BootsnAll Travel Community

After reading through the boards, I've narrowed my choices to these safari companies:

Roy's Safaris
Sunny's Safaris
IntoAfrica
Good Earth Tours

My main goal is as much time watching wildlife as possible, camping's great for me. Does anyone have some tips or opinions on any of these?

Can I ask, are you in Africa right now, or booking it ahead of time? The reason I'm asking is because word of mouth is by far the best way to get an idea of a safari company, and if you can talk to other travelers while you are there. But I also found, most companies are fairly similar. A few things might be different, like your tents, food etc.

That being said, in my experience with numerous safari companies in various countries, there a lot of factors that go into a good trip.

I would ask what kind of vehicle you will be in. I saw some groups that were in a minivan with only windows to poke out of instead of an open roof or jeep. That would suck.
Ask about food. Some people are happy with very simple meals, but I have had some great food on trips before.
It also depends on your guide, how much he knows about wildlife, etc, or is he really just a driver.
As for seeing "as much wildlife as possible" this depends on your group and their goals. My first safari we had the driver stop at every impala, zebra. etc. After my 4th or 5th one, we really zoomed past a lot of those animals in search for bigger game and carnivores, and luckily I was with a group of people I met traveling who also had been on a lot of safaris already and were happy to go leopard hunting.

I'm hoping to book ahead so that I've gotten that part of the budget out of the way. I'm curious if it's cheaper to book with one of those companies once there rather than in advance from overseas. I'm planning on staying far away from the mini-van safari

I am pretty sure it would be cheaper to book it there. On average we paid between $80-100 a day for a camping safari. It depends on how many people are in your group etc. I have heard from friends though that prices are going up because of fuel costs.

I cannot imagine $ 80,00 to $ 100,00 pd. Cause you have to pay already $ 50,00 entrancefee and camping is at least another $ 30,00. They also have to make some profit.
I think you would have to pay about $ 200,00 pd.

Mara
Holland

I did a camping safari in Masai Mara In Kenya for 3 days which cost approx US$330. It was with Game trackers and the only thing that was kind of annoying was our guide wasn't very good and we went in this tank of a truck - it was huge! but we just the windows to stick our heads out of. However if you do ever want to go on a camping safari to Lake Turkana they are the ones to go with!

I never did any safari's in Tanzania but I have heard that it is cheaper on the Kenyan side.