Cute - what else can I say
There are not many places where you can see lions, cheetahs, elephants, giraffes, hyenas, etc… in their natural setting. I am honoured to have been able to have seen that. Every experience brings lessons learned. If you book a safari there are a couple of things I would advise since I learned the hard way. If booking yourself with a company in Africa be prepared to barter, even through a third party, as prices are variable from person to person. This assumes you are working just for yourself. Tour packages are a different matter and involve different considerations for costs. In turn the results are a little different.
Such perfect camoflauge. Makes them all blend together
Don’t expect things to feel organized and efficient as they would be in North America. Things just work differently. I would guess that if you paid big bucks through a tour company in Canada, you might be paying for an expensive hotel, and other direct one-on-one services, which I why they charge so much. I have seen some safaris cost as much as 4 – 5,000 for 1 week!. Also this is in the extreme low season so a lot of experiences may reflect that.
Request an itinerary. I only had a rough idea of what I was doing and often felt in the dark as to my personal logistics and how they were being handled.
Shhh ... don't wake the cheetah
Your accomodations are simple but certainly meet your needs. There are more luxurious resorts but you will pay accordingly. You only have access to electricity for about 3 hours for recharging cameras etc… but they make sure you can do that. You don’t always have hot water, I recommend showering at days end since then the black tank has been heated up all day by the sun.
Me me me me me
Be prepared at park gates, or any public area your vehicle may stop and stand, as you become a sitting duck for locals selling their wares. They are very insistent, persistent and harmlessly aggressive. But sometimes it can just be too much and wear you down.
You have to buy your own water the whole way and be prepared to tip the driver and camps. These were things I was not expecting or fully prepared for. Also if you go to the Masai Mara, be preapred to be funnelled into a Masai village, at your cost. You could insist on not going but it’s tough. Mostly it is to try and get you to buy their crafts, or that’s how it felt to me. Maybe I had just had so much of this already, so I was over sensitive. They do show you their homes, allow pictures and tell you about their culutre. They also do “dances”. I found in our village that they were just going through the motions, uninterested which made me uncomfortable.
The actual game drives were good. Given that you can’t control the wildlife, you take what is offered up and there certainly were ample opportunities for photos.
If I had had a complete itinerary outlining the extras, I think I would have been in a better position to negotiate. For example, my last day simply consisted of getting breakfast and a 4 hour drive back to Nairobi. No game drive, no park fees, no lunch or dinner or accommodation, but the same price as other days! But some of this is out of control of the organizers. I see its complexities and its challenges. Nothing is perfect. But I think it is best to know your challenges.
I was on the safari during low season and in Masai Mara there were still a lot of vehicles. Don’t expect to be the only one. Also your group can make it great or so-so. My first group was great. My 2nd small group consisted of an Italian couple who didn’t speak English and this really irritating (at least for me) self-focused Indian who lives in New York who tested my limits of patience with his ignorance. He was constantly wanting to feed the animals or manipulate them with noise to get them to do stuff for pictures. He also was always asking the driver to go out of his bounds to get closer. I am amazed how people have such little animal awareness or respect. But then again, I am a biologist and this is inherent education. But it was only three and 1/2 days and I refrained from swatting him or feeding him to the lions.
Communication is the key but this can be difficult when the driver’s English is not quite fluent and their expectations differ from yours. But everything is a learning experience and I finally fulfilled a dream I’ve had since I was a child – go to Africa to see the large mammals. I still recommend the experience and going into it with the knowledge I impart and your eyes open can result in a great experience.