Africa Botswana Kenya Mauritius The UK Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe

Expenses: Africa

Back due to popular demand (or my shear dorkiness)… in order of cheapest to most expensive countries… here is our budget breakdown for Africa! Please see my Expenses: Europe and the Middle East post for information about how to understand these posts!

Uganda (17 days) $35 PPPD
Visas $109
Accommodation $253 $7
Transport $255 $8
Sights $255 $8
Shopping $14
Food & Incidentals $301 $9
Gorilla Permits $1157

We didn’t include our Gorilla permits in our daily cost since $500 per person on a one day event is pretty steep and many people forgo that experience. Ugandan accommodation is SUPER cheap if you stay in crappy rooms in small towns! This average accommodation price includes 2 nights in an expensive, and beautiful, safari camp.

Zambia (8 days) $46 PPPD
Visas $109
Accommodation $158 $10
Transport $163 $10
Sights $111 $7
Food & Incidentals $189 $12

The “sights” category only included Livingstone Island – a $55 breakfast – but also a must do in Zambia… this was where we got to jump into the pool right at the edge of Vic Falls – amazing.

Kenya (5 days) $47 PPPD
Visas $109
Accommodation $113 $11
Transport $71 $7
Sights $60 $6
Malaria Meds (in case) $12
Food & Incidentals $109 $11

We had some rough experiences in Kenya and found it expensive compared to Uganda.

Mauritius (6 days) $52 PPPD
Accommodation $238 $20
Transport $107 $9
Sights $2
Tours $48
Food & Incidentals $230 $19

I expected Mauritius to be WAY more expensive but we stayed in a small, and amazing, hotel for 25 euros per night. We mostly self catered and read books while sitting on our balcony overlooking the ocean. We did, however, spend a day on a tour and another day exploring the north part of the island. The main portion of our transport cost was taken up in transfers to and from the airport – about an hour away.

South Africa (19 days) $58 PPPD
Accommodation $470 $12
Car Rental (incl gas) $778 $20
Locking keys in the car $21
Sights $110 $3
Tours $277 $7
Food & Incidentals $542 $14
J diving and bungy $180

Renting a car was SO worth it. It didn’t actually cost much more for two of us (considering our other option probably would have been the backpacker bazbus. If you are there and have 2+ people, hire a car. At $58 per day, South Africa was just barely less expensive than Turkey.

Tanzania (9 days) $62 PPPD
Visas $109
Accommodation $242 $13
Transport $346 $19
Tours $88 $5
My Birthday Dinner $78
Food & Incidentals $257 $14

We really only spent time in Zanzibar but I thought Tanzania was WAY to expensive. It was 77% more than its next door neighbour Uganda. Also – the whole time that we were there we felt like we were being swindled and taken for every penny possible. If you are taking the ferry to Zanzibar – see my tips here.

20 Day Overland Tour $88 PPPD
Tour (incl local payment) $2,714 $68
Activities/Other $654 $16
Zimbabwe Visa $142

We joined the overland tour in hopes of saving some money through Namibia and Botswana. In hindsight we would have been much better off financially if we had done it ourselves. It did, however, help us get from point A to point B – through a whole bunch of hard to get to areas. I can’t believe that our per person per day cost was even higher here than it was in Dubai ($83). It was our most expensive part of the trip to date. The $654 includes extra food we bought along the way and our AMAZING (and expensive) day river boarding in Zimbabwe. I can’t really think of anything else that includes.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, rounds out our spending in Africa! Sorry for the delay between blog posts we are currently travelling through Australia with the Suters and are spending more time having family fun than writing!

2 Comments

  1. i don’t think its shear dorkiness…i really liked reading through this post and getting an idea of the costs.

    i’m sure OZ is treating you well and look forward to hearing about it. and i might have already told you, but i received my postcard from japan recently — thanks!!!

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