How To Identify The Best Self Drive Destination

A self drive safari refers to a safari where the tourist chooses to drive and discover on his own without the help of a physical tour guide. In most cases the guest uses a hard copy map or an offline maps app to locate his desired destinations.

However there are a few factors to consider which kind of country you can self drive in and which kind of country is not recommend doing a self drive safari.

Official Language

It is important to identify the official language in all your preferred destinations because it is inevitable to get lost at one point in your journey. You might think of using Google maps but there are moments when you cannot access any internet network, or having an outdated offline map only creates more trouble.

In the above instances you are only left with one option, inquiring from the locals whose language you do not even know. Many people may consider this as an opportunity to experience and encounter something worth being told but it will have affected your itinerary also putting you at an expense of failing to visit some destinations.

Therefore knowing a few phrases in the official language of the country might save you a lot of trouble in regard to directions. This also makes a phrase book a necessity on your self-drive. Though it doesn’t mean you will be able to communicate with everyone in the country because you have a phrase book.

Forex Exchange

The United States dollar, Great Britain Pound and Euros are the main forms of international currency to carry whenever you are going for a self drive. However budget with the minimum exchange rate to avoid getting caught unaware when exchanging money at a lesser rate.

Whenever you are opting for self drive, it is important to consider a country whose other cities apart from the capital are also capable of providing forex exchange. This saves you from walking with bulky money.  Please note, the USD is often more popular than all the other currencies.

Road Network

Driving in most of the African destinations is often complex, you need some experience in driving on rough roads or else you might get stranded in the middle of nowhere.

Reviews

One of the easiest ways to identify the best destination for self drive safaris is reading reviews of people who have been to those destinations. TripAdvisor is one of the most recommended platforms for the best unbiased reviews.

There will always be two categories of people; those who had guided safaris and those who went on a self drive/ self guided safari. It is often better to look for people who had a terrible experience because they will highlight for you the worst to expect on a self drive safari.

You might as well find countless excellent reviews but we would not recommend these because they might set you up for a disappointment. Therefore focus on overcoming the causes of the terrible experience and let the trip create for you an experience outside what everyone has shared.

In other words; avoid living another person’s experience. It is a known phenomena  for man to fear change but memorable experiences are those we receive with open hands whether they may seem bad at the start; they always turn out to be the best moments of our lives.

Political Environment

Not all countries in Africa are stable, in case you consider crossing borders; it must be in countries which are relatively stable for safety purposes. Driving in countries like South Africa might be a little be risky and also difficult to get a company renting off its cars to such countries.