Safari Holidays

[John]

Hello,

Has anyone ever been on safari? I really want to go. Not just yet, but at some point in the next 10 years! I'm looking at www.safari.co.uk (http://www.safari.co.uk/) and I'm trying to work out how you're supposed to decide which countries to visit... I guess they all share similar characteristics. My cousin's cousin and her boyfriend went to Namibia last year and took some stunning photographs (he's a bit of a photographer himself) then got them printed professionally into an A3 book. Stunning.

My folks went on safari to Cape Town so I'll talk to them too. I'm just trying to find out how the Average Joe is supposed to pick where to go when he knows nothing about the differences between each country...

Also it costs a fortune...

Cheers. :)

[Win2Win]

I go on muff diving safari's quite often! :doh

[mathare]

I went to Kenya a few years back and it was AWESOME! I didn't realise how close we'd get to the animals but we had lions right next to the jeep. Got some great photos too. :)

You should save up and do it Johnny boy, you'd really enjoy it. I'd say you need others to go with though if you are to get the most out of it, otherwise you'd be with a lot of strangers and unless you're all particularly sociable I can see it being quite lonely.

Do your research on the companies offering the safari drives as much the country. A good driver/guide can make a massive difference to your enjoyment. We had both good and bad drivers and got much more out of the safaris with the good drivers.

As for which country - depends what animals you want to see and what else you want to do in the country.

[counterfeit]

Yes.

I went to Kenya. We did a 2 week holiday which was a week in Mauritius and a week in the Masai Mara.

The safari was fantastic. Up at 5.30 every morning which was a bit of a nightmare but well worth it. The days on the safari were great as we stayed at a lodge on the edge of a lake which was quite high up and overlooked the plains. So, after coming back from the morning safari we led on sunbeds all day watching the elephants and giraffe.

We were woken up one night about 3 in the morning by a hippo outside our room. He wasn't very happy when we turned the light on to see what it was.

Also, we were charged by a 50 year old bull elephant who was in a very bad mood.

To be honest, the lions, cheetah and leopards were very tame and passive in comparison.

[John]

WOW... was it scary being so close to the animals? I guess the guides tell you how you must behave - what to do and what not to do. I know you're not supposed to wear deodorant etc because they attract the animals.

Yep I'd really love to do it - and if I'm single at the time I'd probably go on one of those "group holidays" - meet a load of new people and have a great time.

When my parents went to SA they met people close to where they were staying from Grimsby!

I'm assuming you can go with different companies for (1) offering the safari and (2) the drivers/guides. Although I suspect that most companies (e.g. the Safari site I just posted) want to arrange everything for you - and make it all worthwhile. I'm a bit of a cynic when it comes to this kind of stuff and always want to triple check I'm getting the best deals.

Anyway... I'm just throwing an idea into a pot - I won't be going for a long while yet but do intend to save money for it. I'll be seeing the "Namibia pair" in a couple of weeks so I'll ask lots of questions. :D

[mathare]

WOW... was it scary being so close to the animals? I guess the guides tell you how you must behave - what to do and what not to do. I know you're not supposed to wear deodorant etc because they attract the animals. I have never heard that before John. The guides give you a bit of a briefing but mainly it boils down to "stay in the bloody jeep". At some of the lodges they have Masai warriors with catapults to keep the monkeys away and guides to help you back to your room after dark because of the rampaging hippos. All good fun though.

Remind me to tell you my snake story when I have a bit more time...

[mathare]

WOW... was it scary being so close to the animals? Yes and no. When you're jeep is being chased by an elephant (as ours was) it's quite exciting as you know you can trust your driver. Same goes for the lions. When we went out on the lakes in a little boat the crocodiles and hippos got quite close and that was a little scary. When the boat was docking there was a crocodile that wouldn't get off the jetty for a while. That was a little scary.

It's just amazing how close up you get to some of them though so it's more exhilarating than scary

[John]

I have never heard that before John.

T'was just something my parents mentioned when they go back from SA... apparently animals like the smells of perfume! :lickme


Remind me to tell you my snake story when I have a bit more time...

Certainly will. :) I bet it beats my snake story from France hands down!

[John]

Yeah, I imagine it can be quite scary, but then I suppose you're thinking to yourself... "Whatever happens, if I get eaten alive, I'm on safari, best way to go....." and the adrenaline gets you going anyway.

Right, got a few last minute chores to do before I leave work. I'll dream of safaris and chat more later!

[counterfeit]

We weren't allowed any scented deodoarants or aftershave but were told it was mainly due to mozzies which cause far more trouble than lions.

Our jeep broke down one day - it's not that much of an issue because (and this came as a bit of a shock) you are just one of about 150 jeeps out at any one time. There are more white people travelling about in jeeps than there are animals.

We got out to help fix it - the only animals nearby were a cheetah family who were far too scared of 10 of us wandering about to be a danger to us.

We went for breakfast one morning by the river alongside the crocs and hippos and it was fantastic but the best thing was seeing a baboon having a dump in the portaloo.

[bigcumba]

the best thing was seeing a baboon having a dump in the portaloo.

You shared a holiday with Wayne Rooney? :yikes:

[John]

I've spent all night thinking about this, and I've made up my mind that's it a certainty that I'm going to go. I'm just not sure when. I'm 23, 24 in 2 weeks' time. Maybe when I'm 26-27 I'll have enough cash. And a girlfriend.

I have even been mad enough to think about going for my 30th birthday, 6 years' time, not sure I can wait that long to see the wonders of a safari break - 3 weeks? 2 weeks? Costs? All things I need to look into!

[mathare]

I'm 23, 24 in 2 weeks' time.I forgot how young you are!

Mind you, you still seem a bit confused about how old you'll be. The above reads like you'll be 23 or 24 in 2 weeks' time :laugh

[mathare]

Right, that snake story.

I was staying with the missus in a lodge round the edge of one of the lakes in Kenya (could have been Naivasha, I can't recall). This is one of those places where the staff will escort you back to your room after dark so you don't get trampled to death by rampaging hippos that have come up out the lake. It's early evening and we're both getting ready for dinner having recently got back from a late afternoon game drive.

I was in the bathroom of our lodge, a white-walled room with a black band at the bottom of the walls, like a small skirting board. We had got used to little lizards scurrying around the walls of the bathroom as the like the humid atmosphere and eat the mosquitoes so we don't mind them being about.

In fact I wasn't just in the bathroom, I was sat on the bog, doing what you do when you're in such a position. I glanced around me to see if I could see any lizards when out of the corner of my left eye I saw something that didn't seem to fit. There was something lying against the wall just a couple of feet from my left leg - what was it? It was dark and looked like something curled up. Then it dawned on me - it's a :censored: snake!

I'm up and off the bog in a flash, throw on some clothes and tell the missus there's a snake in the bathroom. Of course, she wants to see it so I open the door a smidgeon and point it out. The door is quickly slammed and we're both right out of there and up to the reception hut. We tell the staff there is a snake in the room and could they please remove it. A bit of chuntering in Swahili later sees a guy emerge with a broom, towel and dustpan wishing to escort us back to our room to deal with the unwanted visitor.

We get in the room and he asks where the snake is. We open the bathroom door slightly and tell him where it is. He flings the door open and marches in, before jumping back into the main room and slamming the door. That's a reassuring sign - not! He then opens the bathroom door a little and shoves his broom in and towards the snake. He continues to joust with this snake for a little while, occasionally jumping back before creeping forward again. We had thought he was going to simply sweep it into his dustpan and put it out well away from the guest huts - how wrong were we. The fella rotated the broom handle 90 degrees and clouted the living poop out of this snake with the edge of the broom head. He quite clearly thought this one was better off dead. He swept up the dead snake, used his towel to wash the blood off the floor and apologised for the inconvenience.

So off he went carrying a dead snake but not before I had a chance to ask him a quick question: was it a dangerous snake then? His English wasn't the best but he did manage to convey to us that it certainly wasn't a nice friendly snake that we'd want to share the bathroom with. OK, so how did it get in? Someone with better English on reception later told us it could have come up through the toilet, something that made neither of us feel particularly better.

The next morning we mentioned the incident to our safari driver, who we'd been with for a few days then and had built up a good rapport with (including him getting us beers from the staff shops at cheap prices for us to drink on the afternoon game drives). He asked us to describe the snake, which I did. "Oh, it was only a little one," he said. But what type? "Spitting cobra." :yikes: And the young ones apparently don't know how much venom they need to put down prey so they just fire it all out. :yikes:

So that's my snake story. Sat on the bog just a couple of feet from a venomous snake :flush

[John]

:flush

OUCH! That must have scared the living :censored: out of you! Did they offer you any sort of apology? You could have possibly got something out of it for burglary, or invasion of personal space! I'm going to go and hunt down a spitting cobra... on Google of course.

Yeah, 23... sounds young doesn't it? I'm losing a bit of sense of how old I'm "meant to feel" already. I mean, it seems like yesterday I was still at university. Yet I feel much older! :yikes: Probably too mature :D My housemates are both older than me (but not by much) and their friends are in their mid-twenties... so I mingle with 25's and 26's usually. P'raps that's why... nevertheless I ain't looking forward to being 24. :mad:

[mathare]

OUCH! That must have scared the living :censored: out of you!It was a little nerve-wracking, aye. I think I had a good idea it wasn't a cuddly sort of snake as soon as I saw it. Had it reared up and gobbed poison everywhere I would have been more scared but as it is the fella just clubbed it to death and mopped up afterwards so I wasn't in that much danger. I'm just glad I spotted it when I did and not while I was in the shower or owt that might have woken it up.


Did they offer you any sort of apology? Noooo. You're in the middle of the plains and by the lakes etc. You have to expect to mingle with animals much closer than you would in urban surroundings.

In Samburu the monkeys would help people unpack their bags if they left their hut doors open (i.e. go in there and chuck stuff about) as well as pinch breadrolls and what have you off the breakfast tables. They aren't scared off humans unless they happen to be Masai warriors armed with catapults. It turns into quite a fun game though as the monkeys hide around the breakfast area, try to run out and pinch stuff without getting spotted. Very amusing to watch.

[John]

In Samburu the monkeys would help people unpack their bags if they left their hut doors open (i.e. go in there and chuck stuff about) as well as pinch breadrolls and what have you off the breakfast tables. They aren't scared off humans unless they happen to be Masai warriors armed with catapults. It turns into quite a fun game though as the monkeys hide around the breakfast area, try to run out and pinch stuff without getting spotted. Very amusing to watch.

That's something I HAVE to see. Must be so funny to watch them try to go unnoticed... and they're pretty intelligent creatures if they can manage to pull that off. Did people feed them? I guess you're told not to. I'll have to try and rescue some photos my parents took when they were in South Africa. My mother managed to wake up a sleeping leopard in a tree, it wasn't very happy with her.

[counterfeit]

The monkeys are a bloody nuisance. When we were sat by the pool, the monkeys would think nothing of sneaking up and stealing your drinks off the table. If you fell asleep, you could guarantee you would wake up with an empty glass. The amount of half drunk monkeys wandering about every evening was hilarious.

[Win2Win]

Monkeys masturbate all the time.....if you offer them some 'nuts' John, they may do you as well :omg:

[mathare]

My mother managed to wake up a sleeping leopard in a tree, it wasn't very happy with her.Leopards are about the only thing we didn't see much off. And when we did get word that one was about the bloody BBC were in the way! They were filming Big Cat Diary so there was this BBC film jeep parked in the best spot to see this leopard up in the canopy and a huge crowd of safari vans and jeeps behind it :laugh

[counterfeit]

I need a smiley that goes - ner ner ne ner ner.

We saw plenty of leopard action - only 2 leopards but saw loads of them.

[mathare]

We saw plenty of leopard action - only 2 leopards but saw loads of them.We saw plenty of lion action - including some ::hump

[A_P_McCoy]

never been on a safari b4

but would have liked to have been on this one

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=LU8DDYz68kM

[Win2Win]

Story on Sky News.....An Aussie attacked by a White Shark lucky to be alive.......I suppose they went after the shark and ended up killing a hnadful as usual :splapme

It is the sharks domain for ::swear sake! :ermmm

It is the same as running through the Massi Mara with your arms and legs flailing about!! And you just wouldn't do that unless you're a complete :ass2...so why the different view when in water?

[bigcumba]

never been on a safari b4

but would have liked to have been on this one

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=LU8DDYz68kM

That was incredible footage! No wonder it's had 40 million views.... that lot of tourists were seriously priviledged to catch that.