My 20-year anniversary is coming up and we are considering vacation options. We went to Europe on our 10-year trip. I've got 3 weeks and no more than $8000. We both love nature and different cultures. Neither one of us likes large crowds. Is it possible to do anything in Africa for $8000 or less? This would include getting there. What are your thoughts? Countries? Activities? Transportation? Cost?

I think so...Just depends on the level of activities you do once there.
Also, depends a bit on time of year for airfare..
Plan on a minimum of 4K to 5k on airfare. The more flexible you are with time and tolerance for longer itineraries you can maybe even get airfare for two on Qatar or others for even 2-3k.. plan on another $1,000 for other internal airfare perhaps from JoBerg to Vic Falls or Maun and go to the Okavango Delta...
You could go Capetown and Western Cspe wine type deal
joBerg to Krueger
Vic Falls....

You have lots of options

I just checked airfares on Google flitghs for next May. You can fly from DFW to JNB for as little as $1,067 per person. That’s on American Airlines. After you’re there you could spend a week in Kruger and one of the adjacent private reserves and have an inexpensive but very enjoyable time.

If you’re a bit careful in making choices, you can do it. On the other hand, 20 years is pretty special, so if you could save or borrow just a couple thousand more, I think you’d be glad you did. For such a trip, Vic Falls would be a wonderful part of the trip and you could substitute either Hwange or Chobe in place of Kruger, both of which you’d drive to from the falls.

You could do it and get the highlights of Southern Africa - Cape Town, Kruger, Chobe, and Victoria Falls. Eco to JNB or CPT and Budget carriers between points.

Eastern Africa, that would be difficult for three weeks.

Easily done if you shop your airfare, and choose your activities.

Yes, you can--depending on the cost on the air tickets. I prefer Zimbabwe as it's less manicured than SA.
Cal

Join Costco

https://www.costcotravel.com/S...CAPETOWNBOTS20170119

Mike

You can easily do a 10 day in Namibia for two and still have money left over.

Arkie,

Since this is a special anniversary perhaps you should try to squeeze out a little more money. If you go on a very tight budget and your sweating the money you're not going to have the best of times. I book hunting and photo tours. Your travel even with the cheapest off season tickets will eat $3,000-$4,000 as there will be meals and likely overnights in hotels before you get in the bush. That leaves you very little to work with unless you stay a very short time.

Good luck!

Mark

Last Nov/Dec we saw the big 5+ in three days near Kruger. Not so fortunate in some other areas.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Please keep them coming. 20 years is a big deal for me but unfortunately I do have some financial constraints. When we went to Europe for our 10-year anniversary we rented a car for 3 weeks and drove around 6 different countries. I've always had a fascination with Africa but I'm not sure what countries are safe, what has the coolest stuff to see, what travel and communication would be like or if I just don't have enough money to do anything at all. I know that a lot of people on this site have a lot of experience with African travel. I appreciate all the advice I can get.

If you are planning on driving yourself, my suggestion is to forget South Africa.

I don't have to drive at all. I would consider whatever travel options people recommend. Having never been to Africa safety would be a big concern and I'm not sure what countries would be the most safe for American travelers.

quote:

Originally posted by Arkie:
I don't have to drive at all. I would consider whatever travel options people recommend. Having never been to Africa safety would be a big concern and I'm not sure what countries would be the most safe for American travelers.

In South Africa they do not care what nationality you are.

Crime is so rampant there it has become an everyday occurrence.

South Africa is the only country that I personally know several people who had crimes committed against them.

We have been there several times.

But we never stay in any of the cities.

Here's my take on driving in Africa from 20+ years of driving there.

Namibia - The safest for a self-drive. Thousands do it each year without any problems.
Botswana - About as safe as Namibia.
Tanzania - About as safe as Botswana.
Zimbabwe - Not safe
Mozambique - Less safe than Zimbabwe
Angola - On par with Mogadishu/Aleppo/Caracas take your pick
South Africa - Some areas are safe'ish but many areas are no go zones particularly around KZN.

If you can handle a 4X4 on rough roads while driving on the wrong side, then you shouldn't have any problems (assuming you rent vehicles from a reputable source). Personal safety is not an issue as long as you are not running around with head up rectum - don't act or dress like a clueless tourist with cameras and expensive things hanging off you, don't leave anything of value in vehicles or hotel rooms, don't take taxis unless prearranged, use a little situational awareness, and avoid the beggars and street urchins. Pretty simple.

If all else fails, pay for a guide. Just be careful who you choose.

I like the itinerary that Opus 1 outlined for Namibia. My wife and I did the nearly identical itinerary in 2012. The only difference I would recommend is flying British Airways through London. You have an 8 hour layover in London, but you can take the “Tubes” into downtown London for less than $10 each way and play tourist for 4-5 hours. I fly ORD to LHR to JoBerg to WDH. My roundtrip airfare for May 2019 was $982.00 all in.

I am assuming from your post and responses that you are primarily concerned with taking your bride on an African trip-no hunting involved. If that is the case contact Ronnie Haywood-www.africanadventuressa.co.za. My last trip (fourth for me, first for my wife) we spent a week with him and it was awesome. He quotes you a price that includes everything except hard liquor at night. Everything he planned for us was great. My wife is still talking about it. PM me if you want more info.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll be looking into it.

yep

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
If you are planning on driving yourself, my suggestion is to forget South Africa.

I think it can be done with proper planning. I recommend Victoria Falls. Beautiful and a lot to do. We are thinking of going back for our 25th anniversary.


Safe travels...…LL

Arkie: You have a PM

If you don't like crowds and squalor you will need to avoid any sizable town and all cities in Africa. There are a lots of people in the urban areas and a lot of them are unemployed, thus the towns are also the least safe places. Even small towns in Namibia are not entirely safe ... you can lose your cash and passport in a flash.

And since you are on a budget you are not going to be able to afford a personal guide.

This leaves joining a tour (not v romantic); or rolling the dice on your own (can be done with a lot of research).

Africa is rather large. As large as the rest of the world's landmasses put together. So you are going to need to narrow this down big time.

There are five world-class destinations in Africa that I know of: Cape Town, Vic Falls (add Chobe); Okavango Delta; Kilimanjaro; and the Pyramids. Unfortunately they are not close together, with the exception of VF/OD not self-driving distance apart. Add to that the wildlife that can be viewed in any one of a number of National Parks, Kruger being the best known but probably also the most commercial.

The more famous the destination, the more it costs. For example, Okavango Delta can run you $1k per night for a fancy tent.

One option might be to start in Cape Town, see Cape Point, Table Mountain, Stellenbosch and maybe Cape Agulhas, drive the Garden Route spending a couple of nights at a B&B in Knysna from where you can do some exploring, fly from Port Elizabeth or George to Phalaborwa (Kruger Park) where you can rent a car and spend some time in the Park, then drive back to JNB and fly out.

Another option might be to do Vic Falls (stay at Vic Falls Hotel), Chobe day trip or overnight, and maybe do a houseboat thing on Lake Victoria. This will be heavy on game viewing with maybe a little fishing thrown in. You won't see much of Africa but you will see some of what's left of the real deal.

I can't speak for Tanzania/Kenya as I have never done that. It's a game viewing deal mostly, with Kilimanjaro being the anchor attraction.

Namibia you can do Swakopmund and Etosha in about a week. Frankly the rest of it is pretty grim unless you are hunting.

Botswana is similarly grim other than the Delta and Chobe.

RSA is very scenic but developed and dangerous unless you are careful.

Moz is a disaster as is Angola.

Kenya is overrun with people, as is Zim.

The rest of Africa is a mess.

quote:

Originally posted by Opus1:

Off season from ATL to WDH via Qatar Air - $1,200 per person
Rental 4X4 - $1,500 for 10 days
Food per day for two - $200 - $2000 for 10 days (living large in Namibia)
Bed and Breakfast - $85 - $850 for 10 days - or you can camp for less
Fuel to cover 3,000Ks + - $550


T-Shirt - $6

Total Trip Cost - $7,306

Windhoek - Sossusvlei - Swakop - Kamanjab - in Etosha Galton Gate - Out Etosha Anderson's Gate (or Von Lindequist Gate) - Outjo - Windhoek - Go Home.

And Namibia is a great country ! Apologies for starting a sentence with and.

Easily,

I am from SA so 'know the ropes' which helps with accommodation options and places I know from my past, but my wife and I can visit from Canada and have a good 3 weeks on about US$5000, including flights.

quote:

Originally posted by Russ Gould:


There are five world-class destinations in Africa that I know of: Cape Town, Vic Falls (add Chobe); Okavango Delta; Kilimanjaro; and the Pyramids. Unfortunately they are not close together, with the exception of VF/OD not self-driving distance apart. Add to that the wildlife that can be viewed in any one of a number of National Parks, Kruger being the best known but probably also the most commercial.

I don't think that you mentioned what you were most interested in doing(game viewing, sight seeing, overland travel, etc.)

There are some interesting train rides that you can take in Africa. I traveled from Mplungo in Zambia to Dar es Salam, Tanzania in 2008. A first class cabin was +-300 each way and the train goes right through the Selous game reserve. You get to see a lot of country.

No one has mentioned Zambia. I spent a ton of time there about ten years ago. It was very inexpensive and very safe. The guest houses are geared for European travelers and they are very inexpensive. You can travel around the entire country on greyhound type busses for next to nothing. This would open up trips to a lot of inexpensive sight seeing and game viewing if you and your wife are fairly hardy. I would guess the average American is not nearly hardy enough to do this type of travel.

You could hit Victoria Falls, Lake Tanginika, Tanzania/Dar es Salam(via train) then on to Kasane, Botswana and down the Caprivi Strip by bus and spend a day or two on the Okavango River in Rundu. Then spend a couple of nights on a farm in Namibia(the farms geared towards Europeans are cheap).

I would bet that this could be done for under $8k. You could start the trip in Gaborone Botswana and see that whole country including Maun.

Man, I am getting nostalgic! It has been getting down to 0 F here. Some African October heat sounds inviting!

You could quite easily visit a couple of African countries on a 8k budget if you self guide/drive. You'd have to narrow your interests down but I'd recommend a week exploring Cape Town and the coastal and winelands area and then either Kruger or Vic Falls/Chobe or both. You can get fly in packages from Johannesburg to Vic Falls for very cheap including accommodation, flights etc. Kruger can be busy in SA school holidays but it's a big park and you can get away from the crowds. I've been to almost all the game parks in Southern Africa and Kruger is the best in my opinion for scenery and game viewing. Etosha, Moremi, Hwange, Mana Pools and Kgaladi are and also spectacular as are the KZN Parks (a bit rundown now and not the safest area to visit). It's Africa and all the parks are great in their own way. Vic Falls is a must, as is the game viewing on the Chobe Riverfront. There are so many places in many countries and it would take several trips to get a feel for all of them. Don't be put off by the crime talk. Violent crime is mostly confined to certain areas. Just be aware, petty crime is all around and no country in Africa is immune, where there is poverty there is crime. Bear in mind that SA gets 10 million overseas visitors each year, Zim, Bots and Namibia 1.5 to 2 million each. Violent crime on tourists does happen but it's nowhere near the normal domestic crime rate.