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Safari To Africa - Wait No Longer

Pent-Up Demand For Travel Will Likely Overwhelm in 2021

11/17/2020

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A word to the wise about future availability for camps and accommodations given that previously scheduled tours for the first 3/4 of 2020 have been cancelled or postponed, and as a result it will become extremely difficult to acquire confirmed reservations for camps in the coming New Year. Even during what we describe as "Normal Times" bookings for the better safari camps took place 9 months to 12 months out and even earlier. The pent up demand for travel once the world is released from the lockdown due to the Covid-19 crisis will be thrust upon hoteliers and camp operators with an overwhelming number of travelers seeking reservations.

Safari in Africa is one of the finest itineraries that one could imagine, and the offerings of both luxury-styled campsites and animal sightings are many. The key to the success of the adventure is to choose your camp wisely and be aware of how the choices will affect the outcome of your journey. 

There are many options from which to choose and understanding that this may be a once-in-a-lifetime journey to Africa, consideration should carefully be given as to which each camp has to offer. Most important in the planning is time of year, location and size of the camp, whether the camp sits on private concession and which amenities are inclusive and which are not.

Our spring season is when rainfall in Africa is either rearing its force or nearing the end of its term. Safari that time of year offers lush vegetation, with the grasses high and plentiful and the water table plentiful. The downside is that with high vegetation the animals are more difficult to spot and with a high water table, the water holes are full and the animals need not disperse in search of water, keeping them well into the bush.


It is why choosing a camp on a private concession is so meaningful, since the safari driver has the option to go off road into the bush in search of animal. Most camps not on private concession, and this is for any country that offers safari in Africa, restricts the driver to roadways, thereby limiting the range of the search for animals.Summertime in Africa offers beautiful daytime temperatures, vegetation still plentiful, though reduced in size and color, making it an excellent time for travel on safari. The roads have yet to become dusty and many of the water holes have dried, requiring more of the animal to come out of the bush to find water and prey. The caution is that the summer nights are cold, thus who find that a chill in the air affects their comfort sun, should understand that early morning safaris, which leave near dawn, will be uncomfortably cold when driving in an open safari vehicle. Once the sunshine breaks out, the days and early evenings are near perfect.


The fall is a very popular time to safari, since water holes have dried, vegetation is low to the ground and the animals far easier to locate. With this comes dusty roadways, which for some can be uncomfortable. 


The choice of camp is as important as is the time of year when when planning the itinerary, and if it is for a single journey, then it is wise to choose a camp that will offer something great if not the very best. Obviously, the higher the quality, the greater the cost. However, should the camp offer the great memories that one is in search of, spread over a lifetime, the expense will be worth it, many times over. 


The finer selection would be to choose a small camp in a great location. There are those, and they come at a much higher cost, but consider being out on safari, reaching an animal sighting with 10 other vehicles surrounding the animal, who over the many years has grown accustomed to vehicular traffic and hardly chooses to rear its head. Compare that to safari on private concession, well into the bush where the animal has not seen a vehicle in days, perhaps weeks, and imagine its reaction to an approaching vehicle. The difference is immense and the experience ever so thrilling.


Planning for safari in terms of calendar dates, countries of choice and selection of camps requires a heady conversation with someone who has had years long experience with the continent and understands the variables that are involved in making the wisest of choices, based upon desires and budgetary restraints.