Heading to Tanzania w/ Kiliwarriors
 

Hi,

I've been lurking here a while. I decided to post now that I've actually got my trip to Botswana and Tanzania/Rwanda all planned and booked.

Around October of this year I read a friends trip report about their trip to Africa. I decided then and there I really needed to act out my life long dream to go to Africa. My wife and I have been talking about it for...going-on 40 years. I started frequenting Fodor's and some other travel related sites. I became fixated on Botswana. We wound up booking a 2 week trip to Botswana starting the last of May - thru our return date around June 15, 2008. We are doing a combination of the Wilderness camps... 2 nights DumaTau, 3 nights Little Vumbura, 3 nights Chitabe, 2 nights Mombo, 2 nights Deception Valley, 2 nights River Club.


Well, this wasn't entirely satisfactory to my wife since it didn't include a visit to see the mountain gorillas like I had promised. So around 2-3 weeks ago we decided to plan a trip to Tanzania / Rwanda. I already knew from their reputation and obvious knowledge I wanted to use Kiliwarriors. So, I contacted Eben and within a short time he presented a "complete itinerary". I asked a lot of questions, received a lot of well informed answers, and wound up finalizing the trip to Tanzania / Rwanda last week.

It is a rather short safari: Starting on January 15...1 night Lake Manyara/ Kirurumu, 1 night Ngorongoro Sopa, 4 nights in the Serengeti-EMC tented camp, fly from Serengeti to Rwanda, 2 nights Gorillas Nest (2 treks), 1 night Kigali Serena, fly back to Kilamanjaro, done - Jan 24.

I am really excited that I will soon be living this dream. I am also very happy that Kiliwarriors were able to put this together on such short notice.I really appreciate all the people (especially Eben) who contribute to this forum. I hope to do the same... after I have something to actually contribute. So, you can look forward to a complete report on both of my trips with (hopefully) plenty of photos.

We live in Cozumel, Mexico. We took all of our vacinations this week. That was a little unusual. The Dr ordered the vaccines for us and just handed them to us and told us to inject ourselves... 1 per day over the past few days. So starting Tuesday we gave ourselves 1 shot per day....our Yellow Fever shots, Typhoid shots, Hepatitis A shots, Measles-Tetanus-Diphtheria shots, and the Dr put a couple of drops in our mouths which was the polio vaccine. The only type of Malaria prevention we can find here is the Doxycycline which is sold over the counter like all the drugs are here. So we will be taking the Doxycycline for Malaria prevention.

We're trying to think of everything...particularly for the Tanzania tripo which is only about a month away, and since this is our first time. I sure wouldn't mind hearing any sugestions from people who have more trips like this under their belts. I was wondering if we should bring any hard-to-find items down for our guide(s). I dont want to bring any useless junk.. but if there are items we could bring along which they might not find easily, we could. I guess a big fat tip would be the best thing to bring???

Rgrds,

Davgai1

You did your own injections? WOW! I don't mind when the doctor does these, but unless it was a matter of dire emergency, I'd be chicken to do to myself or another.

Good for you.

Trip sounds wonderful. You're going to have a great experience. Remember to return here to tell all.

Safari njema!

davgai -- We are taking the almost identical trip with Kiliwarriors in just a few weeks. This will be our 6th African safari (3rd to Tanzania), but our first with Eben.

I would be happy to share thoughts, and answer questions about Africa, if you want me to email you directly. (I have been to Botswana as well, but not to the camps you are visiting or at the time of year you will be there.)

PS -- You will thank your wife for making you keep your promise about the gorillas!!

How exciting you took the plunge. Then injected yourselves. I've never heard of that for travel shots. I have a special device I can use to inject migraine medicine into myself, kind of like a trigger mechanism. Did you get that or did you just have to push in the needle?

Your trip looks great. It may be short but you managed 4 nights in the Serengeti and 2 gorilla trips. Excellent use of time.

Guides have appreciated sunglasses with a croakie strap. I always take 3 pairs, and sometimes just gave away the spares. These were not expensive sunglasses, but the drug store kind. Those are what I wear anyway.

If you packed a spare baseball cap, I think that would go over well.

Please tell us about your trip when you get back.

Giving yourself injections is standard practice down here. The Dr sends you to the pharmacy with the prescription (mainly so you get the correct stuff), (they sell everything over the counter here except narcotics). Then you inject youself. You can always take the meds back to the Dr and he will do it. Or you can stop at the Red Cross and they will give the shot for you. But once you've done it, it is a waste of time to go back. In This case the Dr recomended taking each shot on a different day, so we would have had to keep going back to the Dr office for 5 days if we hadn't just done them ourselves. They all went in the arm, except hepatatis A...the instructions reccomended that one elsewhere.

Have a great trip, all of you! Please do report back.

Have a wonderful time fulfilling your life long dream! Looking forward to your reports and photos.

(the self injection thing is making me squeamish just reading it ;) )

We will be traveling to Tanzania for our first safari (10 days) with Kiliwarriors in Mar 08. I investigated a number of tour operators before choosing Kiliwarrior, including one recommended by Conde Nast Traveler.
After receiving quotes from several operators, I just trusted my gut that even though Kiliwarriors is a smaller outfit, my safari would be far superior. For the same amount of $$, we are lined up for nicer accomodations and a nicer vehicle.
Eben is extremely responsive and knowledgeable. He also gave me names of several past clients who I did call for referrals. All of them had nothing but positive remarks about their entire experience and the guides. Have a good trip.

2 weeks to go now. I have added a few extra days. Here is my final itinerary.

Starting on January 15...
1 night Rivertrees lodge
1 night Lake Manyara/ Kirurumu
1 night Ngorongoro Sopa
4 nights in the Serengeti-EMC
2 nights Gorillas Nest (2 treks)
1 night Kigali Serena
3 nights Nduara Nomad camp

Davgai1