Safari Recommendations

Hi Susan,

We went to Tanzania with Odysseys Unlimited and will be going with them again in a few weeks to South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia. They do a really nice job. Their tours are small group like RS. Unlike RS, it is suggested that you tip the guide. Their prices include airfare but you can book your own and OU will adjust the price accordingly. There are other tour companies out there that will basically do the same tour as OU and they may cost less or more depending on the company. I think OU is a good value for the money.

I was very happy with the itinerary that Bert Duplessis from FishEagle Safaris put together for us. We spent four days in Cape Town (should have spent more), 5 nights in the Okavango Delta, either 3 or 4 nights in Chobe, and 4 nights in Mashatu. It is a family run company. We did not take an organized tour; rather Bert put together an itinerary based on our interests and budget and arranged all transfers and accommodations.
http://www.fisheaglesafaris.com

Thank you Mary and Laura for your very helpful info.

Imprint Tours, a small company owned by one of Rick's guides, does small group tours to Africa and other places that are run very much like Rick runs his tours. I have not taken one, but I am #1 on the waiting list for the Southern Safaris tour in 2018. There are two tours to Kenya and Tanzania in 2018 and one of them had a few openings as of two weeks ago.

Carroll, thank you. Sounds good.

Susa, I did a safari in Kenya last year and it was amazing, if you are interested in Kenya too I can give you all the information!

MR, happy to get more recommendations...

I finally remembered the name of the safari company that we went with. Twiga tours, based in Nairobi. We went quite a few years ago but no doubt you can find recent reviews. All accommodations were splendid, the animals were splendid, Africa is splendid. We were there in the migration season and it was astonishing to see those animals swimming across the river, and heart breaking to see the pile-up of dead ones. The beauty of Africa is unforgettable. The owner of Twiga was the leader of our tour and before we all left for home he invited us to his big house in Nairobi for dinner.

Thanks Norma! Researching all these recommendations now. Helps a lot to narrow the field.

Here is my experience/plans that may or may not help you.

• Did a 21 day overland trip 4 years ago with Nomad Africa from Cape Town to Vic Falls. This wasn't a true safari but included lots of safari elements including a couple of days in Etosha and a 3 day fly-in into the Okavango Delta. They have lots of other overlanding trips - take a look at their website to see if this is something that would interest you. I can highly recommend them. Also, note that there are tons of overlanding companies that you can research if interested in this type of travel.

Later this month, I'll be doing a custom safari trip with Red Chilli Hideaways that combines Murchison Falls NP, and Queen Eliz NP in Uganda. This is a low cost trip with the option of upgrading the accommodations.

Later on after traversing Rwanda, I'll be doing a 4 day safari in early Aug traversing Serengeti, Ngorongoro, and Tarangire NPs in Tanzania. This will be with Fortes Safaris. This part of the trip will start in Mwanza and will end in Arusha. Fortes also has a sister company based in Arusha.

We booked and thoroughly enjoyed a private safari in Tanzania. As for the price, my recollection it was cheaper, or at worst no more than the group tours. It was great to have full control as to time regarding photos and types of critters we wanted to see. No waiting...no whining. This was all done through a travel agent in Nairobi and I highly recommend her. No glitches. :) Send me a private message for more information, including photos.

We did a private 4 day/3 night safari in Kenya with GoKenya Tours and Safaris. The driver/guide picked us up in Nairobi and took us to Lake Nakuru, where we did a game run, then went to the Camp for lunch and went out back again.
The next day we drove to Maasai Mara, and did 2 days of safari, everything was amazing, we saw all the animals and has an amazing time.
There are different categories of lodges/camps from which you can choose from, we chose a camp for Lake Nakuru, so you stay in a tent, but it has hard floors, a full functioning bathroom, they even put hot water bags in the bed for us! In Maasai Mara we chose a Lodge, which was also very good, as was the food in both places.
I would definitely recommend this company, everything was perfect, our guide was always on time and the experience was unforgettable. If you need more information, let me know!

Thank you Arnold, Bruce and MR!

I'm actually asking for my sister and passing on your posts to her. I appreciate all your helpful responses.