Safari Samaritan

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If you are coming from North America, you have a long way to travel for a safari in Africa. Even if you have very convenient flights (we flew non stop from Washington Dulles to Addis Ababa in 13 hours), if you add up the time you spent driving to the airport, getting there 3 hours early for an international flight, the layover in Addis Ababa, the flight from there to Nairobi, and then the drive from the airport to your hotel, you’re looking at approximately 24 hours. With a convenient late morning flight, that gets you to your hotel in mid afternoon the next day. Therefore, it is important to stay at a good hotel where you can relax until the start of your safari.

We stayed 2 nights at the Giraffe Manor. After we arrived and got oriented and settled, they fed us a very late afternoon lunch. This was followed by an even later dinner. They gladly catered to all our needs.  The word “no” was not part of their vocabulary.

To start our safari at 9:00 the next morning would have been a little too hectic. Instead we spent a relaxing day; not that there weren’t things to do. Some in our group went to the elephant orphanage, others to the bead factory, and there was always time to interact with the giraffes. All the other guests at the manor stayed only one night and every one of them said they had wished they had stayed for 2 nights. After one last interaction with the giraffes at breakfast the next morning, we were ready to start our safari.

If you can afford the extra day and additional cost, 2 nights at a comfortable hotel is a great way to start your safari.

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A safari is a trip of a life time. There are so many wondrous and exciting things to experience. You can’t possibly fit it into a one, two, or even three week safari. In addition to the regular day and night game drives where you experience the varied wildlife, there are walking safaris, horse safaris, and trekking for gorillas for the more adventurous at heart. The wildlife can vary from The Big 5 (Elephant, Lion, Leopard, Rhinoceros and Buffalo) to the migration of the wildebeest, zebra and many migratory birds. You can climb Mount Kilimanjaro, visit Victoria Falls, scuba dive or snorkel off the coasts of Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and South Africa, go kayaking on the Zambezi River, or just take a break and play golf. You can visit local schools, visit indigenous tribes, or travel to Cape Town and the near by South African Vineyards. Choices have to be made based upon your unique taste and preferences.

Therefore you should start planning a safari at least 6 – 12 months in advance to give you time to review what is available and what you would like to do. And it should be fun. Don’t worry about changing your mind as you learn more. I will patiently work with you to get things right and will share the experience with you. So contact me and let’s get started.