morgiane

hello again all,

well, after much wonderful advice from you lovely fodorites & some discussion with my fiance, we've sketched out a final(?) version of is going to be our honeymoon safari!

I've pasted the whole thing below - i'd love you to give a quick look and see if there's anything that you think might be amiss, or if you have any advice on what you think should possibly be changed. Hopefully it's perfect though.

THANK YOU!

July 2007
Fri July 6:
- Fly JFK- AMS - JRO overnight

Sat July 7:
- Arrive JRO at 7:50pm, transfer to KIA LODGE

Sun July 8:
- transfer to airport, flight to LOBO in early am
- Northern Serengeti games drives AM/PM
- Overnight at MIGRATION CAMP

Mon July 9:
- Northern Serengeti games drives AM/PM
- Overnight at MIGRATION CAMP

Tue July 10:
- AM Northern Serengeti game drives?
- PM Central Serengeti game drives?
- Overnight at SERENGETI SERENA LODGE

Wed July 11:
- Central Serengeti game drives
- Overnight at SERENGETI SERENA LODGE

Thu July 12:
- early AM: BALLOON SAFARI
- Central Serengeti game drives
- Overnight at SERENGETI SERENA LODGE

Fri July 13: (my birthday! )
- Drive to Ngorongoro Crater, with a visit to Masai Village
- PM game drive Ngorongoro
- Overnight NGORONGORO SERENA LODGE

Sat Jul 14:
- AM game drive Ngorongoro
- PM drive to Tarangire
- Overnight SWALA CAMP

Sun Jul 15:
- Tarangire game drives
- Overnight SWALA CAMP

Mon Jul 16:
- Tarangire game drives
- Overnight SWALA CAMP

Tue Jul 17:
- AM drive from Tarangire to JRO (or Arusha?)
- flight JRO (Arusha?) TO ZNZ
- transfer to Matemwe Beach
- overnight MATEMWE BUNGALOWS

Wed Jul 18:
- Relax in Matemwe
- Overnight MATEMWE BUNGALOWS

Thu Jul 19:
- Relax in Matemwe
- Overnight MATEMWE BUNGALOWS

Fri Jul 20:
- Relax in Matemwe
- Overnight MATEMWE BUNGALOWS

Sat Jul 21:
- Transfer to Stone Town
- STONE TOWN TOUR (?)
- Flight home: ZNZ - DAR - AMS - EWR (?) overnight

Sun Jul 22:
- arrive home!

lovetodiscover

Morgiane - gotta say this is quite wonderful itinerary. Good pace, great choices. Go for it!

santharamhari

Congratulations on your wedding!!! Two nights at Swala is plenty, you can add an additional night to the serengeti. You only hv two nights at migration camp and could use another night there.......three nights in the central serengeti is good, as there is year round game viewing there, including plenty of resident cats.

Hari

morgiane

thank you, lovetodiscover!

hari, yes, i struggled with that...but here was my thinking...currently with the fly-in to lobo & 2 night at migration we would get about 2.5 full days worth of drives there...and then the 3 night of swala would give us 2 full days worth of drives in tarangire (plus the 2.5 hours through tarangire on the way to swala)...

also, since it is so far into the park i thought 3 nights would be nice (and romantic, apparently ), plus it is right at a waterhole so it would be good viewing even from our tent i think. And apparently Tarangire is fantastic in july, so i thought with all those things it would be best to stay the 3 nights at swala instead of migration?

but i am open...do you still think taking 1 night away from swala & adding to migration camp is best? i would love your & any other's input on that, thank you!

lovetodiscover

Morgiane - I was thinking about the order of the route - starting first in Serengeti and ending with Tarangire for the safari. Given the time of year being great timing for the Serengeti (and yes also Tarangire) , maybe it should come last for safari instead of first.

How about the E. Africa buffs out there? Would it be better for "discovery" purposes to go Tarangire to Serengeti rather than reverse?

Personally, I do like the sound of Swala for 3 nights for a Honeymoon. It's a trade of more game drives in vehicles or slower pace at the camp. Well actually - let's ask others.

To the board - does anyone know if there's resident game at Migration to give same feel as Swala?

lovetodiscover

Does anyone think that travelling from East to West and flying back from Serengeti would be better for building to a big finish in July?

Also - would Migration Camp Serengeti give the similar in camp viewing opportunities like Swala in Tarangire?

Morgiane - maybe this will help get you an answer to your last question. The one on which direction was really mine. Your itinerary is good already.