So this Autumn, my wife and I finally decided to take the plunge and start planning the Safari holiday we had been promising ourselves for some time.
In recent years, we had grown more and more confident in planning our own holidays rather than relying on a travel agent. I don't know if it's a phsycological thing but it seems to me that the further away a place is, the more daunting it can be to organise and plan your own holiday. Well, lets find out.
The first thing we had to decide was where to head. Well, Africa would probably be a reasonable starting point we thought.....but which country? My wife had been on a Kenyan Safari to the Masai Mara over 10 years ago but things were a bit different there now. Recent political instability and a high threat of terrorism meant that on the British Foreign Office website (at the time of writing) there are numerous warnings against all but essential travel to parts of Kenya. That said, many major tour operators still offer Safaris there. Surely a wonderful country to visit, as my wife would testify, but probably not for us at this moment in time.
We then looked at some of the lesser visited nations in the south of the continent. Botswana,Tanzania and Namibia aren't exactly names that trip off the tongue when planning a holiday but each seemed to present a unique opportunity for a very different kind of destination. The trouble was the cost. Wherever we looked, it seemed that if we wanted to go to any of these places then we would have to be prepared to stump up a heck of a lot cash. I don't know exactly what it is that makes these places so expensive to visit for us Brits but it may explain why they aren't at the forefront of our minds.
It seemed that, almost by default, we were being ushered towards South Africa. As a destination it has so much in it's favour:
- Worldfamous Safari park at Kruger (KNP)
- Fantastic climate
- English speaking
- Established infrastructure that can cater for tourists.
- Relatively low cost of living (compared to UK)
Whilst we are aware that South Africa has moved on dramatically since the days of Apartheid, it does still have many social issues to contend with, not least a high crime rate. However, we felt sure that as long as we stuck to the well trodden routes and exercised caution & commonsense, we should be fine. After all, I shouldn't imagine that would be many car-jackers hanging about in KNP after dark.
South Africa it is then!
