So I’ve been in the process of booking my next big trip. This time I’m going to Africa! I’m heading over in June for the World Cup in South Africa, but I’ve got friends there, and the tickets to the games are being provided by a friend of mine, so that’s awesome! But aside from that, I’ve been making plans to head up East Africa way and do some travelling. Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.
Unsurprisingly, I want to go to Uganda to see the mountain gorillas. And I want to go see the Masai Mara in Kenya and the Serengeti in Tanzania. Now I’ll admit to a bit of naivety to begin with, but I figured, hey, pretty much the entire continent is living in abject 3rd world poverty, it should be pretty cheap to travel there. I mean it was cheap to travel around Asia and most of South America, right? So I stupidly made the assumption that it’d be cheap to travel around Africa too. Wrong.
Here’s what I’ve run up against, bearing in mind that I’m looking atbudget options, as opposed to the luxury lodges. Prices are in Australian dollars.
Uganda: 3 day gorilla trek ex-Kampala – $2350. That includes no meals at all and staying in budget guest houses. It does however include the US$500 for the gorilla trek permit, which grants you one day access to the national park, and 1 hours viewing time with the gorillas – assuming your guide actually finds them. That equates to almost $800 a day. For a 3rd world country. With no guarantee of actually seeing the gorillas.
Kenya and Tanzania: 14 day safari, overland, camping – $2600. Yup, that’s what it costs to camp. The cost of doing it in lodges is roughly 5 times the price. And this involves driving everywhere, long days, no flights. That’s just under $200 a day.
Hot air ballooning: 1 hour hot air balloon ride in the Serengeti – US$500. I almost choked when I saw that. I know it’s one of those “optional” things, but still…When you consider what I paid to do the equivalent in Egypt was US$100, I struggle to justify paying 5 times that much.
Getting around: Flights South Africa-Uganda-Kenya-South Africa – $2100. And that’s apparently cheap, flying Kenya Airways.
So that’s it, that’s what it’s costing before I even set foot on the ground. And it’s ok, I can deal with it. But when you’re looking at over $7.5k for 2.5 weeks – before you take into consideration having to buy food and spending money? I struggle to call that a budget holiday. And it was my own admitted ignorance of Africa that bit me in the ass. I thought it would be cheap, I mean the place is in terrible shape, but I’ve learned my lesson. I’d hate to think what it would cost me if I was staying in hotels or safari lodges.
Thankfully my flights from Australia to South Africa have been booked using frequent flyer miles and I have a place to crash in Johannesburg at a mates place. Cos otherwise, I would have never been able to afford to go. It’s worked our a few thousand more than I’d been initially planning on.
Basically I just wanted to post this up as a piece of advice. There’s really no such thing as “budget” travel if you want to see the gorillas or go on safari in Africa. If you avoid the gorilla trek and going on safari, then sure, you can keep the costs right down…But then, that totally defeats the purpose of going to Africa in the first place, doesn’t it?
