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come so we recently went on a 3-week safari through Kenya Tanzania and Uganda and in this video we're going to give you 20 tips of things we wish we knew before going on a safari these will range from big things like what time of year to go to the smaller ideas of what you should bring with you on the day and prior to this trip we've also been on safaris in South Africa Namibia Botswana Zambia and Zimbabwe and so we're going to bring all of that experience and knowled together in this one video that should get you nicely set up for your Safari all right first up is The Great Migration when do you go to see it uh we were lucky enough to experience the great migration in Kenya in Late July
and August but the migration you know it goes on a loop between M Mara and the Serengeti uh it's a year-long loop because it's a migration so there's actually a chart you can look at and it tells you where they'll be each month so you want to plan your trip around that so if you are going during Great Migration season you can choose just to go to the country where the animals are going to be at the time that you're going or if you still want to do both there are still going to be animals in the other country but we ran into this problem where we saw the Great Migration first in Kenya and then we went to Tanzania which was beautiful but it was kind of anticlimactic to be honest so if
you are going during Great Migration season I'd probably say try and visit the country where the Great Migration is going to be second so you can end your trip with that big crazy multitude of animals implausibility of animals if you will the second tip is on dry season versus wet season because you may want to go at a different time of year that suits your schedule and your holiday but if you're there during wet season it means the plants have grown a lot more which means it's a lot harder to see the animal so if you can always go in dry season number three if you have a favorite animal figure out where it lives because not every animal lives in every place so for example we only saw
rhinos once on our entire trip through Kenya and Tanzania and Uganda and that was the first place that we were in Lake karuru National Park or if you know that this is the last chance that you're going to be seeing your favorite animal despite still continuing on your Safari make the most of it so most group tours in Africa come in two different budget formats it's either the cheaper version where you're in a big bus together and you're camping or there's the more expensive version where you're in Jeeps the whole time and staying in these Luxury Resorts if you've seen our series through Kenya Tanzania and Uganda ours was a bespoke tour that I designed so we kind of had a mixture between the two so sometimes
we're in a big bus sometimes we were in Jeeps uh but we're always at nice resorts we didn't do any camping the main difference with between the budget and expensive version of these tours is the accommodation and the transport but ultimately you still see the same stuff you still have access to the same animals it's just how you see the animals and where you stay afterwards is the big difference between the two I'm pretty sure it's sometimes in the massim mara we were parked up right next to a Four Season Jeep so it really is the exact same experience once you're out in the park and speaking of Transport the major advantage of going in a jeep is they can go a lot more places at the big can't
they can really get Offroad and go and sort of track down the animals whilst in the big buses you have to stick to the main road so you can't necessarily get as close to the wildlife as you would with the Jeeps the other problem with the buses sometimes is they can be very loud and noisy like our one had these lockers at the back which seemed like a good idea to keep you stuff in but they just rattled around on those kind of bumpy Tanzanian roads it made such a loud noise and was so distracting and it was kind of like trying to huntt down Wildlife whilst banging some pots and pans so yeah if you can go for the Jeeps so this is from a previous trip that I did to Africa without Carl Believe It or Not uh I got the chance to
do a little bit of safari in some private reserves as well as the big national parks so these private reserves are areas of land that are owned by private individuals as opposed to the big national parks like serengetti mimara crew kuger in South Africa the difference between that is the private reserves are a lot smaller but they tend to have more animals concentrated into a smaller space not necessarily the best for their natural environment but you do get to see a lot of animals very quickly as opposed to going on some really long drives in the big national parks that you have to get to the animals so if you've got a really short space of time or you want to see a lot of animals really quickly consider maybe going to
the private reserves this isn't a advertisement for one or the other or endorsement of one or the other but it is just something to consider if you're looking for sort of that concentrated Safari experience as opposed to the grandiose thing you will not get the great migration in a private reserve but you will get to see maybe everything you want to see so you'll see a lot of packing lists out there about what to wear on Safari what colors to wear on Safari first of all other than style points the colors don't really matter you're going to be in a jeep the entire time you could even see some of our guides in Kenya wearing the bright colors of the Masai Mara tribes so it's
not like that you really need to be wearing only olive green brown and cream the entire time you look really cool but it doesn't actually matter so don't go out and buy a whole new wardrobe like I did you look really cool though I appreciate that the other thing to note is just to wear layers because especially the countes further south like when I did safaris in Namibia I was there in August and so during the middle of the day it got to like 30° but at night time it was down to near zero and so you basically spent all day changing clothes because it like this huge kind of difference in temperature and like at the start of the day we were on a safari for Sunrise and I was wearing my jacket
my fleece we had blankets and I was still freezing to the Bone by the time we got back from the sunrise Safari it was 9:00 a.m. and we went sunbathing by the swimming pool so it's like that big a difference so remember to wear layers and also if you want more info on what to pack for Savari check out next week's video which will go into full detail about what we brought on our trip so subscribe notifications all that stuff and you won't miss it God I hate it number eight bring binoculars yes they definitely are worth bringing because uh sometimes you might be quite far away from the wildlife so obviously binoculars are good to help you see better but even when they seem relatively close like having the
binocular can mean you can really get into see the details on their face and their expression so yeah if you're kind of uming and aring about whether to bring him definitely bring some binoculars bring snacks cannot state that enough you're going to be out in Jeeps for possibly a really long time and there is nothing better than while you're sitting and watching a herd of elephants to just be able to have like that one little potato chip that you've been that's been calling to you all day the other thing to remember is sometimes the pack lunches that you get on Safari are not great The Lodges do the best they can but we found you can't count on getting a good meal when you're out in the wilderness so snacks will definitely
help with that also like bring a beer if you get about to say that if you're doing a sunrise Safari no well if you do a sunrise and you've got a problem but if you're doing a sunset Safari yeah bring a beer like once you sort of like parked up and you're just sitting there watching some lions or elephants and it's like the sun's going down it's like what could make this better be end of a safari drinking beer and watching Lion's and sticking with food for number 10 the dinners that you'll get at these Resorts most of them are always buffets and he Rosie did you hear Buffet did you hear about food did someone say dinner did you finish your treat we'll be right back so yeah um that's a lion the dinners you'll get are the
resorts most of the time it's a buffet and they vary from Fantastic to just fine but if you do get a chance on your trip where it's out a car then go for it cuz having buffets day after day can get a bit tedious and so to be able to order what you want that's been specially made just for you rather than made on mass uh can end up being a really special treat so jump at the chance of alart if you get and also if you're just booking a tour try and look to see which meals are included cuz if some dinners aren't included that means you can buy your own dinner and actually order what you want rather than just getting the big Buffet so to think about speaking of food number 11 bring a modium trust me it's all you need to
know number 12 is cash you're not actually going to need to have that much cash on you like it's good to have for tips for your guides and drivers but in terms of everything else you're spending like most of the shops we were at will take cards most of the things you'll be buying like either your meals are included or if you're buying drinks at the bar at the hotel they get charged to your room and you just pay with card at the end so we actually used very little cash on our trip have some with you mainly for tips but other than that you don't need that much cash number 13 make friends with your driver we had such a great experience because we were chatting with our driver and got to know
him a little bit and we also tipped him well but because we did that we got to see some really cool stuff that I don't think he would have taking everybody to if you have a good relationship with your driver they will work harder for you these are guys who have been doing this for so long they know a ton of stuff they have a ton of experience and they can really spot these animals from miles and miles away it was insane so make friends with your driver have a good little chat give them a good tip and they will work so much harder for you number 14 everything is slow and not in like a fun kind of just chill and go with a Vibe like a frustrating slow you can tell a rant's
coming uh when you check into a hotel uh rather than just saying here's your key and here's the information they sit you down for half an hour they think it's value added by giving this big presentation explaining stuff but it can be after a long day of driving it can be very frustrating um when you go to restaurants and bars the service is incredibly slow like I've at a bar at a hotel where there was no other customers but me and it would still take the one bomb and 10 minutes to get me a beer out the fridge that's how slow it can be so bear that in mind with just how things are out there but also in terms of your scheduling yeah in terms of your scheduling build that in very few things
run on time we ran into some real issues with flights as you will have seen in the video of you know a 15minute flight being delayed by 4 hours so do not plan anything with a tight turnaround I would even go so far as to say at least half a day of flex time if you're scheduling any sort of big transitions between countries that aren't part of your tour if not a whole day of flex time before you start another tour cuz remember at the start of every tour you're probably going to have to do a big chunk of driving to get from a major city to any national park so build that in at when you won't have to end up driving through the night in the middle of Uganda like we did yeah so we flying from Tanzania to
Uganda our flight got delayed by over 4 hours we missed all of our connections which meant we missed the start of the tour which might we have to get a later jeep through the night to get to National Park so allow room for error and just so number 14 just so you don't think 15 uh yeah what are we up to viewers yeah number 15 don't think that we're complaining about Africa too much yeah it is slow but it's also really cool so number 15 is get out there go to a local bar I think some of the best times we had were sitting at a local having a drink with the guys when you're in Africa you tend to get kind of a sanitized experience when you're on Safari you're just at these really nice lodges and you're only with other
tourists get out there with local people make some friends share some stories and you'll have the best time so don't be scared yeah we had these like random moments on the trips in all three countries where we stop at a place just to get food or buy a souvenir or just to get a drink and just those moments out of your kind of safari bubble was like oh I kind of want to experience a lot more of that so any opportunity that comes up just grab it cuz it's great to of just experience the sort of true side of Africa that's not just animals the whole time or plan in a couple days at the end of your tour to stay in a city and just experience what's happening around you number 16 despite that always
go on the Safari um what we mean by this is like when you're doing a lot of safaris a few days in a row you can get tired and like there's one where we did a sunrise hot air balloon ride and then a safari afterwards everyone got back to the lodge early afternoon and we're going to go back again in like an hour or two and a lot of our group decided just to stay back and relax by the pool cuz they were a bit burnt out but we were like no we're here let's make the most of it let's just you know sleep when you're dead all those cliches and so we went out in this evening Safari uh kind of dragging our feet a little bit but we went out and it was one of the best ones we had on the entire trip we
saw so many lines up close so it's like yes you might be tired but you're there you've paid to be there so if you have an option if they say do you want to go on this extra Safar saari or not just go for it always go on the Safari the next one is the same always go on the Safari and that includes boat tours boat tours are some of the best ways to see wildlife in Africa because obviously the animals are attracted to the water so not only do you get to see the animals that live in the water but all the other animals that are coming down to the river and you can see them from an entirely different perspective it might be an additional cost but it is so worth it yeah one of the best
experiences I had was actually in Botswana back in 2016 and we were at chobby River and we went out this boat of late afternoon just cruising on this River and just it was like it's it's a travel cliche but it's like Jurassic Park just with real animals it's just as far as the eye can see and you allowed to bring your own booze as well so like the sun was going down you're just sitting there having a glass of wine whil there's like elephants all around you so yeah boat tours are highly recommended and also highly recom recommended is number 18 for our tips which is hot air balloon rides we signed up for the hot air balloon ride at M Mara and it was not just one of the best
things we did on that trip but one of the best experiences of my life yeah it is amazing you get again from an entirely different perspective you get to see this beautiful sunrise usually and also all of the animals from above it's quiet it's gorgeous it is expensive but do it if you can because again it is so worth it number 19 just two more to go I don't know why I did that for 19 number 19 uh so this is just a general tip for any kind of Wildlife Experience is just appreciate what you get rather than focusing on like I want to see the big five or I want to see this if you've really focused on just one specific animal you might forget to appreciate what in front of you so just be happy with whatever you get um a safari is
like a roll of the dice you never know what's going to happen so just enjoy what's in front of you and finally look with your eyes as well as your camera now I have a personal filmmaker to follow me around so it's very easy for me to say that but safaris can get a little bit competitive with yourself trying to get the best photo so you end up spending a lot of time behind the lens always remember once you've taken a photo put the camera down and remember with your eyes as well yeah what I do cuz I'm filming it's a bit different to photography where you want to take lots of trying to get the perfect photo but sometimes I'll actually line up the shot and then leave it recording and then actually just look
with my own eyes you want your memories not to be looking through a lens you want to be experiencing in the moment through your own eyes so it can be tempting when you're there to sort of take another photo and get another clip cuz it's just such a beautiful sight what you're seeing but just remember to try and put it down and just like be present in the moment rather than focusing purely on photographing or filming and one final extra tip that we didn't talk about but I just remembered right now you don't need a giant camera if photography is your hobby and you want to bring all the kit then go for it but if you're just there to experience it and want some nice pictures along the
way then your phone will suffice you don't need to buy the kit just to get a decent pH photo so that brings us to the end of our 20 useful tips for a safari hopefully they were useful I'm sure you'll let us know in the comments um if there's anything blatantly obvious that we've missed out then please let us know in the comments very possible very possible if you think we're wrong about anything which I'm sure you will at some point leave it in the comments and like we mentioned earlier we'll be doing a full video on packing for Safari next week so don't miss out on that make sure you subscribe turn on notifications like all the usual things you've seen a YouTube video before you know how this
works and if you haven't checked out our 3we African Safari series already then the link for that will be in the description and you can enjoy uh it's three hourong films of our time in Kenya Tanzania and Uganda so hopefully it give you lots of inspiration ideas and a little bit of entertainment along the way so we'll see you next week in the packing video bye I don't know why I'm waving sweet
