dssxxxx

All qood questions.

Still have the Canon (AE-1 - I think) with 400 zoom lenses from Kenya trip in 1990.....

Will definitely go digital this trip and make only take the Canon 400D with 3x zoom. Off road you can get pretty close....

Have narrowed choices to Roy, Eastern/Southern and Naipenda. Leaning toward Roy because of fine communication from US rep and the help with suggestions, etc.

But any other suggestions from you experts will be appreciated.

Thanks.

liveforholiday

I spoke to the US rep at both Roy's (Susan Wood) and Naipenda (Jo Bertone) prior to booking. I felt that both were great. Obviously, I ended up with Naipenda and I pestered Jo with a million questions, which she was very patient in answering.

My friends have booked with Roy's for this Oct and in comparing itineraries, the primary difference I noted between my trip and their itinerary were lodging locations. And this is a personal choice thing. My friends will primarily be staying at larger lodges (Serena & Sopa) but in my discussions with Naipenda, Jo suggested a few more intimate lodges (max 15 rooms type) with amenities that are just as great but feel less "mass market".

But I don't think you'll go wrong with either Roy's or Naipenda. I'm not familiar with the others.

You should ask about what type of vehicle top. Roy's uses "pop up top" and "open top" (open can make the ride hotter and dustier, but you'll get unobstructed view...). Naipenda uses all "pop up top" and it worked great for us.

Good luck.

laslaff

After looking at HUNDREDS of posts, this one was most helpful in helping me to choose an Outfitter. We're going for 2 weeks in Summer 07 and I need to get booked. One question....I want make sure my group is not over 6-8 peeps....does Sunny, Good Earth or Naipenda mention their numbers?

neely

Got back from a week long safari with Sunny Safari in late May and would definitely recommend them. In fact, we still can't figure out what the "extra" $1000 other companies charge gets you. We had a very comfortable Toyota LandCruiser in great condition with a pop-top roof. BTW, the pop-top roof is fantastic since it provides shade from the hot sun while still letting you stand up. Our driver was BJ (Balthazar) who's a top notch, experienced driver and guide. He knows the area and animals well and would always stop when we wanted to take photos or just watch the animals. And we enjoyed his good sense of humor. We worked with Shabir at Sunny Safari and he was great. He replied to all our email w/in 24 hours with helpful answers & met our requests. We also had Shabir arrange post-safari lodging around Arusha and internal flights to Zanzibar and were happy that we did.

Choosing an outfitter is daunting, but we had a very good experience with Sunny Safari. Sunny Safaris may not have the most stylish website, but their office is very well run, the staff and guides are friendly & reliable, and the safari experience is excellent.

ScarlettO

Can anyone provide names of outfitters that plan safaris in both Kenya and Tanzania. I want to book with only one - Iwant to book the entire safari which encompasses both countries with one outfitter....same accomodations and standards as Micato, Tauck and A&K
Two weeks, two adults, small group or private.

Patty

Scarlett,
The vast majority of East African operators will plan and book a safari for you that encompasses both Kenya and Tanzania. Normally one operator will work with their partner operator in the other country, so that you actually have two ground operators but as far as booking and coordinating, it's not a problem to have one point of contact.

Here are just a few operators that other posters here have used:

Roy Safaris (Tanzania based, works with WildTrek in Kenya I believe)
Good Earth (Tanzania based, works with Safariline in Kenya)
Eastern & Southern Safaris (Kenya based, works with Leopard Tours in Tanzania)

I think they all mostly do private safaris but can book the same accommodations used by Tauck, Micato, etc.

Good luck with your planning!

sandi

Micato has their own operation in Kenya, but uses another ground operator in Tanzania. Tauck doesn't have their own ground operators and uses different ones in each country.

As Patty mentions, few have their own ground operators in either country, even the in-country operators use resources in the other.

LyndaS

Sandi, I know I got in trouble for this once before, but Micato does indeed have their own operation in Tanzania as well - they have 16 vehicles, all exactly the same as the ones in Kenya (cream coloured extended 8 seat Land Cruisers with fridge in the back instead of the extra seat), and employ many people. There are about 20 full time guide/drivers, about 5 full time safari directors, and support staff in their Arusha office of an unknown (to the safari director I asked) quantity. The vehicles all say Micato, painted on the side, and are owned by Micato.

The only exception is Zanzibar, they hire anoher company there, but they don't cover over the name on the van - it says ZanTours.

laslaff

I am finally back online as we finally got our air booked for July of 08. We are using points to fly first class, so I had to wait until now to book it. We are going to check out Sunny, Roy's, etc and are going for 3 weeks to Tanzania and Serengeti....my only worry now is which campgrounds to use. I hear that some are pretty bad and others are awesome. Any suggestions?

dssxxxx

I was shocked to see a post of mine...1 year later.......

Just to let people know....we used Roy Safari's and have nothing but praise for them.

Read my trip report.

atravelynn

dssxxxx,

Maybe you told us in your report, but when you get over your shock could you tell us again why you chose Roy's over Sunny's when Sunny's was $1000 less?

dssxxxx

Again, this planning was over a year ago and I just went back over my emails, etc.

When we got right down to actual costs for apples to apples and oranges to oranges, the difference between Roy & Sunny's was about $200-$300 per person, with Sunny's being cheaper.

From reading different reports and speaking with clients of both, we decided to got with the guarantee of newer vehicle with A/C (which we never needed), all drinks (including beer), binocs for both, SIM for phone and just about everything a couple could want on safari.

This is not to say that Sunny would not have done as great a job, but at that particular time, I choose Roy's and would do so again.

They also gave us guaranteed pricing for 2007 which Sunny was reluctant to do.

QueenofDaNile

dssxxx,
But didn't you switch from N. Serena to NCL. Did those quotes change later on?

atravelynn

Thanks dssxxx, I think I remember that reason now that I read it again.

dssxxxx

Yes, the itinerary did change from the original but we compared apples to apples with pricing, etc.

Final was:

1 - Mt. Village Serena
1 - Lake Manyara Serena
2 - NCL
2 - Serengeti Serena
3 - Kirawira
1 - Mt. Village Serena

If we did it over. 3 nites at NCL and 4 nites at Kirawira and leave out Serengeti Serena.

JNG

Bookmarking

Cdnfolks

Just got back from Kenya/TZ using Eastern and Southern (Leopard in TZ)
in TZ we drove Mt Kili - Lake Manyara
o/n Serena, drove Lake Manyara - crater, o/n Serena drove Serengeti 3 nights Serena - flew back to Mt Kili from Serengeti. Totally satisfied with Leopard - good driver (Leonce) good vehicle (just the 2 of us). I was very glad we only drove 1 way.

laslaff

thanks everybody. I have gathered my info and am now starting the arduous task of planning the trip. I couldn't have done it without all of you!