We're booking a trip to Tanzania that will give us nine full days there in early December. We'd love to spend at least three nights on safari, as well as some time on Zanzibar (in Stone Town and on the beach).... Where should we take our safari? Should we spend a night or two in Dar (have heard mixed reviews)? Will we be bored with six nights on Zanzibar?

Ideally, we'd keep the cost down to about $3K per person.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Where are you traveling from? Europe or the States (other?)

Heading to East Africa to spend most time on a beach is a long way to go especially from the States where there are many closer "beach" options.

Early December is the "short" rains, and if the usual wet (afternoon or overnight showers) doesn't much impact safari, can be a real bummer if you're on the beach!

Hello 617amyc,
I’d go to the beach if I had a lot of time, but not that much money. With 9 days and $3000 pp that’s not your case. You should spend all your time on safari.

We're traveling from the States and I do agree that is a long way to go to spend a lot of time on the beach. However, when I price out more than four-five nights on safari the price seems to skyrocket! Should I look at staying in one or two camps in the North? I've read some wonderful posts on this board for both Northern and Southern Tanzania safaris.

I agree with Nyamera. Zanzibar is nice, but it's a loooong way to fly for beach time. Where are you flying from, by the way?

I would think you could get 8 nights on safari plus a night in Arusha for $3k pp. Have you looked at the East Africa Trip Report Index that LyndaS has put together here? I'd start skimming others' itineraries for your timeframe to get ideas.

9/days with $3,000/person = $300+/ppnt, you can do safari in Tanzania, where its high-season (sorry, but it's low-season in Kenya). Just as long as it's before 15th December. After that, the prices do skyrocket for the Christmas holidays.

Even with beach you have flights from mainland to/from Zanzibr.

What have you received that comes in for over $3,000? Post what you've received (park, camp/lodge, # of days, by road or flights), so we can comment.

Thanks for your insight. This is what we began looking at, which is closer to $4k ppn:
Day 1: Flown from Dar to Arusha. Drive to Ngorongoro Crater, overnight at the Ngorongoro Serena lodge
Day 2: Game drive on the Crater floor. Overnight at the Ngorongoro Serena lodge
Day 3: Drive into the Serengeti, afternoon game drive, overnight at the Serengeti Serena lodge
Days 4-5: Game drives in the Serengeti, overnight at the Serengeti Serena lodge
Days 6-9: Fly to Zanzibar (via Arusha/Dar) Met and transferred to Ras Nungwi for the night on a half board basis; fly to Dar

December 7-16 are the dates we're looking at. It's low season in Kenya at this time?

Why don't you fly into Kilimanjaro. You can book an open jaw, into JRO, out of DAR. Saves on flight at beginning from DAR. Check KLM for this fare.

With Zanzibar, the almost $4,000 makes sense.

Yup, low season in Kenya.

However, if the migrating wildebeests herds are a must, they will be found in the Central/Southern Serengeti so Tanzania makes sense.

<b>This is what we began looking at, which is closer to $4k ppn:</b>

You are staying at the Serena lodges for five nights in Tanzania ... these are nice lodges (we've stayed at a Serenas in Serengeti and Manyara and always work in a transit lunch at the one in Ngornogoro) but with a tight budget you can save $$ by booking less upscale lodges. I think the Sopa lodges are about $80-100 per night cheaper than Serena (rack rates ... actual rates will depend on what your agent has negotiated with the various hotels) and we actually prefer the Ngorongoro Sopa because it has a better location. In general these are older and not as nice as Serena, but they are certainly OK for someone on a tight budget.

You can save even more if you book the Ngorongoro Wildlife and Seronera Wildlife lodges, I think the rack rates are (or were) $200 - 250/night lower than the Serena rack rates (again, YMMV). There are more complaints about food, service etc at these lodges but in early Dec you could ask to change rooms easily enough and take your chances with the food

At any rate ask your agent to give you an updated quote based simply on changing to Sopa Ngorongoro and Serengeti lodges and a third quote based on Wildlife lodges and I think you'll be much closer to $3K than $4K ...

Bill

You could also look at Tanganyika Wilderness Camps' lodgings, such as their tented camps and Ngorongoro Farmhouse. There are a lot of options besides the standard lodge chains that are much more interesting places to stay.

Although I like Zanzibar, I think I would skip it in favor of safari.

I found Sopa and Wildlife properties to be just fine. I spent very little time in the room.

I'd skip Zanzibar for the safari too.