South Africa safari tour: Looking for names of current South Africa safari tour companies. Also for those who have been to South Africa what would be the best time of year to go and...

uniqueharm Loc: New Jersey

Looking for names of current South Africa safari tour companies. Also for those who have been to South Africa what would be the best time of year to go and would a 7d Markll, 18-400mm lens be suffice ?

Thank you.

terpfan Loc: central coast, California

Go in September or early October. That is their spring and you want to go before all the leaves block your views of the animals. It's an absolutely amazing trip. Enjoy. I used a 70-300 on my APSC Canon for virtually all my shots. A fast lens might be good for evening outings.

ricardo00

Depending on what type of tour you are looking for, "Eyes on Africa" could help you plan your trip. They are a travel company and helped us book our trip in South Africa. There are a huge number of different camps and sorting through it is a lot of "work". Have a fantastic time.

http://www.eyesonafrica.net/

FredCM Loc: Central Illinois

I used a Sigma 18-300 DX lens on my D5300. It has enough reach and is sharp enough for cropping. So yes, the 18-400 should be fine. We stayed at Entabeni Game Reserve in northeast RSA and had a great time. Then we went to Zimbabwe for Victoria Falls and Zambezi river cruise, and finally to Chobe National Park in Zambia. It was a letdown after the other stops. We did not go to Kruger National Park, which might be better than Chobe. We have friends that went to Tanzania and Kenya and our trip was a whole lot better, much closer to the animals. If we were completely careless and clueless we could have petted the lions from the safari vehicles.

Paul Simon said the "Elephants are kindly but they're dumb." They are neither. The ranger at Entabeni said the only animal one can not trust is the elephant, completely unpredictable. Lions, rhinos, wildebeest, cheetahs, cape buffalo, etc. are readable. Not elephants.

Our trip was a Collete vacation trip. I hope your trips is as much fun as ours. If you go to Zimbabwe, bring some US currency.

photoman43

Check out Grant Atkinson. He lives in S Africa. He was a co leader on a photo safari that I took in Botswana.

https://www.grantatkinson.com/

FredCM Loc: Central Illinois

Our Collete rep was Ian Fetzger. He has a photography business and does tours on his own as well. Hmm, maybe I don't have his name spelled correctly, Google can't find him. Oh well....

Burkley Loc: Park City

Spring is a wonderful time to see South Africa—August through October. We drove across the Western Cape on our own without difficulty. Johannesburg is a dangerous place so we took Uber everywhere, even if for only a few blocks. A tour is nice for a safari though. I was less impressed with Kruger versus my Safari’s in Tanzania and Kenya, but it is so dependent on the animals that you happen to meet. All the parks have been wonderful. We’ve used Collette elsewhere. They are very professional.

ricardo00

Burkley wrote:

Spring is a wonderful time to see South Africa—Aug... (show quote)

The private camps (Mala Mala, Sabi Sands, etc) next to Kruger rival Kenya and Tanzania, IMO. We got very close to the wildlife in all 3 places and had lots of great sightings in all 3. There are lots of other camps in South Africa and have seen great photos from many of them. Best to book with someone who has extensively traveled throughout the different areas.

Burkley Loc: Park City

ricardo00 wrote:

The private camps (Mala Mala, Sabi Sands, etc) next to Kruger rival Kenya and Tanzania, IMO. We got very close to the wildlife in all 3 places and had lots of great sightings in all 3. There are lots of other camps in South Africa and have seen great photos from many of them. Best to book with someone who has extensively traveled throughout the different areas.

I agree. Private reserves in South Africa, some for cameras, others for guns and bows, are amazing opportunities. They really do require a contact though. I highly recommend that you choose a company that takes you to private reserves. The national parks/reserves are also wonderful locations. The nice thing about South Africa is the general infrastructure. Traveling is more comfortable IMHO versus either Kenya or Tanzania. Also, there are many other sites in addition to the game parks. However, you won’t see wildebeest and zebra stretching as far as the eye can see in all directions in SA like on the Serengeti. There are definite differences, but animal viewing opportunities are really exceptional in all of the locations that I have experienced in Africa. We saw 10 black rhinos 3 weeks ago in Tanzania. 15 white rhinos up close in Kenya a few years back. You can get pretty close to animals in Tanzania, like below, and in Kenya and in SA.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

uniqueharm wrote:

Looking for names of current South Africa safari tour companies. Also for those who have been to South Africa what would be the best time of year to go and would a 7d Markll, 18-400mm lens be suffice ?

Thank you.

Yes, most of those tours get you close. But, if you call them, they should be able to tell you what lens is good for their tours.

bikerguy

We used African Travel Resources. They design a trip specifically for you. When we did it they asked what we wanted to see and where we wanted to go and then provided three different price point tours to the areas selected. They arranged every detail and it worked perfectly. We would definitely use them again. Check out how many people each location puts in the vehicles, the fewer the better. Also, for southern Africa where the vehicles are open, try to sit always in the back, it is higher than all of the other seats and most people seem to want to be closer to the guide. It is a great shooting position.

maxlieberman Loc: 19027

Never been to South Africa, but been to Kenya and Tanzania. Both times I used a 70-300 on a D300 (ist trip) and a D7500 (2nd Trip) and got great photos.

Try Premier Travel in Philadelphia and ask for Bob Bergahier. He specializes in African Safaris.

azlynn Loc: Arizona

We went to S.A at the end of August... coolish, spring conditions, as someone said, there were minimal leaves so the animals were visible; also went to Tanzania at the beginning of June: same conditions, animals were visible, and we caught the end of the Great Migration. My first safari I only had a 210 mm reach (it was not enough!!); the second safari I had my 18-400 mm lens, and was satisfied (a longer reach would have been great, but 400 sufficed).
don't miss Cape Town, the beach with the "jackass" penguins (the name escapes me) or the Cape of Good Hope. Caution: Africa gets under your skin... I'm planning my third safari...

APSHEPPARD

Your lens choice should be fine. Most important thing on basis of my safaris there is to go to one or more of the private reserves near Kruger such as suggested by others such as Sabi Sands. I love the Savanna Lodge near Kruger. I have aged a bit much to go anymore but my son and DIL go every other year. They have used rhinoaftria.com and their agent who is easy to communicate with Daisy. Along with more competent insights, they also save quite a bit depending on the South Africa currency situation at the time. I personally have used A&K with excellent results.

JBRIII

Two points: unless you have a camera with a very wide range, there will always be some critter that an eagle eye will see way too far away for even 400mm or more often too close for a long FL, just the way it is. Others have stated in the past that it can be dusty, rough terrain , etc., so changing lens may not be desirable, just how things are.
Second, on both of our trips, we were also out after dark and good low light capabilities can be very handy. Cameras like the Canon SX 60 or 70 provide wide FL range, but not good low light performance.

Once you see an elephant rip apart trees like a gardener pulling weeds you'll never think of them in the same way.