African Adventure - Our 16 day customized itinerary - Don't miss anything!
When we start planning a new adventure trip we always start by looking at itineraries provided by full service tour groups. We then review each and every stop on the itinerary to ensure it's what we are interested in as well as reading reviews online to see what other travelers think. Eventually we come up with our own inventory by adding and removing from what we found online. This gives us a custom adventure that is built to suit our tastes. We've found that many people don't realize you can completely customize a standard adventure tour, or they think it much more expensive. The truth is it can be less expensive by cutting out stops you aren't interested in and scheduling more free time to do what you want in your favorite areas.
In this post we are sharing the itinerary for our 16 day Africa Trip. I have to admit it's the most expensive trip we've ever taken. However, it doesn't need to be expensive. Like most adventures the primary cost (after airfare) is accommodations. We could have chosen hostels for example or tier 1 hotels to stay in and would have saved 50% or more. As it was our African vacation was $3000 per person. However, we stayed at some completely epic places.
Day 1
Arrival Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO) AR 7:35pm with KLM
Met upon your arrival in JRO; and transfer to Hotel in Arusha.
Accommodation: Arumeru River Lodge
Day 2
Arusha / Tarangire
After breakfast, we drive to Tarangire National Park for a game drive in this very diverse park with picnic lunch boxes, Tarangire is well known for its large herds of Elephant population.
Estimated transit time: 2.5hrs drive
Activities: Game drives
Accommodation & Meals: Maramboi Permanent Tented Camp
Our Tent for the night
Dinner View
Day 3
Tarangire / Lake Manyara
Morning game drive in Tarangire then drive to Lake Manyara National Park in the Great Rift Valley. The park is home to tree-climbing lion, colorful birds, elephant and hippo. Game drives in the park.
Estimated transit time: 2.5hrs drive
Activities: Game drives
Accommodation & Meals: Gibbs Farm
We could tell this lion was injured by how it was acting
our patio for the evening
Day 4
Lake Manyara / Serengeti
Today we leave Lake Manyara for Serengeti. Afternoon game drives in Serengeti, in search of large predators and gentle herbivores in which they feed.
Estimated transit time: 4hrs drive
Activities: Game drives
Accommodation & Meals: Serengeti Serena Lodge
Our home for the night
Day 5 ~ 6
Serengeti National Park
Game drives in the Serengeti, exploring the rolling plains of Serengeti National Park in search of the large predators and the gentle herbivores on which they feed.
Estimated transit time: 2hrs drive
Activities: Game drives
Accommodation & Meals: Lobo Wildlife Lodge
View from the pool deck
Day 7
Serengeti / Ngorongoro
After breakfast, we will have another game drive in Serengeti before driving to overnight in Ngorongoro Crater with game drive en-route, with an optional visit of Masai Village ($60/group), and optional visit of Olduvai Gorge ($6/person).
Estimated transit time: 3hrs drive
Activities: Game drives
Accommodation & Meals: Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge
visiting elders of Masai tribe
delivering school supplies to Masai tribe school
Day 8
Ngorongoro
Descend into Ngorongoro Crater for game drives in the crater, exploring the short-grass plains of the crater floor. This extinct volcano embraces 100sq miles alive with lion, leopard, rhino, elephant, buffalo, and many more games. Later in the day, we drive back to Arusha.
Estimated transit time: 3hrs drive
Activities: Game drive
Accommodation & Meals: Arumeru River Lodge
Dikdik, smallest type of deer
Leopards, a rare find
Lion who just killed a wildebeast
thousands of zebra and wildebeast on the plain
Day 9
Arusha / Kilimanjaro / Johannesburg (JNB)
Transfer to Kilimanjaro airport (JRO) for a flight to Johannesburg (Departs Kilimanjaro at 06:00 am Arrives NBO 07:00 am, Departs NBO 09:10 am Arriving at JNB 12:20 pm). Upon arrival, you will catch the lodge shuttle to your hotel.
Estimated transit: 4 hrs combined flight time, plus 10 minutes’ drive to the hotel
Accommodation & Meals: Airport Grand Hotel
Visiting an orphanage to deliver toys and supplies
Day 10
Johannesburg (JNB)/ Livingstone (LVI)
After breakfast, you will catch the lodge’s shuttle to the airport for your flight to Livingstone (LVI). Met upon arrival at LVI, and transfer to Stanley Safari Lodge.
Estimated driving distance: 2hrs flight time
Activities: Visit Victoria Falls, African Queen River Cruises, Helicopter Flight, Livingstone Museum, Bird Watching, Elephant Back Rides, and Extreme Adventures like White Water Rafting, River Boarding and Bunjee Jumping. All these at additional cost (see below. If you want to do many activities, add another night there)
Accommodation & Meals: Stanley Safari Lodge
Our open room hut for the night
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Hanging out at the lodge
Hyena
Female Lion
Day 11
Victoria Falls
Explore the quaint colonial city of Livingstone, located just 10km from the thundering Victoria Falls. Explore the historic beauty of Livingstone by foot. Marvel at the Edwardian style buildings or take advantage of the many adventure and gaming activities available. Travel to the spectacular Victoria Falls, one of the seven wonders of the natural world, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. (See costs for Things you can do when at Victoria Falls below)
Estimated driving distance: 5 minutes’ drive to the fall
Activities: Visit Victoria Falls, African Queen River Cruises, Helicopter Flight, Livingstone Museum, Bird Watching, Elephant Back Rides, and Extreme Adventures like White Water Rafting, River Boarding and Bunjee Jumping. All these at additional cost (see below. If you want to do many activities, add another night there)
Accommodation & Meals: Stanley Safari Lodge
Day 12
Victoria Falls / Cape Town
After breakfast and morning activity that you want to do; you will be transferred to Livingstone airport (LVI) for an afternoon flight to Cape Town for overnight there.
Estimated driving distance: 20 minutes’ drive
Activities: See below
Accommodation & Meals: Constantia Hotel
Day 13
Hermanus (Whale Watching)
After breakfast,we drive to the quaint city of Hermanus,home of the Southern Right Whale. Nature lovers from all over the world visit Hermanus to view these magnificent creatures from the best land based whalewatching destination in the world. Enjoythe pristine South African coastline as you view one of nature’s most elusivecreatures
Estimatedtransit time: 75 minutes’ drive each direction
Activities: Whale Watching
Accommodation& Meals: Constantia Hotel
I have hundreds of whale pics now, they come right up to the boat
on top of Table Mountain
Cape Town, with Table mountain in the background
Day 14~15
Wine Country / Cape Town
We will spend this day driving alongthe wine route stopping at vineyards and doing a wine tasting.Enjoy all the scenic highlights Cape Town has to offer.
Estimatedtransit time: about 45 minutes’ drive
Activities: Vineyard Tours& Wine Tasting (An extra day may be needed if you need to add the following:Table Mountain, Cable Way,Camps Bay and Clifton Beaches, Malay Quarter, V&A Waterfront, ArtscapeTheatre and Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens).
Accommodation& Meals: Constantia Hotel
Town of Franschhoek
On Table Mountain
Hermanus Bay, where the whales are
View on the drive to Franschhoek
Day 16
Cape Town (CPT) / Departure
Explore Cape Town on own (or we can arrangesomething for you), before the transfer to Cape Town International Airport(CPT) for your return flight home at 11:35pm.
Estimated driving distance: 20 minutes’ drive to the airport
If you are planning an African adventure I'd be glad to answer questions.
I believe early September (the start of rainy season) is be best time to go. The animals are all starting to gather in great heards ont he plains at this time. Also, they are easier to spot since the vegetation hasn't gotten thick and green yet at this time of year. You also get a better view of Victoria Falls. During the rainy season there is much more water over the falls but you can barely see anything from the spray.
Those are some mighty awesome pictures! Thank you for sharing. Hope you enjoyed the trip and experience.
Thanks very much. I assure you we loved it. That was high up on the bucket list.
That's a really awesome trip you had there. I like the fact that you actually thought of bringing supplies and toys for the children. I am from Victoria Falls town in Zimbabwe and I can relate much to those children. The 1st twelve years of my life, I attended schools like the one pictured and nobody brought anything nice haha. It's true that by planning your own trip you can save a lot on the costs. The other idea is to travel in groups in which cases travel companies often do not pass down the discounts they get for traveling groups. It's my hope that, through a platform like Steemit, we collaborate and find ways to make travel cheaper and the experience even more enriching. I have observed tourists go on a 'village tour' for 30mins! This village is usually a commercialised and fabricated copy of the real village life were you meet people more or less programmed to say and act in a certain way to please tourists attractions. Travel companies are limited by a number of things including maximising their profit whilst providing the basic minimum experience to please the tourist. There are also many good alternatives for accommodation if one is on a tight budget.
I wish tourists could spend more time with random locals, visit a real homestead and have a normal meal that the family eats. Through this type of experience more connections are established, more information is shared and the ordinary people(not imposters!) are rewarded.
Your experience traveling in Africa is invaluable, if you dont mind please share more of the stories that go along with the places and the people. Great pictures you took there and I hope that wounded lion recovered quickly! Above all, thank you for caring!
Thank you for your thoughtful comment. I completely agree with your travel ideas. It's getting easier and easier to meet locals and enjoy the culture of places with all the social media sites now. Thanks to steemit I have friends now in several countries that I hope to visit one day. I think more people are getting the desire to become travelers vs vacationers. If you are just on a short vacation there is little time to get to know the people and culture you are visiting and instead just shuttle from tourist trap to tourist trap. People more and more are looking for an authentic experience I think.
Looks like an amazing adventure
Thank you, it really was.
Awesome trip and wonderful photos. It seems like a full itinerary with not much downtime. Accommodations look amazing. How was the food?
The food was very good. Usually on safari days it was a packed lunch usually with fried chicken, but always good.
It was a very full itinerary. We didn't have free time until the last two days in Cape Town. Didn't think my wife was going to leave. Thanks for viewing.
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Thank you very much. I'm afraid that's more bot power thank I could afford 😆
You know your post deserves it. I lose money buying votes when steem price went down after I bought votes. But at this price, I don't think so. I just hate to see a great post get buried.
That is a true compliment, thank you very much.
upvoted! nice pictures and scary looking at the lion 'roarrrr' hihi would love to visit this place as well... will add in my bucket list :)
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appreciate any help you can give :) thank you. have a wonderful day.
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