We also considered Thomson safaris due to their fantastic reputation. However, they were too costly for us. So, we have ended up booking our trip with Roy Safaris, based in Arusha. They have received good writeups in Lonely Planet and Bradt Tanzania guidebooks, and I thoroughly enjoyed planning this trip with Sanjay (their owner) -- he has been wonderful to work with and very timely with replies. They are reasonably priced, as well. We haven't traveled with them yet, so I don't have first hand experience. We are headed for our safari with them in a couple of weeks (June 26-July 13).

A good, VERY well traveled frined of mine took the OAT trip to Tanzania and said it was the best trip she had ever been on. I travelled with OAT to Botswana and Zimbabwe and it, too, was an outstanding trip. I believe that OAT is less expensive than Thompson and I can certainly recommend OAT without reservation. The accommodations, guides, small group, food, and internal Air transport were all excellent and completely reliable. Godd Luck, Ellen

I just returned this past Saturday from a Safari with Thomson and it was absolutely amazing. It's not cheap but it was well worth it. I did a fair amount of research before deciding which company to use - I also contacted a travel agent that I had used before. Just as I was making up my mind (leaning towards Thomson) I mentioned the trip to a friend at work who, coincidentally, had traveled with Thomson last year and had nothing but good things to say about them. I also considered Overseas Adventure Travel (and quite a few other operators) but decided on Thomson for a number of reasons - including the fact that they specialize in Tanzania and they offered an itinerary that combined wildlife viewing and cultural activities. Let me know if you have any other questions - it was a fabulous trip - I hope you enjoy it whoever you go with.

Hi,
I just read Jen's post about the Thomposon trip to Tanzania. My husband and I are considering going there this summer 2003. Jen, could you tell me more about your trip? What were the campslike? Were the guides knowledgeable. We are thinking of going to the Serengetti and then onward to Selous in the south. My husband has been to the later before, but I thought it would be great to see the Plain and the Gorge... Our other thought is to go to Botswana with OAT. Any ideas or comments would be gladly welcome.
Thanks!

Hi Catherine. We just got back last week from a 17-day safari in Tanzania and Kenya. I also looked at Thompson Safari, but opted to go with a tour operator based out of Arusha, Tanzania. The company was Roy Safaris Ltd. and they were fantastic. Very responsive to all of our questions, very well organized and fantastic guides. And they were about 1/2 the price of other tour operators, and we stayed at the same camps! Do your homework and make sure you are getting the best price possible. The price differences between companies based in the US and UK and those actually located in East Africa are drastic. Good luck with your trip. Ours was spectacular and we are planning to go back in 2004 - and we will once again use Roy Safaris!

Hi Susan,
My husband and I were thinking of going with Thomson Safari but I was wondering about Roy Safari. Do you have their email or phone number?
Thanks,
Marilyn

Oops! I smell a rat. Could this be the same Susan who works for Roy Safaris? Funny the way your message came out. I looked at Roy Safaris too but Thompson has an 800 number in the US, and includes airfare. Quite a difference when you leave off the expensive things. Also with Thompson you get recommendations, etc that most of us need when planning a trip. Haven't used either and am not a travel agent but I would use someone I could talk to so I could get more of a feel about the service. Unless you post a trip report or more than I've seen, better to leave it alone. xxx

Hi,
I agree. I have been speaking to the people at Thomson and they have been very helpful with info and references. They haven't been rushing us to purchase a trip, but willing to answer questions and get back in touch with answers. Just thought I would let others know that. We are considering going with them on a safari this summer.
Marilyn

Hi Catherin
I hope your about to do safaris with Thompson but i would like to advice you that you can still find some more cheeper comapany like fortune Travel and Tour we have very good services and rate too we can offer you cheep package for your holiday let us know how long you wanna stay in tanzania

Regards

Moses

Moses
It is against Fodors' policy for commercial business' to advertise on this board.
This forum is for travellers to share information with other travellers about their experiences, destinations etc.
Kavey

Hi Marilyn! Sorry it took so long to get back to you, but I was having computer problems. And for the record,I am not the same Susan from Roy Safaris. I live in New Hampshire, although it was Susan Pundit from Roy Safaris who did our trip. First off, I would recommend you go to Selous. We stayed at Sand Rivers for three nights and absolutely loved it. We never saw another vehicle while on game drives, subsequently we felt like we had Selous to ourselves. Another plus to Selous is being able to go on walking safaris, with a park ranger, of course. Again, we loved it and would go back to Selous in a heartbeat. By the way, the website for Roy Safaris is www.roysafaris.com If I may be so bold, we received quotes from seven US based tour operators for our itinerary and Roy was significantly less, but their service was fantastic. Good luck.

Sorry Marilyn. I forget to give you what you wanted! Telephone number 255-27-2502115, or 2508010 or 2507940
Fax number is 255-27-2548892
E-mail address is RoySafaris@intafrica.com
Our trip was booked entirely by e-mail, although we did meet the owners when we were in Arusha. Young, enthusiastic, serious about their clients, and their business is booming, so much so they have to move to larger offices. Good luck.

Susan;
Don't you find it difficult to do an entire safari by email? Did you ever call Roy Safaris? How did you ever get all of your questions answered?
I'm having a real hard time trying to get the information I need to make a decision. Forget Thomson Safaris. Roy Safaris seems willing but the distance and my lack of knowing what all I need to ask leaves me questioning if its possible to do from such a long distance. Thanks for sharing. liz

Liz, I recommend you get a book on the wildlife in the different parks and than you can make the decision where you would like to go. I used Lonely Planet's "Watching Wildlife in East Africa" in planning my 2 safaris. By researching first what each Park has to offer I was able to make my decision where to go, then I researched which lodges I wanted to stay at in each of those parks and decided how to get to the Parks (fly if you can afford the extra cost and remember you'll gain a few days of game viewing time by flying). We do a combination flying/driving between the Parks.

When I had the Parks, lodges, and mode of transportation decided I then emailed a few Safari Tour Operators for quotes. They were all very accomodating and responsive. For Kenya I used Let's Go Safari and for my upcoming Tanzania/Zanzibar trip I'm using United Touring Company. Everything was done by email/fax.

Planning this way afforded me to have the safari exactly how I want it, maximize my time, and MUCH cheaper than many of the big US based companies "packaged" safaris.

For example on my last safari I had a customized safari met at NBO Airport on arrival by Let's Go, 1 overnight at Hotel Boulevard Nairobi with tour of Giraffe Center and Karen Blixen Museum, all airport transfers, flight to Amboseli from Nairobi overnighting in Amboseli Serena with Lodge providing game drives, flight back to Nairobi where we were met my driver and drove through Rift Valley to Lake Nakuru for overnight at Nakuru Lodge, drive to Mountain Lodge for overnight, then drive to Samburu for 2 nights (all these drives were done by Let's Go), then transferred to airstrip for flight to Masai Mara for 3 nights at Siana Springs tented Camp (drives done by Camp). Flight back to Nairobi where met by Let's Go driver, day room at Hotel Boulevard until night flight home with transfer to Airport. Total cost was about $1800 per person. By visiting these Parks we saw the greatest variety of animals.

Hi Liz! No, I never called Roy Safaris directly. I booked the entire trip via e-mail. What I did was decide beforehand where I wanted to go. The Mara and Amboseli in Kenya were musts. The Crater was a must for Tanzania. Doing a lot of research, I determined that I would also be interested in Tarangire National Park. And then I decided I wanted to go somewhere a bit more remote, so research also resulted in my choice of Selous. After determining where I wanted to go, I told Roy Safaris this is what I want to do, can it be done? Susan at Roy Safaris answered all of my questions, and believe me, I had a ton. That is very, very important - make sure you ask a lot of questions. We went on a private safari, meaning at all times it was just my husband and me in the vehicle, with our guide. We paid more for that, but we determined it was worth it. From talking with friends, I knew which camps I wanted to stay, or at least what standard of camp I wanted. Roy Safaris was very accurate in describing our accomodations and never seemed bothered with all my questions, although I am sure there were times Susan wished she had never heard from me! It is daunting and overwhelming planning a trip to East Africa, but prioritize what it important to you and take it from there. I took about a year to plan our trip and save the money, but it was worth it.

Susan-
Your posts were quite helpful. Susan at Roy Safaris seems very nice and obliging. I'm just used to picking up the phone and having a two way discussion and getting feedback instantly. By the time I email and get an answer back, I have a bunch of new questions. I know where I want to go but I expect recommendations and its harder to get someone to understand that in an email. Susan seems willing to help though.
I've been to East Africa before and don't want to do it all. We will have a private trip with just my husband and me, but it will take a while I'm sure to get it all put together. Thanks for your posts, again it helped me to try this direct, and I know I'll be happier.
By the way, have you posted your trip report? I don't think I've seen it. Hope you will. liz

Hi Liz! Glad I was able to be of some help. I know your concerns about getting answers to questions, etc. via e-mail. But as frequently as I touched base with Roy Safaris with questions, my telephone bill would have been in the thousands of dollars. Even though I did decide where I wanted to go, I did have Susan make some suggestions/recommendations and she was very helpful. She and her husband were both born and raised in Tanzania. I did try to post my trip report, but unfortunately only Parts II and III actually got posted. A brief summary of Part I was that we arrived late in Nairobi, where we were transfered to our hotel. We stayed at the Fairview Hotel, which was clean and quiet. I didn't want to splurge on a hotel that we were only going to spend a few hours in. We left early the next morning for Wilson Airport, where we caught our flight for the Mara. We stayed at the Mara River Camp, which I absolutely adored. Just outside the park, the camp is right on the Mara River and we could hear the hippos walking around our tents grazing on grass at night. Not super-duper luxurious, but my favorite all the same. Large tents with ensuite facilities, wonderful food and a staff that is bar none. The manager is a Kenyan old-timer (he used to conduct hunting safaris) and has some glorious stories to tell about living in Kenya. Anyway, the Mara was spectacular. We saw a crossing of wildebeest (waited 2 1/2 hours for it but was worth every second), spent quality time with a leopard and its kill, and had breakfast one morning in our vehicle while two male lions ate theirs no more than 25-feet away from us. The Mara is everything I dreamed it would be and exceeded all of my expectations. The weather was fantastic - crisp at night but warm and sunny during the day. We spent four nights at the Mara River Camp, before flying back to Nairobi, from where we drove to Amboseli. Follwing a long, bumpy and dusty ride, we arrived at Tortilis Camp, which was truly luxurious. Very comfortable accomodations, wonderful food (although a bit too gourmet for our taste) and the view of Mt. Kilimanjaro was spectacular. Again, Kenya did not disappoint me and Amboseli was everything I dreamed it would be. We saw plenty of elephants and had herds of 20-25 pass within 20 feet of our vehicle. We watched as a baby elephent chased a hippo away from where the hippo was lounging in some mud, and I looked into the eyes of a beautiful matriarch and saw the intelligence of the magnificent creatures. We came upon two prime lionesses lounging in the morning sunlight and I swear they literally posed for us! It was in Amboseli that we visited a Masai village. We were driven to the Namanga border and into Tanzania, where we spent the rest of our trip. (Parts II and III are posted.) Anyway, that was it in a nutshell. Needless to say, I had very high expectations for Kenya and Tanzania, and both countries not only met but exceeded every expectation that I had. You've been to East Africa before, so I know you can relate to what I am saying.

I am considering July--How is it for the animals-weather??Kenya & Tanzania

Hi Norman! We traveled to Kenya and Tazania in mid-September through early October. A friend of mine, however, went to Tanzania in mid-July and saw a plethora of wildlife. She posted a trip report just a few days after her return, which you may be able to find if you do a search of this site. Have a wonderful trip!!!! I am pea-green with envy that you are going. We have to wait a bit to restock the bank account but are aiming to return in 2004.

We just return from safari in Tanzania. We used 2afrika (www.2afrika.com)and had the best trip of our lives.

Use either www.intotanzania.com or zawadi tours...get prices for a private safari, they are better and cheaper than group tours and you can chose your itinerary exactly.

leila-
It's very nice that you liked intotanzania et. al. However instead of just telling people to use them. We would like reasons over our own choices. When you give examples you sound less like you're advertising. Most of us have been told that group safaris are less expensive. If you might be a travel agent, then of course it would be a cheaper rate. xxxxxx

Chris - I'm interested in your post. I have ordered the book you talked about "Watching Wildlife in East Africa" so I can research everything. How did you find the safari tour operators you contacted. Did someone recommend them to you? There are tens of thousands when you do a search. Thanks.

Susan - have thoroughly enjoyed reading about your trip. Sounds like the Mara River Camp is a "must not miss". Was Amboseli the same way? It sounds like you took the trip I want to take!
Thanks

Hi CJ! I absolutely loved the Mara River Camp. It was my favorite of all the places we stayed and we stayed at some very, very nice places on our trip. It is not that the Mara River Camp is super-duper luxurious. There was just a wonderful ambiance at the place. Comfortable but very unpretentious. The tents are sparsely furnished, but just enough to make it functional. After all, you are not spending all day inside the tent. Shower, flush toilet, sink, closet space, a desk, nightstands, flashlight, reading lights (for when the power is on. Camp runs its generators during specific hours. The location of the camp I think is ideal, at the base of the Great Escarpment and about a 25 min. drive to the Mara. The ride is not easy, unpaved roads that are extremely rocky - almost boulders - but that was part of the fun. Some of the tents are located at a place called "hippo corner," appropriately named because the hippos congregate there. The food was simple but good. And the staff is just fantastic. There are lots of mongoose around (glad to see that knowing they will eat snakes!), baboons hang out there as well. Just around the river bend, the Masai use an area of the river to wash their clothes, etc. On two occasions I sat out on the porch of our tent and just listened to their laughter and thoroughly enjoyed the shrieks of children playing. I now understand why the Mara River Camp is a favorite with documentary filmmakers and professional photographers. As for Amboseli, the park was everything I thought it would be. It was dry and dusty, but the wildlife viewing was fantastic. The photo ops are mind-boggling. We have some great shots of wonderful bull elephants walking our way with Mt. Kilimanjaro in the background. Many shots of grzing animals with dust devils in the background. It was fantastic. We stayed two nights at Tortilis, which was very luxurious. Its manicured lawn was the complete antithesis of that of the Mara River Camp, which really doesn't have landscaping. Tortilis has a beautiful pool and poolhouse, its bar can rival that of any posh watering house in New York City. Gourmet food, wonderful staff. I can't say anything bad about Tortilis. Also very nice are the N-crater Serena, Crater Lodge and Sand Rivers in Selous. Sand Rivers had the same casual feel as the Mara River Camp, but was a bit more upscale in its furnishings. But the Mara River Camp remains my favorite! If you have any other questions, I would be more than happy to help any way I can.

Susan & CJ,
I haven't been to the Mara River Camp, but I can just picture in, and would love to check it out. When my husband and I were in Tanzania, we stayed at Ndutu Lodge which I would highly recommend. Here's an excerpt from an previous post.

Several of the travel agents that I talked to advised me that this was sub-standard (or rustic, as if this was a bad thing). But I had read that it was in the right place to see the gnu migration (a major goal of this trip was to see the gnu birthing season) and it has been there for 30 years, I liked the history behind it. It couldn't have been better and I talked to other guests there that thought it was more their style than some of the Serenas. We had our own stone cottage (some were connected) with bathroom, and the usual laundry service, excellent gift shop. A lounge and dining area included a genet family (this is a primitive carnivore looking somewhat like a cat. They are nocturnal so it is unlikely that we would see them anywhere else) whose ancesters had moved into the lodge 30 years ago. There were thought to be 9 living there at the time but we never saw more than 3 at a time. They built a platform in the lounge and stocked it at dinner time so that they would come out for guests to see. It was very entertaining. Meals were such that the waiter brought large serving dishes around for you to help yourself. One night the lamb was tough - but honestly do you care? The drivers and guides ate in the same dining area, with their group in some cases. Again there was not a lot of landscaping, but we saw giraffe from our porch and guinea fowl, etc. They had bonfires in the evenings. Checking their web site recently I discovered that Sir David Attenbrough stayed there shortly after we had left while he was filming for a new BBC TV series called Life of Mammals. I suppose this is not for everyone, again electricity was off for parts of the day and they didn't have a pool (water was a precious commodity here), but it friendly and had a lot of character. Check out their web site: www.ndutu.com. Both of these lodges were situated so that game viewing begain almost as soon as we were out of the parking lot.

Susan and Darlene - thanks for sharing your trips. Susan, it sounds like you stayed right in the middle of it - even surrounded by animals while in camp. I think I read your game drives were private. Did you have any discussions with others that were on game drives with a group and if so, how did they enjoy that? Was the private game drive much more expensive (sorry to be nosy!)? I'm thinking of taking my 9 yr old daughter and I'm afraid if I do and go on shared game drives, the others will be worried we'll ruin their trip. I don't think it will happen but I can't know for sure. July 2000 we took a one-week 4000 mile car trip from TX to the Florida Keys and you couldn't ask for better children (4 & 6 year old)and last Christmas 10 hr car trip to New Mexico to ski and they sit through 2 hr meals at restaraunts with ease. Of course, everyone thinks their children are perfect but I'm pretty sure other people would speak well of mine even if I am not present. Darlene, from your desription it sound like I would enjoy "substandard/rustic" also! I think my priorities are animals, animals, animals, not crowded, animals, warm showers/flush toilets and maybe some more animals. I really, really want to see the wildebeest migration and I need to go Jul/Aug. It sounds like these camps are the places to be!

Hi CJ!!! Hope I can help you out here. The Mara River Camp is actually outside of the park, about a 20-25 minute drive, so not quite in the middle of things. There are some camps directly in the mara, but I liked being apart from them. The camp does have a website, but I don't think it does it any justice. I would not say that the camp is "rough," because it has all the amenities I wanted, but it just doesn't have manicured lawns, a pool (too many hippo in close proximity) or some of the other touches that the super-luxurious camps have. But that was part of its charm, in my opinion. Yes, my husband and I did a private safari. We opted for this route because I knew that if we wanted to spend hours watching an animal, we could do so and not have to appease other people in the vehicle. At both the Mara River Camp and Tortilis we only came across people who had opted to do the same. What I can say is that on numerous occasions we saw tour operator vehicles that were jammed full with people. While most everyone seemed to have a window seat, I felt bad for some seeing them jockeying for a camera position. With just my husband and me in the vehicle, we could tell each other to duck or move over without tripping over one another or someone else. It is to my understanding that some camps have a minimum age requirement, so you may want to keep that in mind. We did not see any children at Tortilis, but at the Mara River Camp we did see two young boys that were traveling with their grandmother. I guess they were about nine or 10 and having the time of their lives!! Who wouldn't in Kenya? Anyway ... The most "rustic" place we stayed on our trip was the Tarangire Safari Lodge in Tarangire, Tanzania. Small tents, bathroom facilities just outside behind the tent ... It was the only place I had my husband look under the bed before I crawled under the covers. But, hey, it was for one night and no harm was done! As for the cost of having a private safari, it was a couple of thousand dollars more. But again, I felt well worth the money. When we were at the Mara River waiting to see if there would be a crossing, mini-buses filled with people would drive up, wait five minutes and then drive away. We sat there for 2 1/2 hours and it happened. I think that speaks volumes for going on a private safari. If it is cost prohibitive for you, I would make sure that I use a tour operator that guarantees the least number of people per vehicle. Hopefully, I was able to help. I would be happy to answer any other questions.

CJ & Susan, We stayed at Tarangire Safari Lodge too, for 2 nights, I did help a couple of toads out of out tent, and the Superb Starlings would hang out right on the tent pad, or the Acacias inbetween, also Dwarf Mongoose, and Dik-dik walking right through the camp. The second morning we had no water in our bathroom facilities (which were ensuite) because an elephant had pulled down some of the pipes. We went on a short game run before breakfast and by the time we got back everything was working again. Ndutu would have been comparable to it, although, we had an individual cabin. We also did a private safari and I agree with Susan. Other vehicles seemed crowded, and I didn't want someone else to dictate when we would move on.
One more thing, the migration was truly spectacular (we went in Feb to see the birthing season). According to my map, in July-Aug the migration should be (never a for sure thing) in the central western, and northern area of the Serengeti. I would suggest the Seronera Serena in central Serengeti, or maybe the Ikoma camp (didn't see this camp, but described as rustic), and Kirawira in the western corridor. This was a tented camp, but very luxurious Ð marble in the ensuite bathroom, and pool, and great food. Happy to answer and more questions.

Could you tell me what the vehicles were like?

Were they those pop top minivan things or the open no side-no roof jeeps?

Thanks
kavey

Darlene-
Did you stay at Ndutu? If so may I have your opinion of it please.

Susan-
I stayed at Mara River Camp 3 times. 1887. 1988 and l993. I would call it a Standard no frills camp at that time. I heard they rebuilt it to remove some of the tents to make it smaller. I don't think I would stay there again, but since it was my first camp in the Mara, I just loved it too. Lots of charm, but pretty basic. The distance from the park was really too long when my husband and I wanted to go on a hot air balloon ride one morning. If one does that I would definately recommend other closer camps. I really wished I could have seen the migration from there but I was a month early one year. Liz

Kavey, We were in a Land Cruiser with open top. Not a pop-up, the top was stored on the hood. I don't believe they allow open vehicles in the parks in Tanzania. We stood on the seats, and I even stood on the roof once to get a shot. It was the same vehicle for the whole 12 days, and just my husband and I.

Liz, See the post earlier in this string for my review of Ndutu. We stayed 3 nights. If you have more questions, I'd be happy to answer.

Kavey: I am not sure if your question about the type of vehicle we had was directed at me, but here goes: in the Mara and Amboseli, we had a pop-top minivan. I was really uncertain about using this, but opted to do so to save some money. I must say I was pleasantly surprised at how comfortable it was and how we were able to go everywhere that the Land Rovers, etc. went. Sturdy little things. On several occasions, crews from the show "Big Cat Diary" followed the path our vehicle made through the tall grass. At the N-crater and Tarangire we had a Toyota Land Cruiser with a pop-up top. In Selous, we used the camp's vehicles which are open-sided Land Rovers with canvas tops.
Oh yeah, Liz. While we were in the Mara we stopped at some of the other camps. Kwicha Tembo, what I call the Governor's compound and the Serena. While all were very nice, I still liked the ambiance and location of the Mara River Camp best. I felt comfortable enough there to just walk into the kitchen area, which shocked the staff! Or on one occasion to help myself at the bar when the staff were busy with other things. For me, it was ideal. The Tarangire Safari Lodge was OK for the night, and like you, I had impala munching on grass just outside my tent window the night we stayed there. It was just a little too rustic for me. But to each his own, right?

Susan-
I understand your feelings entirely about the Mara River Camp. The best meal I ever had in my life was there. Let me tell you. We got stuck in the mud getting there from Nairobi, and one of the group had her purse stolen by some young lads out in their truck who came across us. (A whole other story.)It was dark and rainy when we arrived at camp. We went to our tents to clean up before dinner and the hippos came out of the river to munch and snort. The snorting and grunting sounded like lions to me and I started screaming to the next tent to get help, I was surrounded by wild animals. There also was a bat in my tent I hadn't seen and I guess my screaming scared it and it started flying around and that only scared me more. I couldn't find the light and I screamed some more. Pretty soon our guide stuck his head in my tent, turned the light on and sounding rather exasperated said, Liz, it's only a bat. There are no wild animals out here, thats hippos on the river bank. What a fool I felt like. He walked me on to dinner and since it was so rainy we moved our table near the fireplace (we were the only guests there that night). They brought out the BEST pork chops I have ever tasted in my life. We sat around the table, close to the fire, and they laughed at me the rest of the evening. I returned to that camp with my husband, mostly for the pork chops but they never were as good as they were that night. Too, too funny!
Thanks for your report on Ndutu. I don't know if I read it earlier and then forgot about it since I just read the newer posts each day. We are considering staying at Ndutu for an extended period just for the migration birthing season. You are the first person who has posted about the camp. Did you hot air balloon ride in Tanzania? I do love the Ndutu web site and read it often. I've emailed Louise with questions and she always seems so nice. Thanks again for sharing. Liz

Liz, I certainly would recommend seeing the birthing season at Ndutu, the only way it might be better, is with a mobil camp, but that was just too expensive for 2 people, I hope to get back again one day. No we didn't get a chance to take a balloon ride, just ran out of time and funds.

Darlene-
We did the mobile camping in Tanzania and the Wildebeests were not anywhere around. It was February and they were in the Seronera area. Our guides (?) couldn't find them. There were only about a million of them. Go figure. Most miserable trip, I got sick from the dirty water they gave us, and the tents were less than desirable. Be glad you found Ndutu. Thats where we'll go next time we want to see the migration. Sorry I left your name off the last post. Thanks for picking it out. Liz