Kenya, Tanzania-Africa

travelbug82

Hi

I'm travelling to Africa this July. Fly into Johannesburg and out of Kenya. Anyone that has been I'd appreciate any tips or advice and must sees and must do from people who have been.

When I get to Kenya I'll be travelling alone for three weeks. I'd like to do some volunteering whilst there but none of this pre arranged stuff that costs thousands. As I travel I like to be able to pop along to projects I come across (community/school/animal) and just help out.

Can anyone advise me is this feasible and does anyone have stories or recommendations of where to go and what to do. Ideally I'd love to do something with animals and a shorter duration teaching.

Look forward to hearing other peoples stories.

bungaro79

it is pretty expensive but the gorillas in rwanda was the best thing i have every done or seen. if you've any interesting in that kind of thing then it would be hard to top that. safari in tanzania was pretty amazing too. not sure about kenya but make sure you have your yellow fever shots if you're going through tanzania.

travelbug82

Hi thanks for your post.

I'm a big animal lover. My obsession lying with elephants. Although I wouldn't say no to getting up close and personal to any animal and learning about them. What was it you did and when you say expensive. In and around what kind of price mark are we talking. Have you any more tips or advice you can share???

Again thsnks a mill for your reply.

mel.b

If you love elephants, then you have to visit the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi. They have visiting /viewing time at milk feed time for 1hr, normally at 11am. you can get so close to the babies that you can touch them If you adopt a baby elephant ($50USD a year), you can also visit in the evening when they are putting the elephants to bed. This time is reserved for foster parents only, so it is much quieter and you can chat to the keepers easier etc. Unfortunately they don't allow anyone to volunteer as the elephants get too attached to the keepers, so it is stressful for them when they leave.

Other things to do -
- Hell's Gate National Park. the only national park you can cycle and hike in.
- Boat trip on Lake Navasha to see the hippos up close (combine with the trip to Hell's gate)
- Giraffe centre & kiss a giraffe
- Trip to the bead factory where the women make the beads (can't think of the name, but can be combined with a trip to the giraffe centre). The necklaces and bracelets they make are lovely and really cheap and you are supporting women in employment.

- Bargain HARD for souvenirs. Wood souvenirs in particular are expensive. I ended up getting a wooden giraffe for 10% of the original asking price, although our leader said that was a very good deal! Soapstone is cheap, so if it is being offered at what seems expensive prices it - it is...bargain hard.

I loved Ngororgoro crater - while the Serengeti was fantastic too, the crater is just so much condensed so it's easier to see the animals and the density is a lot higher.

In Tanzania at the markets they like to trade things - headlamps, pens etc - one guy even wanted my nice SIGG waterbottle! We had one roadside stop in Kenya where a group of kids met us and we had some pencils to give them - it wasn't a pleasant experience until our leader came and spoke to the kids which whipped them into shape and stopped them from jumping all over each other, snatching and grabbing. So if you want to donate something, maybe look at doing it to / through a school.

bungaro79

travelbug82 wrote: »

Hi thanks for your post.

I'm a big animal lover. My obsession lying with elephants. Although I wouldn't say no to getting up close and personal to any animal and learning about them. What was it you did and when you say expensive. In and around what kind of price mark are we talking. Have you any more tips or advice you can share???

Again thsnks a mill for your reply.

for the gorillas you're talking €750 to see them in rwanda and €500 in uganda. i thought this was dear when booking (its was €500 in rwanda when we went, it went up last year) but looking back it was the most amazing experience. we hiked about an hour into the jungle in the parc de volcans until we found our gorilla family. to be only a few feet away from them in the wild was unreal!!

mel's advice is spot on on the tanzania stuff, i wasn't in kenya but the stuff she was on about sounds good. there is also a park in tanz called tarangire which has the biggest concentration of elephants in the wild apparently.
we bought lots of wood carvings in the mt meru market in arusha but like mel said bargain hard!! walk away if you're not happy with the price you've negotiated and if they keep on after you then you know that you're probably not asking too little. on the from tarangire to lake manyara (another park) our giude took us to this village (can't remember the name but i know it meant river of mosquitos in english) and there was a group of lads there selling hand made makonde wood carvings. we bought a few things here and they are fantastic!! they use ironwood which is very heavy. if you are buying things made from it you'll know by the weight, watch out for fellas who try and sell you wood carvings made from other stuff but claim its iron wood. you'll be able to tell by the weight of it

travelbug82

Hi guys

I can't thank you both enough for the info. Another question if you don't mind. Have either of you been to Johannesburg and if so any advice there? Also did you go see victoria falls again if so any advice. And which side did you visit it from??

Again thanks so much you both have been brilliant.

bungaro79

was in jo'burg but only for a night, went on a safari to kruger park early the next morning. heard a lot of horror stories and i was travelling on my own for that leg so didn't want to visit the city centre on my own. didn't do the falls but heard they are supposed to be amazing. pretty sure the company i went wtih was livingstone tours (http://www.livingstonetrails.co.za/) who were fine and cheap if thats what you're looking for

bofinfan

Sounds fantastic. I am so jealous.

ocli64

travelbug82 wrote: »

Hi guys

I can't thank you both enough for the info. Another question if you don't mind. Have either of you been to Johannesburg and if so any advice there? Also did you go see victoria falls again if so any advice. And which side did you visit it from??

Again thanks so much you both have been brilliant.

Not sure if this is too late but I just visited Victoria Falls from the Zambian side and can highly recommend it. The spray is quite high at the moment which makes it quite a site! From the Zambian side you can walk across a bridge right in front of the falls. I recommend opting for one of the raincoats which are very cheap to rent as you will get soaked to the skin!

We did the Microlight flight over the Falls which we booked through the hostel "Fawlty Towers". It cost about 140USD for a 15 min flight. It's expensive depending on your budget but I really enjoyed it and it was kind of a once in a lifetime thing for me. It takes you right over the falls and I even saw an elephant down below.

I'd also really recommend breakfast on Livingstone Island. Again booked through Fawlty Towers. Worked out at about €60 and took us right out to the edge of the Falls. There's also an option to swim right at the edge of the Falls. (Looked terrifying-the walk to the edge was enough for me but maybe if I return!) This was the highlight for me, standing at the edge of the falls was unbelievable! I'm just back so I'm gushing a bit but I would really really recommend it!

We also took a day trip to Chobi safari park in Botswana from Livingstone in Zambia. It consists of a 3 hour boat ride, buffet lunch and 3 hour game drive. We saw everything-elephants, giraffes, lions, buffalo, crocodiles, hippos etc. At one stage our truck was surrounded by elephants, although it's not guaranteed that you'll see all of the animals. I'd recommend going with Chobezi. There's another company, Kalahari, but from what I could see their boat wasn't as nice and I've heard their lunch isn't as good either.

Anyway I've had an amazing time here so I hope you get to see the Falls too! Best of luck

travelbug82

Omg. We are going Monday but we have just set a plan to do exactly what you have just told us. Minus the micro flight as I couldn't think of anything worse. I hate flying ha.

Your very good to share the info. The rain coat if you already have your own is that ok or are the rented ones super good???

Did you go anywhere else???

Glad you loved you. I had butterflies with excitement reading your message.

ocli64

travelbug82 wrote: »

Omg. We are going Monday but we have just set a plan to do exactly what you have just told us. Minus the micro flight as I couldn't think of anything worse. I hate flying ha.

Your very good to share the info. The rain coat if you already have your own is that ok or are the rented ones super good???

Did you go anywhere else???

Glad you loved you. I had butterflies with excitement reading your message.

If you have your own raincoat that's grand but the ones they have are full length so might be better as you will get very wet crossing the bridge without them and they kept us completely dry! They're quite cheap to rent just at the end of the bridge, less that a euro I think

We were only in Livingstone for a weekend but we've been in Zambia for the last 3 weeks visiting friends. We haven't done much touristy stuff but we did visit Kariba Dam. It's quite far from Livingstone so might not be possible for ye but it's pretty cool if you're in the area. It's a huge dam on the Zambezi between the Zimbabwean and Zambian border. It's nice for a day trip as it's close to where we're staying but probably not worth the 7 hour drive or whatever it would be from Livingstone!

I've heard there's a nice canoeing thing you can do in Livingstone that ends at an elephant sanctuary where you can feed the elephants but I'm not too sure how you'd go about booking it. Might be worth inquiring at one of the hotels though! It's also worth taking a wander around some of the bigger hotels near the falls as sometimes there are animals roaming around. We saw zebras and nearly drove right into a giraffe!

I'm so jealous that you are just starting your trip as unfortunately mine is coming to an end. I'm sure you will have an amazing time. It's such a beautiful country, I'm already planning my trip back!

travelbug82

Can I ask you how much you paid for day trip into park. We defo wanna do that.

I'll leave my rain coat at home so ha

Omg elephants are my favourite I'll be asking around about that most Definately.

Is there any where in particular in Zambia that you would say is a must see (tourist or non tourist). Or is the country just amazing that no matter what you see or do you'll love it????

Again thanks.

ocli64

I think it was around €120. It was well worth it. The highlight of my visit apart from the falls. We booked it at Fawlty Towers hostel. They will try get you to go with the other company but definitely specify you want Chobezi. I've no connections with either but my friends went with the other crowd before and said the food wasn't great and from what we could see their boat wasn't as good either. They'll pick you up from wherever you're staying (doesn't need to be Fawlty Towers) at around 7am and we got back to Livingstone around 6pm. It's a long day but it's definitely worth it and there is plenty of food included. We had tea/coffee and biscuits on the boat in the morning and then a buffet style lunch (to which we made numerous trips ha).

We were lucky with elephants and even saw them at the side of the road and crossing the road while on our way down the main road so hopefully you'll be the same!

I think Livingstone and the Falls is a definite must see but after that I'm not too sure tbh as I've just been based in a small town. The drive to Lake Kariba was nice, through the mountains and some villages. It's only about 2.5 hours from Lusaka so if you're visiting there it could be an option. There are plenty of lodges and campsites around and I think you can rent houseboats as well.

We visited Mazabuka sugar plantation but unless you've someone local to drive you around I don't know how ye'd work it cause the factory isn't open to visitors. Hopefully we'll get to do a bit more during our last few days cause Monday and Tuesday are bank holidays here so I'll keep you updated!

I think you'll enjoy wherever you go to be honest. It's very laid back compared to Ireland and everyone we've met has been very friendly and eager to help if we're a bit lost. I'm already trying to find an excuse to come back!