brief report on OAT trip in the serengeti
 

I just got back from an OAT trip called Serengeti Safari. I thought it was a great trip, with a good mix of game drives and cultural experiences. I feel like I learned a lot about Tanzania, its people and wildlife. The trip leader was great, as were the Kibo driver/guides. The facilities were good - the tented camp in the Serengeti was very comfortable and the staff was great. A friend of mine went on a GAP trip earlier this year and she said the tented camps on her trip were very inferior to what she saw in my pictures of the OAT tented camp. Our trip also included 3 nights in Thloma Lodge, near the rim of Ngorongoro Crater, which I really loved. The gardens at Thloma are great and the rooms are very nice and spacious. The food on the whole trip was fantastic, with several meals featuring traditional Tanzanian foods.

We started in Tananguire, went to the crater, then up to the Serengeti. We had great success spotting animals. We saw them all, including cheetahs, leopards and black rhinos. We saw one of the 19 black rhinos in the crater, then another out on the serengeti. We even saw a green mambo snake curled up in a tree near a kapjes. We saw tons of lions, including mothers with cubs very close to the road. We saw elephants sparring and kicking, cheetahs stalking gazelles and lions with a recent kill. We did not see a kill - the only thing we didn't see, it seems.

The weather was great, cool at night and in the mornings, but nice and warm in the afternoon. The sun is very intense and I used a lot of sunscreen. We did experience some tsetse flies and a few mosquitos, but not many.
A great experience and trip!
Martha

Welcome back. Glad it was a good trip. Hope you got some nice photos of all those animals.

Martha sounds like you had a an excellent time, I'm looking forward to photos as well.

Sounds like you had a great time … are you planning your next safari?

If anyone wants more info on the accomodations that OAT uses, or their Serengeti tented camp, just give me your email address and I'll email pictures. I did get some good wildlife pics, even with my little point and shoot camera.
Martha

Hi mjnbrown:
I will be leaving for this oat trip on 10/31/09 and was hoping you could tell me if bottled water was readily available at all lodges and camps or should I "stock up" at any particular stop? I tend to drink a lot.If you like , you can reply to me at [email protected]. Thanks!

Glad you had fun--though not surprised!

djc_1329, having traveled on this OAT trip a few years ago and with Kibo, their outfitter, several times since then, I can tell you that you'll have ample bottled water. They provide bottled water on the vehicles and also in your tent for brushing your teeth, etc. At meals, however, you'd purchase the water (except at the mobile tented camp in the Serengeti, where all the drinks are included, I think.)

Thanks for your post. We're leaving on the same trip on Dec 25th. I just have a couple of questions. Is there electricity for a hair dryer in the tented accomodations? What clothes do you recommend taking (dos and don'ts )and is there something we should take to give to the kids for small gifts - pens, paper etc?
Thank you! I hope we're lucky and see some of the wildlife you saw - especially cheetah and leopard.

I would not give any gifts directly to children. The pens and paper you suggest would be very welcome at a school and if you mention it to your guide, finding a school should easy to do. There may be others in your group with similar gifts that would benefit a local school.

Giving directly to children encourages them to beg, sometimes instead of spending time in school and that's not good. It also undermines the authority and status of the adults in their lives, also no good. Giving to adults/parents/teachers to in turn give to kids is a better idea.

I'm sure OAT will give you a packing list that emphasizes you don't need anything fancy. Neutral colors are best. Zipoffs save room. High collars protect your neck from sun. Bring a wide brimmed hat for sun protection. Layers give you flexibility. There are some good packing threads and an amazing list from Lynda. I'll stick in a link in the next post.

You can probably guess the don'ts. No short shorts, no short skirts, no low cut shirts, no fancy jewelry, no heavy perfume because neither vehicle mates nor the animals will appreciate it.

Most places OAT would stay would have electricity but here is my suggestion to avoid a bulky hair dryer altogether. You probably do not want to wash your hair in the morning because showers in the a.m. are unusual with early departures. Plus any dampness remaining in your hair will be very uncomfortable as you drive around with the pop top open and experience the rushing wind in cold mornings. Brrrr.

Often times the perfect shower time is midday, between activities when you are back at the camp/lodge in the heat of the day. The animals are less active then and so are you. After showering and washing your hair, you can let it air dry in the warm part of the day, maybe seeking out a sunny spot to relax.

At night it was often too cold for me to shower and have wet hair. But I'm a wimp with cold.

Lynda’s packing list—the most extensive

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...4&tid=34802443

-------------------
Other packing info
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...4&tid=34639696

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...4&tid=35165024


http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...4&tid=34782437


http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...4&tid=34606894

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...4&tid=34934728


Even what you wished you had brought

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...4&tid=34929931

Oh, I see you are in S. Africa, so you may even be in open vehicles that have even more rushing wind than pop tops.

If you bring appliances that need electricity, make sure you have the correct adapter for South Africa, which is different from much of the rest of the world.

Oh again, maybe that's not you, JudyRatner1, that's going to South Africa. So never mind on that last post.

Thanks, atravelynn. I should have said my questions were directed to Martha, who went on the same trip we're going on. Your info re when to shower was useful!
We do have a packing list form OAT but I wanted some suggestions from someone who's actually been as to whether we should stick to this list or make some additions/deletions. I'm certainly not buying an entire new wardrobe of tan and khaki clothing!
We have taken gifts for kids in various parts of the world before ( China, India, Vietnam and Thailand) and they haven't always been used appropriately. I gave pens to some kids in a market in Ecuador and they promptly started to poke each other in the eyes with them!

Judy,
What? You don't want to be part of the textile stimulus plan and buy all new clothes for your upcoming trip?

No need for a new wardrobe, just don't bring really bright colors. You could even pick up something from a 2nd hand store and then leave it behind. It would be put to good use. Shades of blue really do attract tse tse flies and you may see blue plastic used in tse tse traps. So I'd avoid blue, but tse tses are not usually much of a problem in the areas OAT goes. They tend to live in areas with lots of trees rather than savannas.

You will certainly find some items on the above lists that may not be mentioned by OAT, including a mini stapler and a garbage bag or two.

Another gift that is appreciated would be: you can ask kids if they want their photos taken, if they do show them the results on a digital camera, and then send the printed photos back to them. If the kids are at a school or there is a contact, then you can do this. Doesn't work well for kids you encounter randomly.

You'll have a great time ringing in the New Year in Africa!

Judy & djc: I haven't been on that exact trip, but have been on 4 OAT trips including a Kenya/Tanzania trip. The OAT packing list is a good start, but I have a few comments/variations.
1) They tend to push the concept of polo shirts, which I don't like for traveling as they tend to be a heavier material which takes longer to dry. There is nothing wrong with T-shirts, especially if you have any in somewhat neutral colors.
2) Also, they encourage women to bring skirts -- my opinion on this is that if you like skirts and wear them casually at home, by all means bring one. But if you don't wear skirts for casual wear at home, you won't feel comfortable doing so on a trip.
3) As far as dressing up is concerned, wearing clean clothes to dinner will feel very special, even if the clothes themselves are not fancy, LOL. But seriously, I wouldn't worry about any special dress-up outfit (especially not anything that needs different shoes). If you have a nice shirt that you want to upgrade with a simple necklace or scarf, that will suffice.

Thanks, atravelynn and ann_nyc.
Will cettainly add the garbage bag and mini stapler (although I'm not sure what this is for - closing wounds maybe, LOL)
I like the idae of taking photos and mailing them to the kids. I was thinking of taking some clothes, good condition shirts and pants and giving them away or just leave behind in room (or tent) for the cleaners. We often do this on trips rather than giving stuff to Goodwill.
We'll forget about the skirt and polo shirts - I thought that was a bit unnecessary.

OAT usually does a school visit. Any kind of school supplies would be welcome, although cash is also appreciated. You'll give the supplies or cash to the Headmaster or other designated adult at the school. At the school we visited, the Headmaster even wrote us out receipts for the cash gifts.

The stapler is Lynda's idea. I could have used the mini stapler as recounted this report from a few years back:

"There was a bit of a delay in returning my credit card documentation and staff members were obviously searching for something. Turns out the stapler was misplaced. They asked if it was ok just to fold the documents together. Here would have been a perfect use Lynda’s mini stapler! Who says you don’t need a stapler in the bush? I could have whipped that thing out and saved the day."

I still don't pack one, but don't tell Lynda. Hopefully you'll have no wounds that require stapling.

:-)