African safari trip: advice

[Tweety]

My wife and I are looking to do a two week vacation in 2009 that will involve an African safari segment, followed by a retreat to the Seychelles. The question is, as far as the safari portion goes, do we go with Kenya or South Africa? Any experience with either would be appreciated. We have not yet begun to plan this. We will have a healthy budget for this trip and will want to make it memorable. Additionally, we will want to ensure that we will be as safe as any tourist could be, as we will be bringing our young daughter with us.

Thanks very much in advance for any comments.

[slickpoppa]

I went to Kruger National Park in South Africa in September and saw tons of animals in a very short period of time. I am told that Kruger is one of the best places in the world to see a wide variety of species. Rhinos, for example, are very rare almost anywhere outside of Kruger, but I saw tons of them when I was there. Kruger might also be good for you because it has a lot of very well developed and luxurious safari lodges. Kruger is probably not the place to go if you are looking for a very rustic safari experience, but it doesn't sound like that is what you're looking for because of your kid. I don't know much about the safaris in Kenya, so I can't really say anything about that. Why are you just considering South Africa and Kenya? I've heard really good things about the safaris Botswana.

Also, I highly recommend that you see Victoria Falls. You only need to spend two nights there, and it's a very easy side trip from Johannesburg, which is where you will likely be flying in to if you go to South Africa, or even other countries in Africa. If you do go there, people will probably tell you to stay on the Zambia side because of the growing turmoil in Zimbabwe. The truth is that Victoria Falls is very isolated from the rest of the Zimbabwe and is pretty safe. Zimbabwe has by far the better view of Victoria Falls, so even if you stay in Zambia you should at least make a trip to see the falls from the Zimbabwe side.

[uptheirons]

I vote for South Africa on the (slim) chance you will see something like this.

[slickpoppa]

[ QUOTE ]
I vote for South Africa on the (slim) chance you will see something like this.

[/ QUOTE ]

wow

[Tweety]

Great advice! Thanks very much!