The best value for money for an overlander going on safari…
Camping and park access fees vary hugely between different countries. Does paying more give you a better experience?
At the top end of the price spectrum is a self-drive visit to the Ngorongoro Crater in Northern Tanzania. It is astronomical. In fact all national parks in Tanzania are expensive to visit. The cheapest national parks are in Namibia. How does the Namibian flagship Etosha compare to the Tanzanian Serengeti?
Etosha v Serengeti: Two nights camping for 2 foreign adults (campsite fees, park entry fees & vehicle fees):
Etosha: $105 USD total.
Serengeti: $990 USD total (this could be reduced by $280 by careful planning of the 24h access permit).
Is it really worth spending over 10 times more money to camp in the Serengeti than Etosha? These are two opposite ends of the scale, but there are many great options between these two that we can look at. Below, ill go through them in more detail, going from cheapest first:
Namibia
Etosha National Park is the main National Park in Namibia which all tourists to Namibia will visit. It has easy access from Windhoek and is one of the stopovers for large organised groups of overland trucks going from Cape Town to Victoria falls and beyond.
Etosha is great value for money. There is plenty of wildlife to see, including Rhino. Due to the lack of water, there are no Crocodiles, Hippo or Buffalo. Zebra are abundant, so too are Wildebeest. The Elephants here are amongst the largest in the world, standing several feet taller than their Botswana cousins. There are plenty of lions also, but very few Leopards.
Etosha is enormous, all of the game-viewing trails are south of the main pan. From west to east, the campsites are: Olifantrus, Halali, Okakuejo and Namutoni. All are fenced and have viewing platforms overlooking waterholes (accessible day and night), but aside from this they are different from each other. Olifantrus offers camping only and has the wildest feel, the others are like sprawling towns with lots of facilities, and the central two are quite busy. Rhino are known to frequent Okakuejo and Halali at night.
Costs: $8 USD pppd entry fee, plus $3 USD vehicle and $26 USD per camp pitch (max 8 people & 2 vehicles).
Etosha good points:
1. It is probably the cheapest safari destination in Africa.
2. Quite close to Windhoek, with a good tar road leading there.
3. You stand a very good chance of spotting a Rhino (sit around the waterholes at night at Halali / Okakuejo)
4. Enormous herds of Zebra and Wildebeest.
5. Numerous waterholes that you can visit – spend the day driving back and forth between waterholes.
6. The larger campsites have excellent facilities including restaurants, swimming pools, shops and fuel stations.
Etosha bad points:
1. The roads are very badly corrugated.
2. It is not a particularly pretty area, in comparison to the rest of Namibia (which many agree is the most beautiful country in the world).
3. Central areas (Okakuejo & Halali) are quite busy.
4. Its good, but not amazing.
The Hoanib Valley is worth a mention – although game-wise you will only see a handful of Oryx, Elephants and Giraffe. The entry fees are low, and the camping at Elephant Song Campsite is stunning. The whole area is very beautiful.
Caprivi Strip Area: There are several National Parks at both the Eastern and Western ends of the Caprivi strip. As with Etosha, prices are low and wildlife is abundant. These parks are very different to the desert regions in that they are much greener due to the proximity to the Okavango River delta. It could be said that this is a ‘poor mans Okavango’. Camps are un-fenced: it is certainly wild, beautiful and worthy of exploration. If you are looking for a wilder experience then this area would be better for you than Etosha. You will need to be self sufficient when visiting these parks as facilities are limited.
Zambia
Zambia is a little pricier than Namibia. We visited Lower Zambezi, South & North Luangwa National Parks. Both are truly spectacular and have an abundance of wildlife; we have many Leopard sightings! Being close to large rivers makes for a truly special game-drive experience.
Lower Zambezi: Mvuu Lodge is the only place where you can camp, approx 1 hour drive from the entrance: $40USD pppn. Amazing place to stay; great ablutions, attentive staff, great views across the Zambezi River. Elephants prone to come through camp. Hippos and crocs in the river. Plenty of Baboons who will steal everything, so be vigilant. Staff patrol with catapults but don’t leave any food or unwashed dishes lying around. Close all canopy and car doors. They offer boat trips on the Zambezi which is a fantastic experience.
South Luangwa: Croc Valley Camp is the only place to camp in the Mfuwe area, it is just 5 minutes drive from the park entrance gate. $12 USD pppn camping. Park entry fees: $30 pppd + $15 USD for vehicle. $40 pp for a night game drive.
Zambezi & Luangwa good points:
1. Both are extremely stunning parks, you have a great chance of seeing Leopard.
2. Both are world-class safari destinations, yet somehow very few people have heard of them.
3. Very few visitors, so you feel like you have the place to yourself.
Zambezi & Luangwa bad points:
1. Accessibility is the main negative: its a 2 day drive from Lower Zambezi to South Luangwa, on a busy tar road going via Lusaka.
2. There is no easy way from South Luangwa up to the North Road. Either the infamous ’05’ road crawling up the escarpment or 2 (awesome) days of sand driving up to and through North Luangwa National Park. Either that or a 2-3 days on a tar road via Lusaka.
3. There is no camping allowed inside the park. Campsites outside the parks don’t have that same wilderness feel that you get in Botswana, although wildlife is always near by.
4. Not a negative for the parks, but for Zambia in general. The electricity grid is often switched off, and so too are the phone masts. Card payments are often not possible, so cash is king. If you see a working ATM in Zambia, then withdraw as much money as you can carry.
Botswana
Chobe National Park – Ihaha Camp: Very nice camp. It is inside the Chobe National Park so you pay $20 pppn park fees plus $30 USD pppn camp fees. 2 days park fees for one nights camp. Very wild, unfenced camp pitches overlook the Chobe river and the flood plains across in Namibia. Toilets are basic. Plenty of wildlife around all day and night.
Chobe National Park – Savuti Camp: Also very nice. We hadn’t booked so were put on the reserve campsite. Again, it is inside the park so you pay $20 pppn park fees plus $30 USD pppn camp fees. Savuti is located half-way between Ihaha and Khwai, so a logical choice for a stop-over. If you are going from Ihaha to Savuti and then onto Khwai, stock up with everything you need in Kasane for the duration of your stay. You’ll need to be self-sufficient until you reach Maun.
Khwai area: This area is very special indeed, and there are numerous budget-friendly campsites: Hippo Pools, Magoltho and Mbudi River are ones we looked at. These are very wild campsites in a remote area, just bordering the Moremi Game Reserve (being outside means no park fees!). Prices are around $30 USD pppn.
Wildlife around Khwai is very abundant, most of which will wander through your camp at some point. There are loads of sand-trails to explore, so you don’t really need to go inside the Moremi Game Reserve. Mbudi River camp looked to have the best facilities. These camps are all around 3 hours drive from the nearest town (Maun). They are all very basic, so you need to bring everything with you for your stay. Camps can supply firewood and water only (not drinking water).
Booking ahead is advised, but you can just turn up and they will accommodate you. This area is very popular with South Africans, who pitch up their convoys of large off-road caravans filled with steak, biltong and beer. They certainly know how to do camping.
Khwai area good points:
1. Very wild, with an unmatched abundance of wildlife.
2. Diverse range of stunning habitats: woodland, savannah and rivers. Very lush and green.
3. Unfenced camps with wildlife coming through camp.
4. Lots of trails to explore.
5. Very close to the Moremi Game reserve, which is itself a world-class safari destination.
6. The Khwai River flows all year round, so draws lots of wildlife during the dry season.
Khwai area bad points:
1. The campsite facilities are terrible. For $30 USD pppn you don’t get hot water showers, the toilets are run-down. Mbudi looked to have the best facilities.
2. Extremely remote: 3 hours drive down a badly-maintained sand & gravel road to the nearest town (Maun). This isnt really a much of a bad point though.
Tanzania
Now Tanzania is where it starts to get expensive. A notable difference is that in Tanzania you pay park entry for a 24 hour period, not per day. This is an important point to note as you can use it to reduce costs a little. Parks in Northern Tanzania are very busy during peak season (Manyara, Tarangire, Serengeti, Ngorongoro) and it seems like Land Cruisers outnumber Wildebeest. Southern parks are very quiet by comparison (Nyerere, Ruaha, Katavi).
All of the larger parks mentioned above charge $70 USD pp for a 24 hour period (Ruaha & Katavi are $30 USD pp). If you have a foreign-registered vehicle ALL parks charge an eye-watering $150 USD vehicle entry fee. This is the main reason long-term overlanders avoid Tanzanian Parks like the plague.
Tanzania Southern Circuit:
The southern Tanzanian parks are less well-known and as such attract far fewer visitors. If you want more of a wilderness experience, and to feel like you have the park to yourself, then these are worth a look.
Nyerere National Park: This is a very pretty park, most of the game-viewing trails follow the stunning Rufiji River. Access is more difficult – a long drive down a dirt road from either Morogoro (western gate) or Mlandizi (eastern gate). The accommodation is all at the eastern gate, so coming from Morogoro you need to pay to transit.
Its best to stay outside the park in Mloka at the western gate. There are numerous places to stay, both camping and tented accommodation. Approx $250 for a 4-berth chalet overlooking the river at Jimbiza Camp. Situation can change after each wet season – flooding undercuts the river bank at the cliff-top campsites so causes them to wash downstream. We stayed at Selous River Camp and it was great. The views from the bar/restaurant area are fantastic.
There is a public camp inside Nyerere NP but it is not worth paying the fees to sleep in scruffy bush with terrible facilities and no views whatsoever.
It is best to pick up a guide at the entrance to have the best chances of seeing predators. You wont see Rhino, Cheetah or Leopard, but you’ll see plenty of everything else.
Ruaha National Park: The park is extremely beautiful, and well worth a visit. There are no Rhino, but there are Lions, Cheetah and Leopard, plus all the other usual suspects. There are a lot of Elephants too. Game-viewing trails loosely follow the Ruaha River and several tributaries, which are dry sand rivers in the dry season.
We stayed at Tandala Camp outside the park (safari tent accommodation only). It is superb, and has a permanent waterhole which has an almost permanent presence of Elephants. Inside the park there are bandas ($100 per night for a 4 berth) located on top of a ridge with nice views overlooking the Ruaha river. They are run by TANAPA and are dirty, smelly places. Id rather sleep in my clean tent. There are riverside huts available but all were booked. Im guessing they are also dirty. Again, you pay the $30 USD pppd park fees, but if you are coming into the park anyway you’ll pay that, it just saves the 1/2 hour journey from Tandala and the inevitable delays at the park gate.
There are unfenced public campsites available for $30 USD pppn near the Ruaha River but the reviews of the ablutions are pretty scathing, as expected.
Park entry fees for Ruaha are much less than Nyerere. The park also gets fewer visitors Id say Ruaha is better value then Nyerere. Both are very pretty parks, and very different from each other.
Katavi National Park: Ikuu Public Campsite. Ive not been here but I expect the prices are in line with the rest of Tanzania. Lake Shore Lodge in Kipili, on the shore of Lake Tanganyika is worthy of a mention; all overlanders passing through this very remote region of Tanzania will stop in here. Luxury 2-berth lodges are $150 pn, camping is cheaper and set back from the lake. It is everything and more that the many gushing online reviews say. Just go there, you wont regret it!
Tanzania Northern Circuit:
Three words can sum up all of the northern parks: Stunning, Expensive, Busy.
Kilimanjaro:
Tarangire National Park:
Serengeti National Park:
Ngorongoro National Park:
Lake Manyara National Park:
Lake Natron Conservancy:
Lake Eyasi Conservancy:
