Africa: Suggestions for a safari experience on a Budget?

[Quickstatus]

Any suggestions for a safari experience for some poor university students

Budget $2000 AUD
1 week in Nov

 

[Flying mermaid]

Any suggestions for a safari experience for some poor university students

Budget $2000 AUD
1 week in Nov

I am not good with budget safaris, but a young friend of mine has done a few with adventure groups like contiki which I think was quite cheap. Apart from that I would have thought a self drive to Kruger would be as cheap as you could get. As soon as you go to private game reserves it gets more expensive, although there is a range of price points there as well.

I assume this is for your daughter?

 

[Quickstatus]

We have a higher budget but unfortunately others don’t.

MissQS was wanting to do a horseback Okavango 5 nights with transfers for £3000 ($Aud 5500) but others budgeting for $2000Aud

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Any suggestions for a safari experience for some poor university students

Budget $2000 AUD
1 week in Nov

Yes DIY in Kruger National Park for about half of that not including food or the flights in. So split 2-5 ways per cost head is very low.

- Stay in the Sanpark Rest Camps (For a week stay at 2 or 3 - Lower Sabie Rerst Camp is brilliant with lots of varied wildlife nearby. See South African National Parks - SANParks - Official Website - Accommodation, Activities, Prices, Reservations
- Rent a car in Kruger (ie from The Sukuza Airport)

From AVIS was 2,854.01 Rand (= $291 AUD currently) for 5 days
-Skukuza Airport pick up
Hoedspruit Eastgate Airport Drop off

Rest camps have reasonably priced cafes/restaurants. Can also buy limited groceries and cook yourself as many options have kitchen and or bbq.

At the rest camps there are also safari drives for about $20 pp that go out early morning or evening. Some have walks too.

It is easy to spot animals from your rental car. But go on some of safri drives will increase ones knowledge.




PS: This was from a Trip Report I wrote at the time:

Game Spotting In Kruger


Firstly Kruger National Park is HUGE, and you cannot cover it in just the one visit unless you are going to make ita long, long visit. See HERE.

We chose to spend t

* 2 nights at Olifants in one of the cliff edge cabins (best views in Kruger!)
* 2 nights in Lower Sabie
* Elephant Plains (next to Kruger NP) in the Sabi Sabi area to taste a private establishement
* We then finished with 1 night in Blyde River Canyon for the views, but the 5 previous nights were:

A few observations

All in all if you want animal spotting then Lower Sabie is a great camp. It has all the facilities and the river adjacent to it has many on dispaly. From my cabin and/or the riverfront restaraunt in the river we watched giraffe, hippos, crocodiles, elephants, buffalo, zebra and others.

On drives we saw two mating lions within 5m of us!!!!...and another pride of 6 lions the next day, rhinos on 6 occassions right next to road(note this was on the less travelled gravel roads and not the busier sealed roads) and a wide diversity of animals. Late in the day seemed to have a lot more animal activity than the early morning when we were there.

If you can only visit one rest camp then I would strongly recommend Lower Sabie.

Olifants We had booked a cliff edge cabin and the views were to die for. You can also see the view from the restaurant and so an option is to lunch there (note it is a long, long way at 50kmphr from Lower Sabie).

However game was noticeably thin on the ground near Olifants. I would therefore not make it your only rest camp.
One highlight though was watching from my balcony through my binoculars 6 hyena with a fresh impala kill.

Satara
I did not stay there, but we used it as a tea/ toilet stop. It has a smaller, but adequate, restaurant with an artificial waterhole to attract game (only impala when we were there). It is more basic and less pretty camp than the other two.

However the Satara Rest Camp is located in and near more of an open plains area than the other two camps. This attracts more Zebra and we also saw Wildebeest which we did not see further south.

However most people want to see the big cats, and there was a lot of cat activity reported in the Satara Region. The two days we called in the game spotting boards recorded numerous sigthings of lions, cheetahs and leopards. The surrounding open plains full of game is most likely why, and the open plains making it easier to spot activity.

We spotted 3 male lions within 10m of the road choping on a Kudu with 3 jackals circling them. We also spotted a leopard in a tree, but say 30m away.

If I went back I would use Satara Rest Camp for a night or two due the cat activity.


The Big 5. Driving from Lower Sabie to Oilfants, when we swapped camps, we spotted the Big 5 in the course of our half-day drive. This included watching 6 lions hunt (unsuccessfully) about half-way between Satara and Olifants. It made for a great sight as the herd of animals that they were attempting to encircle included buffalo, 3 rhinos, zebras, kudu and impala!


Elephants Plains was nice for a change, a contrast and a touch of luxury. But while we did see a leoprad at only 5m away, the number of animals was noticeably a lot thinner on the ground than at Lower Sabie.

If I return to the region I would just stay at the SANPARK rest camps. But then again I am mainly an independent traveller by nature.


With Kruger there is a vast network of roads to spot game from. You are not allowed to go off-road to spot game. There are many sealed roads, and you do not have to leave them to see game. However there is alsoa vast network of gravel roads that get lest traffic than the sealed roads and provide I thinka better chance to see some of the shier animals and to also gain a more personal experience as it can often be just you (in you vehicle) and the game you are watching. On the sealed roads if there is a cat there will invariably be a posse of cards gathered as well. The pro is that can make it easier to find the cats or more unusual animals.

So on our morning we soon left the sealed road in favour of exploring along a less travelled gravel road. With a few minutes I spotted a large rhino relaxing right next to the road. Rhinos tend to be shier and while seen on the busier roads, the gravel ones offer a better chance of getting close to them.

 

[Quickstatus]

Thanks that might work!!

 

[JohnM]

Just check S Africa school holidays. It can be very difficult getting vacancies in rest camps in Kruger at that time, I believe.

 

[Quickstatus]

Yes have been advised that its bang on in the middle of school holidays. Que Sera sera

 

[JohnM]

How many are going? Renting a camper van may offer more flexibility. There are camping sites in all the rest camps.

 

[Quickstatus]

Uni students. Difficult to say I would think around 4 but like all group trips trying to get everyone to agree to all aspects is like herding cats.
Total 10 going on the Uni research camp - so some of the 10 I would presume. Might soon be leaving some out of the loop to make it easier

 

[Quickstatus]

Isw it possible to fly from Kruger to Vic Falls?

 

[JohnM]

I don’t think so, but check it out at Rome2Rio.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Isw it possible to fly from Kruger to Vic Falls?

Not directly.

But there are flights to JNB and from there you would have options.

I flew from

- Hoedspruit Eastgate Airport to JNB

- Capetown to Skukuza Airport


Mpumalanga International Airport (MQP) would be another option.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

middle of school holidays. Que Sera sera

Not so.

You can check online.

For example a month view of Lower Sabie Rest Camp shows for Nov 2018 shows availaibility, see the search: South African National Parks - SANParks - Official Website - Accommodation, Activities, Prices, Reservations

Yes the best cabins will be gone (ie on the camp edge with views etc) but as students they would probably want the budget options.

Looking at say Satara Rest Camp for Nov 2018 it has a lot of availibility:
South African National Parks - SANParks - Official Website - Accommodation, Activities, Prices, Reservations
It is smaller than Lower Sabie and restaurant is not as flash...but students should not mind.
A combination of these two Rest Camps would provide a good cross section of settings and wildlife.

Bigger problem may be flights in and out as the jets are not big. Again just do some dummy bookings. You mention 4 rather than say the full 10 and I suspect flight wise that would make a huge difference.

 

[Quickstatus]

re kruger:

If fly into a nearby airport, how does one get to kruger from there
Skukuza, Nelspruit, hoedspriut?

Edit: Avis!- slaps on forehead!!

 

[lovetravellingoz]

re kruger:

If fly into a nearby airport, how does one get to kruger from there
Skukuza, Nelspruit, hoedspriut?

Well Skukuza is within Kruger NP.

You want a car anyway to spot animals from during the day. So you rent. a car which is then both your transport to to the Rest Camps, plus what you use during the day.

AVIS have good prices and are at those 3 airports.

 

[Quickstatus]

Do you need 4x4 in Kruger?


Actually car hire may be out of question as these Uni students are those irresponsible 20 year old P platers

Edit: no- minimum is 18 years and above so Ok there. Just need a valid " unendorsed" driving license. Whatever that means

 

[JohnM]

4WD is not necessary. A small SUV may be better than a sedan because it is a little higher for viewing. Many roads are sealed. Unsealed roads are well-maintained.

 

[Quickstatus]

I read somewhere that driving off road is prohibited in Kruger.

Several main rest camps - are any better than others

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Do you need 4x4 in Kruger?

No as roads are all very well maintained.

Main roads are sealed. all other well graded gravel.

ie

 

[lovetravellingoz]

I read somewhere that driving off road is prohibited in Kruger.

It is.

But no need to go offroad.

There are ample roads to explore.

Best technique is often just to sit and wait.