BahamaBreeze

from Arusha to Migration Camp in the Serengeti? Would it be possibel to do it in one day (without killing ourselves or arriving cranky)? If not, where would you suggest that we overnight?

sandi

You'll kill yourself and all be cranky. It's not like it's a straight drive... you have to drive thru Manyara, Ngorogongo, Southeast Serengeti, Central Serengeti to arrive in the Northeast Serengeti. And you have to be off Park lands by sunset. A reputable outfitter wont permit their driver to do that distance in one long haul.

Where to stop would depend on the rest of your itinerary. But if you're starting at Migration which I assume is your farthest point, then driving back towards Arusha - best to fly to either the Klein's airstrip or Seronera (this is cheaper). Here your vehicles/driver/guides will meet you having started out probably the day before.

And if you're 12 traveling I suggest you have 3-vehicles so only 4-people per vehicle. Even though family, 6-people in 2-vehicles is going to be tight whether for long drives between locations and on game drives. The maximum per vehicle shouldn't be more than 4 so everyone is comfortable and photo taking isn't interrupted.

BahamaBreeze

Gotcha Sandi! Thanks!
So far thinking of:
1 night: Arusha (1) - place TBD- (any suggestions?)

3 nights:Fly-in to Migration Camp

Option 1 -
Drive
1-2 nights: Gibbs Farm (kids may need a "safari break" and/or
2 nights: Kikoti Tented Camp

or Option 2
Fly -in (to Arusha?)
May keep or elimate the next 2-4 nights if we fly in, and add them on elsewhere-
2 nights: Kikoti Tented Camp and/or 2 nights Gibbs Farm
(I'm not sure if Tarangire is worth the stop, but some posts suggested it is)

Fly in to Selous
3 - 4 nights Sands River (chosen because of variety of activites and location)

Fly to Zanzibar
2 nights: At each family's desired location - beach or Stone Town

Would a private guide be advisable? Given that we'll be in 3 vehicles would we get one for each vehicle if we do?

Thanks for your input! I'm findiong this to be soooo mind-boggling! This sight has been a tremendous help!!!

africa_lover

Bahabreeze,
I have just answerred your post about Sand Rivers/ Selous.
I see you are taking quite a similar trip to Tanzania as we did last year.
Maybe I could give you our itinerary:

day 1 : arrival in the evening in Arusha, overnight Moivaro Coffe lodge
day 2 : Lake Manyara - Kirurumu tented
day 3 : Serengeti - Serengeti Serena
day 4 - 5 : Serengeti - Kirawira tented camp
day 6 - 7 : Ngorongoro - Ngorongoro Serena
day 8 - 9 : Tarangire - Kikoti Camp
day 10 -11 -12-13 : Zanzibar - Breezes Beach Club
day 14 -15 -16 : Selous - Sand Rivers lodge

BahamaBreeze

Thanks Africa Lover!

Tha "aha" factor just kicked in when I saw you did Zanzibar and then Sands River.

Does Sands River offer the ability to just kick-back if some of us in the group are safari-out? (Though I don't see how that is possible, but then I can't speakk for the others.) I see it offers fishing and boating, so I'm thinking that it does.

Also in terms of flights and limits with weight, if some of us do some shopping in Zanzibar would you still think it advisable to go to the Sand River afterward?

Also what time of year did you go to the Serengeti and how was Kirurumu in relation to the migration?

BahamaBreeze

Africa Lover, just saw your reply under my other post re: Sands River...thanks!

africa_lover

Bahamabreeze,

We were in Tanzania from July 10th until July 26th.

Most of the migration had already left the western part (Kirawira tented camp) of the Serengeti when we got there, but we still saw like 4000 wildebeest all together.
I didn't like the Serengeti Serena area much, mostly because of too much other traffic and vehicles.
But we had to stay there overnight because of the distances.
At Kirawira, we did have a lot of fantastic experiences, among which a wildebeest killed by hyaenas, the vultures moving in. On that scene , we stood there with only 2 jeeps (ours and our kids ).
On the next morning we just missed the killing of a wildebeest by a nice family of lions. Again, it was only us watching this.
So, if you miss the migration, you get a lot of other things in return in the Western Serengeti part

More later..