirm) while hours of your time are
eaten away in a cloud of dust. Note that the " balloon safaris " you see
advertised are short balloon flights, not complete tours. They take
place at dawn and last a couple of hours at most. They can be done in
several parks, most popularly in the Maasai Mara, and the bill is a big
one - around £250/$360.
Many safaris take you from one game park hotel (known as lodges ) to
another, using minibuses with lift-up roofs for taking pictures. Make
sure you have a window seat and ask about the number of passengers and
whether the vehicle is shared by several operators or is for your group
only.
The alternative to a standard lodge safari is a camping safari , also in
a minibus, where the crew - or you, if it's a budget trip - pitch your
tents each day. With this kind of trip you have to be prepared for a
degree of discomfort along with the self-sufficiency: insects can
occasionally be a menace, you may not get a shower every night, the food
won't be so lavish and the beer not so cold.
It's common on camping safaris to spend the hot part of the day at the
campsite. While some are shady and pleasant, that's not always the case
and, where there are lodges with swimming pools, cold beer and the rest
nearby, there's no reason not to spend a few hours in comfort. Similarly,
if you want to go on an early game drive, don't be afraid to suggest you
skip breakfast, or take sandwiches. In too many companies,
interpretations of what customers want are passed from management to
drivers and cooks and rarely questioned.
On the best camping safaris, you travel in a fairly rugged vehicle - a
four-wheel-drive land cruiser or even an open-sided lorry - giving more
flexibility about where you go and how long you stay. The more expensive
camping safaris come very expensive indeed and tend to model their style
on images culled from Out of Africa ; they can easily cost over
£200/$280 a day.
Pre-booking at home
Most travel agents can fix you up with brochures for the more mainstream
tour operators whose packages generally (though not always) fall into
the more expensive lodge and minibus category. For more off-beat
adventure trips , or a better selection of camping safaris, you should
contact the operator directly. Note that the single-person supplement
tends to be high on conventional beach and safari packages and somewhat
less (or you can share) on the more adventure-spirited trips, where
prices are per person, but depend also on the size of the group, which
can make things extremely expensive if there are only two or three
people.
The minibus safaris fitted into most of the inexpensive Mombasa-based
charter packages venture no further afield than the three national parks
easily accessible from the coast - Tsavo East, Tsavo West and Amboseli (trips
up to Samburu or west to Maasai Mara are more expensive, and therefore
cheaper if arranged from Nairobi)
Booking in Kenya
Independently choosing a safari company to spend your money on can be
fairly hit or miss. Unless you have the luxury of a long stay, your
choice will probably be limited by the time available. Remember, though,
that you may be able to use this to your advantage; if you ask, many
companies are willing to discount a trip in order to fill unsold seats
if you're buying at the last minute. Some outfits will also give student
discounts if you ask. In fact, any angle you can employ to get a good
deal, you should use.
This is not to recommend the very cheapest outfits. As the competition
in Nairobi becomes more cut-throat, some budget camping operators, not
all of them licensed, are pushing safaris at the very bottom of the
market in a price war which completely undercuts the legitimate firms.
Any safari which is offered at less than £40/$60 per day is likely to be
cutting corners. The easiest way for disreputable operators to cut costs
is to avoid paying park entry fees, which threatens the preservation of
wildlife in Kenya. Give these fly-by-night companies a miss.
We've listed a number of recommended operators but it's notoriously
difficult to find a company that's absolutely consistent (if they're a
member of KATO, that's a good sign, and at least you have somewhere to
complain to). Group relations among the passengers can assume surprising
significance in a very short time and other unpredictables such as
weather, illness and visibility of animals all contribute to the degree
of success of the trip. More controllable factors like breakdowns, food,
equipment and competence of the drivers and tour leaders, really
determine reputations. The companies we've listed all have pretty good
records and get regularly mentioned in readers' letters, but even they
turn up the occasional duff trip. Give them a try unless an alternative
sounds especially good and reliable. The Nairobi grapevine is probably
your best guide on this.
If anything goes wrong , reputable companies will do their best to
compensate on the spot (an extra day if you broke down, a night in a
lodge if you didn't make it to a campsite, partial refunds without demur).
If your grievance is unresolved, you might want to contact the Kenya
Association of Tour Operators (KATO), PO Box 48461, 3rd floor, Hughes
Building, Kenyatta Ave, Nairobi tel 02/225570, fax 218402, kato@africaonline.co.ke,
who can intercede with their members.
Staff relations and tipping
When on your trip, it's important not to take a passive attitude.
Although some of the itinerary may be fixed, it's not all cast in stone,
and daily routines may be altered to suit the clients easily enough if
you ask.
As long as they know there will be reasonable tips at the end of the
trip, most staff will go out of their way to help. Tipping on budget
trips, however, can often cause days of argument and misunderstanding
between the clients, who are usually expected to organize themselves to
give collective gratuities on the last day. Good companies make
suggestions in their briefing packs. Something like Ksh1000-1500 per
employee per week from the whole group is not excessive and would be
greatly appreciated.
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