IE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Ngorongoro Crater by Aindriu H
Ngorongoro is a beautiful compact park that is full of wildlife. The small size means that is it is easy to get around and see the variety on offer: from the larger grassland areas to the forest area inside the park. It is definitely worth a visit, however, the cost may be prohibitive to some on a budget.
IE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great wildlife, beautiful, vast scenery on offer and some amazing camping memories.
I travelled to Serengeti NP in June of this year with my girlfriend as part of a tour of Tanzania organised with "I Dream of Africa" safaris. We stayed for two nights in the public camp grounds in Serengeti as part of this tour.
The journey to Serengeti was quite comfortable with paved roads all the way from Arusha to Ngorongoro and only the last part of the journey is on gravel roads. The scenery on this final leg of the tour does make up for this though and it is interesting to watch the local Maasai tend to their cattle or catch an early glimpse of migrating zebra.
On arrival, there are some small shops at the main gate to pick up some last minute snacks or drinks, but beware that the prices here will be higher than in Arusha or other smaller towns on route. At the main gate, there is also a small hill which is worth the climb just to get an idea of the vastness of the park.
Our first taste of the park was on our way to our camp ground. We took the long route there to take in some of the wildlife and scenery on offer. There are plenty of animals to see and even on this first step inside the park our guide spotted a pride of lions resting on some of the rocks that dot the landscape.
The public campsite is well maintained and cleaned daily. The toilets and bathroom facilities are clean but do not have warm water. However, given the weather and climate there it is nice to cool off from the 30 degree heat in a cold shower. The campsite is obviously not as comfortable as lodges nearby, but do offer the opportunity to stay inside the park. There are a number of advantages of this, first is waking up early in the morning and having giraffes and zebras outside your tent, it also allows you to be in the centre of the park for game drives early in the morning without travelling too far and finally it is was great to be able to sit in our campsite and watch the sunset over the vast plains.
During the game drives that day we were lucky to spot all of the big cats and get great views of lions and elephants. This was mostly down to our guide, Christopher, who had the ability to spot leopards and cheetahs from about 300 meters away with his naked eye at ease. The park does have an abundance of wildlife and you do not have to travel too far to see something interesting or beautiful that will make you call at the driver to stop for a moment. We were lucky that our guide was very friendly and patient with us and also had the knowledge to answer any of our questions.
Overall during our game drives there the wildlife viewing was excellent. June is a quieter time of the year for tourists and wildlife viewing, as it is just the very start of the dry season. However, we were fortunate to see a wide variety of animals and birds. Just to note though that although the park is very big, if there is something interesting to see, expect there to be a few trucks around it and be patient if you want to get up close.
I would recommend anyone that plans to visit the Serengeti to plan at least two nights in the park. The vast size of the park means that it cannot be explored even in that time and the variety it provides means that no game drive will be same there.
Marakele National Park is a hidden gem with magical scenery and good selection of wildlife.
My visit to Marakele took place at the end of September 2015. This is typically considered near the end of the dry season. The temperatures are above 30 degrees celsius daily with little to no sign of rain. The surrounding vegetation is quite dry, although leaves are starting to sprout with the advent of the coming summer. This means that the vegetation is not too thick enabling you to spot the animals further away from your vehicle than you otherwise would when everything is green and vibrant. Its also a good time to frequent waterholes in the morning and evening because water is still scarce and animals tend to congregate at the waterholes for their daily fill.
Marakele has a predator section and a non predator section. Camping is allowed at designated camp sites in the non-predator section. There are no fences around the camp sites so animals are free to walk through the camping area. This might sounds both exciting and scary, but what I noticed is that many campers are not used to this and do not respect the animals right to be there and try to chase them away when they come sniffing at the strange smells we humans bring. But its a lovely experience to see giraffes and rhino walking through the camp and the ability to grab the camera to get amazing photos. Additionally, Bontle Camp, where I stayed, has a waterhole alongside a wide plain that provides hours of peaceful wilflife entertainment where one can spend hours sitting and staring through binoculars. The non predator section has an abundnace of wildlife ranging from many species of buck, to more rare sightings of rhino and giraffe. Monkeys, babboons and warthogs are fairly prevalent too, as well as plenty of zebra and ostriches. There should be ample opportunity to spot most of these animals while driving through the park over the course of a few days.
The non-predator part of the park covers a small region of fairly flat savannah. The predator section takes you into the larger part of the park which is situated among some of the mountains making up the Waterberg mountain range. Most of the animals from the non-predator section can also be found in the predator section, but because of the larger area, sightings become more rare here. In addtion to the above, it is also possible to encounter lions, elephant and leopard. But these are rarer and they were mostly hanging around the single large dam which I, as a resident of the Bontle camping site, was off limits to me. But the most notable thing when driving into this part of the park are the high mountain peaks and craggy cliffs creating some amazing landscapes. The single tar road ends in a very beautiful scenic climb up one of the mountains ending at the top near a radio relay station with some spectacular views. Here you can also spend a while looking at the family of white backed vultures that fly gracefully around the valley and often come to glide above the viewpoint giving birders and photographers some great opportunities.
There is only one tarred road in the park. For the most part it is reasonably maintained except where it starts to rise up the side of the mountain leading up to the view point where you can encounter some tricky potholes. All other roads are dirt tracks of varying conditions. Most roads can easily be accessed by normal cars but some of the roads in the predator section are certainly uneven and can be very bumpy, and in some cases my require some careful navigation. There are a couple of marked 4x4 roads and certainly I wouldn't recommend low clearance cars trying them, but only the 4x4 track in the north eastern part of the park requires a capable 4x4 and a driver with some experience.
Overall the park is a lovely place and was not very busy when I was there, which is perfect. The guards and game rangers were friendly. Animals in the non-predator section were plentiful but the predator section was less eventful in this regard. But the spectacular scenery made up for that. Many of the local bird species appear in the park, of note are rollers, vultures and hornbill. Places like Pilanesburg probably have a higher density of animals, but Marakele has better scenery and certainly has its own charm that should not be ignored.
Kafue : A Truly Wonderful Experience
We recently visited the Kafue National Park in Zambia. Having visited Southern Africa for safaris several times before (South Africa, Namibia, Tanzania, Botswana) we decided that we wanted to visit somewhere a little bit different and a little bit rawer. It was suggested that we visit Zambia and the Kafue. We were not disappointed.
Kafue has the feel of a park the is yet to be truly discovered. The natural beauty of the country and the low key feel of the park made for a unique visit. There is plenty of wildlife to be seen, cheetahs was a first for us, and the amount of different birdlife on the river is remarkable. There is maybe not the amount of wildlife that we have seen in other countries but there is certainly the diversity to make up for it, plus you can drive all day with your guide and on most days not see another vehicle or boat. You get the impression that some of the wildlife there have never seen a jeep or a boat before too!
We visited three camps and they were all excellent. The standards are very high with regard to guiding and the accommodations. Everything was just.......great.
In summary, a truly wonderful experience and we are now discussing on how can better this for our next visit to Africa. It's not going to be easy.
IE
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Tanzania by Aindriu H
I have only travelled on the northern safari circuit but have found the parks to be well maintained and abundant with wildlife. The tourist infrastructure in the north has also improved greatly in the last few years between my visits. I would love to go back and spend time in the southern parts of the country.
Review about South Africa by BitRogue
South Africa focuses on conservation and wildlife preservation. There are many national parks in South Africa highlighting this as one of its foremost tourist attractions. The biodiversity of South Africa is plentiful, and ecotourism takes full advantage of this. There is a big drive in the South African culture on ecotourism and much of the profits made in all the national parks are fed back into the system and education. When you add good roads and infrastructure into the mix, it makes South Africa arguably Africas foremost safari and ecotourism destination.
Review about Zambia by Jim
Somewhere a bit different to the usual areas. Just that bit wilder and less developed.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great experience
Two friends and I were visiting Tanzania for only a short time and were looking for a safari to meet our needs. I did some research and found Kanuth Adventure Safaris, emailed and booked the safari easily. We participated in a 2 day/1 night in Mikumi National Park. We saw a lion (the carnivorous animal) which was really neat. We saw a lot of Giraffes, Zebras, Wildebeests, and Elephants. Our driver, Tony, was very friendly and knowledgable. I would recommend this safari to others.
US
65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Came away with memories of a trip of a lifetime & photos to prove it to all my friends.
Nick was wonderful & very knowledgeable about all things African. We saw everything we dreamed of seeing.
There were 8 of us & he guided us expertly through game drives, lodging & meals. Definitely a 5 star tour!
ES
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
We enjoyed the trip. was exciting, interesting, different from what we had done before
only before traveling we had slow answers,but they respond us all questions. The safari was very funny! we saw animals and stay in very nice hotels, and we had a very attentive and servicial driverguide,thanks Ewa Moshi!
A highly recommended trip!