8 Insanely Cool Safaris You Can Do Over a Long Weekend
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Loading... - Sophia Johnson
- 12 Apr 2022
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GOING ON A SAFARI is the top item on many a person’s travel bucket list. Safaris offer a rare chance to see endangered animals you’d never be able to see otherwise (in the wild, at least). But it’s also because the once-in-a-lifetime adventure typically takes up loads of both time and money – it’s not something you can do every year. But if you can afford the flights (and somehow stave off jet lag) you can do a safari in a long weekend.
Don’t believe it? Whether you’re crossing a savanna or trekking through the Amazon, you can board a plane Thursday, safari all weekend, and often be back in your own bed by Monday night. Here are eight weekend safaris around the world you can do in only a few days.
1. Three-day gorilla trek in Rwanda
This 72-hour whirlwind weekend safari has you arriving in the Rwandan capital of Kigali on night one, where you’ll spend the night in Flame Tree Village. Rwandan history and culture are the themes on the second day as you explore the city and learn about its pre-colonial and colonial times, as well as the tragic and tumultuous 1990s. This includes a trip to the harrowing genocide memorial, after which you’ll visit the renewed and thriving Kigali of today.
The third day begins bright and early, leaving for Volcanoes National Park at 6:30 in the morning. Once there, the park staff will assess your physical fitness and assign you a family of gorillas to visit. The rest of the morning and afternoon is a trek into the Virunga Mountains, where you’ll spend an hour or so with a family of gorillas. After the trek, it’s off to the Kigali airport, and back to real life.
- Cost per person: About $1,650 based on double occupancy, plus $1,500 gorilla permit
- Arrival airport: Kigali International Airport, Kigali, Rwanda
2. Three-Day Peruvian trek to Monkey Island and the Lost Lagoon
After overnighting in Cusco, your first day of this Peruvian adventure begins with a short flight to Puerto Maldonado, where you’ll hop on a boat down the Madre de Dios River. The three-hour tour concludes at a wilderness lodge, where you’ll eat lunch before boarding another boat to Monkey Island. There, you’ll spend the afternoon hiking through monkey habitat, on the hunt for black spider monkeys, squirrel monkeys, and capuchin monkeys, plus tamarins and coatis.
Things get a little more active on day two, where you’ll start with a four-hour jungle trek to the Lost Lagoon. Along the way, you’ll encounter giant river otters, alligators, turtles, and all varieties of tropical birds. You’ll stop at a watchtower and ascend a spiral staircase to a viewing deck in the treetops looking out across the Amazon. After that, hop in a canoe and paddle around the Lost Lagoon, watching as alligators and turtles swim past.
After lunch — yes, that’s all before lunch — you’ll have the choice to go down river and visit a local family or recover in the lodge. On day three, it’s boats then small planes then bigger planes as you make the final trek home.
- Cost per person: $775
- Arrival airport: Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport, Cusco, Peru
3. Overnight in Mikumi National Park
Talk about an action-packed weekend. This weekend safari tour de force kicks off at the ungodly hour of 5 AM in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. You won’t even stop for breakfast until two and a half hours into the drive, when you reach the town of Morogoro. From there, it’s an hour-ish more to Mikumi National Park, where you hit the ground running on your first of three game drives. After a brief lunch stop, it’s on for more game driving, trying to spot leopards, giraffes, lions, and other African favorites.
After a short night at the Mikumi Tourist Cottage, it’s time for – you guessed it – another game drive. You’ll spend the morning with all your favorite African animals, then take a short breakfast break and keep driving until around 11 AM. That’s when your driver picks you up and takes you back to Morogoro for lunch, then to the Dar es Salaam airport. By the time your plane takes off, you won’t be quite sure any of it really happened.
- Cost per person: $700 single occupancy; $900 double
- Arrival airport: Julius Nyerere International Airport, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
4. Day trip safaris in Nairobi National Park
If you don’t mind your wild animal encounters with a backdrop of the city skyline, you won’t find a more convenient safari than the ones in Nairobi National Park. The park sits just half an hour by car from the Nairobi airport, and is almost walkable from downtown. Imagine Central Park with lions instead of hot dog vendors, and you’re getting the idea.
Half- and full-day safari trips abound in Nairobi National Park, where you can grab a guide and spend the afternoon observing elephants, rhinos, and giraffes. The park offers a little more than your typical wild reserve, including an educational center and even an elephant orphanage.
- Cost per person: Half-day tours start at $110
- Arrival airport: Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi, Kenya Read More...
