economy and safaris

Old Dec 30th, 2008, 06:45 AM
  #41  
 
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Hari - Might be a combination of both!
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Old Dec 30th, 2008, 06:47 AM
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BTW of the camps we visited in August: Elsa's Kopje was half full whereas I think it's usually full or nearly so at that time of year; Saruni Samburu had only just opened so it's low occupancy was to be expected; Serian was so empty that the main camp was closed and guests transferred to the smaller (and more luxurious) Ngare Serian just over the river.
In Tanzania in September, following directly on: Oliver's Camp was full on our first night but only half full for the next two nights; the Crater Sopa had very few guests; E-unoto had only a handful of other guests; Gibbs Farm seemed pretty busy and Sayari was half full.
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Old Dec 30th, 2008, 06:53 AM
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" Yikes! Maybe I was "lucky" I canceled planned safari for Feb around Ndutu! "

Yikes Tom! I didn't mean to turn you off the place We just burned out on it because we went four times in just over two years.

I've been to Etosha and South Africa (just Kruger and Hluhluwe -Umfolozi, not the good private areas) and to Kenya and for sure I would rate Tanzania much higher than any of those places for photography and game viewing.

You'll see far more animals in Tz than in the south, not just the herds of 100's of thousands of wildebeests but incredible numbers of lions and cheetahs. Our last two trips we saw 173 different lions, for example (about 250 sightings), and would have gone well over 200 had we stopped at Ngorongoro. And we photographed 46 different cheetahs the past two years near Ndutu ... I read these reports from other places where they have one or two lion prides and a couple of cheetahs and it's just not the same.

And we have pics of maybe 200 species of birds as well. Plus ellies, buffs, leopards, servals etc etc

So go once, while it's still wide open (it will be the death knell if they shut down off-roading in the NCA). Maybe it won't be so crowded this year if there is no 'star attraction' like the amazing cheetah mom with six cubs. It seems like EVERY body had to see this and I think that was a big part of the problem.

Bill
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Old Dec 30th, 2008, 07:47 AM
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My guess is that employees will be let go before prices come down. Depending on their profit margin - less tourists equals less money out.
My point, if daily camp costs are brought down *some (*not all) of these companies may not be feeling the down swing as much as a retail outlet or similar.

Keeping the prices the same and lowering out costs may be where the owners are at presently.
I would suspect though that eventually they'll all get to a point where they'll be forced to lower prices to maintain.
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Old Dec 30th, 2008, 08:40 AM
  #45  
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Is there any more direct way to get to Arusha from the states than through London to Nairobi to Kili to Arusha? Seems like a beast of a journey. I hate the 17 hr direct to jburg from jfk but at least its just one plane.
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Old Dec 30th, 2008, 08:50 AM
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Kavey,

I am specifically looking at Oliver's and Sayari. Do you happend to have any pictures you could post or likes/dislikes of each camp.

Thanks.
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Old Dec 30th, 2008, 09:07 AM
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Mason, this is the brief paragraph I posted on a thread shortly after I came back:

"Sayari was probably our least favourite camp. We loved sister camp Oliver's but we felt Sayari was not as well run. We also found the tents quite close together and because there was no foliage at all between them we found privacy an issue - we left the side flaps open during the day, as did everyone, but that allowed a fairly clear view into neighbouring tents..."

But they were building a new camp a short distance away which I would think is open by now so, unless they are going to run both the old and new camp simultaneously, I would imagine you'll be in the new one.

Why didn't we fall for Sayari when so many others have raved about it? Well, the male manager introduced himself to us on arrival, after that he was seldom present. Instead, our main contact was with the lady who had been recruited to manage the build of the new camp, to train staff. I don't recall whether she (and her husband who wasn't present) or the manager we met will be managing the new camp. Also the tents weren't well located nor particularly well designed (Oliver's was far better in both regards). At Sayari there was no greenery between the tents and as they had side net windows, you could see the guests in the tents on either side. No lounging around naked on the bed after a midday shower! Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate it, but I definitely didn't love it. Our guide Harry Lucas was lovely though. There was also a very serious chap accompanying us on our game drives who was training to be a guide. I liked him a lot but he was sooooo serious, I don't know whether there would be any fun moments to interperse the serious game viewing. Oh, guests were sat at separate tables during lunch though they did do a single long communal table for dinner.

Oliver's was fabulous. We loved the couple managing and all the staff were warm and friendly. The tents were very well designed and although not far from each other, the dense scrubby bushes meant each one had privacy from the next. Sound carried a little but not to any problematic extent. Meal times were sociable, no separate tables. The fire area was nicer too. The lounge was a bit odd as it was separate from both the dining area and the fire pit area so didn't get used much at all that we could see. We didn't get to go out with their guides as we came in with our own guide/ vehicle but I wished we'd had the chance to go out with their guides or done a short walking excursion. Fabulous camp. Would go again, especially if same managers were in place.
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Old Dec 30th, 2008, 10:23 AM
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bigcountry you can fly to Amsterdam & then direct to Arusha.
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Old Dec 30th, 2008, 11:16 AM
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>>bigcountry you can fly to Amsterdam & then direct to Arusha.<<

You'd actually fly into Kilimanjaro I(JRO) which is the international airport. Arusha is about a 45-50/min drive.

From JFK/AMS flite time about 7/hrs. layover is between 2-3/hrs; AMS/JRO with flite time about 8/hrs. - so about the same as JFK/JNB.
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Old Dec 30th, 2008, 03:13 PM
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Sorry Sandi I meant JRO I tend to incorrectly refer to it as Arusha because that is where I feel I am when I get off the plane there!!
J
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Old Dec 31st, 2008, 07:15 AM
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Jules -

Figured you knew where you were going , but didn't want bigcountry looking for the Arusha airport for his/her international flight.
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