Just back from three weeks on Safari and had an absolute blast. I know from the Vacationing in the Times of Covid thread that a bunch of people have this as a bucket-list item, so I'm happy to answer any questions.
This wasn't a bucket-list item for me--this was Mrs.LL's great idea. But damned if I don't want to go back (not least because this trip was supposed to be four weeks, but our last week in Cape Town got canceled because South Africa is on Covid lockdown).
So first thing's first: The Pictures:
Did we see the animals--you bet your ass we did:
Did we see Kilimanjaro--you bet your ass we did:
Did we see the creepiest scarecrow (actually, a scare-monkey) ever on the slopes of Kilimanjaro--I'll let you be the judge:
Did we see Victoria Falls--yup:
Did we see the Cape of Good Hope--no, because fucking Covid closed South Africa. We'll do that next time.
The Itinerary:
We did this as a pretty comprehensive "I'm-going-to-see-all-of-Africa" trip, which definitely has its ups and downs.
5 Nights at Angama Mara in the Maasai Mara, Kenya--Probably our favorite. The lodge is on an escarpment overlooking the Maasai Triangle, and the location can't be beat. The airfield is a five-minute drive away. In the morning, the Maasai Mara is a 25-minute drive down the escarpment, after which you are in the best game-viewing area we visited. The staff was outstanding, and the accommodation and food were great.
5 Nights at the Four Seasons Serengeti in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania--We had a 2-bedroom villa. If you're doing that, then I would highly recommend. But I don't think I would recommend it otherwise for the price. It is a very large lodge. That was fine in the Covid times, as it wasn't very full. But I suspect in the normal times it gets very busy.
The Serengeti was great to do because that's where the wildebeest migration was at the time. But otherwise, I think the game viewing is superior in the Maasai Mara.
2 Nights at Shu'mata Camp in Kilimanjaro National Park, Tanzania--This is a very small camp a long ways away from very much of anything other than Kilimanjaro. I really liked it, but it is definitely more rustic than other places we stayed.
5 Nights at Thorntree River Lodge near Livingstone, Zambia (about a 20-minute drive from Victoria Falls)--This also may be our favorite. The lodge is right on the Zambezi River, and you wake up to the hippos calling to one another (make sure you have a guide to escort you at night if you leave the tent, because the hippos will come onto the lodge property to graze). This is one we might go back to.
The nuts and bolts:
Getting there is tough. We flew Qatar Airways DFW-DOH-NBO and then JNB-DOH-DFW. Those are some long-ass flights. But if you're in business class, they're quite comfortable (Qatar is a OneWorld member, so you can redeem AAdvantage miles on them). But even so--it's two days there and two days back. When you're dedicating four days of a trip just to getting there and back, it's obviously a big time commitment.
Getting around is also tough, and expensive. There's really no overland transportation--each of those changes was a long day of flying. For example, to get from the Maasai Mara, Kenya to Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, you had to fly on a one-engine prop to Kisumu, Kenya, and go through Kenyan immigration to exit the country. You then get on another one-engine plane to fly to Musuma, Tanzania to go through Tanzanian customs. You then get on yet another one-engine prop plane to fly to Seronera Airport in the Serengeti National Park, after which is a 45-minute drive to the lodge.
For that reason, you probably want to limit the number of lodges you visit. Did I try to do too much by doing both the Maasai Mara and the Serengeti? Maybe--there was a lot of overlap between them. But at the same time, I really liked them both.
It's really hard to do it yourself rather than through a travel agent. A lot of the lodges won't let you book directly. Thorntree River Lodge was one of those, and as a result we had to have a South African travel agent do that one. As it turns out, I was glad to have contact with her, because when we went to fly from Kilimanjaro to Livingstone, it turns out that Kenya Airways had canceled our flight and the next one wasn't for another five days. I got on the phone with her and she planned out new flights for us. If you are thinking of doing a safari, I highly recommend using her--Daisy du Plessis at African Safari Consultants (daisy@africansafaris.com).
The reason I didn't originally do a travel agent is that the ones I initially talked to had their "favorite" lodges to which they were keen to steer you. And I had done enough research to know some of the places I definitely wanted to hit up. If you want to do kind of a do-it-yourself deal, you definitely can--the lodges have people who will help you with flights, etc. The people at Angama Mara booked my flights from Nairobi to there and from Angama Mara on to Seronera.