Question about Golden Trails of Africa

Very interested in this land/cruise journey to Africa but I have a question regarding the quality of the roads we will be riding on. My wife suffers from occasional migraines and a jolty ride might cause a migraine. Will you please elaborate on how rough the ride will be during the game drives?

I did see a review here on CC that you might want to check out:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=226154

I would also suggest looking online for additional reviews because there appear to be a number of search results on GoogleSearch with this tour name, and you did not specify how many days your tour is. I saw some that say 17/18/19 days????

While I have not done this tour, I have lived in Africa so can give you a general response to your query. Game drives/game park route travels are going to be on gravel roads probably 99% of the time. For (most) parks you will find there might be a tar road as far as the gate, and then it's gravel all the way from there. Just costs too much to maintain, and there is no desire to encourage people to drive 70 miles an hour in the park (and kill the animals). Some gravel roads will be reasonable quality, and others pretty rough. Not much that they can do about the quality of these roads, and in the rainy season the roads can have a lot of rain water/mud that hides those pesky potholes/water channels that go across the road.

Also tar roads such as those outside parks might have lots of potholes (unfilled or filled) and they can give a bit of a jolt whether at speed or crawling along.

Definitely something to consider if your wife has migraines - although I did not realize that this can cause migraines. Has this issue been discussed with your doctor? I would have thought that the heat and bright African sky (light) would be something that could impact migraine issues, but I'd recommend that you talk to doctor.

Would I do such a tour? If it was my DREAM holiday then I WOULD battle through any potential migraines and rest in camp on the odd day that things were debilitating. Some of the $$$$ tours also use facilities with services such as spa/massage. Might this be something that would help your wife?

Good luck, and happy travels.

Make sure your wife sits in the seat directly behind the driver. If you sit in the very back seat, you will get bounced around a lot. We had lift off several times while going over bumps on the gravel roads and if they go off road, definitely very bumpy. Also, the paved roads are full of pot holes, so you will be in for a bumpy ride. To us, it was definitely worth putting up with the rough ride, as seeing the animals in their natural environment was the thrill of a lifetime.

For the most part (depending on the safari itself) the game drives can be described as relatively bumpy due to the fact that you're mainly driving on dirt paths, going off-road at times. Some guests say it's not too bad and actually adds to the safari experience. However, if your wife tends to suffer from migraines caused by that type of bumpy driving, it may be best to consult with her doctor before planning your trip.

It will depend on the time of year. During or just after wet seasons the roads can be very poor. The end of the dry is better, but can still be bumpy.

Thanks to all of you who have responded to my concern regarding my wife's migraines. It is very much appreciated. My wife has decided that she wants to go so we are looking at 2016 since we already have plans through the end of next year. The AMA cruise seems to have a lot of positives but we are considering other options such as doing a land tour or possibly flying to South Africa and doing a self-drive to an area like Krueger National Park. We won't see as much of Africa with the third option but I if I do the driving I can control, to a certain extent, the smoothness of the drive.

When considering "when to go" some itineraries will have more of a fixed time-frame e.g. the Migration in East Africa will have a more defined time of the year, vs. going on a general safari/trip to Africa you could go almost any time of the year. With general safari travel (self-drive or tour-operated) however there are two pointers I could give you:

1. Self-drive vs. Tour operator. If you do self-drive you are limited to roads in the parks that are open to the general public, whereas if you go with a tour operator then they will likely also have permission to go onto other (non-public) roads in the park. With the former, seeing the animals is luck-of-the-draw; with the latter you are paying them to (hopefully) find more of the animals for you to see.

2. Winter vs. Summer. Certainly in Southern Africa the following guideline should be considered (in particular for self-drive) -

(a) Winter (May-Aug) = dry season = less dense vegetation = less water for the animals = animals are more likely to come to waterholes to drink, so you could see more of them.

(b) Summer (Dec-Mar) = wet season = thicker vegetation = water everywhere in the park = animals can find water all over so it can be more difficult to find/see them.

Not to say that you won't see anything, but the above might guide you in your decisions. Oh, and even if doing a self-drive, some of the parks do have an extra option where you can pay extra for a night or morning ranger-led game drive.

If going to Kruger Nat. Park in SA then you will find that there is an anomaly to the whole tarred-road rule, Kruger has MORE paved roads INSIDE the park than many other parks. But please remember DO NOT SPEED as they do have speed enforcement INSIDE the park !!!!! Another thing about self-drive in SA that is changing right now:

(a) the Johannesburg metro freeways have changed to tolling by the kilometer, although your rental car company will charge that to your credit card once they get the bill after you return the vehicle.

(b) most other (national) freeways are tolled, but you have to pay as you go (for each sector). Also, for these freeways foreign credit cards are not accepted.

Notwithstanding these factors, your Africa trip should be a wonderful experience.

Stan,

Thanks for the additional information. It is very useful and will help us make our decision. If we drive to Krueger National Park from Cape Town how long would it take? We wouldn't be in any hurry and would prefer taking in the sights along the way. Would it be possible, or worth the effort, to make a loop and come back to Cape Town using a different route than the one that got us there?

I am guessing you live in the US, so will compare that to travel in the USA, which might give you a better idea.

From CT to KNP is approximately 21 hours driving non-stop (1900 kms or 1200 miles approx.). Nobody that I know does a non-stop drive, just too tiring, so at least one or two overnight stops might be done. As you leave the Western Cape region you drive up through the mountains, which is quite scenic, but then you hit the central plateau (Karoo region). It is generally flat, straight, hot and dry up through the Karoo all the way till Johannesburg area. Think of Arizona, followed by wheatlands once you hit Bloemfontein and the Free State region. From Johannesburg you then head down to KNP for a couple of hundred kms. This route is generally N1 freeway, followed by N4 freeway.

Not to say that it is not a worthwhile drive, it just depends on your timings and desires.

Some people will travel along the Cape Southern Coast (called the Garden Route) as an alternative, and then head up inland from Port Elizabeth area to Bloemfontein and then continue to Johannesburg, and KNP. (This route will add more time and stops into the trip). I lived in SA originally, and rarely went this route - but then I was always in a rush to get to Cape Town. [OK Garden-Routers, don't flame me, it is just my opinion :) ].

I would not typically drive CT-KNP-CT because it is just such a LONG distance with a lot of tiring driving - distances between towns (especially in the Karoo) are FAR. Sort of like the thought of driving east coast to west coast of the USA - you might want to do it once in your life, and thereafter you prefer to fly.

Googlemaps will help considerably for SA as the system is almost as thorough as our mapping content here in the USA.

I think many tourists:

- fly to CT (either directly into CT from overseas or via Johannesburg),

- then rent a car and see the Western Cape region for a week or so,

- then fly to KNP (3 airports are close to the Southern, Central or Northern ends of the Park), where a car can be rented for the period that you visit KNP,

- and finally after visiting the Park, they fly back to originating airport.

An alternative is to fly CT to Johannesburg, rent a car and drive the ~4 hours to KNP. You can then spend time in Johannesburg/Pretoria before or after KNP.

With Kruger you should try to book accommodation very EARLY, I think bookings open 11 months in advance, check out the official site below:

http://www.sanparks.org/parks/kruger/get_there/default.php

There is so much to see/do in SA that it really depends in your interests. Timeframe for SA - suggest 2 to 3 weeks minimum. Let me know if you have other questions.

(And I still dream of going to East Africa to see the Migration one day!!!)

Livvie and I are also on the Vantage August 30, 2015 cruise. We spend 5 months in Rhode Island and 7 in Florida.

We have been on several Vantage river cruises and loved them. I am now beginning to investigate off ship options on this cruise. Never been to Germany...