Ebola and African Safaris

We have heard many reassurances about Ebola from our elected officials. We have also learned about mistakes made by health care workers that have lead to the spread of the disease. This has lead to much confusion and apprehension about the disease. How should all this effect how we live our lives? How should it affect our travel plans?

If you ask people if they would now consider going on an African Safari, almost everyone would say “absolutely not”. But is this a rational decision based upon known facts? Consider the following:

• The Ebola outbreak is limited to the West African countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
• There have been no reported cases of Ebola in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Botswana and South Africa.
• Africa is a vast continent and West Africa is about 3,000 thousand miles from all the countries which offer safaris.
• All these safari destinations are farther from West Africa than Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Switzerland, etc.
• Travel bans from Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia have been instituted by most of the safari countries.
• The important thing is not how Ebola is transmitted, but where it is and where it is not.

Given all of the above, there is no Ebola risk in going on an African Safari. In fact, one of our travel partners, Wilderness Safaris, is offering full refunds on any safari if any Ebola cases are reported in any one of the countries which is included in your safari.

One other thing to consider: if you have ever thought about going on a safari, prices will never be as attractive as they are now.