Top 10 African safari - vacation destinations

These are Africa’s Top Safari Destinations

10- Okavango Delta, (Botswana)

The Okavango is a labyrinth of lagoons, lakes and hidden channels covering an area of over 17,000 square km making it the largest inland delta in the world. Trapped in the parched Kalahari sands it is a magnet for the wildlife who depend on the permanent waters of this unique feature. On the mainland and among the islands in the delta, lions, elephants, hyenas, wild dog, buffalo and hippos can easily be seen. It certainly is a vacation destination that would provide you with a lifetime of memories. Read more

Organizing a safari- Planning a safari

There are three ways to arrange a safari – buy a tailor made or what is known as a customized safari with an African Safari Tour Operator, buy a package, or arrange everything yourself.

Whatever you choose depends on you and each has got its own advantages. For people seeking to maximize on their holidays a prearranged safari would be advised so as to save hours and days which could be spent trying to find reliable transport and accommodation.

Caution should be taken when choosing a safari company or Tour Operator especially since it is standard practice to pay in advance to ensure a booking. The nightmare scenario would be to pay for your safari and then get to your destination and discover that the company does not exist! Read more

Choosing Accommodation On your visit to Africa

For the visitor to Africa you will find a wide range of accommodation from very basic and cheap guest houses that are meant for locals and charge a few dollars a night to exclusive luxurious lodges and hotels. It all depends on your budget.

The terminology used for hotels varies slightly from one country to another but the basics remain the same. You will also be surprised that hotel rating varies slightly from country to country. For example a five star lodge in Tanzania may be classified as four star in some other countries. The lower the star rating of the hotel the trickier it gets, so you may want to consider more than the star rating of a hotel when looking for accommodation. Consider also what others have to say about the hotel by reading reviews. Read more

Ten Commandments Of an African Safari

Africa has a lot to offer, so forget those media images you see of poor and famine stricken Africa.

Oh and you might also want to put away those images of Tarzan in Africa with wild animals always attacking him. The creator of Tarzan never visited Africa and most of the episodes were filmed in southern California.

What Im about to share with you should be extremely useful so don’t discard it. You will be glad you read it. Read more

Bargaining

For most people especially from developed countries, bargaining is not something they are used to. I mean think about it?

How often do you walk into Wal-Mart and bargain for your shopping? The closest most people get to bargaining these days in eBay.
In Africa bargaining is a way of life and in fact for most small scale sellers selling their wares. It is something you will come to find in your Africa travel. This is a common practice of starting high expecting the buyer to bargain with you.

Bargaining therefore is an important skill to learn, since every time you pay that ‘special’ price you are not only getting a bad deal, but you are also making things more expensive for tourists after you who will find it harder to bring down inflated prices.

Bargaining when done properly can be a lot of fun!

Just remember that when you are bargaining you are not begging the seller to sell it to you at a lower price you are simply saying that the item is not worth the price quoted.

The golden rule to remember is NOT TO GET EMOTIONAL.

Also

Know your limit – If you have an idea how much an item costs before hand it will usually help because then you can offer to buy the item at the standard market price. A little research by asking locals would help. In most places you as a tourist will be expected to pay higher but even so there are prices that locals will often find a fair price for you as a tourist.

Dress and Act as a Local – The longer you spend in a place the more you wise up to what is a rip off and what is not. Also if you can master a few words in the local language you may be surprised how useful it can be when bargaining. Words like ‘Hello’ and ‘too expensive’ when said in the local language goes a long way not only to impress but also create the impression that you know your stuff. The less you behave and look like a tourist the easier it will be for you to get a decent price for the goods you are buying.(Avoid those safari clothing and hats that locals may find silly or even swimming costumes and bikinis )

Indifference - This perhaps combined with a little charm (and skill ) could get you just about anything. If the seller knows you are hooked onto something it becomes very difficult to bring the price of the item down. If you like it don’t show it.

Bluff - Some of the best bargainers are also the best at bluffing. If the price is high and the seller won’t go down and you know the standard price of an item you can bluff by telling the seller that you know a place where you can get it for, then quote the standard price or even cheaper. Another thing you can do is, thank the seller for his time, get up and start walking away. Most times than not if you have offered a reasonable price for the item, the seller will sell you the item at that price.
Should it not work or should the item be unique then you can always return the next day.

Buy Bulk – Striking a good deal is often easier when you are buying a lot.

Show me the money! - No one wants to leave cash. It’s easier for a seller to assume that you were not going to buy it anyway when you walk away than it is to see you walk away with money, especially if you were offering to buy at a considerable price.

Africa Heat Sun and Humidity

If you are like most people who visit Africa you are probably considering Africa because of the warm climate and sunshine. But just like anything else too much sunshine can have ill effects on you especially if you are from those sunshine challenged climes.

So remember to keep your self hydrated especially when you are running around on that heat, don’t over stretch your body by taking part in extreme physical activities that your body isn’t accustomed to and get enough rest your body needs it.

Sunburn

As tempting as it may be to just enjoy the sunshine once you actually arrive in Africa do not overdose on sunshine. The English love to do this. The problem is that this can have some effects on your system. If its a tan you are looking for then you might be glad to note that just 20-30 minutes of sunbathing a day in the mornings or evening for about a week on the African sun is enough for a tan you can show off when you get back home.

Use high factor sunblock and wear a hat and sunglasses. The Germans seem to know how to protect their feet because they tend to wear socks with their sandals.

Sun burns easily occur When swimming or snorkeling because most sunblocks do wash off depending on the time you spend on the water even the so called waterproof ones.

If you care enough about the coral to avoid wearing sun screen around the reefs because coral are living things, wear a T shirt and light trousers. Aloe vera, yoghurt, and calamine lotion can been used to alleviate sunburn.

Africa Travel - Staying Out Of Trouble

Other than avoiding trouble spots and regions of instability in Africa, your journey should go well if you use common sense while traveling around Africa.

Off course the main hassle will be to try and fit in as much as possible so as to avoid standing out which could lead to you being a target for hustlers and hawkers mostly in tourist areas who will be trying to sell you everything from safaris, or accommodation to even drugs depending on where you are in Africa.

No need to wear old clothers in the name of trying to fit in. However with clean or new clothes lots of luggage, a little awkwardness, and if you are white skinned you’ll stick out like a sore thumb.

You could dress down a bit to avoid the attention and you certainly don’t really need long sessions on a sunbed before leaving home because by and large there is nothing much you can do to avoid looking wet behind the ears especially when you have just got to your destination.

To minimize on your chances of being conned or talked into buying stuff you might neither want nor need avoid buying stuff the likes of curios or suveniors for the first few days or until you at least have an idea how much stuff costs.If you must, try bargaining because often hawkers and street vendors might initially offer you goods at outrageous sucker prices.

When it comes to insecurity, robbery and theft rural areas of Africa tend to be extremely safe and until recently robbery and theft were unheard of. In Towns and cities it is a completely different story which act as magnets for rural Africans looking for a “better life” than their parents in the villages. Unfortunately the majority wind up eking a living by any means possible because jobs even for university graduates are very hard to find leave alone the semi-skilled or unskilled.

It should be a bit comforting to know though that even in cities with the worst reputations for crime in Africa, namely Lagos, Nairobi and Johannesburg, only a handful of travelers run into real problems. In fact travelers to Nairobi are often left wondering what on earth all the fuss about safety was about when it’s time to leave.

Having said that one should exercise caution especially walking in the streets at night because like any other city in the world, walking in certain areas unaccompanied at night could be asking for trouble.

There are certain areas a tourist or traveler should always be wary of. These areas are bus stations, crowded market places, the streets around ferry ports or docks,places with poor or nonexistent street lighting. In there areas avoid walking with jewelery and if you have lots of cash on you be vigilant and avoid any action that might signify to someone that a particular pocket has got valuables or a certain hand or backpack has got cash because pick pockets tend to target these.

Speaking of cash, avoid carrying cash. Most countries in Africa now have ATMs and you can search if the African country or city you are traveling to has ATMs this list is for visa electron card holders.

Most of Africa’s ATMs tend to be either inside banks, or in shopping centers with security guards. Avoid lingering around once you have with drawn and take the same precautions you would take while withdrawing money anywhere.

Although chances of being robbed are slim should you be mugged, don’t resist, since the thief might have a knife or a gun. It should be over in an instant and you are unlikely to be hurt.You should go to the police station for a statement but don’t expect that the police will do a great job in getting your property back. Most of these policemen are often under paid,lack the resources or have more important stuff to deal with than investigate your “precious” camera.

It is worth noting that thieves caught in the act are usually mobbed - and occasionally linched so should you shout “Thief!” be ready to intercede once you’ve retrived your belongings otherwise the fellow who stole your purse could very easily lose his life for it.