PAW Safaris

"Safari”: the Swahili word meaning journey.

Finding the correct itinerary that suites your needs, interests and expectations can be quite a daunting task, especially the fact that a safari changes so dramatically in budget, game viewing, time of the year and ease of access depending on which country and park you choose to visit. With this in mind, we have characterised a few of the Parks and Countries on the above points.

Budget

National Parks and accommodation can really vary on cost from anything from $20 a night for simple huts in government accommodation up to $1500 a night in a luxury lodge in the Okavango Delta.

Park fees are generally cheaper in Southern Africa (around $20-30 per a person per day and increases as you move into Zambia and East Africa to around $40-70 per person per day.) Accommodation varies depending on government or private lodges as well as location. Most government rest camps within South Africa are very reasonable, with the average price of around $120 per couple per night and camping around 20 dollars. Private lodges tend to start from $150 a night including meals and moves up to the $800 for extreme luxury in the private reserves like Sabi Sands and Timbavarti.
Smaller reserves not connected to Kruger National Park tend to give better rate for luxury at around $300. Zimbabwe, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda generally seem to have accommodation in prime parks in the midrange bracket of around $150 to $500 per person per night.
Botswana and Zambia are extremely expensive with lodges in prime areas starting around $500 and getting up to $1500 a night per person.  Camping is very reasonable across all the parks at around $25 per person per night.

Game Viewing and Time of the year

No matter which country you choose, game viewing is excellent but can be seasonal depending on wet and dry season as well as temperatures and migrational movement of animals will determine the sightings. It’s very important to choose as location at the end of the dry season, so the bush is less dense and animals tend to be gathered around water sources. Generally speaking: Southern Africa Southern Africa tends to have 2 seasons (wet and dry) with the rainy season starting around October and ending in March. October November is the hottest month (sometimes known as suicide month.) December and January is excellent for baby animals, and birds as most of your migrants are in the South Eastern Africa, whilst East African has 4 seasons (2 rainy and 2 dry seasons) with prime time’s being January to March and August to October.

November and December is excellent in the Masai Mara as the wildebeest are feeding on the Mara plains while February is excellent in the Southern Serengeti due to the wildebeest lambing season.

Most Parks in Zambia and Southern Tanzania close, due to them being inaccessible from October till March due to the heart of the rainy season Out of all the parks in Africa arguably I would say the best game viewing is in the Okavango Delta, Serengeti and Masai Mara but this also comes with accommodation having higher prices and being more commercialised, but all parks can have fantastic game viewing as well as having something for everyone and on any given day in the time of the year they can compete with the best.

Ease of Travel

For first timers to Africa witnessing a 3rd world rural country can be a shock to the system. South Africa is by far the easiest country to get around with a good road network and transport system as well as first world shops as well as plenty of car rental companies and transfer companies. As you move further north you leave the first world infrastructure behind and things tend to get more remote and rough going. Most Parks in Zimbabwe and pretty much all parks in Botswana and Zambia require high clearance vehicles if not a 4x4 to get around with extra fuel, water and good recovery tools. There are plenty of safari tour companies in East Africa so even though the roads are rough. You won’t have any problem getting access into the parks. All parks have airstrips with scheduled chartered flights in and out of the parks where by the lodges can pick you up and take you around but this comes at a high price of around $150-$300 each way. The information above is very vague and just a rule of thumb giving you a basic idea of what to expect. We really recommend having a consultation with us so we can provide you with a few options that will really suit your interests and expectations. So let us create your journey.