Versus
 

It's flippin' dead on here.

Feel free to join in an ask for opinions on things, nothing too dick-ish but I have one that you can help me with, pertaining to holiday options this year:

Serengeti vs Masai Mara?

Re: Versus
 

Serengeti is much bigger than Masai Mara and has the Ngorongoro Crater.

Wildlife is otherwise the same. And Masai is still huge enough. Push come to shove, I'd go with Serengeti because of the Ngorongoro (note that the two parks are two parts of the same huge ecosystem, if you go to Masai you will likely drive slightly into the Serengeti as there's no hard border between the two parks).

But this is strictly between the two parks. For the larger holiday Kenya may be easier and slightly cheaper. If I had to chose between a holiday split between Masai Mara and Amboseli in Kenya versus Serengeti and Ruaha in Tanzania, I'd pick Kenya over Tanzania. The logistics of travelling around Kenya is a bit easier and budget friendly while Tanzania is ever so slightly more "bush" but not so much that the first time visitor would notice.

I'm off to Zambia in June myself. 12 days in the bush at South Luangwa then Victoria Falls. Can't wait!

BTW, when are you going?

Re: Versus
 

I knew you'd be useful for this. ;)

No idea on dates etc, we're just gathering information for a summer trip. It might be the worst and a total no-no for that kind of holiday, no idea yet. Could do a little tour and cover a few places. Just spit-balling at the mo but appreciate the information - seems like much of a muchness in terms of the what-you-see-on-safari level. :thumbup:

Re: Versus
 

Summer is a great time to go. It's not the same as the GCC summer, in Kenya/Tanzania August/September are part of the peak season, mild weathers, warm during the day and cool at night and early mornings. The high altitudes ensures this. But it's also dry so the animals come out of the bush to the watering holes and you see a lot more wildlife.

August/September is also part of the wildbeest migration in Masai Mara (earlier in Serengeti as they're moving steadily northwards). The wildebeest migration is amazing to see, especially the river crossings. It's always unpredictable as to when the wildbeest will start migrating northwards or make the river crossings, but you should certainly see the hordes.

Safaris are one of those things where the more you spend the more you get out of it. It's not the luxury camps (though they are decidedly nice) but better access, far better guides (which makes the world of difference), fewer people in your vehicles, the kind of vehicles you ride in.

Organising a safari for the first timer is daunting as there are so many variables and places and much of the market is dominated by middle man brokers (especially on the lower end). If you want to cut out the middle man and get straight to a proper safari operator, you can't do worse than Gamewatchers/Porini (https://www.porini.com/). They run their own camps in massive private conservancies adjoining the big parks in Kenya and have a fabulous reputation working with local tribes. Gamewatchers is the cheaper division of Porini but the quality of food and guiding and experience remains the same. An advantage of going with Porini/Gamewatchers is that they make everything very simple for you. Speak with their agents to create the safari you want, and make the payment and everything is taken care of from the moment you arrive in the country to when you leave. I think I only spent extra money on tips and two meals when I had an extra day in Nairobi.

You can do safaris more cheaply and it can still be a good time but there will be catches. Usually involves long overland transfers to the parks on bumpy roads, crammed into mini bus vehicles rather than open air safari vehicles, not so great guides (a key reason for why top guides are worth the money is because all the top guides know each other and relay critical animal sighting information to each other so when you're doing the drives through the parks, the guides are constantly relaying sighting information to each other).

Location-wise, for the first time safari goer you really can't do better than a week split between Amboseli and Masai Mara.

Keep the questions coming. Happy to oblige. I can talk more about the wildlife itself if you want. What do you want to see?

Re: Versus
 

Would you rather be an arse-faced weasel or a weasel-faced arse?

Re: Versus
 

Could never get by with The Office, thought it was really crap.

Re: Versus
 

Do you have any helpful advice for Scamp, Millhouse?

Re: Versus
 

Tough choice, Scamp mused.

Re: Versus
 

Yes. Go to Tanzania - more expensive, more animals and less people.

In all cases, don't stay looking at animals for too long. I got bored quite quickly.

If Kenya and you spend time in Nairobi let me know and I'll point you to some decent places. Mombasa (I'm told as not been) is a bit of a dump and full of sex-pests.

Re: Versus
 

Or go to Dubai Safari, at least you're guaranteed to see a few impoverished looking African Mammals.

And that's just the guides.

Re: Versus
 

Act my age versus carry on regardless?

Re: Versus
 

Carry on. I feel sorry for people who feel the need to act their age. Unless they are 7.

Re: Versus
 

Thanks.
Noted re; getting bored quickly.

Thanks for Nairobi.

I'm tempted to do Nairobi, safari, Zanzibar. Or something like that. Dunno. Still spit-balling.

Re: Versus
 

Carry on regardless

Re: Versus
 

Carry on regardless.

The only benefit of turning 30 is that I told an older man off at the airport. In my 20's I'd have felt too young and lacking experience to have told him what I thought of his queue skipping. Now I'm a fully grown man though....there'll be very few tellings off because frankly, I wasn't comfortable having a go and didn't really enjoy it. Not my style. I'm a tut and moan silently rather than confrontational sort.

Re: Versus
 

Wouldn't claim you see more animals, at least to make a difference. One exception would be Ngorongoro Crater, which is spectacular. But once you've seen 100+ elephants then it's a wash how many more you see. The number of people is also highly variable. If there's a wildbeest crossing the river then of course you will see plenty of other safari vehicles, but even in the same park 10kms away you can drive for hours and not see another vehicle. And Ngorongoro is pretty "crowded" with safari vehicles too.

The parks themselves do not allow off-road driving, but Kenya also has the private conservancies surrounding the main parks (tens of thousands of acres in size) where off-roading is accepted and that offers a different drive experience than sticking to the main park roads). Some of the conservancies have their resident lion prides, which makes it more likely to see groups of lions, whereas at the parks it's more of a hit or miss as lions are mainly nocturnal. The conservancies are also private so you will only see the other guests at your lodge/camp when you do the drives.

I still vote for Kenya for the first time because you can split your time between Amboseli and Masa, which are two quite different ecosystems. And it's a bit easier from a logistics perspective. And spending a day in Nairobi at the onset of the trip offers some distractions (Elephant Manor, Karen Blixen museum, the bead factory), if animals aren't your thing or you only have a low tolerance for looking at so many giraffes and elephants.

Scamp - it's a bit tricky doing safaris that combine Kenya and Tanzania these days. If you're keen at finishing a safari with a few days in Zanzibar then it makes sense to be based in Tanzania the entire time. I remember you mentioning you weren't keen on beaches so what about Zambia as an alternative? South Luangwa easily rivals Masa/Serengeti (potentially even better with bigger leopard populations and plenty of lions and a much better chance of seeing the ever so elusive African wild dogs). Then wrap it up with a few days at Victoria Falls.

Re: Versus
 

Girth versus length?

Re: Versus
 

You can convince yourself that neither matter if you have 20stone to pound it home with......Just ask IKnowNothing.

Re: Versus
 

Or dependant on where you intend to ram it

Re: Versus
 

We stayed in this place a couple of years ago:
https://www.asiliaafrica.com/east-af...ncy/ol-pejeta/

It's a small privately run camp, in a private reserve. The owner is a 3rd generation Kenyan of British extraction. It was extremely good value compared to many of the other places we looked at, and could not have been a friendlier place to stay - he treats you as an honoured guest (more like an old friend than a guest), price includes all the food and drink you could want (really, really good food), the staff are the friendliest people you can imagine. They'll take you out as often as you like. We saw lion, elephant, buffalo and others without even leaving our tent (there is an electric fence around the outside!), and much more on the drives. As Ol Pejeta Conservancy is privately run, and is not one of the bigger tourist destinations, it is not at all crowded - we rarely saw other people. He'll arrange collection and return to the airport if you want that, and if you want to do a multi-park holiday he'll advise you on other good places also (for a while we thought about doing that, and he made several introductions to other, hard to find, small private lodges). Can't recommend it highly enough - one of the best holidays I have ever had.

This is the conservancy website: https://www.olpejetaconservancy.org/

Re: Versus
 

But which of you was pounding what into whom? Then again, maybe I'd rather not know...

Re: Versus
 

I think you're confused. I was just insulting IKN, nothing more, nothing less. He gave me karma for it though so it's all good.

Re: Versus
 

Safari chat! Awesome! So want to do this next year after a jaunt up Kilimanjaro.

Top info DtoD

Re: Versus
 

Luangwa Valley is less touristy but beware of tsetse fly bites.

Re: Versus
 

Namibia?

Re: Versus
 

I heard somewhere that Nambia's nicer.

Re: Versus
 

South African colleague said to me you get the big 5 but it's just a much nicer place, quieter and 'better'.

Re: Versus
 

Namibia is visually stunning in a way the traditional safari countries aren't. The landscape is much more desert with a deep red coloured sand in parts. As a drier nation you won't see the animals in the volumes you find in the big parks in Kenya/Tanzania/Zambia/Botswana and South Africa and birdwatching isn't anywhere as good.

I would not say no to a Namibia safari and it may actually be ideal for someone who isn't keen on solely animals but wants to mix it up with a geographically distinct place. It's currently a "hot" place to go to. But I'd pay careful attention to what wildlife and in what volume and decide how important it is to you.

Re: Versus
 

Etosha Pan.

Re: Versus
 

It's the bestest.

Re: Versus
 

I think you mean beastest

Re: Versus
 

I've got all the best words.