When to go to Botswana

When to go to Botswana

Linda asks: We are going to Kalahari Plains for 2 nights and Okavanga Delta for 5. When is the best time to go? Is late April, early May too cold at night and early morning game drives? Were originally thinking end of Jan but concerned about
rain.

Dear Linda,

You have chosen the perfect time to go! Don’t change! Travelers often get discouraged by measuring “high” and “low” seasons, “dry” and “rainy” seasons, but both metrics are usually a bad way to help you plan your trip. To be sure they should be considered, but should be given far less of importance than normal. Let me explain.

“High” season and “low” season reflect rates that are market driven. It’s more expensive to go in the high season than low season, because more people want to go then and the demand is greater. But that hardly makes it the best time to go. Consider that the highest season throughout the year is the end of December, virtually everywhere, whether you are at the bottom of the world, the top of the world, or on the equator. So it has nothing to do with season or weather, just when people travel. So never get turned off by the fact you’re considering travel during a “low season”, which is exactly your case for your upcoming trip. Being able to travel in a low season means you’ll get better rates and encounter fewer crowds.

When tourism first began in Africa, it was very difficult to travel during any rainy season. This was because there were few tracks, and those that existed were poorly maintained, and because there were not really vehicles made for safari travel per se. So they did really badly in the mud. That changed more than 20 years ago, but the copying of old brochures into new ones didn’t. I actually prefer traveling during the rains practically everywhere in Africa, because the veld is fresher and less dusty, and the landscapes are far more beautiful. It is usually when there are the most baby animals, too, because nature organizes births during times of plenty. There are advantages to the dry season, too, in terms of animal viewing. The veld is more stressed, so predation is easier to encounter. But my personal preference is the “green season.”

As for your particular concern about temperatures, you’ve actually got it upside down! The hottest time in southern Africa (their summer) is from November – March, and the coldest time is (their winter) from May – August. During most of March and April in Botswana, day time temperatures will be in the eighties and night time lows in the lower sixties. So while I think January — your original date — would be fine, it will be quite hot, touching or exceeding 100 F. (Remember that the great site, weatherunderground.com, has fabulous historic weather data, even for places like Botswana, so that you can check out what the weather was like this year on the dates you plan to travel.) June, July and August in Botswana is freezing! Don’t wait until then if you’re worried about temperatures.

One caution. Global warming has increased the wetness of the world all over the planet. The Okavango Delta is flooding more than ever. Some camps were actually flooded out this March, so check carefully before booking. Ask the specific question, what happened to your camp this March?

So you’ve made the right choice! Don’t be dissuaded!

Regards,
Jim

Don’t Try To Do This

Don’t Try To Do This

Karen wrote:
Flying from Boston into Jburg SA the 3rd week in Nov, want to spend few days in SA, week on safari in Serengeti & end in Zanibar (approx 2 weeks total). Specific suggestions what to see/do that time of year? 2 women, 1 college girl & 1 12 year old girl. Need help getting stared. Thanks!

Jim Answers
Karen –

This is a tough one for me to answer. From about the beginning of November through the middle of December, most of sub-Saharan Africa is dry, hot, dusty and at its worst time of the year for game viewing. So let’s start with the truth of the matter: you’re going at the wrong time for game viewing.

But maybe you have no choice. Maybe your “college girl” is going or coming, and so it makes best sense to do it, now.

But, please, forget the Serengeti. The Serengeti is my favorite place in the world, and you want to visit it at its darkest time of the year. Besides, I’ve often said that trying to combine East Africa and southern Africa is a real mistake. It’s a mistake to budget, time and context. Stick with southern Africa.

November is a great time for the whales in Cape Town. The beaches of Mozambique are just as good if not better and cheaper than Zanzibar’s at this time of the year. And if you must do game viewing, try to get on one of the (cheap and exciting) ranger-led walks in Kruger National Park, which I know your kids will really love.

Hope this helps! Sorry to be so discouraging, but the fact is that you’re starting with the wrong idea, and if you adjust it slightly you’re going to have a great experience!

Best Time in Kenya

Best Time in Kenya

Q. When is the best month(s) to go to Kenya for a safari? Would the short rains in Nov. hinder your viewing and getting around in a vehicle?

A:
Roberta –

I feel the best months for Kenya are those which allow you to see the great migration in the Maasai Mara. That is normally August/September and October. The migration begins to return to Tanzania in November, so November is a marginal month hard to predict. As soon as it begins raining, the wildebeest high-tail it back to Tanzania. But as for November in particular, it’s hard to predict. It was only two years ago that the rains never started until January, so the wildebeest remained in the Mara a much longer time than normal.

But that was unusual, and for the time being, it seems like the weather has tracked back to normal cycles.

Rains per se should not be a reason not to go. In fact, my favorite time in Tanzania is during the beginning of the rains, because that’s the best time for the wildebeest migration, and the prettiest time on the veld, and the time when there are the most calves. (Caution: the rainy season in northern Tanzania is different from Kenya. There are no two distinct seasons of rain in northern Tanzania as in Kenya. There’s really only one: it begins towards the end of the year and continues through the first half of the year.)

Hope this helps!
– JIM

South Africa Suggestions

South Africa Suggestions

From Amy Hartman:

Hi Jim-

I really enjoy the blog and following your travels.

You know me, always planning a year in advance, so we have plenty of time to talk about this. The dates have been set by school schedules and FF tickets. We fly into Cape Town, arriving on the morning of July 14 and depart Nairobi late evening on August 1, so we have 18 nights in country. The tentative plan would be to possibly rent a house for 5-6 nights in the south suburbs of Capetown or closer to Hermanus — whale watching, shark diving, penguins, Robbens Island, wine country etc. Head north to the wild coast (and warmer temps), possibly by Premier train (same route as Rovos and the Blue Train but 1/10 of the price!), and then head into Kenya — Joburg to Kisumu via Nairobi (?) to meet up with Lauren. Lauren has her own truck so we will self drive to wherever we go next from Kisumu. She spends her vacations in the Mara — not a bad option 🙂 but I would prefer to take advantage of the
second trip to East Africa by visiting an area where we have not been, so Uganda really looks to be an interesting option — Kibale v Kabarega and Murchison Falls.

All the Best,

A. from Jim:
Whales don’t really get going until the end of July, through November. Shark diving is best from Pt. Elizabeth, a 2- or 3-day drive from CPT or a 1- or 2-day drive from Hermanus, at the east edge of the Garden Route. Penguins, Robben Island and the wine country are all best done from Cape Town. So you’ll have to decide where to rent your house: Cape Town, Hermanus or Pt. Elizabeth, since they are mutually exclusive areas. Now if you decided to drive the Garden Route after Cape Town, you could then hit both Hermanus and Pt. Elizabeth.


The Wild Coast is even further east from Pt. Elizabeth, almost to Durban along the coast. The waters of the Indian Ocean do get warmer, but the temperatures on land compared to Cape Town get colder. There are some beautiful wildernesses, here, but they really are wild and best for self-catering drivers; not a lot of lodges, and the game is sparse compared to other parts of the country… There is no train service east from Cape Town further than Pt. Elizabeth, so if you were continuing east into the Wild Coast from there you’re only option is to drive. There are good bus services.


You must have a very old guide book. KabeLega is the name that Idi Amin gave to Queen Elizabeth National Park. It was rescinded when he was deposed in 1981… I don’t think I’d recommend you spend any time in Uganda at all, having just as you know returned from there. That’s because I doubt you’ll have enough time to do the chimps in the north all the way down to the gorillas in the south, with all the other things you want to do on this trip. That’s a minimum of 7 days, and more likely 8 or even 9 if you include Murchison Falls. Gorillas are better done in Rwanda, anyway, and that you can nip off in 3 days. So if you can concede doing chimps, then I’d concentrate on a 3-day gorilla trip in Rwanda… You simply will not be excited at all in the game areas of Uganda.

No to short Ndutu from Dar

No to short Ndutu from Dar

From Lee Chalfant, [email protected]:

Q. Jambo Jim!
A Tanzanian friend here in Seattle, Zainab will be visiting relatives in ar es Salaam in June. She and her husband want to take their two children to the Serengeti for just 2-3 days. The children are in elementary school. I sent her info on Ndutu Lodge. Do you have any better suggestion as well as an airline suggestion from there. They will be in Dar in the last 2 wks of June. When she lived there she never went on safari. Does Ndutu have guides of their own that you could recommend?

A. I think your friend’s ideas aren’t very good. Dar is a long, long way from the Serengeti, and the besides, this is the worst time of the year for the Serengeti, and while Ndutu Lodge is very reasonably priced at any time of the year, your friends will end up spending a mint to get there.

If they were going to dedicate a week on safari, then I think coming up north and visiting places like Tarangire (which will be at its prime, then, and which has a very reasonably priced lodge in Sopa), would be ideal. But for the short time they want to allocate, the flights, the transport — it all just makes it way too expensive for what they would achieve.

I think there are two better options for her. And in fact this would apply regardless of budget, but governed by the amount of time they want to give themselves for safari.

Go to The Selous, or to Mikumi.

The Selous will have great game at this time of the year, and it’s only 80 miles from Dar. You have to fly into it, but it still ends up being way less expensive for them than the northern circuit. Slightly less expensive, and not quite as good game, would be a road safari to the nearby (Dar) game park of Mikumi.

Hope this helps!

SOUTH AFRICA WILD COAST

SOUTH AFRICA WILD COAST

Ryan McCasky wrote:

Q. What do you know about south africa? worth seeing? I’m interested in Port Elizabeth up the coast to Durban. I heard there are quaint towns up the coast and that the area has the best of both worlds of Africa… coast, beautiful beaches on one side, and huge game reserves and animals on the other side. Obviously it looks like a huge area and distance between the two. but worth going? cheap? expensive? How’s the crime? Just wondering. a friend of mine wants to go to the area to swim with great whites. and then also to see the big 5. When you have time, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

A. I just watched a news report yesterday evening that said your city, Ryan, is now the murder capital of the world, with more than one homicide per day (468/month). That exceeds any rate in any South African city. Crime is very relative. I’m sure you know how to avoid getting bumped off in Chicago…

The coast east of Port Elizabeth to Durban is nicknamed the Wild Coast and has some of the most spectacular beach and country on the continent, and it reminds me very, very much of the coastline just north of San Francisco from Tomales Bay up to Mendocino. Mostly these are not good beaches for swimming, and the great whites are generally west, not east of Port Elizabeth. Much of the beach is rocky and cliff rock, so spectacular scenery but not good sand beaching. As for game, I know of only one game reserve, Kwando, that has any reputation in this area, and it pales in comparison to some of the other reserves much further east of Durban (Phinda, Hluhluwe and Umfolozi). It’s also very windy and in the hottest of times, cold. Just like San Fran. For more swimmable and sandy beaches you need to go further, east of Durban. Remember as for game, there is nothing you’re going to find anywhere in southern Africa that achieves a tenth of what we just saw in East Africa. And another rejoinder about “big game” in the south. Much of it is on private reserves that are hard to distinguish as such, but what that means is that all the animals have been trucked in, many are fed as in zoos and to some extent many are just like San Diego’s Wild Animal park. The way to tell in South Africa is to use the official South African site: http://www.sanparks.org/

Gorillas/Volunteering

Gorillas/Volunteering

Kristin Shea wrote:
I’m planning a trip to East Africa from the beginning of Sept through end of November this year. I’d like to incorporate seeing the Mountain Gorillas, along with volunteering and sightseeing in Tanzania. Two questions: 1) What is the ideal time to see the gorillas? & 2) Can you recommend any volunteer opportunities in Tanzania or Rwanda? I’m a teacher and would like to lend a hand while back there. Thanks!

A: The mountain gorillas live in the “rain” (intentionally bracketed!) forests of East and central Africa, so it rains a lot. But there are seasons when it rains less than more, and if your schedule permits, that is probably the best time to go. But before I tell you what those seasons are, I think you need to think of what else you’ll be doing, and what your own schedule permits, because even in the season of “less” it could be raining hard! So to the answer: normally it rains most in April, May and from mid-November to mid-December. (Not so this year, by the way. It rained most in March!) The point is that it rains so much, that ought not be as important a consideration as the other things you’re doing… As to volunteering, there are several tour companies which promote volunteering, but I don’t like any of them. What I suggest you do is go to the source. Find a school that offers the discipline that you teach back at home and contact them directly. Finding a school is easy and with that I’ll be happy to help. Send me another email and we’ll get you going!

Kristin wrote back on 14May:

Amahoro has been referred to me and I’ve researched them…They seem great. My concern is that I’m traveling by myself and & I’m wondering if there’s a recommended tour company that would let me join a group. Any thoughts?

Based on your advice, I’m researching direct volunteer opportunities in the Arusha area. There is a hostel there that I’ll use as a back-up plan. If you know of any elementary schools or orphanages that are in need of volunteers, please pass along their info to me. Thank you!!!!

A. Amahoro is a good company, you’re in good hands. I wouldn’t worry about joining a group, because a gorilla trek is by government rules a group of 6-7 people with one guide. So whether you arrive alone or not, you’ll be automatically teamed up for the actual trek.

August and part of September is a school holiday month in most of East Africa and the term that begins in September is a critical exam study month for all children matriculating at the end of the year, so you’re going to find many administrators loathe to take on a volunteer, then. However, there are many private schools that have a slightly different schedule and dozens of orphanages that integrate schooling into their facility. When contacting these people, it’s very important that you sell yourself with your own training and background. This may sound strange, since you’re volunteering, but the fact is that now there may be too many outsiders trying to volunteer these days, so like any position in which you’d like to intern, you have to sound valuable. In the old days, just offering to volunteer was enough; absolutely not so, anymore.

Contact India Howell at
[email protected]

and Good Luck!

Malaria Prevention

Malaria Prevention

Chris Dennos wrote:

Jim,
Long time since we spoke. My son, Mike is going to Africa and we were talking about malaria meds. When we traveled with you, many years ago, you gave me the name of a med I bought in London as the current US brand caused nightmares. Is that still the case and what do you now suggest is the best?

A: Lariam is the drug you’re recalling, and yes it’s still available and widely prescribed, and yes, I still suggest you look for something else. My own personal experience and that of many colleagues is that it just produces too many side effects. On my last two safaris, in fact, people who were using it reacted so badly both stopped using it in the middle of the safari, which isn’t good. Once you start a malaria prevention regimen, you ought not in the middle stop or switch.

There are other options, but I can’t recommend one over the other because it depends very much upon the medical health history of the person involved. It’s really absolutely something that you should see your personal physician about.

Climbing KILI

Climbing KILI

from [email protected]:

Q. I have a friend who told me that he was thinking about trying to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. (I had mentioned that you are the travel sensei of central eastern Africa.) I’m not sure how serious he was, but I told him I’d find out some information. How much would it cost for EVERYTHING to go to Tanzania and climb Mt. K? (Please include return flight cost this time.) Also, how long would the whole trip take? What kind of dangers are there?

Much appreciated,
Peter

A. This year we expect around 14,000 people to try to summit Mt. Kilimanjaro – this is down from the high point in 2006 when more than 22,000 people tried. Needless to say, it’s hard to imagine even 14,000 people (roughly 40 people per day).

The vast majority of these are budget climbers and they travel the “Marangu Route” which is nick-named the “Coca-cola” route. The Tanzanian government has built three dormitory-styled lodges on the route, with rooms that have 4 to 8 bunks with shared toilets. The Marangu Route is only one of 7 routes up the mountain, but it is the quickest (some argue, therefore, the most difficult) and the least expensive. Three days up. Two days down. Climbers can actually arrive without any prior reservations at the park gate with their backpack and gear, hire a porter/cook (which is mandatory, but you must supply the food), pay fees and begin climbing. This completely self-catered climb will cost around $700, most of it government fees.

Most of the people who try it that way don’t make it. Fitness is not the principle concern, since Kili is basically a walk to the top. Most failures to reach the summit are caused by inappropriate responses to high altitude, and it effects most people around 12,000′. (Kili’s summit is 19,349′) By adding only a couple hundred dollars to the basic cost, you can make professional arrangements with basic outfitters like the Marangu Hotel. These better trained and chosen porters and guides, with proper food, could double your success potential. Nevertheless, the Marangu Route is a tough one because it’s so fast, and it’s the least scenic way up the mountain.

EWT and a number of other companies outfit the more scenic climbs, and these can be as long as ten days with huge staffs carrying tents, showers, toilets, food, etc. Perhaps the most scenic route is the Machame Route. The most challenging is the Umbwe Route. There is a vast variety of costs for these 5 to 10-day climbs, ranging anywhere from $2000 to $6000 per person, depending upon the time of year, level of outfitting and required skill of the guides.

As to the safety, about a dozen people a year die trying to climb the mountain, but these are usually nonclimbing fatalities such as heart attacks and undiagnosed pulmonary edema, which in most cases could have been avoided had the climber been better outfitted or had better guiding. However, in November, 2008, a serious avalanche killed 5 people, and represented the increasing effect of global warming on the mountain. Another reason to choose a good outfitter who will know what parts of the mountain are safe, and which aren’t.

Properly outfitted, the danger is minimal and almost exclusively a matter of how your body reacts to high altitudes. EWT has outfitted U.S. Olympic medalists in track and field who didn’t make it to the top! And we outfitted a 70-year old man with one lung who did!

No matter what level of outfitting you choose, it’s always recommended that you give yourself some time in Tanzania before actually starting the climb, to shake jetlag and adjust to higher altitudes. You can do this by just hanging out in Moshi town under the mountain (at 8000′) or by some rigorous hiking in spectacular national parks.

As for air fare, it changes so much it would be worthless to quote until you really know the dates you’re going to go. In the course of 2009, roundtrip air fares from New York varied from $1350 to $2480 roundtrip.

Request EWT’s “Kilimanjaro Reference Guide” for more comprehensive information.

A Very Lonely Planet

A Very Lonely Planet

lonelyplanetArusha is NOT one of the 8 worst cities in the world. It is the 8th most HATED city, so there!

In October Lonely Planet published a list of the world’s most hated cities, and Arusha was 8th. As for lists, this was about the 8000th mistake Lonely Planet has made about East Africa.

First, a reality check. Arusha is one of my favorite African cities. It’s a modern, fast growing city doing just fine, in fact superbly by African standards. You’d never know it was so large, because it’s so pretty. It has some serious crime which you can avoid by not walking the streets at night, and a lot of conmen which you can avoid by not being conned.

Sound familiar? Sound like, well maybe, Chicago?

I love Chicago.

One of the authors of the original list, Vivek Wagle, tried to create a conundrum but instead just revealed poor journalism.

A Lonely Planet connundrum it is not. It’s a mistake, no complex idea.

By the way, here are the other cities that were more “hated” than Arusha at 8th:

Detroit, Accra, Seoul, Los Angeles, Wolverhampton (England), San Salvador, and Chennai (India).

That list is, of course, a conundrum because those cities have little in common with one another except that they are cities (well, not sure about Wolverhamwhat?), but reduced to the little we know about the big ones (Detroit, Accra, Seoul and LA) it’s really not a bad group to find yourself in.

Lonely Planet is becoming very lonely. More and more astute travelers know to politely acknowledge it but never take it to the café.

In the beginning, the LP idea was a pretty good one. It was detail on the cheap. Find some inveterate, young (and necessarily poor) traveler who was spending a lot of time in some foreign place, and pay him/her outrageously poor wages to write a chapter.

It worked when Americans just began their love of traveling the world. There were many really good young explorers with a bit of their own capital who loved the exposure that publication provided.

But there was never any fact-checking. It was basically all opinion. Fortunately for the idea, the opinion was usually positive, because these were kids awestruck by a new place, energized by a feeling of discovery, and elated by the idea they were now an author.

Lonely Planet pays about $500 for a chapter about a country. In the old days, some of that was extremely good stuff. I particularly liked the condensation of history, for example. But it’s still pitiful wages.

But as time went on, and book sales zoomed, and the owners got profitable and there were lots more people traveling everywhere, journalism crept into the credo.

Are you sure that that tented camp didn’t have a bathroom attached?

Fact check. Holy smokes, who’s going to find that one out?

So more and more scrutiny developed and in the 90s LP submitters had to spend at least one cycle of regularity in each place they reviewed.

That was expensive. Paying for that might eke into the outlandish profits of the publisher! Two nights in a tented camp in East Africa costs an entire chapter’s pay!

Unless…

The camp comps you. That means takes you free, because the camp knew it would then appear in Lonely Planet.

Get my drift?

All of us began to know this. I remember during my close association with Hoopoe Safaris of Tanzania that the marketing manager’s main call to arms was sounded each time a Lonely Planet editor came to down.

We wined and dined and put him/her up free at every place we owned or might soon.

And guess what else? We bought adds in some Lonely Planet publications. It was called “synergy in marketing.”

And we got rave, rave reviews, and it paid handsomely. I never thought the marketing manager was very good, but he claimed in one meeting that a quarter of our bookings came from Lonely Planet.

In today’s internet world TripAdvisor has replaced Lonely Planet.

Lonely Planet still has great background. As a Cliff Notes guide to a place you’ll be traveling, it’s still worth the buy. But as far as its recommendations and opinions about the cities or places you might stay, forget it. It’s all staged.

But then, you know that. Lonely Planet is lonelier than ever.

World Tourism & World Cup

World Tourism & World Cup

[email protected] asks:

Q. Are toursits coming from USA to TZ increasing after world economy crisis? Is world cup is going to affect tourism in East Africa?
Thanks.

A. The only numbers we have of Americans traveling to Tanzania is provided by the TTB (Tanzania Tourist Board), and we’ve always been skeptical about them; they come out so long after the fact. So the question whether tourism is increasing is a very hard statistical question… My gut feeling is that yes, it is increasing, but very, very slowly.

Unlike the TTB, the South African Tourism board reports numbers accurately and often, and they are quite discouraged by the lack of interest from the United States for the World Cup. The numbers they expected from Europe are proving true, and June and July should be boon years for South African tourism as a result, but ironically, it seems that some Americans who would have been traveling in South Africa are avoiding it because they suspect crowds and other logjams. “Soccer” as we call it at home, just isn’t a big sport, here. So if anything, there could be a boost to East African tourism as a result of Americans diverting from South Africa.

Best game in October

Best game in October

Niki Roberts [email protected] asks:

Q. We are getting mixed messages about where to see the most animals in October.

A. At any time of the year, in any weather condition, there are more animals seen on an East African safari than on any other safari anywhere else in Africa, including all of southern Africa. As a comparison consider that normally on a two-week safari at the best time of the year for southern Africa game viewing (July – September) you will likely see 10-15 lions. At the best time of year for an East African safari (March – June), you’re likely to see 70-80 lion. Similar comparisons exists for most of the other animals as well.

While that is an absolutely true and definitive statement, the statement that March – June is the best time to see animals in East Africa is a little bit more qualified. This is because — unlike southern Africa which is definitively south of the equator and has absolute climate seasons — East Africa lies astride the equator. This means the seasons are not really very different from one another, and it also means that the weather is much more complicated. This is true around the world at the equator because of the confluence of jet streams wirling around against one another.

Rain patterns are pretty well established, though, and that’s what I base my statement on. The rainiest time in all of East Africa is March – June. That’s why it’s the best time for seeing the most animals. This is when they’re fat and sassy and less stressed, meaning more viewable. It’s also the only time of the year when the great wildebeest migration is all in one place at one time: the southern grassland plains of the Serengeti. So in other words, this is the ONLY time during the year that in one view from a mountain top near Lemuta you have the chance to see between 150-200,000 animals, the maximum a wide-horizon view will allow when they’re packed together.

BUT in the wet season predation is much harder — for obvious reasons — so the number of predators that you’ll see easily is often less than what you’d see in the dry season. In October on a two-week safari in East Africa, the number of lion you’re likely to see can double, to over 100.

I prefer the beauty of the wet season: the gorgeousness of the veld, the abundance of game, the large numbers of babies, the abundance of birds (because all the European migrants have joined the African species to increase the total species count to more than 700)and the general state of the veld: much less dust, for instance. Ironically it also coincides with the “low season” so the rates are the cheapest. Low season doesn’t mean it’s a bad time to travel. This is the low season for most places all over the world — it’s just a time that people don’t travel for some reason.

Finally, you may be interested in why you’re confused! Game viewing in East Africa started in Kenya in the late 1950s, early 1960s. Travel was much more difficult then. The cut tracks in the national parks weren’t very well maintained, and the vehicles were pretty bad — mostly minibuses. Imagine traveling through areas of mud with a poor vehicle! (By the way, rainy season is not like London, but like summer in the Midwest: grand, dramatic afternoon thunderstorms with the rest of the day and night beautifully clear.)

Also fortunate for Kenya, the dry season is featured by about a third of the great migration coming into Kenya’s Mara. So it was absolutely true to say, at least in the 1950s and 1960s, that the best time for game viewing was during our summer and fall, during Kenya’s dry season.

But that changed when vehicles changed and parks got better tracks. Today we mostly use Landrovers which have no problem with a bit of mud. The tracks are better, and northern Tanzania is now developed. In the days when the myth of the best game viewing during dry times developed, there wasn’t even a Tarangire National Park and very few roads at all in the Serengeti!

But of course the Kenyan operators are not going to help you explode this myth! The Kenyan’s rainy season is much shorter than in northern Tanzania; Kenya is a much drier place all year long, and so if you accept — as I’m arguing — that the wet season is better for game viewing than the dry season, then the Kenyans are immediately going to be upset.

But those are the facts!

Honeymoon in August

Honeymoon in August

Andrew@

Q. I am writing to inquire about my honeymoon in August & September of 2010. My fiancée and I are very interested in planning a combination safari and beach extension over a 10 day period. More specifically, we’d like to spend four/five days on safari (preferably in Southern Africa – Botswana/) and then spend an additional four/five days in a beach resort to relax.

A. Andy –

First of all, congratulations!

August and September are perfect for a safari in southern Africa, so I’ll get to that in a minute.

Keep in mind that a “safari” in southern Africa usually includes 2 or 3 days in beautiful non-safari places like Cape Town. Southern Africa is more like California than the Congo. Its range of attractions is immense, including one of the world’s most beautiful cities, Cape Town, endlessly beautiful hiking trails and forests, great theaters and museums. So an optimum holiday to southern Africa meshes game viewing with these other “european-like” attractions. If this isn’t what you had in mind because it’s really intense game that you’re after, then I’d direct you to East Africa, instead. Just as a very broad comparison, in a week of best game viewing in southern Africa in August you’re likely to see 10-15 lion. In East Africa, that will be 50-60. But unlike southern Africa, East Africa has few of the other great “european-like” attractions that southern Africa has.

The beach experiences at this time of the year in southern Africa aren’t at their prime. This is southern Africa’s winter. There are islands off Mozambique which will give you a pretty good experience, but starting in about mid-August, the day time temperatures might not get above the lower 70s (although the Indian Ocean is the warmest ocean in the world). There is great variety, though, in mid-August and you could see a day touch 80 but that’s a gamble. Take 5 to 10 degrees off those numbers if you stay in South Africa along its coasts. Now if you are divers or active water sports enthusiasts, this may really not matter. But if all you’re looking for is R&R, then you might rethink this section.

The best beach experiences for August and September are much further north in East Africa: Zanzibar, or off the Kenya or Tanzanian coasts. And keep in mind that there is no beach experience anywhere on the African continent which can compete with our own. I normally point this out to couples when a conflict of interest like this might arise. In other words, the best I could give you at any time of the year anywhere on the continent would probably not meet the experience of our better resorts in the Caribbean or Hawaii.

So if you stick with southern Africa as your venue, you might want to just consider a safari experience that ends for a slightly extended time at a very romantic resort… but not for sunbathing on the beach. For example, there are some very romantic properties at Victoria Falls, as well as actually within game parks. Along the South African coast east of Cape Town (known as the “Garden Route”) there are beautiful and romatic villas and resorts on the sea, but the sea is like northern California in the winter. So you’d certainly be able to beach comb and hike, but not swim. And like in Mendocino, for example, you’d be beaching combing with a nip in the air, probably in your fleece.

For a safari experience August and September are ideal for southern Africa, its winter. The slightly better game viewing is in Botswana and Zambia, near Victoria Falls, but several flights and nearly a day’s journey from Cape Town, so you’re not only investing more time (presuming you start at beautiful Cape Town), but also a larger budget because of the extra flights involved.

Air Charter

Air Charter

Rosemary

Q. What type of planes are there and how many passengers do they hold?

A. I presume you mean the planes used within East Africa. There is a huge variety of charter aircraft, but there are some trends.

Between Kenya and Tanzania, between Kenya’s small Wilson airport and Tanzania’s Kilimanjaro airport, and between Mombasa (in Kenya) and Tanzania, these are usually larger planes, like ATRs, which have up to four engines and hold up to 46 people.

These larger planes are also often used between Nairobi and the Maasai Mara.

But on all the other routes throughout East Africa, the size of the plane is never guaranteed until you actually arrive at the airport. The charter companies use planes to fit the number of bookings.

Probably the plane most used is the Cessna 208, commonly known as the Caravan. This is a single-engine, 12 or 13-passenger aircraft. But again, you just never know until you arrive for check-in!

Weight Restrictions

Weight Restrictions

From Denise@

Q. We are so excited about our family safari in December! But I’m concerned about the weight restriction for the small aircraft. Is this for real?

A. Yes, and here are the details. Bottom line: if you carry too much, you could lose it. Alternative: charter your own plane, or buy multiple seats.

Charter companies in East Africa presume an average tourist weight of 75 kilos per person. They know how much they as pilots weigh, how much their fuel and safety equipment weighs, and it’s a simple calculation to know how much weight is left for luggage, and that the plane can still take-off.

It’s that simple. The result is to presume the plane is fully subscribed and that leaves about 15 kilos (32-33) pounds per person for everything besides tourist bodies.

This is also the limitation that the larger commercial aircraft (ATRs, etc.) that fly between Nairobi’s Wilson airport and Tanzania’s Kilimanjaro and Mombasa’s airport. But on these flights you can bring extra luggage and pay an excess weight charge (of about $1 / pound).

But on a remote national park airstrip when your smaller Cessna 208 or such comes in to get you, there are no scales for the pilot to use. If the plane is full, and if the pilot believes you have too much, he’ll simply start taking pieces and off-loading them.

I’ve seen it happen. Not often, admittedly, but it does happen. The pilot tends to off-load luggage, understandably, from those who have the most. He gives it to the driver/guide who has brought the customer to the airstrip, and arrangements are then frantically made to somehow have the luggage catch up with the passenger.

It usually doesn’t. And it usually costs a lot.

If you’re having difficulty with this and don’t want to incur the extra costs associated with chartering your own plane or buying extra seats, then there’s only one alternative left.

Have the “extra” bag that you know might be the one held back. If you do this, don’t scimp on this bag, or the pilot won’t choose it when he begins to off-load. But in sum this is a pretty bad idea, since you just never know. Best thing to do is just off-load those hair dryers, hard cover books, extra pair of shoes and let your guide bring the first-aid!