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Best time for tour and back problems
Still looking for more input for the time to book 2017 tour. Also, would appreciate feedback from past KT tour guests about doing this Safari with prior back surgery? Is the rides on tour too rough for a questionable back??
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Time? There is never a bad time.
Only your doctor can answer about your back surgery. A back problem can be very tricky.
You will spend most of your time away from the hotels and camps riding in a Toyota Landcruiser safari vehicle over unimproved roads. In the Serengeti and Masai Mara especially, actually bumping and jostling along on parallel ruts made by previous vehicles in the hard dirt- the roads wind through the high grass and are marred by rocks, bumps, ruts, puddles, and sometimes ravines. The drivers try to be careful, and their speed is often limited to 5 - 10 mph, but even so . . . . Even the "semi-improved" roads such as the one you'll travel from Oldupai Gorge to the Serengeti is nothing more than a scraped dirt and gravel road which, if it hasn't been scraped recently, can often have a washboard surface and, believe it or not, man-made speed bumps every so often! The seats are firm, with little cushioning, and I don't believe there are any seatbelts, but if there were, they wouldn't help with your back.
You can just imagine what it was like when we traversed this little ravine- shaken not stirred! Yeehaw!
This puddle was deeper than it looks. After shifting to 4-wheel drive we still needed a tow to get out!
About your time of year question...we went in mid-October...no great planning as that was what was available when our Egyptian tour was cancelled. October is the end of the dry season, and we got all of those quintessential sunset photos with trees and animals contrasted against the setting sun. Spectacular! There was not a dearth of animals to see, so we were pleased with going at this time. I would like to go again to see the contrast of the Great Migration.
And yes, I also agree the rides are bone and boob shaking rough, but there were some former bad roads that had been paved to a very high standard on a return visit in 2014, actually much better than our local US roads.
By far the worst "roads" were the trails on game drives in the Serengeti and Masai Mara. You don't want to attempt those with a bad back or a full bladder! : )