An Enterprising Tour Operator Has Priced an African Safari at Less Than $2,100 -- with Airfare

It's a price that's offered nowhere else by any of the many operators of African Safaris. The company doing so? It's Friendly Planet ( www.friendlyplanet.com ), which has just put its basic, 8-day Kenya Safari Express package on sale for as little as $1,899 this coming fall -- so long as you book by July 27.

The trip includes round-trip airfare from New York City on Turkish Airlines, all transfers, six nights in Nairobi and at game lodges on Lake Naivasha and in the Masai Mara National Reserve, game drives, a boat safari on the lake, and most meals (breakfast, 3 lunches, 4 dinners).

Wonderfully, since the carrier is Turkish Airlines, you can add a three-night stopover at a first-class hotel in Istanbul for $499. But unfortunately, again because it's Turkish Airlines, New York is the only U.S. gateway; coming from anywhere else, you'd have to book your own airfare into JFK.

The $1,899 price is for departures in November and December. September and October departures charge between $2,099 and $2,399. To all those prices, add approximately $110 for taxes and government fees, and another $50 for the Kenya entry visa.