FAQs

frequently asked questions

Johannesburg international Airport in time for the first safari briefing at the hotel. We normally recommend the South African Airways flight from Atlanta International Airport at 10:30am USA time overnight to arrive Johannesburg international Airport at 09:00am South African time. Remember that for international flights, you need two hours prior check in. Afrika Zambezi Safaris will not be held liable for any act, omission, unexpected event causing a client to miss their flight. International return flights between your home and Johannesburg are not included in the price of the safari.

Type Of Camera Equipment

The less weight, the easier for you to carry during your Safari. Small hand held digital video cameras are excellent on a walk or game drive. The minimum lens when taking still photos will be 200-300 mm zoom lens with standard SLR cameras,and a lightweight telescopic lens if you wish to take pictures of birds or mammals at a distance.

We recommend that you visit your local camera shop in your hometown for advice before departure. We advise that you purchase lots of film or memory sticks as these are not always available in the more remote parts. Large camera tripods will take up too much space – a small hand tripod or monopod is ideal.


Flashlight/Torch

We recommend you bring a small, powerful flashlight/torch and spare batteries or recharger – although some of the lodges do equip rooms with flashlights/torches.

Wet Months

The wet summer months are November, December, January and February (Usually we do not contact Safaris on these months unless special on requests), lots of rain with minimum temperatures of 36oc / 2oF. Winter months are May, June and July which can be very cold with minimum temperatures of 36oc / 2oF.


Spring Months

– Spring months are August, September and October and this is the best Safari season although hot with lowest temperatures of 60oc / 15oF.

– Pack clothing according to the season in which you will travel – frosts in an African winter are not uncommon. Choose neutral colours so as to not startle the animals.


Suggested Items To Bring

– Good walking shoes – Leather or Trainer type, with high ankle Good strong sandals Long trousers (Preferably unzip at knee type) chinos or slacks.

– Long sleeved shirts for evenings/short sleeved for day Polarised good quality sunglasses If you wear contact lenses, bring enough cleaner and solution for the trip.

– Tip: Also pack a spare pair of ordinary prescription glasses – we may encounter very dusty conditions, you will be more comfortable with ordinary spectacles.

– Swimming costume / bathing suit Warm track suit Shorts/skirts.

– For ladies, T/shirts (Cotton) Warm sweater, beanie, scarf, warm gloves for winter months (Preferably warm Anorak/Parka for cold early morning drives).

– Lightweight pair of good Binoculars.

– Lightweight Raincoat/wind cheater.

– Basic First Aid kit with any personal medications, anti-malarial tablets, anti-histamine cream/tabs, elastoplasts, immodium, antiseptic cream & aspirin.

– Vitamin A helps to ward off, and heal, sunburn.

– Cameras and plenty of film / spare batteries / multi-plug recharger.

– Khaki/green peak cap or shady bush hat.

– Toiletries, moisturising creams/sunscreen lotions.

– Torch/flashlight with spare batteries.

– Your valid passport!

– For fly-in safaris, a soft bag carrying no more than 12kg is essential.

– Bring also a small day-pack (backpack type).

Included

All your Safari lodge transfers, accommodation and laundry, villages and school visit tours, walking trails, game drives, meals and drinks in the lodges, charter flights from one lodge to the other are fully inclusive as detailed in your itinerary.


Not Included

– The international flights that bring you to Africa and take you home.

All non-itinerary activities:

– Johannesburg cultural tours to Soweto township and the Apartheid museums

– Victoria Falls curio shopping, personal shopping, meals at Victoria Falls

– Extra activities

We suggest you budget at least US$30 a day if you intend to shop for souvenirs in the markets. Any extra tours such as a cruise to Nelson Mandela’s Robben Island on the Cape Town section, can be arranged in advance by our Johannesburg office on request.

Please refer to your itinerary for what is or is not included.

We strongly advise you to purchase full and comprehensive travel insurance to cover any eventuality before travelling, including: Safari Cancellation, injury, accident, illness, death, medical expenses, emergency repatriation, loss of money or personal belongings. This is compulsory on all trips and can be arranged at the time of your deposit payment.

Please arrange insurance with our Johannesburg Office, or your personal broker or agent before departure. Afrika Zambezi Safaris shall not be liable or held responsible for any loss of baggage, damage, injury, death, safari cancellation, accident or illness during the Safari trip.


Information Needed For Insurance Claim when I Return

If an incident(s) occurs, keep copies of every detail and document such as police reports, doctor’s notes, when and where it happened, etc. in order to enable you to make a claim on your return home.

NEVER! Even if animals approach the lodge grounds, we are not in a Zoo or a Theme Park where animals are accustomed to humans. Your safari will be conducted in real African wilderness with occasional close encounters with wild animals.

Attacks by these animals are rare, but we cannot guarantee that it will not happen. All wild animals need to be treated with respect. Clients are advised to adhere to rules and follow the instructions of the guide conducting your safari, especially on walking trails. Afrika Zambezi Safaris, cannot be held responsible for any injury or incident that may occur due to carelessness or negligence on your part.

NOT ALWAYS. We do not recommend drinking tap water in any hotel, camp or game lodges during your trip. We recommend you drink only bottled water. The tap water in your room, however, can be safely used to brush your teeth and wash with. Note: To avoid effects of dehydration, please drink lots of bottled water and other beverages while travelling, especially in the hot months (August to November). On any walking safaris please take one or two bottles of water with you.
We expect your trip to be problem-free but if any do occur, please do not hesitate to contact your tour leader guide, management or the staff at any of the lodge/camps and they will be able to assist or attend to your problem immediately.

Losing baggage on a scheduled flight can be a nightmare. We recommend that you try to check your baggage in as a group at the same airport to avoid loss or misplacement. Afrika Zambezi Safaris shall supply a soft duffel bag and t/shirt which will be sent to all clients confirmed on safari trips – making it easier to identify others in your group. Our Johannesburg Office will supply further details.

If your bags are lost, your tour leader will help you complete all necessary documentation required by the airline and our Johannesburg Office will arrange to forward your baggage to one of the lodges if it is found (we cannot guarantee this). The airline will have to compensate you if your bags are lost or damaged. Please ensure that you keep your baggage tag numbers safe in your purse which will assist in tracing lost luggage.

We would recommend you bring small denominations in cash for easy exchange, tips, airport departure taxes etc. – US$1, US$2, US$5, US$10, US$20, US$50. Many countries may not have change for large notes such as US$100. The remainder of your money should be in Travellers Cheques as this is by far the best way to travel with your funds. Credit cards can be used in South Africa and Botswana. Ensure that your tour leader guide is close to you when using credit cards, as she/he will know the requirements of each country’s Credit Card facilities.

Although we will be flexible to try and accommodate client requests, we cannot make changes to set itinerary safaris which include other clients. Accommodation may be changed due to reservation problems, conditions of roads and airfields, game migrations or other reasons where clients’ safety takes priority.

Tipping during safari is not compulsory, and is at client’s discretion – only tip if you had a blast and enjoyed the service given to you. A guideline is: Guides at the lodges – around US$6-00 per day. For your tour leader guide who accompanies the entire Safari Adventure with you for 16 days – perhaps a little more than the above. General staff at the lodges – around US$4-00 per client per day – usually lodges provide a tipping box and tips are shared amongst all the staff. In hotels/Restaurants, around 10% is usual for excellent service.

Africa is the most beautiful continent in the world, featuring some of the last pristine, unchanged natural landscapes on earth and proud, smiling people. Although the western discoverers came to share and learn about Africa from the late 1700’s onwards, the rich culture and traditions of Africa have not been changed or diluted much, in spite of conflict over her rich resources.

Even today the myth and mystery of Africa is still largely unknown – a continent with tangible magic interwoven with the tremendous fabric of nature – animals, vegetation, insects and bird life. The breathtaking beauty of Africa is found it its savannahs, forests, rolling rivers and waterfalls, lush hills and mountainous landscapes. It nourishes the soul of those with environmental awareness, and delights visitors keen on wildlife conservation, photography and bush adventures, forever leaving them with a great feeling of proprietorship and responsibility towards Nature.

No wonder the likes of Dr. David Livingstone were quoted as praising African landscapes with words such as, “Scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight.”

In the media, Africa may be popularly known for its poverty, environmental degradation, wars and the current HIV/AIDS epidemic among others but this could be said for any continent today. But Africa is modernising, ready to take its place in the world with massive growth and investments from all over the world. The trade routes dreamed of by Cecil John Rhodes and David Livingstone are becoming reality today. This question still remains a mystery.

Many travellers are afraid to travel to Africa because of the way it is dramatised in the media – wars, poverty, disease, and so on. So I ask this questions to my clients during Safari adventures with them but none of them seem to have an appropriate answer, and that always puts me to puzzling thinking. If you were to believe all the negative stories in the media, be it newspapers, internet or television, then Africa would be the last place you would think of visiting to see beauty and harmony. I reflect on the old days of great explorers such as David Livingstone and others who portrayed the image of Africa as beauty and adventure.

In literature, we learn good things and legacy left behind by these men who had heart and love of Africa and so I conclude that the only way to know the real Africa is to come, like them, and visit for yourself. When you come to travel in Africa, you merely discover the beauty and mystery of Africa, culture and true tradition of this continent. As a traveller perhaps you would want to join hands with local communities, learn about their traditions, the diversity of their culture, the legends and history of Africa. Your visit encourages and contributes to sustainable tourism. You may fall in love with Africa, just like Dr.

David Livingstone who lived among the tribes and peoples of Africa, fought against the slave trade, fell ill and later died in the caring hands of African people and left his heart buried at Chief Chitambo’s Village in northern Zambia in the Soil of southern Africa. Which traveller today would not admire this legendary legacy left by Dr. David Livingstone, whose body was carried thousands of miles overland to lake Tanganyika and then back to the highlands of Scotland and finally laid to rest in Westminster Abbey in England. The old world learned of Africa through the eyes of “Great White” hunters such as Courteney Selous and the prospecting and mining by Cecil John Rhodes with his ambition to build the mighty railway line from Cape Town to Cairo in Egypt.

Such ambitions were often foiled by the harsh conditions of Africa, which remained and protected the wild places. It is the spirit of this Adventure which we try to impart to our clients and we feel that we are privileged to welcome visitors and to introduce them to the magnificent world of Africa. We combine our experience with your dreams, building the pace and the flow of each safari so that your expectations are met and exceeded. Discover your dream adventure with us; explore the thundering waters of Victoria Falls on the Zambezi river, the mysteries of the flowing Okavango river delta. Africa’s land is full of wildlife, from the great highlands to the idyllic Indian ocean coastline and the legendary Table Mountain and Cape Point where foreign explorers first touched the soil of Africa. The reality of your visit is only as far away as our booking form.

Perhaps the same question was asked of the great travellers during the colonial era when explorers such as Vasco da Gama, Dr. David Livingstone and others risked the unknown to discover the trade routes between Asia and Europe

It was believed that the traders could transport raw materials and goods through the channels of the Nile and Zambezi rivers, portaging the thundering waters of Victoria Falls, and on through the deep gorges of the Zambezi Valley. Later, this question also fed the great imperial ambitions of Cecil John Rhodes who planned a railway line from Cape Town to Cairo, to transport of minerals from Africa to Europe. However, all these ambitions never completely came to pass and many lost their lives in the process.

Today however it is far safer! There were many great explorers, some of whom were not mentioned in the literature of travelling and discovery in the Dark Continent as some called it. What was the lure of this adventurous journey to Africa? I suppose it was about the love of travelling, new sights and interests, discovery of wealth, leisure, sport and the glory, tribute and recognition of great explorers by peers and families back home. Now you, too can weave your own legend – come and be an African explorer, with Afrika Zambezi Safaris.

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