As travel restrictions continue to ease across Africa, many countries are offering incentives to encourage tourism. From children staying free, half price permits or special pay-stay deals, there is something for everyone.
Gorilla trekking in Uganda
Whilst gorilla trekking is one of the most incredible wildlife viewing opportunities one can have, it does come at a cost. With trekking permits priced at $750 per person per trek, a gorilla holiday can leave a substantial dent in your wallet. Across the border in Rwanda, permits are double this!
Due to the Covid-19 outbreak, tourism has all but dried up in Uganda. With very few visitors making the journey to see these incredible animals, funding for anti-poaching and other reserve maintenance has declined dramatically.
To entice tourists to visit, Uganda recently announced a special discount on gorilla permits. They have now been reduced to $400 per person per trek until March, almost saving you 50{fd1018b708dc11e6d771fa6d5ce8eacdee7a6add7c2315f27e48bc4e47591114}. With this saving, it would certainly be worth doing two treks.
Travelling to Uganda is easy and entering the country only requires proof of a negative Covid-19 test no longer than seventy-two hours before your departure to the country. After this, then you are free to travel the country as you wish, be it gorilla trekking, chimp trekking or canoeing in the swamps of Lake Mabamba looking for shoebills.
The Great Migration With Nomad Tanzania
Arguably the greatest natural spectacle on Earth is the Great Wildebeest Migration that occurs year-round throughout the Serengeti. December through to March is some of the best times to see the migration as they congregate in their largest numbers on the southern plains of the Serengeti. As February arrives, thousands of wildebeest calves are born which not only gives rise to beautiful sightings of mother and calf, but it also draws in many predators.
Realising how important tourism is for their people, Tanzania remained open throughout the pandemic and encouraged tourists to visit. With strict protocols at camps to ensure guest safety, travelling here was an incredible experience for anyone lucky enough to do so. Game viewing was exclusive and intimate and game drive vehicles were often private.
Nomad Tanzania have worked on a number of deals across their camps in Tanzania, the main being low season rates during peak seasons. Be it during October when the herds were still crossing the Mara River or for the upcoming baby boom, Nomad can offer low season rates for travellers until next June. This deal allows those who travel in the peak months of January and February an unbeatable offer that won’t come round again!
Botswana with Kwando
Southern Africa took a while longer to open up than East Africa, and Botswana was the last major country in Southern Africa to open its borders to tourism. Be it the watery landscape of the Okavango Delta or the dry and harsh Kalahari desert, it is one of the most beautiful countries on the African continent, and with it comes an incredible diversity of flora and fauna.
Kwando are an exceptional company specialising in small, intimate camps throughout Botswana. From Kwara and Little Kwara in the Delta, Splash in the Moremi game Reserve and Tau Pan in the Kalahari, there is a camp no matter where you want to visit.
Whilst Kwando have always been great value for money, they are currently offering some brilliant last-minute deals. For travel within sixty days, you qualify for discounts that leave each camp costing around $500 per person per night in the high season and as low as $315 per person per night in the low and mid seasons. For a Botswana safari, this is an unbeatable deal.
Zimbabwe with African Bush Camps
Zimbabwe has been open to tourism for a few months now, but some parks remain closed. Mana Pools will be closed until May 202, but areas like Hwange are open and have some incredible deals to be taken advantage of.
African Bush Camps provide some of the most stylish and luxurious accommodation options across Zimbabwe and Botswana. They are currently offering some great pay-stay deals with a Pay 5 and Stay 6 and a Pay 8, Stay 10.
Accompanying their stay, pay offers, African Bush Camps are offering a Secret Season special discount between 1st December and 31st March 2021. This discount sees prices fall to as low as $400 per person per night in their Hwange properties like their Somalisa collection.
The Greater Kruger with Singita
For those still wanting to experience the crem de la crem of safari, Singita’s properties are open across Rwanda, Tanzania and now South Africa. With exceptional game viewing at any of their lodges, it may be hard to know what Singita property to choose.
Their South Africa lodges are located in the Sabi Sands Reserve and within a private concession in the Kruger National Park. Here game drives are always abundant with animals, especially the big five and you can be sure of cuisine that will leave you wanting more and more.
Lavish and opulent, you can always expect the best service, hospitality and guiding at Singita’s lodges which is why their special deals make them all the more appealing. Offering a Pay 4, Stay 5 deal between lodges in the Sabi Sands and the Kruger National Park, you really do get a diverse game viewing experience to accompany a variety in landscape. The flight in between the two lodges will also be thrown in free of charge for you to sit back, relax and enjoy the lowveld as it passes by underneath your plane.
At any Singita property, you will be treated like royalty and at the end of 2020, who doesn’t feel the need to be treated like a King or Queen?
Marc Harris is Managing Director of Africa Odyssey. Africa Oydssey is run by a team of award-winning experts offering tailor-made African safari holidays.
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