For travelers starting to research future trips, now is a great time to plan an African adventure. Suppose you’ve been dreaming of planning a trip that includes everyone from grandkids to sisters, cousins, and extended family. And now, you can devote hours to preparing the gorilla trekking adventure you’ve been thinking about for years.
Travel itineraries with many moving parts like Point A to Point B, C, and D need to be planned well in advance. These trips include extended stays, itineraries with multiple destinations, multigenerational travel, or trips that span varying age ranges or geographical origin to exotic locales. Some vacation destinations with experiences like gorilla trekking have limited capacity and require a lot of preplanning.
Many safaris tours and remote expedition cruises like Antarctica often book up two years in advance. When investing in these once-in-a-lifetime experiences, you want to be sure you get what you have been dreaming of. Tours in Machu Picchu, the Galápagos, and gorilla trekking have limitations on visitors’ number in the destination. Therefore travel to them requires some forethought, especially when permits and visas are involved.
Limited infrastructure can cause travel restrictions to get into remote locations. For example, in-climate weather can wash out trails in remote island destinations or halt a safari. Storms while at sea can significantly affect sailing through the Drake Passage in Antarctica. Contrary to popular belief, waiting until the last minute doesn’t mean scoring a deal.
For most travelers, the dream safari trip means coordinating multiple long-haul flights, reserving a stay at a remote tented camp or lodge, arranging visas, vaccinations, and complicated transfers. The African Safari or wildlife adventure trip is often the vacation you take when you’ve accumulated at least two weeks of paid time off and stockpiled enough miles to offset the reliably expensive airfare and accommodations.
Another consideration that can complicate your planning is what you want to see on the safari. Specific types of animals or witnessing the natural phenomenon like the Great Migration doesn’t happen every day in the wild. More than 2 million wildebeests are joined by hundreds of thousands of zebras and gazelles every year as they migrate to Kenya’s Masai Mara National Reserve from the Serengeti. For this kind of safari experience, you’ll need to position yourself along the migration path between June and October, with August and September the absolute best months for witnessing the Great Migration.
Depending on what safari destination you have in mind, you may need to leave extra time to secure yellow fever vaccinations and antimalarial medications. Travelers must also apply for entry visas; or secure special permits for trips to see gorillas in Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Uganda.
Working with a travel advisor and planning increases your chances of getting the same experience you want at a better price. Usually, advanced rates and fares are discounted by 10% to 25%. In many cases, travelers who hold out for last-minute deals or promotions will likely pay 30 to 40% more.
Jumping on a flight deal or airfare sale is a great way to book a spontaneous trip, but not great if your heading to a specific point on the map, a particular experience, or you are trying to coordinate with several other people. Are you ready to go? Let’s get started by scheduling an introductory call today!