Tour Companies?

[KMFJD]

Anyone have any experience with any of the tour companies that do small group (8-20) style travel? I'm looking for input on any of these or others. I'm looking for a trip to either Southern Africa or South America for 3+weeks , I'd normally just rent a vehicle and use google maps but languages etc (+screw driving in a lot of 3rd world countries, it seriously sucks)

http://www.intrepidtravel.com
http://www.globusjourneys.com
https://www.gadventures.com/
https://www.contiki.com
http://greatcanadiantravel.com

 

[turtile]

Anyone have any experience with any of the tour companies that do small group (8-20) style travel? I'm looking for input on any of these or others. I'm looking for a trip to either Southern Africa or South America for 3+weeks , I'd normally just rent a vehicle and use google maps but languages etc (+screw driving in a lot of 3rd world countries, it seriously sucks)

http://www.intrepidtravel.com
http://www.globusjourneys.com
https://www.gadventures.com/
https://www.contiki.com
http://greatcanadiantravel.com

What exactly do you plan to see? With major tour groups, you're not going to see somethings you could otherwise since they try to minimize risk, make the trip easy and make sure you stay in extra nice places which aren't really necessary in many third world countries. When a $35 hotel is like a $80 in the US, the cheapest offering they will do is $90.

And are you going to travel with anyone else but yourself? There are also companies that will give you a driver so you can see what you want but it needs a car/van load to be cheap.

I know two people who have worked for this company and you can see three different places in Africa here:
http://www.redfernnaturalhistory.co...th-Africa-Carnivorous-Plants-Expedition-1.pdf

 

[KMFJD]

What exactly do you plan to see? With major tour groups, you're not going to see somethings you could otherwise since they try to minimize risk, make the trip easy and make sure you stay in extra nice places which aren't really necessary in many third world countries. When a $35 hotel is like a $80 in the US, the cheapest offering they will do is $90.

And are you going to travel with anyone else but yourself? There are also companies that will give you a driver so you can see what you want but it needs a car/van load to be cheap.

I know two people who have worked for this company and you can see three different places in Africa here:
http://www.redfernnaturalhistory.co...th-Africa-Carnivorous-Plants-Expedition-1.pdf

Mainly want to see nature/wildlife, historical landmarks a bonus as well....most likely by myself. I'd like to stay with a smaller group, i've been on plenty of multi-day tours but nothing of this length or location.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Have a look at TheClymb - they have discount tours offered all the time with full reviews and the itinerary's listed.

 

[turtile]

Mainly want to see nature/wildlife, historical landmarks a bonus as well....most likely by myself. I'd like to stay with a smaller group, i've been on plenty of multi-day tours but nothing of this length or location.

If you are interested in nature/wildlife, Redfern, which I linked above is great because many of the tour leaders are actual scientists. I went to SW China with one tour guide on a test run but it was too difficult to make an official trip since it's a conservative part of the country (we had local police search us because they though we were spies etc.).

At some point, I'd like to get a trip together for Madagascar. I've been to Ecuador and it's good country to visit out of much of South America.

I wouldn't worry about length/location of the trip.