2010 Safari Roster

Thanks Patty! Hope you have a great time!

Mid January - Tanzania (Crater/Serengeti) with Nomad Tanzania - flying in and out of Nairobi. Just now considering adding back the Rwanda portion that I took out due to cost. Nothing financially has changed on my end but it seems the right thing to do!
February - 3 weeks in a rental house in Simons Town south of Capetown - day trips in the area and overnight trips in the general area
Late February/early March - 3 week self drive in Namibia, ending up in Botswana and at Vic Falls

Very excited!

January - 4 nights Mala Mala Main Camp, 5 nights Rattrays - aiming for 200 birds...and the odd Leopard or two.

6 nights at Serian, Masai Mara in January ... main camp plus their mobile camp in the Mara reserve.

Wish I had a trip as long as Elizabeths! Wow.

I'M NOT GOING AND NOT HAPPY! Seriously depressed might even slit my wrists. Hope you all have a great time.

Tragically, looks like no 2010 safari for us. But I'm excited for you guys!

Botswana (3 camps, 9 nights), Vic Falls (2 nights) and Zimbabwe (2 camps, 7 nights) - booked and ready to go.

oop - late August through early September 2010

Dry season Kenya.

Thanks Patty for starting the thread!

I'm moving this one over from the 2009 roster as it is for May 2010: (even though it is not me going - darn!)



Old_dude on Sep 23, 09 at 10:21am
May 2010 it is, Thank you to LyndaS and the wonderful posts by all the others that helped us decide. Daniel at DK Grand is doing the trip for us.
Here is the itinerary (abreviated)
May 18, 19 Giraffe Cntr., Sheldrick -Norfork Hotel, Nairobi
May 20 Day trip to Lake Nakuru
May 21, 22 Drive to Amboseli -Amboseli Serena
May 23 Fly to Samburu- Samburu Larsen's Tented Camp
May 24 Samburu
May 25 Fly to Masai Mara- Bateleur Tented Camp
May 26 Masai Mara
May 27 Fly to Serengeti -Serengeti Serena Lodge
May 28 Serengeti
May 29 Drive to Ngorongoro- Ngorongoro Sopa
May 30 Ngorongoro
May 31 Drive Lake Manyara- Lake Manyara Serena Lodge
June 1 Depart Nairobi- STL
Old-dude

June to NBO then off to Rwanda for gorilla and golden monkey trekking.
Then to Ithumba in Tsavo with Patty, Mark and ??? Ithumba's self-catering so I'm looking forward to lots of oatmeal, candy bars, avocados and wine.
Then who knows, have several days in Kenya before returning home. I'm confronting a little bit of "how to get there from here" but, hey, it's East Africa, right? Hakuna matata.

Forgot to mention that I'm spending a day with Kennedy when I'm in Nairobi thanks to all the superlative recommendations here. Really looking forward to meeting him.

March-
3 nights Jo/berg
3 nights Pafuri
8 Day self drive in Kruger NP
1 night Flat Dogs, South Luangwa NP
2 night with friends in the valley
8 nights Africa Geographic & African Wild Dog Conservation Society 'Wild Dog Week' paticipating in field research.
Only 115 days to go! Yippee

October -
Our first safari
1 night Johannesburg
3 nights Botswana - Mashatu Main Camp
3 nights S.Africa - Pafuri Camp
5 nights S. Africa - King's Camp

6 nights Grumeti early Feb 2010 followed by a couple of nights in Samburu and Massai Mara.

May 2010 2 weeks South Africa - one week Londolozi and one week splitted between Mateya/Madikwe and King's/Timbavati.

Oct 2010 - India again for 2 weeks.

SV

Sv, I've always wanted to see Grumeti, cant wait to hear about it.

For me- planning on Sept. 2010 - waiting for JW (Laughoutlowd) to send my quote

FP

Hey, Twaffle, you'll really enjoy your time with Kennedy! Say "Hi" for me.

Botswana in September 2010! I'm booking with some friends (including perhaps some fellow Fodorites) through Predator Biologist (The Wild Source).

3 nights - Xaxanaxa Fly Camp
3 nights - Mapula Camp
3 nights - Savuti Fly Camp
2 nights - Ichobezi River Boat (Chobe)

The fly camps are coordinated by Footsteps in Africa and look to be an interesting alternative. I've been to WS and Kwando camps and enjoyed them, but the fly camps seem to be an option somewhere between these camps and mobile camps. They are set up and run by local guides and you fly between them.

Looking forward to reading about this trip, ShayTay! Sounds very interesting.

twaffle, say Hi to Kennedy for me too. I plan to get in touch with him once I determine which days I'll actually be in Nairobi.

Are you booking your safari with Kennedy or just the Nairobi day tour? You know that Kennedy is a tour operator, well connected and will give you a most competitive price on your entire safari. In case you didn't know!
I've booked entire group safaris through Kennedy and he's never disappointed me. He's awesome!
My two cents worth,

Aug-Sept: Southern Tanzania.
I'll post possible itineraries on a separate post as requested by Atravelynn, but looks like:
Selous, Katavi, Ruaha (3 or 4 nights each)parks, followed by Vamizi island resort in Mozambique so my newly re-certified diver husband can dive.
Stoked!

Safarimama, I am only spending the day with Kennedy as I didn't need to use a TO for this trip. I booked my Mara portion directly and likewise for my Nairobi accommodation. Maybe for my next trip if I have more time and combine parks and reserves. I will carry lots of good will messages from Fodors.

Patty, Leely~waiting on a quote for Zim. Really thinking about it though. Loved the pics of Ithumba.
ShayTay~email me please with info on your trip

ShayTay
When I asked for a TO for doing transfers/daytours Nairobi you suggested Kennedy and provided his email addresses.
I never got a response from him

Just for the record

Again - THX for trying to help out here.

SV

April 2010: Botswana- Kwara and Lebala
February 2011: Tanzania- Tarangire, Ngorongoro and Ndutu

flowerpower

Just to get the info across: Singita Grumeti has a 6for5 special from mid Jan to June and Sep to Dec 2010.

I will inform you on "how it was"

SV

SV, Take LOTS of pics! I tried an itinerary to Grumeti a few years back but got stopped by family issues. Will be on my list for sure.

Have a great trip. I am still trying to finalize mine. If it falls apart I will look at Grumeti!

FP

SV, I know that Kennedy has had problems getting e-mails, as noted by other Fodorites. I used him for a Nairobi visit and had that same problem on occasion. That's why he has several e-mail accounts... he hopes he'll get your e-mail on at least one of the accounts. I've also had that problem with another tour operator in Nairobi not getting e-mails. Even my outfitter in Dar for the southern Tanzania trip had problems with their e-mail. Hey, TIA!

I appreciate your input, too!

Got an email from Kennedy yesterday--and it took a few days for him to respond to me, for which he apologized profusely. Anyway, he said to "Say Hi to the Fodor's people and tell them to visit Kenya, it is very safe!"

I did add Rwanda to our itinerary above - very excited about that!

Working on the final details of a trip to Zim before deciding. So far:
4 Nights Somalisa
3 Nights Kanga Bush Camp Mana Pools
2 Nights Mobile Canoe Safari on the Zambezi
1 Night Lusaka visiting friends

Received our Tanzanian visas by Fed Ex today. Depart January 2010 to celebrate our 40 years of marriage.

Depart U.S. via Amsterdam for Dar -- Business Class (yahoo!)
2 nts. Southern Sun in Dar to recouperate from the flight.
Fly to Ruaha via Coastal Air
4 nts. Jongomero
Game drive transfer.
4 nts. Mwagusi
Fly to Selous
3 nts. Selous Safari Camp
Game drive transfer.
4 nts. Sand Rivers
Fly to Mafia Island via Dar
4 nts. Pole Pole on Mafia for whale shark diving.
Back to Dar and depart for the U.S.

22 Days in all. Its our second trip to Africa and we've been waiting a long time to return. I planned the entire trip via Internet with loads of good advice from my Fodor friends and booked with Lenny at Africa Travel Resource in the U.K. He was a jewel to work with. Only six more weeks to wait!

To each and every one of you -- have an amazing trip.

Dennis, so good to see you are going to Afreekah next year, looks like a great itinerary!

TC - are you the same person that went on an African safari in 1999 - the number one in my trip report index? If so - I loved your report! It was so detailed, I loved it - can't wait for the new one!

Can someone give me more information on this person/guide Kennedy? Thx.

Yes, LyndaS, its me again. Hopefully I'll have lots to tell come February. Thanks for asking.

SV,
Just saw your reference to Singita Grumeti - darn, will have to wait..We are going to Kenya -Sept.- final itinerary to come!
yay, been waiting for years to get there!

Will look forward to your trip as it will come way before mine!

FP

Hi tinydancer-

You can contact Kennedy at:

Ken@waymarksafari.com

If no answer on that one, try his personal email at:

ispear4@hotmail.com

He is dependant on internet service at the office (which is sporatic sometimes) on the first address, so if he doesn't answer in a day or two, try again on his personal email, as he can pick that one up from any computer.

He's a wonderful guide - you will love him!

TC - so sorry for referring to you as a 'he' in the trip report index! I'll make sure it's right for the next one....

August 24th through Sept 15th, 3 nights Djuma Vuyutela, 5 nights Granite Londolozi and 6 nights Lion Sands Ivory Lodge.

Only 23102565 seconds to go!

Mike

No worries, Lynda. He/She...whatever. If I cared, I wouldn't have used such an ambigous profile name in the first place. Too late to change now. Just happy if my input helps someone.

TC, hope you will post a trip report since we are going to Southern Tanz, and diving, in Aug. and would love to hear your experiences. Here's our itinerary, now looking quite firm:

http://www.fodors.com/community/africa-the-middle-east/proposed-southern-tanzania-itinerary-your-thoughts.cfm

My first trip EVER to Africa will be in 2010!
2 weeks in June: Arusha, Mayanara, Ngorongoro Crater and Highlands, Serengeti.
Can hardly wait