Tag Archive for 'costs'

Finding Cheap African Safari Tours

Many European people go to Africa to enjoy the unique African experience. There are five star resorts and great entertainment and most hotels have access to some of the best safari companies in Africa. In America, people are now also beginning to catch on to the idea of visiting Africa. A lot of the people that would like to go on a safari want to save money because the cost for Americans is substantially higher than for Europeans because of the cost of the longer flight. Cheap African safari tours can be found however with a little searching and good decision making.

One way to look for different safari tours is by talking with a tour guide company. They are usually aware of any deals that are available. Sometimes people might cancel and a company tries to get new customers at the last minute. This saves the company money and it allows for cheap African safari tours for people who may be ready to book a trip at the last minute. The limitations of booking a cheap African safari tour will already be determined by the people who booked the trip originally. This is a great way to go on safari.

Options For Cheap African Safari Tours

For those people who will be booking a cheap African safari tour, consider all of the ways to cut costs that will allow for a great safari at a lower price. The easiest way to have a cheap African safari tour is to limit the length of the safari. Most safaris will last from as short of one day and can go as long as twelve days. The opportunity to see most of the wildlife is greater with a longer trip but booking a shorter trip doesn’t mean that people will see fewer animals, and the money saved on the cheap African safari tours means that there is more spending money available for other options while in Africa.

Another way to defray costs is to book safaris that will specialize in looking for only certain animals. An example would be a safari company which, along with full safaris, also has safaris to see specific animals. They may offer a safari, for example, that concentrates on the big cats of Africa. The tour may not travel as far, but it is a great way to see a lot in a shorter period of time, making for a cheaper African safari tour.

When people decide to go to Africa and see the wonders that are there to see, the costs of the safari shouldn’t always be in the back of ones mind. Choose a lower cost tour in advance, and enjoy the beauty of the continent, and save money while you save memories. Take a little piece of Africa home for the rest of your life.

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Ernest Hemingway and African Safaris

In one way or another, we have all had contact with the work or read about the life of the famous American writer Ernest Hemingway. We don't usually associate Hemingway with hunting expeditions or wilderness. Those who know a bit about the man have read of swashbuckling tales of drinking, bull fighting and hard living. We knew him as an avid sportsman who even penned one of his great books, The Sun Also Rises, around the annual running of the bulls in Spain. However, what the average person might not know is that Hemingway travelled to Africa to hunt twice in his lifetime and wrote several short stories and novels about the experience. Hemingway is even credited by some with bringing the Swahili word "safari" into common usage in the English language. Although he was not considered one of the greatest hunters, his love of the experience led him to a close understanding of the Kenyan people, which was uncommon in his time.

His first visit to the African continent was in 1933 with his second wife, Pauline. Together they visited both Kenya and Tanzania. During this time, and even before he went on his first African hunt, Hemingway became sick with dysentery. For several weeks, he was laid up in a hospital in Nairobi, where he met other adventure-seeking men from America and Europe. After mending and continuing with the safari, Hemingway returned home to write The Green Hills of Africa. The book's poor sales depressed him, but the two shorter works he penned on the trip, The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber and The Snows of Kilimanjaro, are considered classics about African hunters.

In 1954, the great writer set out on another African safari with his fourth wife, Mary. By this time, Hemingway was drinking far too much, but his love of the safari called him to travel once again. It was a dangerous time, as Kenya's Mau Mau was rebelling against British colonists. Still, it was not the violent rebellion that almost cost the Hemingways their lives. The Hemingways were involved in two serious plane crashes that almost killed them and the injuries Hemingway suffered plagued him for the rest of his life. He wrote about this second safari and his relationship with a young African girl in True at First Light, a book that is written as fiction but generally considered autobiographical.

Many modern companies have sought to emulate the Hemingway safaris. Various packages are available for African and especially Kenyan tours, mostly for the enjoyment of taking pictures or observing the wildlife. Many of these modern tours involve high quality lodges rather than the camping experience of Pappa's day. While expensive, many of these modern safaris boast fine lodges and private guides to take tourists through the African jungles and plains. Most of these new wildlife safaris have private itineraries that can be changed at a moment's notice and private trail cars and guides. While they're still connected to the beauty of the African landscape, they offer controlled environments that often tour through preserves and national parks. Some of the more famous of these tours bring back memories of Hemingway's more famous works, but most are not cheap. One company offers a 14-day experience called the Kilimanjaro tour that costs over three thousand dollars. Others offer excursions to places like Uganda to view gorillas.

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