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To Serengeti and other bay area based Tanazania visitors

To Serengeti and other bay area based Tanazania visitors

Old Jan 21st, 2007, 11:55 AM
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To Serengeti and other bay area based Tanazania visitors

I am thinking about a 2-3 week trip to Tanzania in Jan 08. Even after all the googling, I'm unable to identify the best itinerary for this time frame.

I liked some itineraries here - Serengeti's was nice.

Seregenti - I am in the bay area too.. How did you go about "booking" your trip?

thanks,
Dhruv
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Old Jan 21st, 2007, 12:06 PM
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Just some clarification - I'm looking for answers to basic (newbie) questions:

1. How should I plan on travelling in Tanzania? Rent a vehicle? How would one do that?

2. How do you arrange for a guide? Can you be without a guide?

3. Should you go with tour operators to book an entire trip?

4. I'm told that its most economical to land in Nairobi and drive to Tanzania and visit venues along the way. It has also been suggested that I should book safaris/tours into various parks once i reach the destination, booking from US is very expensive.. Is that true? Do you not need "advance" reservations?

5. What is a "reasonable" budget for a couple on a 3 week visit to Tanzania?


thanks!
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Old Jan 21st, 2007, 12:35 PM
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Hi!

I live in the Bay Area (San Jose to be exact) and leave 3 weeks from today to Rwanda and Tanzania. I booked my trip through a great agent through Travelwizard.com. Others on the board can give you great ideas of who to use. I used CCAfrica in Tanzania and Volcanoes Safari for the Rwanda portion of the trip. We are going for our 20-year wedding anniversary so we went higher end for accommodations. We also did not go with a package tour and made up our own itinerary with the help of our agent, but mostly with the help of everyone here on the board. Truly, this board is the very best resource for Africa…bar none. Just the other day my husband had a question and he asked me to “check with your friends on the board and see what they do.” I did read a book called “Africa: Top Wildlife Countries” by Mark Nolting. I found it gave me a good overview of countries and parks to help me start to formulate my trip and gave me some information so that I could start to ask questions.

I will be posting my itinerary in detail within the next couple of days, but the short version is: Rwanda (2 days…mountain gorilla tracking), 2 days Tarangire (Swala Camp), 2 days Ngorongoro Crater (Crater Lodge) and 4 days Serengeti (Tanzania Under Canvas). I am so excited, I can hardly think of anything else!

Monica
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Old Jan 21st, 2007, 12:53 PM
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dhruvgupta
Hi
you still have a bit of time, firstly how many in your party and do you want to stay in lodges, tented camps ,or go camping
For Tanzania I would book in advance as it can be a real hassle walking around the streets trying to find a tour operator in Arusha
I probably wouldn't rent a vehicle but go with a tour operator who would then give you the guide and make all the bookings for you etc
You are on holiday afterall
My first advice to you would be to buy a guide book to tanzania ( the Lonely Planet or Rough Guide)and then check the middle priced Tanzanian based operators email about 5 and then tell them what you want
I am of the opinion ,BUT I am willing to stand corrected, that a Tanzanian based operator is cheaper than an overseas counterpart ie one from the US
For the lodges and the permament tented camps you need advance reservations and I would have thought a good ball park figure is about $300 per person per day
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Old Jan 21st, 2007, 01:17 PM
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Would love to see your itinerary Monica since I am trying to plan a Rwanda trip also with an add on to Tanzania or Kenya.
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Old Jan 21st, 2007, 01:28 PM
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Unlike many destinations around the world, unless you're the back packing-type, it's highly recommended to pre-book your African safari. Jan-Mar is high season on the Northern circuit in Tanzania as it is the "calving" season for the wildebeests. There are no mega-hotels/resorts, the largest lodge for miles around has about 75-rooms.

Do a search for the New East Africa Index with trip reports from many travelers over the past three years. You will find any number of these detailing itineraries for the Jan-Mar period.

You can arrive direct into Kilimanjaro vis Amsterdam on KLM, the only airline that flies into JRO (oh, Ethiopian Air via Addis Ababa). If that fails, then you fly into NBO and next day take the short flight to JRO to commence your safari. If you have 2-3/weeks, you can certainly stop in Kenya and work your way down by road to Amboseli, then into Tanzania, safari here, then return to Kenya and maybe visit the Masai Mara.

All too confusing? Then buy a guidebook and see what's what and where for a better idea of how this can come together for you.
 
Old Jan 21st, 2007, 01:31 PM
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Hello dhruvgupta,

We are traveling in Jan2008 to Tanzania for about 2 weeks, plus possible Kenya or Rwanda. We are about to book our trip, but have spent many, many hours on this forum, and several books, before coming to our itinerary. It is almost final.... almost.

I agree with Geelong2007 - get a good guide book, and read the "New East Africa Trip Report Index" here on Fodor's, so you can get a range of other people experiences. (I hope I do this link right):

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...4&tid=34860283

If the trip index doesn't have enough info, you can search this forum, and find lots of people in various stages of planning their first safari to their 20th. There are many very helpful and experienced africa travelers on this board.

I will add that the US travel agent we have been working with (after inquiring info from over 15), Africa Serendipity, was barely more money than going directly to the ground operator they use, Roys. They have been great to work with, fast to answer questions. I feel more comfortable with the ease of sending money to a US based operator, and won't have money transfer fees or credit card fees by paying here with cash.

The most expensive operators I found were the ones that run their own tented camps and ground crews, such as AfricaAdventure Company - or the really expensive guys like Abercrombie, Tauck, Micato.

Enjoy the research! and keep the forum posted on your progress.
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Old Jan 22nd, 2007, 09:35 AM
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dhruvgupta,

I'm in San Francisco and have been to Tanzania twice. Get the Bradt Guide--excellent.

After some very initial research, I decided to book my safari with a tour operator, never having done anything like that in my life. But I concluded, much as Sandi said, that there wasn't really a feasible way I could see what I wanted to see in the time I had without arranging things ahead of time. I suppose if you have plenty of time off, you could book things piecemeal upon arrival, as long as you don't have your heart on certain camps, itineraries, etc.

First time I used an operator I found on the TATO website, and had seen a few favorable mentions on the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree board. We had a great time; the trip far exceeded my expectations.

The second time, due to a few complications, I used a UK-based company, ATR. We again had a fantastic trip, but some of the customer service left a little to be desired.

Cost can go from moderate to sky high, depending on accommodations. However, a safari is not particularly cheap, no matter how you slice it. Keep in mind that on safari, you have all your meals paid for in advance, park entrance fees, petrol, salary for your driver/guide, etc.
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Old Jan 22nd, 2007, 02:47 PM
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Boy, this is an incredibly helpful board! Thanks!

So from what I understand,you work with a tour operator to arrange for all accomodation/travel on the ground. I will do some more reading/emailing and keep all posted.

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Old Jan 22nd, 2007, 04:33 PM
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I live in northern California and used a company called Intrav to book my trip to Tanzania last September. They have several trips scheduled for this year. My husband and I really enjoyed the trip. Everything except for incidentals (drinks and some tips) was taken care of by our Intrav escort who accompanied us. All we had to do was present ourselves at the appointed time each day. We have traveled on 2 other tours with Intrav - China and a Rhine River cruise, and have always been very happy with them.

With the exception of the tours I've mentioned, we usually travel independently and have rented a car or used a train and traveled throughout a number of European countries. Africa, however is a different sort of situation, and we felt a little nervous on our first trip and wanted to be "taken care of".

One thing I do suggest, however, is to stop for a night in Amsterdam (or where ever your European connection is). We did on our way, and arrived in Africa fairly well rested and ready for the adventure. We flew straight home, however, and were exhausted by the many hours of travel. I wish we'd spent the night in Amsterdam and continued on to San Francisco the next day.

Keep us posted on your plans. Africa is amazing!
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