Grumeti River Camp or Migration Camp for migration in July?
 

It is our first trip to Africa. We are in the planning stage now. We would like the best chance to see part of the migration. We will be in the Sereneti on July 13, 14 and 15, 2007. Where should we stay? We want an upscale tent camp or lodge and the best place to maximize our animal viewing.

Thanks

I think Kirawira or mbalageti may be great options........

Gosh........i didnt realize......the dates....CWN, are you trying to book up for 2007???

Wow!!! i'm planning to do Tanzania nextyear.......but havent even started looking into anything.....

Yes, I am. Know it is high season and lodging can fill up fast. I want to know I have the lodgings before I book airfare. I am having a hard time with where we want to stay for the best viewing at that time of year. Soe say north and some say west!

Yes, the migration is a dodgy thing.....it varies from year to year....all depending on the rains.....in addition to either Western corridor or Northern Serengeti...you'd be well adviced to add a couple of days in Seronera in the central serengeti......even if the migration is not around, it well known for it's resident year round game...

Hello,

I believe Grumeti may be ideally placed for the time of year you want to go.

Cheers,
Julian

Thanks all! It is so hard to try to out guess nature!!!

I had actually emailed Migration Camp about the dates June 26-28. They referred my email to ATR. Who in turn replied with an option at Grumeti (upscale) or Mbalageti (a little less so maybe).

We have had to change the dates to July 13-15. I have emailed ATR again with the change, but haven't heard. I didn't know if two weeks would make alot of difference.

I later email Roy's Safaris and CC Africa with the right dates. Roy's came back with all Serena Lodge-fly in, drive out or the Lodge and Migration Camp-fly in and out and no Ngorongoro. CC Africa came back with Gurmeti and Ngorongoro-fly in and out.

ATR first plan inclued the Ngorongoro Crater and was a combination of driving and flying.

Unfortunaly, we have only July 13 -July 17, so I wnat to make the most of our time in Serengeti NP and Ngorongoro Crater. Our tentative plan is to fly in and stay some where in the Serengeti on the 13th and 14th. Then drive to the Ngorongoro Crater Lodge the afternoon of the 15th. We will then spend the 15th and 16th there and drive back to Arusha on the 17th. I'm torn between driving and flying to Ngorongoro. The reports of people who drive, talk about all the great sightings driving, and I want enough time to do a game drive to the floor of the Crater. Soo....

I am looking for pros and cons from those of you who have been there. Tanks for all the imput it is welcomed!

I'm confused; are you saying you only have four nights? If so, do yourself a favor and stay 3 nights (2 nights west and 1 night Seronera area...or 2 nights North and 1 night Seronera) Serengeti and 1 night at the Crater.

Like you, I'm uncertain whether west or north is best for July. But I'm certain you'll want the bulk of your time in the Serengeti.

Just my 2 cents. Whichever option you choose, I hope you have a lovely safari.

There is very little space anywhere in the Serengeti for the time you need. Unless someone can pull a rabbit out of a hat, you may have to be satisfied with what is available. Not the answer you want, but realize, most of your time will be on game drives, not that much at your accommodations.

Thanks Leely and sandi! Thoses are the comments I am looking for.

Yes, we will have only four nights for Safari in Tanzania. It is the end of a longer trip to Africa.

The more I think about the trip, the more I'm leaning toward the 3 nights in the Serengeti and one in Ngorongoro. I just want enough time to do a game drive on the Crater floor.

I guess that means we should fly between stops? I wanted to drive between our stops in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro based on the comments about the game sightings on the drives between places in the Park.

Should we think about maybe one night at say Migration Camp, Klein's Camp or maybe Mbuze Mawe and then fly to Grumeti, Kirawira or maybe Mbalageti for two? Can we drive between these camps? I want to stay some where there will be plenty of resident wildlife even if we miss the big herds of the migration.

I don't plan to spend much time in camp, just want the comforts to come home too!

Am I asking too much?

I think (hope!) Sandi was thinking you were trying to get in for July this year. I will become seriously depressed if things are already booked up for 2007. :(

Fly to your furthest point in west or north Serengeti--there is a thread here called Eben's migration geometry; do a search for it and it may help you decide where to split your time in the Serengeti. From there you can drive to Seronera (although if time is extremely limited you could fly to Seronera from the Grumeti or Klein's (?) airstrip).

You can drive from Seronera to the Crater. I think the nearest airport from the Crater is at Manyara, but Sandi or Eben or others will know. So if you need to fly back to Arusha it wil be from Manyara.

You could also do this whole itinerary in reverse--drive out and fly back. In fact, that would be my preference.

Leely,

I had thought about the reverse trip. why are you saying that? What are the advantages of doing that?

I will look for Ebam's thread. Maybe it will help me. I had not thought about flying just to Serena air strip. Would there be more game viewing to fly to Serena and drive the rest of the way to Ngoromgoro? Or drive into the Serena airstrip and fly to Ngorongoro. I guess flight times would play into this plan. I have a schedule of the flight times for this year. Of course, they may change for 2007.

I couldn't figure out what sandi meant exactly. Put into the context of lodging for this year, it makes sense.
That is why I am plannig so far ahead!

My migration maps are now loaded here:

http://www.go-safari.com/Serengeti/serengeti.htm

I suggest splitting your stay between Sayari (in the North) and a seasonal camp near Serona (Nomad, CCA, Olakira) that should be positioned for the migration!

3 days are a bit short so fly-in/out is recommended. One night central and 2 nights north.

Thanks Eben,

I had copied your Serengeti lodging maps, but hadn't seen your migration maps. They are great! The one I have shows more south and west. Of course, Grumeti and Kirawira say their camps are good for June and July!

I have not read any thing about Sayari yet, but will do so. I'm not sure I am up to a seasonal camp! Is Migration Camp to far south?

Thanks again!

Ooops, its 2007.
So sorry.
Good for you for planning way ahead.

You can definitely fly to the Northern area (Klein's airstrp) - Sayari as example; to the Western (the Grumeti airstrip)- Kirawira, Mbalageti; and to Seronera/Central. But from any of these to the Crater, would be a flight to Lk.Manyara and from here a drive back to the crater which is about 2+ hrs.

If doing the Crater last, you can fly back to Manyara (and drive back to the Crater, then drive back to Arusha the following day) or arrange a road transfer from West or North or Central to the Crater.

Another option would be to drive to the Crater, but instead of overnighting here, drive back to Gibbs Farm or Plantation Lodge (both near Lk. Manyara) for morning flight to West, Central, North. When finished in these areas you can fly back to Arusha/Kili.

Hope this helps and sory for that error above (thanks Leely for bringing it to my attention).

Thanks sandi, no problem.

Though I think I do have a problem getting from from Dar all the way to Serengeti on July 13. I just got an email from Roy's on the up dated itinerary I sent. They say Coatal air leaving at 9 arriving 14:00. Well, I told them we wouldn't be getting off the train until about 9, guess they missed that, so that is not going to work. Got the paper work yesterday and we will actually be in at 10:00.

I had looked at Precision Air. They have a 13;20-15:10 flight to Arusha. I was hoping there would be late afternnon flight onward or maybe we could drive frist to the drater that afternoon. But looks like the latest is 15:00 to Manyara and I think I would rather drive that leg anyway.

Oh well, I am determined to see Ngorongoro Crater and some of the Serengeti! Back to the drawing board with an over night in either Arusha or Dar and catch the early flight. Roy's seemed to indicate there was an early flight from Dar to Klein, but I am having trouble finding it. If there is I don't if Dar is a better place for the first night over Arusha?

I am leaning towards Migration camp. Sayari just seems to far out of the way for our limited time. Maybe Migration and then some where more central. We will just have to take our chances on seeing the migration. I'm sure we will see plenty of resident wildlife.

Seems like flying in to the Serengeti and then driving out by way of the Crater gives us a better safari trip? Suggestions...

cwn,
What train are you taking to Dar? I'd research the reliability of whatever train you're taking as far as maintaining schedule and how likely it is to actually get you into the station by 10:00.

If there is a flight from DAR to Klein's airstrip, then spend the day in DAR, rest up from the train the see some sights here. Then with a good night's sleep, be ready for the flight the next morning.

From the Klein's airstrip, spend a few days at Migration then move on down to the Crater and back to Arusha.

Patty,

We will be arriving on Rovos Rail's Pride of Africa. I have a feeling that baring a bridge wash out, they will maintain their schedule fairly closely. The agent for the train didn't indicate we would have a problem there. But you never know!

Sandi,

Thanks, sounds like a plan! WhaT is there to do/see in Dar? Any recommendations on Hotels?