Today we live in a very fast paced world with transportation by jet air and with a much better road system than just 20 years ago, so today’s safaris have been cut down in duration drastically but also because we all live a much faster paced life with work, and family this has cut down the time away from home significantly. I would have loved to experience the days of the common 3 month long safari but that time has pasted, areas have been cut up to limit the free roaming safari that once was, its just something of the past.
Today the most common safaris are 7,10, and 14 days and I even dare to say 5-day safaris are common, I’m guilty of doing one of these extremely short safaris and I don’t recommend it. For me a 7-day safari should be the minimum and if I could suggest a time frame it would be a 10-day safari. This gives you plenty of time to enjoy the hunt and not rush through it, but also gives you time to really hunt and better the odds of success your safari will have for the key game species you are after. Typically, when you arrive you will either be picked up at the international airport of local commercial airport than driven to camp this can be anywhere from just over an hour to six or seven hours this will add to the jetlag and the stress from traveling. It truly will take most first-time safari goer’s who have never traveled international a day or two to get accustomed to the time change and really get to enjoying the safari. Even if you take a charter flight to camp that first day, you’re going to be struggling come afternoon. With that if you only have a 5-day safari you will be now on day 3 and just really getting into the grove of things but just as soon as you get to enjoying the safari it will be over and you will be on that long plane ride back home.
7-day safaris as I said should be the bare minimum especially if you’re planning on hunting any dangerous game, with that though some outfitter won’t even book you for anything less than 10 days while some countries you can’t have a leopard or lion on license unless you book a 14 or 21 day safari.
During a 7 or 10 days safari in South Africa or Namibia you could expect to take and animal or two every day if your game list is fairly open and with a good outfitter on a good property, this resulting in a very successful safari between 5-10 different animals. In South Africa and Namibia on private game farms or even on low fenced cattle ranches you will pay for daily rates and the trophy fees for the animals taken at the end of the safari, so there is not much added or hidden cost come the end of your trip. Both hunts will cost you around or even less than a trophy elk hunt here in the United States today brining you a much better bang for your buck in my opinion.
You don’t want to rush this experience especially if it’s your first and possibly only Safari, the cost of a few extra daily rates is minimal and who knows by staying a few extra days you might cut down on your travel cost by coming back on one of the slow travel days compared to a Monday or Friday.
With a 10 day safari you could really plan out a great trip, your wife or significant other might be going with you and you could spend a day or two before the hunt or after the hunt enjoying some of the many great national parks and other attractions Africa offers still giving you a good full 7 days of hunting but time to enjoy Africa and earn some brownie points with the family.
Take these notes into consideration when you’re planning that next or first Safari, but just remember you only get 1 first Safari so have fun and enjoy it.
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