Africa- Tauck vs. ABD?

[lpm23]

Just curious if anyone else compared to Tauck Bridges to ABD and what they decided. I am currently looking at both and trying to decide which would be better.

We have done 8 ABDs so far and loved them all. We are doing our first Tauck trip this summer. I am not sure if I would like more dedicated safari time or if the ABD might be a good mix. thanks

 

[cedricandsophie]

I haven’t been on ABD or Tauck but I Have been to Africa. I don’t know what the itineraries look like but I can say that safari time is incredible but it can be hot, dry and intense. You usually do a morning drive and afternoon drive. 3 to 4 hours each drive. The safari lodges are very nice with excellent food and accommodations. Then there are several other places to see and things to do. Cape Town is a wonderful city. Robbins island is very interesting. The wine country is worthwhile. Try to get on water On a boat to see the hippos, crocodiles and magnificent birds. And you will probably visit a village. The African people are lovely. Also if offered, although expensive, try to do a balloon ride at dawn. Unforgettable.

We are going back to Africa again this spring for a 2 week trip to go a 4 day cruise on the Zambezi River, Johannesburg, Soweta, the crater. And Victoria falls. And two different safari camps. We are hoping to see part of the migration.

 

[disneyphx]

We briefly compared. We opted for ABD as it had less safari time as we weren’t sure if we would like it. We did and next summer we are headed back to Sfrica with a more ‘animal focused’ company.

 

[vakamalua]

Neither. Check out Abercrombie & Kent's family trips to Africa. They're the best by far.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

I've traveled with both ABD and A&K and I whole heatedly recommend ABD over A&K (actually I would never travel with A&K again). Having said that, you might want to consider arranging your own trip to Africa with a safari / Africa specialist. That's what I have done both times we've been and I was able to tailor our trip to exactly what we wanted to see and do. I don't know anything about the Tauck trip, but there are many who have done the S. Africa ABD and raved about it, so if you want to go with a group, I don't think you can go wrong with ABD. There are so many choices, do some research and decide what's important to you to see, do and experience and make your decision based on that. Africa is one of my all-time favorite places and I know I will be back many more times -- you really can't go wrong with what you decide. Good luck!

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

I've traveled with both ABD and A&K and I whole heatedly recommend ABD over A&K (actually I would never travel with A&K again). Having said that, you might want to consider arranging your own trip to Africa with a safari / Africa specialist. That's what I have done both times we've been and I was able to tailor our trip to exactly what we wanted to see and do. I don't know anything about the Tauck trip, but there are many who have done the S. Africa ABD and raved about it, so if you want to go with a group, I don't think you can go wrong with ABD. There are so many choices, do some research and decide what's important to you to see, do and experience and make your decision based on that. Africa is one of my all-time favorite places and I know I will be back many more times -- you really can't go wrong with what you decide. Good luck!

I agree with this. Plan your own trip. I took my family of 4 (me, DH, DS22, DD20) on a two week trip to London (3 days) and South Africa (9 days) this past summer. None of the guided tour trips I looked at did what we wanted to do. We wanted a mostly safari focused trip with lots of animal viewing time in multiple locations, so our chances of seeing everything were increased. The boys in the group wanted to play golf at least once. We also wanted a couple of cultural/educational experiences and to take a day to see the sights on the Panorama Route. We hired a guide for 2 days of private safari in lower Kruger Park from Hazyview (spent 5 days there). Then we drove up through the middle of Kruger, stayed in one of the national park tent camps (Tamboti), and rode with a Kruger guide for 2 days. The last 3 days we spent at an all inclusive safari camp in the Timbavati Reserve (Shindzela) where we were pampered, and all but one of our game drives were private - just the 4 of us in the jeep. Our trip was AMAZING!!! We got to do exactly what we wanted to do, and we payed a whole lot less than we would have on a guided tour trip. My kids saw one of the tour buses when it stopped at our hotel for two days and thanked me for planning our own trip vs doing a tour. They really liked the freedom we had. I didn’t use a travel agent or safari trip planner, but as WDWGroupie said there are agents/safari planners who will plan exactly the trip you want down to the last detail for you.

 

[neurosx1983]

I've traveled with both ABD and A&K and I whole heatedly recommend ABD over A&K (actually I would never travel with A&K again). Having said that, you might want to consider arranging your own trip to Africa with a safari / Africa specialist. That's what I have done both times we've been and I was able to tailor our trip to exactly what we wanted to see and do. I don't know anything about the Tauck trip, but there are many who have done the S. Africa ABD and raved about it, so if you want to go with a group, I don't think you can go wrong with ABD. There are so many choices, do some research and decide what's important to you to see, do and experience and make your decision based on that. Africa is one of my all-time favorite places and I know I will be back many more times -- you really can't go wrong with what you decide. Good luck!

What did you not like about A&K? We've also looked at both ABD and A&K Family. Seems like based on the hotels/amenities, A&K africa looks a bit nicer, but of course some trips like China look better on ABD. Italy also seems better on ABD.

 

[sun_seekin]

We used Alluring Africa for our safari in Tanzania last summer and it was the best week of my life. We loosely based it off of Tauck Bridges Family Tanzania safari but picked different lodges. We had a private safari vehicle and guide the entire week and enjoyed the freedom and pace we had by doing it this way. I will say that the Tauck itinerary is fantastic and I’m glad we used their trip as a model to “copy.” We picked smaller, more intimate lodges and they were fabulous. I haven’t done the ABD South Africa trip but I have had it on my list of future trips. I might be more willing to do a group trip of South Africa bc it’s less safari time. For a safari-only trip though I strongly recommend going with a private guide.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

What did you not like about A&K? We've also looked at both ABD and A&K Family. Seems like based on the hotels/amenities, A&K africa looks a bit nicer, but of course some trips like China look better on ABD. Italy also seems better on ABD.

I have given a full review on my opinion of A&K in other posts, which you should find helpful. Overall I was very dissatisfied with their guides (far inferior to ABD guides) and customer service. I will not use them again and I would not recommend them.

 

[Calfan]

I would never travel to Africa with a large group, so that would likely rule out both ABD and Tauck for me. We did Botswana this past summer with Natural Habitat Adventures, and it was incredible (7 in our group, so all in one safari vehicle with no middle seats occupied; exclusive use of safari camps). We also added on 4 nights in Victoria Falls at the Victoria Falls Hotel on our own and booked activities through Wild Horizons. All were terrific. I will definitely be going back to Africa sometime in the next 5 years and will almost certainly travel with Nat Hab again.

 

[Pamlur]

Traveling with a large group is great when you have picked the group; there were over 30 of us on our first trip, and about that many on the second. Our common thread was we used the same travel agent; we got together and told her what we wanted, and she made it happen. We had so much fun! The game drives can be exhausting; they pounded on our door about 5:00 am and then after the evening drive, dinner sometimes ended about 10:00 pm. Sleep became a rare and precious commodity. But it was so worth it.