African Safaris - What NOT to Do on a Safari

hey there fellow travelers mark here with walters world today we're in the serengeti national park in tanzania and yes i'm still in my safari outfit because you don't want to come without your safari outfit and today we have for you are the don'ts i'm going on a safari here in the serengeti in tanzania or in other safaris in general but we're going to focus here on the serengeti and my first don't for you is don't get out of the jeep look they don't let you get out of the jeep to go up and see the animals they're wild animals you don't want to have issues with them they're not gonna be cute and cuddly like in the lion king and stuff like that they're gonna go oh you're either food or i need to run away from you or kick you okay so don't get out of the jeep also they won't let you get out of the jeep it's the rules you know uh so do have a heads up for that and not getting out of the jave also leads into the second don't we have for you and that is don't feed the animals these are wild animals they know how to fend for themselves they've survived this long they will be just fine okay and there's actually signs that say don't feed the animals they'll be okay and that's one of the reasons why you don't get out of the jeep because you don't want to become their food as well so don't feed the animals also don't leave your food around if you're going on a picnic while you're out doing a tour in your safari make sure you collect all the food all of everything and don't leave anything out okay that's something you really should know now the thing is though i'm not gonna say you never can get out of the jeep when you're going around because my next don't for you is don't think you're gonna find a potty when you're going on safari look when you come into one of the parks there'll probably be a visitor center with a toilet there or the camp you're at might have a pit toilet or something like that so you have toilets but when you're out and about and you're in your jeeps going around and exploring the serengeti there's no toilets around so you will be peeing right next to the jeep or behind the jeep that's it you don't get to wander off into the savannah here and go to the bathroom so make sure you go before you go out for the day all right because it can be a bit bothersome okay so also i suggest don't forget to practice some squats just in case now the next tone i have is when you're out in the safari don't be loud i know a lot of people like oh can we turn some music on or hey let's have big conversations while we're driving around you want to be quiet because what happens is if you're loud you scare off the animals okay but also when you're in your camp you don't want to make a lot of noise either because that could attract the animals which you don't want when you're trying to sleep okay so have a heads up for that and when you're in the jeep my next stone for you is don't expect a smooth ride the the roads here when you're on a safari are there dirt roads it's very bumpy so be ready for a lot of bouncing they call it the african massage because you really are bouncing a lot of the times and the faster you get the bouncier it gets it doesn't really bother you too much but just be ready for that so if you get motion sickness maybe have something for that also with all that all that dirt roads you get a lot of dust okay so don't forget to bring like a scarf or something to cover your face because when the other jeeps go by there's always a huge dust cloud behind it and you'll see that you will get insanely dusty your suitcases and your your bags and your cameras and you will be quite dusty by the end of your day or every day actually you come out so do have a heads up for that and i guess talking about the bags my next don't for you is don't over pack when you're coming on safari you don't need too many clothes you have your safari outfit or maybe two and you're wearing the same thing again and again no problem so maybe bring extra undershirts and underwear but you can wear the safari clothes the whole time because i've seen a number of jeeps okay and the tour chiefs usually hold like six maybe seven tourists and a driver i mean i've seen a number of them where it's two tourists and then the other four seats are there are completely full of luggage i'm like what do you need when you're out here don't over pack because the more you pack the less space you have in that jeep and it can get very uncomfortable if you have a lot of people so when we came we just brought our osprey you know carry-on bags we had carry-on bags a little osprey backpack that's all everybody had and so that made up plenty of state space for us they could put in the back of the van and the actual storage place and we had plenty of space to stand up and look around and things like that so just know that don't over pack you don't need that much when you're here now let's talk about some don'ts with dealing with the actual animals one don't i have for you is don't expect it to be easy to see the big five so the big five are the cape buffalo the lion the leopard the elephant and the black rhino okay now the elephants those you'll see those are relatively easier to find because they're quite big and stuff like that the lions you can find those quite a bit and the cape buffalo i mean there might be some wandering behind us in the screen here right now so those three are pretty easy to find but the black rhino is very difficult to find and also the leopard is hard to see so it's hard to find as well so seeing the big five don't think it's necessarily going to happen on the first day it's going to take time and they might take you to another spot like the in gorgora crater that's a better place to see the rhinos versus here in the serengeti so don't worry it's just going to take some time to see it but my next stone for you is don't worry about seeing animals because you'll see so many animals when you're here my first shock at our 10 shocks that great feeling you see when you see your first zebra giraffe but then once you see like your your 17th heard of zebras everywhere you're like oh my god there's so many zebras here you will see so many zebras and gazelles and giraffes and hyenas and antelope and all kinds of stuff oh my god it is just so awesome so don't worry you will see plenty of animals when you are here okay now another don't i have you is don't forget to bring cash look there's no atms when you're on the safari okay you're in camps you're intense and staying intense okay so when you're gonna be you know wanting to buy extra stuff for drinks you know maybe your tour includes food but it might not include drinks for dinner so you might want to have some cash so you can buy a coke or buy a beer the kilimanjaro beer remember if you're not climbing kilimanjaro you're drinking kilimanjaro okay you might want to get those things so have some cash if you want to get souvenirs credit cards are not accepted very often some of the camps might take them but if you're out about and find stuff you're not going to have some so you need to bring cash when you're here and it's us dollars newer us dollars nice crisp ones i'm not saying brand new like made this year but you know within the last 10 years they're nice straight from the bank ones you'll be okay my next stone for you is don't forget to tip the people at your camps and don't forget to tip your guides when you're out driving okay now what you'll think about it this way in terms of your your guide your drivers it's about ten dollars per day five to ten dollars per day depending on the tour you're on five to ten dollars per day per person in your jeep okay so probably the minimum for your one jeep you'll have is 20 bucks if it's just you you should tip 20. there's only two of you 20 bucks but you know the minimum is 20. so you want to do more we've got six people so we're tipping obviously a bit more than that per day and what you do is you tip your guide at the end so like when they're dropping you off you're at the airport or whatever you're like hey thank you here's your tip have a great day stuff like that at the camps because you're going to stay at camps when you are here in tents and stuff like that there's actually a tip box at the reception so after you're in of your time here you put your tips in there the kind of going rate the middle like a middle price place is about ten dollars per day per like tent okay so you have that so if you're there for a middle price place you're there for a couple days then you know 20 bucks will be fine but if you're in a nicer place maybe you want to go up to 20 bucks a day per room you have that also those tips also going for the tips for your staff and the other people working here and the the maasai guys that come by and help you get to your uh camp at night so make sure you are tipping because it does make a difference and and speaking of those maasai guys and the kind of things don't walk around at night by yourself and they won't let you they'll tell you look if you want to go pee if you're at a camp where the pee place the shower is not in your tent you got to go to it you're going to need to get escorted there and they'll wait for you and then walk you back to go to the restaurant for dinner after dark you need to have someone walk with you because the animals come out at night i mean last night we had a cheetah walk across the front of our tent we had cape buffalo all around us there was a hippo right out there okay and they're gonna come around and it can get a little dangerous so you want to make sure you don't just walk around at night so you're bringing your kids which you should because this is awesome also stress that to them don't just run out there okay now my next stop for you is don't sleep in now there are some really nice luxury tents around here in luxury campsites here i'm not gonna lie for that you want to stay in but don't because in the early morning that's when you see the predators out that's when we saw the cheetahs and the lions walking around and all kinds of stuff like that you gotta start early in the morning to see things because by the afternoon it is hot the animals aren't moving around and you're like oh i'm even hot as well so early morning is the best time to go so don't sleep in now my next don't for you is don't freak out because you're going to have those animals all around you okay and you're going to hear sounds all night long and it can get a little scary if you're not used to it so i recommend talking to your guide what sound should we hear like we heard a bunch of things that sounded like bullfrogs oh those are the wildebeests oh we heard this other sound like that oh that was the lion like oh what so so make sure you realize that you're gonna you're gonna have to deal with that but i will say is don't be afraid to use the walkie-talkie and call the reception desk like hey i think there's some animals here that look close because sometimes they do get too close that's why they have security people here to help keep you safe it's not just to walk you to your tent it's also to check things out so last night when we had the cheater on the front of our tent we called them up and they came and you know it's scattered off and stuff like that we've had stories from other travelers where a hyena was trying to get into their tent another one where lions were in front of their tent they had to wait till it went away so these things do happen so so don't think you're not going to have the animals up close and personal because you will okay so don't think you're gonna have a good night's sleep sometimes just fyi now my next stop for you is don't forget to bring the safari clothes this is safari clothes you have like a khaki shirt it's khakis browns uh greens that's what you want to wear and you want to make sure like i've had my sleeves rolled up right now but long sleeve shirts long pants okay high socks because you want to keep the bugs off of you the mosquitoes the ticks the ants and stuff like that you want to keep those away so make sure you have safari clothes and they're very light i mean it just um bumps really easily have an undershirt there and you can wear it day after day because it just gets dusty also make sure you have a wide brim hat as well because we're near the equator and that sun is very very strong okay and you might want to treat your clothes and protherm before you come that helps keep more bugs away that's some other options you have obviously have the bug spray and stuff like that but you want to wear this which leans into what you don't wear you don't wear blacks and dark blues because the tt fly love black and dark blue and they will come and they will bite you and take my word for it you do not want to get bitten by them it hurts okay also don't be wearing your short shorts i saw a number of tourists here in like daisy dukes i'm like are you crazy you're going to get burned the bugs can bite you more i mean you got to be careful with this stuff so make sure you wear clothes of like appropriate safari clothes when you do come i know people like to wear jeans but the thing is the jeans will get too hot during the day so do have a heads up for that but another donut i have for you is don't forget to bring like a jumper or a jacket because at night it gets cold like really chilly so you'll have thick blankets that you'll sleep in have your like winter pajamas when you're there because it does get really chilly once the sun gets down so know that i have the right clothes when you do come here next don't i have for you is don't forget to bring plenty of extra batteries for your camera and a power bank because you're going to take so many pictures when you're here and you know if you're using your phone you will burn through your phone so have that power bank to recharge your phone but if you're bringing a good camera have that telescopic lens oh man it makes it so so many great pictures here but bring extra batteries for those because i'm averaging going through three batteries a day while we're taking pictures so i'm charging these things up also bring a plug that's a uk plug because here in tanzania and the serengeti they have the three prong english plugs here another don't i have for you when you're starting your day don't expect a lot of hot water okay make it quick showers maybe you know just the important parts kind of you know showers kind of thing because it can be a little cold so do be ready for that some of the higher end camps do have hot water but just know that you might have a a invigorating start to your day let's say another donut i have for you is don't expect to have a wi-fi signal or 4g connectivity and stuff like that to post your pictures when you're here in the serengeti i mean there's very little signal i've had i've had no 4g signal i've had no 3g no anything now i could make phone calls but i couldn't actually do any like data transfers and stuff like that the camp i'm at has wi-fi but it's you know it's going to be quite slow because you have one thing and a lot of tourists here so we'll be a little slow here so you will be kind of offline when you're here so have a heads up for that because i know a lot of people want to post those instagram pictures i know we did i mean go to instagram walters world and you'll see some of our pictures there or you can see jocelyn's at jocelyn walters world so we've got all kinds of pictures there but it's tough to upload when there's no wi-fi or no cell service so have a heads up for that also don't think that you have to rough it when you're here you know i'm talking about camps and dirt roads and stuff like that people think oh man it's going to be rough in it am i going to be okay if you like you know more luxury travel they have luxury tents here luxury camps where you can have a big king-sized bed and indoor plumbing and stuff like that your own bathroom with a fancy restaurant with amazing food and all these things you do have that here so don't think you have to rough it i mean you can but you don't have to so that's why we make sure this is for everybody can come enjoy this place and my last don't for you is don't forget to get to know the staff and talk to your guide and stuff like that because they really can't enrich your trip when you're here i've mentioned this in a number of my videos but really i mean talking to your guy talking to your concierge or however your your waiter or the person helps you with your tent and stuff like that they want to talk they want to share experience with you they want to learn from you and you can learn from them and it makes a really great time i know we've become like rafiki with a few people rafiki's friend and it's really kind of cool because we really got to know them and they helped us understand better what we're enjoying here in this country so it is fantastic so i hope this helps you know a bit more about what you don't do on a safari so you can enjoy it better if you want to learn more maybe some 10 like 10 fun culture shocks or 10 fun shots about being out here or maybe you want to know what to pack when you're coming on a safari jocelyn has a video on that but they're all on our website at waltersworld.com we're also on twitter facebook instagram pinterest obviously here on youtube so do click that subscribe button hit that notification bell and we put out new honest travel videos every wednesday and saturday and i'll say thank you all for watching thanks for the likes and hey a special thank you to all our patrons on patreon who make honest travel videos like this possible if you want to learn how you can help help us keep making honest travel videos go to patreon.com walters world to find out how and i'll say bye from tanzania

Channel: Wolters World

Views: 128,998

Keywords: travel, europe, wolters world, travel advice, tourist attractions, travel vlogger, honest travel, Walters World

Id: 8NBf3HwVZFY

Length: 14min 16sec (856 seconds)

Published: Sat May 15 2021