On the mid to higher end "safari trips" say in Tanzania (sp) do you get beat to death riding at high speed on bad roads? One family member had a mild back condition?
Anyone had any experiences?

Really depends upon the time of year. If it's just after the rainy season, when the roads have only recently become passable, you are likely to be jostled about.In the height of the dry season, they tend to have smoothed out a bit, but then the dust is more of an issue. In either case, the company I went with had good quality vehicles. In addition, we flew out to the Serengeti, which probably helped a bit. The roads did become a bit bumpier the farther north we went into the rift valley.

In Kenya several years ago the roads were pretty bumpy in most places. One of the roads between the Masai Mara and Nairobi had been built by Italian POWs during WWII and didn't feel like it had been touched since.

Roads??? Roads??? What the h*ll are roads????? Not sure we really saw too many of those! We were in Botswana in all private reserves, but what passed for roads were tracks, unless the driver went off the road, which he regularly did.. Then of course, when/if there is a report from the other end of the reserve that there were wild dogs sited, YES they beat feet, like a bat out of h*ll, and you hang on for dear life, and love every minute of it!!! Africa isn't for the faint of heart--or those with tender backsides..

hey
I do not want to go there - my wife does.
she wants to "see the animals".
I'm concerned about emergency health care (if you needed it) I am in great health

edward--sorry you don't want to go. Africa is wonderful. Hopefully if you do decide to go, you will change your mind!

In Tanzania every hotel had a doctor. One person on our trip got a bad virus and another had a lot of bites on her ankles. These people were very satisfied with the medical treatment. We always buy travel insurance with medical emergency evacuation when we take big trips.
Tanzania was great and the animals and the natives were beautiful.