Is it Okay to book a safari once you get there in Kenya or is it greater to e-book in progress? This query regularly comes up on many vacation forums. Several tourists (such as myself) like the flexibility of landing in a nation and viewing how it flows with no being locked into a established itinerary the place you are instructed when and exactly where to eat, slumber and go. So let’s discover how you can go on safari with some feeling of flexibility when remaining protected, comfortable and inside spending budget.
Let us start out with “Sure”, it truly is Okay to guide a safari at the time you arrive in Kenya. If you wander the streets of Nairobi’s CBD, you will be approached by touts marketing inexpensive safaris. It is really uncomplicated to go together with 1 of them. The motor vehicles are generally parked close to Metropolis Market, so if you are all set to go, you could go right away. They settle for money so you just will need to go to the ATM, withdraw, hand it in excess of and you’re absent. Very simple.
For those who are happy with performing factors speedily, just and are versatile in their expectations, this is perfect. For others, this could possibly sound a bit dodgy. I had a friend who went for this strategy and it wasn’t until eventually her and her comrades had withdrawn the funds from the ATM that they understood they have been about to stroll via downtown Nairobi and at the very least one man or woman realized they were being carrying masses of cash. It abruptly appeared a foolhardy technique.
So we go to “No” it’s maybe not a great thought to e book a safari when you arrive in Kenya. Safaris aren’t affordable… or you definitely get what you shell out for! If you discover a deal on the street that appears to be far too good to be true, then it almost certainly is. You could possibly discover on your own consuming zikuma (kale) and ugali (maize food) for a week and every single day working with the outcomes of a poorly managed automobile. Don’t forget, gasoline is the same cost as at household and the roadways are in undesirable affliction (like, worse than you could even visualize), so working a auto in this article is an costly proposition.
You want to trust your tour operator. You are about to hand about a substantial sum of funds to make this as soon as-in-a-life time safari the a single you have usually dreamed of. Why would you danger that by selecting any Joe off the avenue? Just take time to do your analysis. Read through evaluations of tour operators (Excursion Advisor, Safari Bookings and Your African Safari all help), and start out an electronic mail dialogue to get a truly feel for how they reply to your wishes. When it truly is not important, you may perhaps also want to verify with sector bodies such at KATO (Kenyan Affiliation of Tour Operators) whose associates tend to be a lot more reputable and qualified than non-associates. You also want to know who you are working with – an agent or an operator. Of training course if you are dealing with your vacation agent at property then they will join you with a respected tour operator. But some Kenyan brokers can look pretty significantly like operators on their internet websites. This suggests they will not be dependable for auto upkeep and be “selling you” to a tour operator. In this circumstance you even now will not know who will be accountable for your ease and comfort and safety whilst on safari and no matter whether you belief them. And agents in Kenya are not held by the very same principles and ensures as brokers at dwelling, so if they vanish with your money there is certainly not much recourse.
Kenya is not all negative!
But it truly is not just about steering clear of shady folks (I don’t want to sound like Kenya is entire of conmen!), it really is also about availability. Most men and women want to arrive for the Wildebeest Migration in July and August. These months are also summer holidays in the US and Europe so lodging in Maasai Mara is around 97% booked throughout the time period. Christmas is also a peak period, with a lot of Kenyans travelling at this time as nicely as international holidaymakers. Accommodation and motor vehicles can be difficult to resource in these peak moments if you go away it to the past minute.
If you are not fussy about food stuff, the vehicle, or which recreation park you go to and are on a finances, then you can just take a likelihood with reserving your safari when you get to Kenya. But I advise you shell out some time looking into highly regarded tour operators with good testimonials so you know you are safe and sound. Sad to say, Kenya is most likely not the ideal region to have confidence in strangers on the road who have “the ideal safari offer for you!”
Overland Travel Adventures has superb critiques on Trip Advisor and we love operating with our company to personally style and design their desire safari. We are a family members-run organization with husband and wife team, Tracey and Francis, using treatment of you from planning by means of execution. E-mail [email protected] to commence planning your holiday break these days.