South Africa is expensive
Indice
Transportation in Uganda is an acquired taste, a subtle way of saying that … it’s a disaster, in the cities you either move in boda boda (motorcycle cab) or matatu (minivan) because there is no such thing as mass transit.
Obviously it is more dangerous to ride a mototaxi, sometimes they can accelerate a lot and you can find yourself on the verge of an accident, but they are much faster and not very expensive (in the capital they cost 1.5 dollars on average). When I initially arrived I was warned of the danger they can be but in my 3 months in the country I never had an accident or came close to one, as long as you make sure your driver is sober and doesn’t speed too much you won’t have a major problem.
Matatu central station in Kampala Uganda (CC whltravel)The minibuses are very cheap (30 cents) and safer, but you can find yourself waiting a long time while they fill up before leaving, there are no defined routes and the matatus have no notice so you have to ask for directions before leaving.
How much does it cost to travel to South Africa
If you are planning your trip to The Gambia you should start looking for flights. Flights to Gambia are practically the cheapest in all of black Africa, and therefore a good option if you are on a low budget. We flew from Madrid to Banjul (capital of Gambia) for about 400 €. Here you can search for the cheapest flights to Gambia.
The accommodations are spread all over the country, but they are basically concentrated in Banjul and Senegambia, a tourist area that is worth visiting even though it is full of Europeans and North Americans. We stayed at Jerma Beach Hotel, which is in the municipality of Kololi, near Senegambia. In this link you can find hotel offers in Kokoli.
The national currency is the Gambian Dalasi. When I was in The Gambia we exchanged on the street for a value of 1 € = 31 dalasi (GMD). In the banks they would not give us more than 27-28 Dalasi. You can check the current exchange rate in this currency converter.
The climate of The Gambia is tropical, being determined by its two seasons: the dry and the rainy or “green season”. From November to May rainfall is negligible and this dry period is the high season for tourism (the presence of mosquitoes is lower, reducing the risk of contracting malaria). June to October is the rainy season.
Requirements to travel to Africa from Mexico
We will not deny it, as soon as we found out that one of the destinations of the KLM Vuela Sostenible award was Cape Town, the first thing we did was to look at the budget to travel to South Africa, because we did not want to go over budget once we arrived at our destination.
When we started looking at prices on our own, we realized that traveling to South Africa on your own is not as expensive as it seems, and that the price of a safari in South Africa is much cheaper than in other countries. The fact that you can do the safari on your own and with your own car, allows you to reduce the costs drastically. And yes, it is totally safe to do a safari on your own.
South Africa has surprised us positively for being a very economical country, almost at Asian levels, believe it or not. The South African rand, the local currency, was at the time of our visit (August 2019) quite weak against the euro, which guaranteed us a very favorable exchange rate of 17R for 1€. We always look at the exchange rate on xe.com.
We wanted to simplify in an infographic the budget to travel to South Africa on your own in 12 days of travel, being two people (which is always somewhat cheaper when sharing expenses). As you can see, we have separated it into 3 parts, to make clear the expenses for each stage of the trip.
All inclusive travel to Africa
– Transfers between camps. While the best way to get to know and assimilate Africa is from the ground, the regular traveler does not have the luxury of time (or the desire) to travel long distances in a 4×4. Long distances (e.g. from Windhoek to Sossusvlei in Namibia about 6 hours; from Maasai Mara to Amboseli, about 10 hours via Nairobi; from the Serengeti in Tanzania to Arusha, about 9 hours depending on the location of the camp) can be comfortably overcome by light aircraft flights of 30 to 60 minutes.
– Safari vehicles. Most lodges and safari camps offer safaris in their vehicles. The best lodges use 4×4’s adapted fully open for up to 4 or 6 travelers, all with side seats. At the opposite extreme are the open-top vans so popular on the cheaper safaris in Kenya’s parks or the overland trucks where you won’t see much if you get a middle seat.
– How exclusive you want your safari experience to be. Visit the most famous parks like Kruger in South Africa and you will get the cheapest prices, but also asphalt roads and crowds of people. On the contrary, go on safari to a private concession in Botswana’s Okavango Delta where you have to arrive by light aircraft and peace and quiet is guaranteed, but at a much higher price.