Hi
My husband and I are about to book an overland trip with African Trails from Vic Falls to Capetown through Botswana and Namibia. The trip sounds really good and is a good price but just wondering if anyone has any experience of this company and could reccommend them? There are so many offering similar trips it is hard to decide on one!
Thanks in advance for any comments
The overland group that I saw several times in March was with GAP Adventures. I also saw several others, but I don't remember the name of the groups. Usually, their tour buses are double-decker (large storage area below) with seats that recline for sleeping, so people stay on the motorcoach full-time with the same people full-time, as on a multi-day train trip. Most of the passengers seemed to be enjoying their trips. The cooking equipment and table and chairs are stored underneath. I don't know the condition of the roads, but the motorcoaches that I saw were very modern and should be able to handle rough gravel roads well enough. The Serengeti Plains and Ngorongoro Crater, where I saw the GAP Adventures and another overland tour bus, did not have asphalt roads. The highway from Arusha to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, was excellent asphalt and smooth riding.
Double-decker is not an accurate description of most overland trucks, though they do have storage beneath the seats. Camping in tents is typical, and there are only a few operations where you sleep on the truck, sometimes on top of the truck. The weirdest set-up I ever saw was a German bus in West Africa where the passengers slept in little coffin-like cubicles. I tried to find a photo of this to share, but to no avail.
African Trails would not be my pick for an overland company. To begin, the trucks have vinyl windows, which quickly become scratched and foggy. (Not to mention that they are easy to slash, and therefore a security issue.) A truck with glass windows is much preferable.
Given that you are married, and might not want a total party truck, I might look at the more high-end overland companies such as Dragoman, African Travel Company, or Intrepid.
Hope this helps,
BB
hoi
about the african trails comp we are just back from a overland trip with them and next time will defenatly choose a other comp the trucks are filty as we had rats living in it ( we had a different idea of wild live)
The ( experience ) driver was only 4 month on the job and didn't really now anyting about africa
We saw better trucks as mention DRAGO , TUCAN, NOMAD
dont look just for the price look wat is incl also and wat is not and compare wit the other comp
hope to help you with this
best of luck
Speaking of Intrepid, I met one of their tour leaders during my train trip between Marrakech and Casablanca, and he told us how competitive the interviewing and application process is that Intrepid gives its prospective employees. He is a very enthusiastic leader and really loves Morocco, but also maintains a flat in London for his time off. He says that he has the best of both worlds. Will is the only nonnative Intrepid tour leader out of Marrakech.
As # 2 said, experienced trip leaders make all the difference. I would take a second-rate truck with a great trip leader over a state-of-the-art truck with a newbie any day.
vinkel makes another great point in that you need to compare apples to apples. Some tour prices include a lot more things than others do. What appears to be a bargain, on face, might not be.
Interesting, trekker 502. Intrepid bought out Guerba, which was a really good operation. In general, I think western tour leaders are best, because they understand the group dynamics of their clients better. Don't get me wrong--local or native guides can be great at being guides. Sounds like Will has a pretty good life.
I have to agree with the above. From what I've seen of the AT trucks on the road they were very much rock bottom budget party trucks.
I've travelled twice with Africa Travel Co and would highly recommend them. Dragoman, Intrepid (ex-Guerba) and Acacia seem to be good too.