Wild Africa Trek

[scrappymel]

we are doing the trek on our next trip. Should I bring extra cash for a tip for our guide(s)? Anyone have any experience with this?

 

[Karin1984]

At ten end of the tour, they ask you instead to donate to an animal of your choice, or to a general animal protection find.

 

[scrappymel]

Ok. Thank you!

 

[wdwfanva]

Enjoy the Trek !!!! DW and I did this last year and enjoyed it so much we may be doing it again in April !!! The CMs we had were terrific !!!!

 

[WildMouser]

Hi, hope you don't mind if I piggyback on this thread. We are considering doing this during our trip beginning of August. Mid-morning at 9:30am. I am concerned that it will be too hot and the animals will be hiding out of view. Any experience with this tour during the hot days of August? Thanks!

 

[kitkat4622]

hijacking your thread. what is the cost of this adventure? thank you

 

[CerysG]

We did it at the end of August a couple of years ago and had no issues seeing the animals. I belive we went around 9:30 as well. It's a great tour and all of us really enjoyed it.

 

[WildMouser]

Thanks so much for the August feedback.

As to the pricing question above, I paid around $600 for 3 ppl.

 

[chalee94]

Hi, hope you don't mind if I piggyback on this thread. We are considering doing this during our trip beginning of August. Mid-morning at 9:30am. I am concerned that it will be too hot and the animals will be hiding out of view. Any experience with this tour during the hot days of August? Thanks!

i vote to do it. i did it in mid-may on a mid-90s day near lunch time. the animals will vary no matter what you do, but the trek trail is mostly shaded and morning is a good time to go.

(BTW, if the hippos turn their tails toward you and the guides step back...be sure to step back away as well, instead of leaning forward to see what is going on... )

 

[scrappymel]

Thanks for the info, everyone. There is a discount being offered right now... $50 off afternoon treks through sometime in October. That makes the price a little less shocking Lol.

Good advice about the hippos!

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Don't underestimate the snack they give you. It filled us up and Jamba juice was bottomless.

 

[jockey]

We have booked the 12.30 tour for November ....will there be less animals ..?

 

[Kimosabe]

We just did the Trek in late June in the early afternoon. We were pretty concerned about the possibility of the summer heat ruining the Trek (animals not out, etc.), but we had talked with friends who had done a similar time (of year and day) before and they said it was not a problem. We were also attracted to the $50 per person discount for post-lunchtime Treks, so we went with it. We had absolutely no problem at all with animals being out of sight. The truck that you're on for the Trek has the ability to stop along the way and look a little closer. We were very pleasantly surprised and ultimately quite happy to have saved $200 for our family of four.

As for tipping, I offered one of our guides a tip, and he refused it, saying they were not allowed to take it. Pretty sure he did not even see how much it was, but simply said he couldn't take it, but was very appreciative of the gesture. I honestly have no idea if every guide would give the same answer. I didn't push the issue and used a little of that same money to buy fake giraffe poop as a snack...as it was during the week that said snack was available - ha!

The snack comment above is spot-on. It is definitely enough for a breakfast, brunch, lunch or heavy snack (whenever you happen to be eating it). As I recall, on the three-hour Trek, the food came after about two hours. Six samplings of different things, along with the bottomless juice as noted. There is also a cold water fountain and bathroom (his and hers) at the "rest stop" out on the savannah, along with lots of binoculars. It started raining right after we stopped to eat, so when we got back on the truck, they gave us all a WDW poncho (ours to keep...not that anybody wants to re-fold, clean or otherwise use a used poncho!). They also gave us a cold "frosty towel" after we trekked through the crocodiles and hippos, as well as a keepsake stainless steel water bottle with the Wild Africa Trek logo.

Perhaps one of the best values of the tour was that all the photos taken on your tour are also included with the cost. We had two guides and when one was talking, the other was taking pictures -- some posed with your family and others of the animals or otherwise candid shots of the group. At the end, you get a code and are able download as many of the shots online as you want.

In short (too late -- sorry!), it ended up being expensive, yes, but a better value than I had originally expected...and definitely worth waiting until one of the last few Treks to get the $50 per person discount.

 

[jockey]

We just did the Trek in late June in the early afternoon. We were pretty concerned about the possibility of the summer heat ruining the Trek (animals not out, etc.), but we had talked with friends who had done a similar time (of year and day) before and they said it was not a problem. We were also attracted to the $50 per person discount for post-lunchtime Treks, so we went with it. We had absolutely no problem at all with animals being out of sight. The truck that you're on for the Trek has the ability to stop along the way and look a little closer. We were very pleasantly surprised and ultimately quite happy to have saved $200 for our family of four.

As for tipping, I offered one of our guides a tip, and he refused it, saying they were not allowed to take it. Pretty sure he did not even see how much it was, but simply said he couldn't take it, but was very appreciative of the gesture. I honestly have no idea if every guide would give the same answer. I didn't push the issue and used a little of that same money to buy fake giraffe poop as a snack...as it was during the week that said snack was available - ha!

The snack comment above is spot-on. It is definitely enough for a breakfast, brunch, lunch or heavy snack (whenever you happen to be eating it). As I recall, on the three-hour Trek, the food came after about two hours. Six samplings of different things, along with the bottomless juice as noted. There is also a cold water fountain and bathroom (his and hers) at the "rest stop" out on the savannah, along with lots of binoculars. It started raining right after we stopped to eat, so when we got back on the truck, they gave us all a WDW poncho (ours to keep...not that anybody wants to re-fold, clean or otherwise use a used poncho!). They also gave us a cold "frosty towel" after we trekked through the crocodiles and hippos, as well as a keepsake stainless steel water bottle with the Wild Africa Trek logo.

Perhaps one of the best values of the tour was that all the photos taken on your tour are also included with the cost. We had two guides and when one was talking, the other was taking pictures -- some posed with your family and others of the animals or otherwise candid shots of the group. At the end, you get a code and are able download as many of the shots online as you want.

In short (too late -- sorry!), it ended up being expensive, yes, but a better value than I had originally expected...and definitely worth waiting until one of the last few Treks to get the $50 per person discount.

Brill thanks thats good to know..we are going Nov and the day after the Christmas party so didn't want an early start!

 

[bethbuchall]

I'm in agreement with everyone else. We did an afternoon trek in late August two years ago ($50/person x 4 = a lot of other things to do/buy). We saw plenty of animals, and they were all active. The truck parked by the elephants and we were able to sit a long time to watch the baby and teens play. (I think that we voted on where to stop, but I'm not sure. Elephants are my daughter's favorite and it was her birthday, so we were very happy!) There was plenty of snack, though we spent more time observing the animals (giraffes in particular) from the rest area and didn't eat all the food. We will definitely do the trek again next time we make it down to WDW, and we wouldn't hesitate to take the time that saves us the money again if that's offered.