Africa Travel Resource
Jun 30th, 2006, 02:51 PM
#22
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Jun 30th, 2006, 06:51 PM
#23
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Welcome back, Leely - can't WAIT for your report!! Kennedy, by the way is AMAZING!! We came home with not just a new friend, but an entire new family for a friend!
Sorry tracie we hijacked your report.. but please make sure to read BostonGal's report on climbing Kili - she wrote an awesome report! And, she booked it through ATR. When we were there (to have sundowners in front of it and to fly past it on our way to Zanzibar, not to climb it) I just couldn't stop thinking of all of the people on the board who had climbed it - my hat sure goes off to them, Eben especially who must climb it alot! But read Nicole's report if you haven't already, it will give a good insight into the climb.
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34774854 (REPORT)
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34775275 (PICTURES)
There may be more who climbed Kili with ATR, check out the index and look through it, three are a few who have climbed Kili in it.
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34725679
Sorry tracie we hijacked your report.. but please make sure to read BostonGal's report on climbing Kili - she wrote an awesome report! And, she booked it through ATR. When we were there (to have sundowners in front of it and to fly past it on our way to Zanzibar, not to climb it) I just couldn't stop thinking of all of the people on the board who had climbed it - my hat sure goes off to them, Eben especially who must climb it alot! But read Nicole's report if you haven't already, it will give a good insight into the climb.
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34774854 (REPORT)
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34775275 (PICTURES)
There may be more who climbed Kili with ATR, check out the index and look through it, three are a few who have climbed Kili in it.
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34725679
Jul 1st, 2006, 02:42 AM
#24
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Yes, Sand Rivers is a Nomad Camp, but everything about it--the bandas, food, management, guiding, vehicles, etc., were so much better than the Serengeti Nomad camp. The two places were so completely different that I keep forgetting that they are both Nomad.
Leann
Leann
Jul 1st, 2006, 05:45 AM
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safarilover,
Looking back through your old posts, I see that you visited in January. Did you happen to be at Nomad's camps while the Migration was surrounding it?
I was at Nomad in early March and we were setup in the Ndutu area and I rate this as my best wildlife viewing experience to date.
Anybody who has spent a fair amount of time on this forum know that I love me my luxury lodges...Singita, Chichele Presidential Lodge, Simbambili, Ngorongoro Crater Lodge, Lake Manyara Tree Lodge...the more pomp and circumstance, the better!
However, I will gladly trade away all of that luxury to have a wildlife experience like the one that was afforded to me by staying at Nomad's Serengeti camps. With Nomad's ground handling/guiding, there was never anything that was not possible, other than night game drives, and that is because they are prohibited. My Nomad guide, Chediel, was excellent and kept the vehicle in tip top shape, cleaning it a couple times per day, while I don't think the MKSC guide cleaned it once during the entire safari (or not even before the safari!).
The one occasion in six days that my Nomad guide took a cell phone call, he apologized profusely, while the MKSC guide took numerous calls per day and thought nothing of it...many of these calls were from MKSC!
Looking back through your old posts, I see that you visited in January. Did you happen to be at Nomad's camps while the Migration was surrounding it?
I was at Nomad in early March and we were setup in the Ndutu area and I rate this as my best wildlife viewing experience to date.
Anybody who has spent a fair amount of time on this forum know that I love me my luxury lodges...Singita, Chichele Presidential Lodge, Simbambili, Ngorongoro Crater Lodge, Lake Manyara Tree Lodge...the more pomp and circumstance, the better!
However, I will gladly trade away all of that luxury to have a wildlife experience like the one that was afforded to me by staying at Nomad's Serengeti camps. With Nomad's ground handling/guiding, there was never anything that was not possible, other than night game drives, and that is because they are prohibited. My Nomad guide, Chediel, was excellent and kept the vehicle in tip top shape, cleaning it a couple times per day, while I don't think the MKSC guide cleaned it once during the entire safari (or not even before the safari!).
The one occasion in six days that my Nomad guide took a cell phone call, he apologized profusely, while the MKSC guide took numerous calls per day and thought nothing of it...many of these calls were from MKSC!
Jul 1st, 2006, 06:31 AM
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Also, I think it is a bit unfair to compare a permanent lodge (Sand Rivers which also happens to be one of my favorite lodges!) and a mobile camp (Nomad Serengeti).
Everything considered (Greystoke, Chada, Sand Rivers and mobiles), Nomad should always be on the short list when planning an above average safari in Tanzania.
However, competition is surely STIFF in the mobile world with the introduction of Olakira, Sayari, CCA Under Canvas, Suyan, EMC and Sokwe.
Everything considered (Greystoke, Chada, Sand Rivers and mobiles), Nomad should always be on the short list when planning an above average safari in Tanzania.
However, competition is surely STIFF in the mobile world with the introduction of Olakira, Sayari, CCA Under Canvas, Suyan, EMC and Sokwe.
Jul 1st, 2006, 06:57 AM
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lovetodiscover,
While at Nomad the other guests were all doing the Mahale/Katavi/Serengeti/Crater circuit, and with the exception of the Crater Lodge, all were staying with Nomad. They were all enjoying it immensely, so I wouldn't worry.
As I said, our experience was anomalous: our scheduled guide suddenly became sick, so we had a freelancer--a terrific guy, but really not as familiar with the Serengeti as I had hoped we would be getting from a Nomad guide, fairly new to the Northern circuit. The camp was great. And of course someone becoming ill is far more serious than my holiday.
Also, I met chrisamg and his bride at Mawe Ninga and later ran into them in the Seengeti. They were having a great time, so hopefully he'll report back when they return and let you know who their MKSC guide was.
While at Nomad the other guests were all doing the Mahale/Katavi/Serengeti/Crater circuit, and with the exception of the Crater Lodge, all were staying with Nomad. They were all enjoying it immensely, so I wouldn't worry.
As I said, our experience was anomalous: our scheduled guide suddenly became sick, so we had a freelancer--a terrific guy, but really not as familiar with the Serengeti as I had hoped we would be getting from a Nomad guide, fairly new to the Northern circuit. The camp was great. And of course someone becoming ill is far more serious than my holiday.
Also, I met chrisamg and his bride at Mawe Ninga and later ran into them in the Seengeti. They were having a great time, so hopefully he'll report back when they return and let you know who their MKSC guide was.
Jul 3rd, 2006, 02:13 PM
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Sorry, I was refering to the new kids on the luxury block and the way they are raising the bar!
Apologies to the established mobiles not mentioned; Kirurumu, Amazing Tanzania, Unique Safaris, Kibo, Wildlife Explorer, Thompson, Royal African, Wild Frontiers and the ones I am forgetting - it is impossible to keep up!
By all accounts Wildlife Explorer is really good but I have never seen their camps - entirely my problem not theirs! They are low profile which is a good thing!
Note to self - visit Wildlife Explorer in August
Apologies to the established mobiles not mentioned; Kirurumu, Amazing Tanzania, Unique Safaris, Kibo, Wildlife Explorer, Thompson, Royal African, Wild Frontiers and the ones I am forgetting - it is impossible to keep up!
By all accounts Wildlife Explorer is really good but I have never seen their camps - entirely my problem not theirs! They are low profile which is a good thing!
Note to self - visit Wildlife Explorer in August
Jul 4th, 2006, 04:17 AM
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Rocco
My apologies for not addressing your comments sooner. Yes, I was at the Nomad Camp in the Serengeti during the third week of January. The camp was located in the Ndutu area, and while I wouldn’t exactly say that we were surrounded by wildebeest, we certainly did see lines and lines of them moving south ready to drop their calves.
We seem to be two of a kind. I probably like luxury lodges as much as you do and have had the pleasure of staying in many of them; however, I’m no stranger to tents, and am also quite fond of the rustic, “authentic safari experience” of a tented camp. Nomad was a fine place, as you mentioned—good guide, clean vehicle stocked with cool drinks, etc. For me, though on my first East African safari, the game viewing was a bit disappointing. I guess I had listened to too many people describe how easy it was to see a kill, how the lions lay down by the wheels of the vehicle, prides of 20+ lions, and more. We saw nothing of this. We saw lots of wildebeest, hyena, and some lions, and our most exciting sighting was a cheetah that had just killed.
As a 20-year veteran of Southern African safaris, I didn’t know quite what to expect in East Africa and wasn’t too happy with the closed vehicles and the unrefrigerated box lunches. In East Africa we were out all day in a hot dusty vehicle, and honestly, the last hour or two, all I could think about was how good a shower would feel when I got back to the camp.
In southern Tanzania, however, things were quite different and it reminded me a lot of South Luangwa. In Ruaha and Selous there were open vehicles, morning and afternoon game drives with a comfortable lunch at the camp, and particularly in Ruaha where we saw a pack of 28 wild dogs, the game viewing exceeded that of the Serengeti. In Mwagusi we had a shared vehicle, but only for 4 of us—not a problem, and Sand Rivers had totally customized activities. So with such a difference between the Nomad Camp in the Serengeti and Sand Rivers in Selous it was easy for me to forget that Sand Rivers is indeed is a Nomad Camp.
On August 15 I’m off again to South Africa and my very favorite spot—Etosha!
Leann
My apologies for not addressing your comments sooner. Yes, I was at the Nomad Camp in the Serengeti during the third week of January. The camp was located in the Ndutu area, and while I wouldn’t exactly say that we were surrounded by wildebeest, we certainly did see lines and lines of them moving south ready to drop their calves.
We seem to be two of a kind. I probably like luxury lodges as much as you do and have had the pleasure of staying in many of them; however, I’m no stranger to tents, and am also quite fond of the rustic, “authentic safari experience” of a tented camp. Nomad was a fine place, as you mentioned—good guide, clean vehicle stocked with cool drinks, etc. For me, though on my first East African safari, the game viewing was a bit disappointing. I guess I had listened to too many people describe how easy it was to see a kill, how the lions lay down by the wheels of the vehicle, prides of 20+ lions, and more. We saw nothing of this. We saw lots of wildebeest, hyena, and some lions, and our most exciting sighting was a cheetah that had just killed.
As a 20-year veteran of Southern African safaris, I didn’t know quite what to expect in East Africa and wasn’t too happy with the closed vehicles and the unrefrigerated box lunches. In East Africa we were out all day in a hot dusty vehicle, and honestly, the last hour or two, all I could think about was how good a shower would feel when I got back to the camp.
In southern Tanzania, however, things were quite different and it reminded me a lot of South Luangwa. In Ruaha and Selous there were open vehicles, morning and afternoon game drives with a comfortable lunch at the camp, and particularly in Ruaha where we saw a pack of 28 wild dogs, the game viewing exceeded that of the Serengeti. In Mwagusi we had a shared vehicle, but only for 4 of us—not a problem, and Sand Rivers had totally customized activities. So with such a difference between the Nomad Camp in the Serengeti and Sand Rivers in Selous it was easy for me to forget that Sand Rivers is indeed is a Nomad Camp.
On August 15 I’m off again to South Africa and my very favorite spot—Etosha!
Leann
Jul 24th, 2006, 02:57 AM
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Good Morning All!
Just back from a 14 day trip booked by ATR to Northern Tanzania and Sand Rivers. Had a fabulous time and am now planning for 2008 already. But I just had to mention that everything arranged by ATR went perfectly. We were very happy with both of our MKSC guides, though one was preferred over the other. We cannot honestly say that the guides at Nomad (Sand Rivers) were better - it was a different experience altogether and we found at least one of the MKSC guides friendlier and just as professional. In terms of price, we paid just over $5,000 each in high season which incuded all internal flights (from Dar to Arusha and then from Serona to Selous) Moivaro Lodge, Gibbs Farm, Oldupai Camp (yes, rough around the edges, but we enjoyed the experience!) Migration Camp and Sand Rivers, then back to Dar at the Holiday Inn. Most of our stay was between Migration Camp and Sand Rivers.
I have to say that had not MKSC driven to the norther border of Tanzania and Kenya we would not have seen most of the migration. We saw only 3 only companies that did that - Kleins Camp, Good Earth and Abercrombie. Everyday our vehicles were cleaned, and we only had one bad incident with a flat tire, which was not out of the ordinary. Overall, I cannot think of anything bad to say about ATR or MKSC, just good. And I looked for the negatives, after reading some trip reports on this forum!!...In fact I was getting scared just prior to our trip! But it was fantastic....magical almost. A trip report will be coming along with picures (we took thousands!) I must say that everyone had a fantastic time and I cannot see myself vacationing anywhere else but in Africa in the future!
Jeanine
Just back from a 14 day trip booked by ATR to Northern Tanzania and Sand Rivers. Had a fabulous time and am now planning for 2008 already. But I just had to mention that everything arranged by ATR went perfectly. We were very happy with both of our MKSC guides, though one was preferred over the other. We cannot honestly say that the guides at Nomad (Sand Rivers) were better - it was a different experience altogether and we found at least one of the MKSC guides friendlier and just as professional. In terms of price, we paid just over $5,000 each in high season which incuded all internal flights (from Dar to Arusha and then from Serona to Selous) Moivaro Lodge, Gibbs Farm, Oldupai Camp (yes, rough around the edges, but we enjoyed the experience!) Migration Camp and Sand Rivers, then back to Dar at the Holiday Inn. Most of our stay was between Migration Camp and Sand Rivers.
I have to say that had not MKSC driven to the norther border of Tanzania and Kenya we would not have seen most of the migration. We saw only 3 only companies that did that - Kleins Camp, Good Earth and Abercrombie. Everyday our vehicles were cleaned, and we only had one bad incident with a flat tire, which was not out of the ordinary. Overall, I cannot think of anything bad to say about ATR or MKSC, just good. And I looked for the negatives, after reading some trip reports on this forum!!...In fact I was getting scared just prior to our trip! But it was fantastic....magical almost. A trip report will be coming along with picures (we took thousands!) I must say that everyone had a fantastic time and I cannot see myself vacationing anywhere else but in Africa in the future!
Jeanine
Jul 24th, 2006, 03:12 AM
#35
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And Treetops! How can I forget our stay at Treetops, where we had an encounter with John, the elephant (or should I say, John had an enounter with us?)! I loved this place....and Tarangire Park, one of our favourites, but more about that in the trip report! J
Jul 24th, 2006, 05:29 AM
#36
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I'd like to make a comment about the guides receiving cell phone calls while on gamedrive.
You can't blame them from picking up the phone! It's the way the system works.
Most work on a freelance basis, and altough every company has some "preferred guides", those companies phone around constantly, to see who's on the market in the upcoming weeks, and who is not.
You can't blame them from picking up the phone! It's the way the system works.
Most work on a freelance basis, and altough every company has some "preferred guides", those companies phone around constantly, to see who's on the market in the upcoming weeks, and who is not.
Jul 24th, 2006, 07:10 AM
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I must add that the whole time we were on safari in the north with MKSC, our guides must have restricted cell phone use to the evenings when we were not around, or during bathroom breaks. We did not witness them on the cell phone at all.
