FSATIN Loc: Westchester, NY

I am looking into taking great photos on my upcoming safari in August and would like to hear about members reviews of these two tour operators. Tauck and Abercrombie & Kent. Has anyone had good or bad results with either of these two companies? I am leaning to visiting the South Africa region for the safari. Thanks in advance.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

Look at CNP Safaris great people Was with them in the Chobe and going back in August
http://www.cnpsafaris.com/

Cameralark Loc: Torrington, CT

Check Robert OToole.com
I traveled to S. Africa with him and had a wonderful trip.

Jack 13088 Loc: Central NY

In 2000 our research narrowed our search to the same two firms. The trip was to be a "once in a lifetime" surprise trip in celebration of our daughter graduating from Optometry school in June 2002. It was a party of four my wife, myself, daughter and son who happens to be in a wheelchair. In order to see as much as possible on a single trip we selected an A&K trip "From the Crater to the Cape" with East Africa stops in Tanzania and Kenya then on to Victoria Falls and Capetown. We could not have been more satisfied with every aspect of the trip. We booked before 9/11 and traveled in June after so our experience was during a very depressed market. And, yes, they did offer us cancellation with no cost. There are several occasions on a trip like that to observe other operators and their equipment. A&K and Tauck used similar Toyota Land Cruiser based vehicles (a very competent 4wd truck with custom seating - little if any resemblance to the vehicle of the same name sold here). The vehicles were washed every night and were in spotless condition. They also had a everyone gets a window seat rule. Six clients per car. It looked like Tauck had a similar rule. The guides and drivers were very photographer friendly. Some but not all drivers had beanbags under every seat so take your oun. They are conscience of lighting and will position you for the best shot whenever possible. We notice several other operators that none of the above applies to. In all respects A&K handled the wheel chair situation seamlessly. It is no surprise Africa is not ADA compliant! But we find that if we are flexible it is rarely a problem.

8 years later we repeat the trip of a lifetime including our son in law. We went to Southern Africa with A&K in 2010. That trip only reinforced our opinion.

I would say you can't go wrong with A&K but I have not experience with Tauck. At the turn of the century internet searches probably turned up far fewer fly by night outfits or downright scams than today.