- I love Chobe and Serengeti/Ngorongoro for game viewing at the time of my arrival (early-mid November). If a month or more earlier (in dry season), Masai Mara in Kenya should be a better option than Serengeti, because the grand migration of wildebeest would still be in Masai Mara. Also, vehicles are allowed to drive off road in Masai Mara, so potentially closer to animals.
- Lake Nakuru and Bogoria are better in dry season, but can get very hot.
- Victoria Falls are better in wet season, but peak flow may obscure the view. Devil's Pool is close when water volume is too high.
Packaged tour vs. independent travel
- For independent travelers in Africa with an RV, I found this site contains a lot of useful information. Without a vehicle, packaged tours provide safety, companionship, logistics, and economical solution. Public transportation is only good between big cities. Most game parks charge exorbitant fees for vehicle entrance, and no walk-ins allowed.
Packing
I pack light. Only carried these 2 day packs.
Tent and mattress were provided by the tours. Since I didn't bring many clothes, I had to do laundry very often. Towards the end of my trip, I threw away dirty laundry. What I brought that's recommendable:- 1 thin sleeping bag. Most nights, too hot to use it. At cold nights, I wear all my clothes in the sleeping bag.
- 1 small cashmere sweater, 1 thin fleece with hood, 2 ponchos for rain.
- 1 pair of long pants, 2 pairs of shorter pants longer than knees (for Muslin area).
- 2 long sleeve shirts, 4 T-shirts.
- swimsuit, snorkeling mask.
- 1 pair of mud friendly shoes, 1 pair of sandals.
- head lamp (an absolute must), steripen (I drank tap water).
- Washing line, 3 clips, soap, shampoo (needed more), toothpaste (needed less), floss, some toilet paper.
- unmatched socks and unwanted underwear (to be threw away).
- notebook, pen, wikipedia notes of each stop, books (Thanks, Alex, for giving me her book).
- ITouch with apps like an African map, phone call, audio books (not very useful).
- A USB flash drive to duplicate the photos with borrowed computer.
- Eye mask + ear plug
Money
- I brought $1000 cash. Needed another ~$450, even though I am very frugal, didn't buy any snacks or souvenirs. Two tours $1500 + $1800. ~$1250 air fare. Vaccination + medicine ~$400 before arriving in Africa. Total ~$6400.
- ATM works in most cities. US$ is the easiest currency to exchange. Some countries give higher rate for $50 and $100 notes, and don't accept $1 note.
- Traveling alone is more expensive but flexible. I couldn't share taxi or tour costs with others.
- Parks in Africa are expensive, on average ~$50 each day, often in US$.
- Visa is often US$ cash only.
- Public transportation is cheap, but is only available between towns. When bargain, start at 20%. Beers range from 50c to $1.2 each bottle in the not-very-cold fridge.
Health
Yellow Fever vaccination is required to enter Tanzania and Zanzibar.
None of my fellow tourist had food poisoning.
Language
Most people speak good English. But it's impossible to understand what they speak to each other. South Africa alone has 11 official languages!
Food
Boring. Only a few variates of fruit, vegetable available in grocery stores. Banana, mango, pineapple are prevalent, and tasty. Often times, there's nothing else. Tomato is awful. Cabbage can be the only vegetable sometimes.
Meat: chicken and beef. Fish, goat, donkey sometimes. Often cooked to death. Crocodile and ostrich is available in restaurants (not in grocery stores), farmed. Game is hard to come by. Kenya has outlawed game meat. I was told in Namibia, it's possible to try zebra and warthog.
Power plug
South Africa and Botswana use the same strange plug. The rest uses UK plug.
