alina555

My husband and I have wanted to go to Africa for the past couple of years, but timing with work schedules have always postponed it. This year we are determined to go, and would like your advice! We would like to see the migration in the Serengeti but are unsure if we should go to Kenya or Tanzania. We are open to the time of year to go, but will likely only be there for about a week (we are trying to pair up with a trip to Egypt). Past advice has told me to stay within one of the two countries instead of trying to jetty between the two considering the short length of time. We are a couple in our 30s who have never been to Africa before (but have traveled extensively everywhere else) and are looking for more of a casual safari trip (we are not avid photographers and do not have a particular type of wildlife we are aiming to see).

I know it's a rather broad question but we are trying to figure out:
- Months we should be looking at for prime migration viewing (recognizing we can be paying peak rates)
- Which country (Kenya/TZ)
- Any particular travel agents (we have communicated with DK Grand Safaris, Africapoint, Africa Serendipity, and Kuja Safaris when we looked the first time, but it's been a couple years since then and don't know if there are any newer recommendations)

Thank you for your help!

sandi

If combining with Egypt, Kenya might be best as there are flights between CAI/NBO. Once on arrival NBO, if you wish to continue to Tanzania, by road is inexpensive (USD$30/person) but 5+/hr trip; by air 50/min flight costing about $275/person.

Also if only visiting Kenya, lower cost Visa entry fee, whereas for Tanzania cost is USD$100/person + need for Yellow Fever inoculation for entry (this is rather expensive).

Otherwise, seasons are:
Jan-Mar - TNZ - southeast Serengeti & Ndutu areas
June/mid-Jul - TNZ - western Serengeti
Aug/early-Oct - KEN - Masai Mara; some also TNZ - very northern Serengeti
Nov-Dec - TNZ - north, central Serengeti, maybe south Serengeti

It's not exact from year-to-year and can change by few weeks

atravelynn

- Months we should be looking at for prime migration viewing (recognizing we can be paying peak rates)

I agree with Sandi's dates and will also add that the Maasai Mara is always good with resident herds.

- Which country (Kenya/TZ)
One week, I'd go to Kenya and spend at least 3 nights in the Mara. You could even spend your whole week there and have a fantastic trip.

The best migration times in the Maasai mara in Kenya are Aug-Oct and I don't know how that matches up with the temperatures and weather in Egypt.

- Any particular travel agents
You can check Lynda's East Africa Index for more companies.
http://www.fodors.com/community/afri...port-index.cfm

Have not heard of Kuja, but the others would give a good variety. I used Eastern & Southern for a brief excursion in Aug and all went well.

Good luck!

alina555

Thanks - this was very helpful!

spassvogel

My advise:

- Sep/Oct Massai Mara Kenya - Absolutely the best option as it it ALMOST guaranteed.
- June/July Northern Serengeti
- May/June Western Corridor Serengeti

One more great option would be Feb/March "calving season" Wildebeast and Wild Dog action in the Gol Mountains.

Happy planning!
SV (@))

banylarua

Hi Alina,

I'm goig to Tanzania in january, to go on safari along speccialy ndutu area at serengeti. I am looking for travel mates to join a group to do the safari cheaper. Do you interested in?.

My email is: [email protected]

15andcounting

Alina,
My wife and I did a similar trip back in 2007. I'm a gungho crazy traveler so I put together a trip the went from Egypt to Kenya to South Africa and back. It took us 23 days, and we nearly collapsed afterwards, but it was well worth it. I, like you, am in my 30s so I was very cost conscience when I planned our trip. I used hotel and airline points between tours, but I pretty much left accomodations up to the two companies I booked with. Africa Point was a good choice for me in Kenya. They had my wife and me in a private van all to ourselves. The accomodations were excellent (we did mid-range lodges - which for hot showers, good food, and comfy beds was what we needed on this trip) and they recommended good parks, but they also let me plan my own itinerary. The guide was excellent (fantastic driver in a country where the roads are questionable at best) and since they are a local company they seemed to know their stuff and have good connections. We got to see all the big 5... go where we wanted when we wanted... and had a ball doing it

I booked my own flights between Cairo and Nairobi... This was on Egypt Air and was relatively cheap and quick (4.5 hours direct)... However, you get what you pay for. It was a cramped flight, the plane temp. seemed to be at like 90 degrees the whole way, and the food was blah... Anyhow, it worked for me since I was willing to sacrifice comfort for cost and convinience.

Anyhow, in Egypt I used www.eoltours.com. These guys were cheap and very honest. Again, I put together a break neck schedule (we did a typical 2 week tour in about 8 days). They managed to somehow make it happen for me. The amazing thing to me was that I didn't have to put a deposit down and everything was arranged over email. We did have to pay the full amount after we arrived and did a full day of touring, but I was comfortable with that since I read up on them prior. The accomodations they arranged were adequate and the guides varied since they use independant guides depending on where/what you want to do. Anyhow, I was confident enough with these guys to even leave my bag with them for a couple of days while we were on the Nile cruise.

All in all - I think i saved about 1/3 to 1/2 of the money I would have spent had I booked this through a tour operator.

Good luck and have fun planning this

alina555

Thanks guys! I think we've decided to go in October and visit Kenya based on the advice here. Everyone's comments were really helpful.

@banylarua - January is a bit too early for us, but I hope you do find partners for your trip!

@15andcounting - great info! Sounds like Africa Point and EOL Tours are good recommendations. I was also looking at Egypt Air and had read similar reviews on airline review boards. There was a tour company that offered really low tour packages using Egypt Air for international flights as well, and I decided to steer clear because the reviews were so bad. Depending on the cost, maybe I'll do a Business class seat on there for CAI-NBO; perhaps that can be my compromise.