Savor the Savannah Evening Safari

Belle'sFan

Mouseketeer
Joined
Feb 12, 2007
Interested in any recent experiences with this tour. Thinking of booking it in May. Is the animal viewing better than the AK park safari? How is the included meal? -assorted African tapas?
 
We just did this yesterday and LOVED it!!! For background, we've also done Wild Africa Trek and Senses of Africa -- all excellent. It was me, DH, DD10, DS12.

"Is the animal viewing better than the AK park safari?"
  • The ride in the vehicle is basically the same, though obviously much smaller group and you can ask questions throughout. But then you stop at the boma for the meal -- a nice extended period -- where you have a view of the savannah and of the flamingos/watering hole. They also lead you to peer into a "back view" of a separate section of the tour.
  • While we were at the boma multiple groups of animals roamed through, including giraffes, sable antelope, ankole cattle... probably others

"How is the included meal? -assorted African tapas?"
  • Yes, tasty. I'd call it a smallish meal, but it was enough for us...
  • Some breads with scented oils to dip in
  • Small plates packaged in tins for each guest: a couple of large spicy shrimp, salmon roll, small pita and dip, prosciutto and a dried beef, chicken salad, fruit salad
  • Awesome smores-type dessert
  • Assorted wines, beers, juices, water
CMs were AMAZING... I'm sure they are all great, but our PHENOMENAL group was:
  • Jared (our guide)
  • Reid (animal specialist)
  • Morgan & Davis (CMs present at the boma, also guides on other tours like WAT)
  • Joseph (our driver)
All of the CMs were well-versed on the tour and AK in general, and answered every one of our many questions. We got lucky and were the only family on the tour, so we had them to ourselves. :)

Also got a little parting gift -- I'll keep that a surprise. :)

I would highly recommend!!
 
I did it for my birthday last year, which is just about exactly one year ago.
Appears from the review above it's still the same.
I'm considering doing it again when we go back next week (again for my birthday trip)
Still mulling over what I want to do. Everyone keeps saying Wild Africa Trek but honestly, Savor the Savannah is more DH and I's speed. More drinking, less trekking :drinking1 ;)
 


This is accurate! :thumbsup2

We loved both, but it was really nice having the extended time at the boma to just chill out... especially during the hectic summer period. :)

Thanks for all the info! I'm looking into it because we'll be there for the holidays, also hectic time. I'm thinking of keeping this tour for one of our last days, Dec 20 or 21, so we can enjoy the parks and avoid the crowds at the same time.

Did you book it in advance? What happened to your family would be our ideal situation, because neither my sister nor her kids speak fluent English, so if we take the tour, I'll be doing a lot of translation, and I wouldn't want to be a nuisance to other guests. Just the four of us would be perfect, so I was thinking about booking it a couple of days before, and trying to find a mostly empty spot. I'm sure the Lobby Concierge at All-Star Music can help us with that, am I right?
 
Thanks for all the info! I'm looking into it because we'll be there for the holidays, also hectic time. I'm thinking of keeping this tour for one of our last days, Dec 20 or 21, so we can enjoy the parks and avoid the crowds at the same time.

Did you book it in advance? What happened to your family would be our ideal situation, because neither my sister nor her kids speak fluent English, so if we take the tour, I'll be doing a lot of translation, and I wouldn't want to be a nuisance to other guests. Just the four of us would be perfect, so I was thinking about booking it a couple of days before, and trying to find a mostly empty spot. I'm sure the Lobby Concierge at All-Star Music can help us with that, am I right?
Good question... we booked the 6:15pm slot (aiming for being on the tour at sunset) several months in advance. We were told on arrival that we were awaiting another party of 2 -- they just never showed up. I suspect that there is no way to really try to ensure / aim for being the only ones on the tour. And I am not certain how quickly these book up... not sure I'd want to wait if I knew this was something I really wanted to do.

I would guess that on all of these AK tours, we've never had more than 12 people. I think that's a small enough group that any translating you're doing really isn't going to be an issue. We've found pretty agreeable groups each time, people accommodating each other. And when you're at the boma -- which is a big portion of this tour -- you have your guide, and at least 2 other AK CM's there. There's room to spread out and chat, ask questions, etc.
 


Good question... we booked the 6:15pm slot (aiming for being on the tour at sunset) several months in advance. We were told on arrival that we were awaiting another party of 2 -- they just never showed up. I suspect that there is no way to really try to ensure / aim for being the only ones on the tour. And I am not certain how quickly these book up... not sure I'd want to wait if I knew this was something I really wanted to do.

I would guess that on all of these AK tours, we've never had more than 12 people. I think that's a small enough group that any translating you're doing really isn't going to be an issue. We've found pretty agreeable groups each time, people accommodating each other. And when you're at the boma -- which is a big portion of this tour -- you have your guide, and at least 2 other AK CM's there. There's room to spread out and chat, ask questions, etc.

Thanks for replying so soon! I guess I'll book it now, and hope for the best. We don't want to miss it, and we also want to do Caring for Giants on a different day.
We're just 4, so if we stick close to each other, hopefully I won't bother other guests.
Thanks again for all this info, really helpful!
 
Thanks for replying so soon! I guess I'll book it now, and hope for the best. We don't want to miss it, and we also want to do Caring for Giants on a different day.
We're just 4, so if we stick close to each other, hopefully I won't bother other guests.
Thanks again for all this info, really helpful!
You're so welcome!

I'm sure you won't bother other guests with translating!! What crabby people they'd have to be if that was an issue for them! :)

Caring for Giants is definitely on our to-do list... you'll have to report back on that one!
 
You're so welcome!

I'm sure you won't bother other guests with translating!! What crabby people they'd have to be if that was an issue for them! :)

Caring for Giants is definitely on our to-do list... you'll have to report back on that one!
We did Caring For Giants earlier this year, shortly after it started. It is also fabulous. So much one on one time with the elephants. Learned more about elephant poop on than one ever expects they'd ever learn :tongue::dumbo:
 
Thinking about booking this for our trip in December but wondering if it'll be too dark to really see any of the animals? Does anyone have experience going in the dark?
 
We did Caring For Giants earlier this year, shortly after it started. It is also fabulous. So much one on one time with the elephants. Learned more about elephant poop on than one ever expects they'd ever learn :tongue::dumbo:

Great news! My sister loves elephants (she even has a tiny tattoo of a little elephant in her arm!), and it's not that expensive, so I wanted to book it for her.
I'm not sure I care that much about elephant poop, oh well... :o :teeth:
:thanks:
 
We are trying to decide on this tour or Wild Africa Trek again. DD and the friend she will take in 2018 will neither one be 21 yet so cannot enjoy the wines. We loved the Wild Africa Trek this year. Any thoughts?
 
I think if I was under 21 I'd do Wild Africa Trek for sure. I am not sure I've ever heard a bad thing about that tour. Folks love it. Save the other for when they are 21 ;)
It really is more about drinking and eating, with animals thrown in too
 
Thanks for the reply. We did love the Wild Africa Trek this July. It was definitely worth the cost and time. We will stick with it again next year especially since DD will have a different friend with us:smooth:
 

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