Itinerary almost ready!
 

My husband and I are booking with Sunny and have the following itinerary. We are going in July....does it matter whether it is early July or late July? Is there any obvious thing we have left off? We are also able to fly to other areas if need be.
Day 1:
08h30, P/up from residence/hotel in Arusha & depart for Arusha National Park, 2hrs walking with Armed Ranger, picnic lunch and gamedrive in Arusha Park, mid afternoon drive to your camp, dinner and overnight, Colobus Campsite.

Day 2:
After breakfast depart for Tarangire National Park, picnic lunch and gamedrive in Tarangire Park, dinner and overnight, Tarangire Campsite. (Which one?)

Day 3:
After breakfast depart for Serengeti National Park, en-route gamedrive, picnic lunch and afternoon a short gamedrive in Serengeti Park, dinner and overnight, Lobo Campsite.

Day 4:
After have full day game drive in Northern Serengeti National Park,
All meals and overnight, Lobo Campsite.

Day 5:
After breakfast depart with lunch boxes and drive to Central Serengeti for full day game drive.
Dinner and overnight at Seronera Campsite.

Day 6:
After breakfast have full day game drive in Serengeti National Park.
All meals and overnight at Seronera Campsite.

Day 7:
Early morning gamedrive in Serengeti National Park, brunch and depart for Ngorongoro Crater Rim, en-route gamedrive, dinner and overnight, Simba Campsite.

Day 8:
Early morning descend to the Crater floor with lunch boxes for full day gamedrive, dinner and overnight, Simba Campsite.

Day 9:
After breakfast drive to Lake Manyara National Park, gamedrive in Lake Manyara National Park, dinner and overnight at Twiga Campsite. (How bout the Lake Manyara Tree Lodge or the Serena Lodge?)

Day 10:
After breakfast depart with lunch boxes and drive back to Arusha

Thank you for your help!

I think it sounds like a nice itinerary for July.

The drive from Tarangire to Lobo will be a long one; I suppose you could flip Lobo and Seronera to avoid this, but you'd still have a long drive then from Lobo to Ngorongoro.

Early July vs. late July. Sigh. I just don't know. Early or mid might be a shade better in terms of migration heading from west to north (you'll be north) but it's a gamble. Ask Sunny what they think.

Where's Colobus campsite? In Arusha NP? If you wanted to, you could simply stay in a hotel in Arusha this night. One more night with a real shower and running water. :)

Also, I don't know what your budget is, but I'd be inclined to pop for a lodge or a camp with slightly better facilities either in the middle of your trip or at the end. It really depends on you and what you're looking for.

Oh, and I'd have to check my notes, but I think I've stayed at Twiga. It's not in the park but in the town of--what's the village called again? It's really more of a hotel with a giant back yard where they will set your tent up. There's a pool and a bar. It's the kind of place some--or many--people would hate, consider terribly inauthentic, etc., but I sort of liked it; the people were nice and we had a good time there. You might ask Sunny what it would cost to stay at Kirurumu for Manyara.

Another thing you might want to cost out is throwing in one or two private campsites. Not necessary, of course, and again this would be a matter of preference and budget.

Hopefully some of the experts will address this post with better answers than mine.

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply. Budget is not a problem....I actually thought those were preferred campsites, but would love some recommendations for better ones. We definitely want to camp, but would love to upgrade. Any suggestions?

If budget isn't a problem and you definitely want to camp, I'd ask your outfitter to use special (private) campsites.

Having done a very similar trip but in Sep 2005, I would be inclined to invert Tarangire and Lake Manyara. Lake Manyara is a very small park, and a good one I believe to start off the safari with. Tarangire is very different to what you will have seen in the Serengeti, and very memorable for its elephant population. I think the distance is not so different either from Arusha from what I remember. Have a fantastic trip!!!

You could also drive out and fly back, in which case order would be: Arusha NP, Tarangire, Manyara, Ngornogoro and Serengeti.

Sunny has provided you with a good skeleton camping itinerary. If you want to adjust it here and there, and up the accommodations, let them know. Eben's website go-safari.com is an excellent resource for researching camps, campsites and lodges. If you want camping rather than camps, please do ask Sunny about private campsites.

A number of people on the board have included West Kilimanjaro prior to starting a Northern Circuit itinerary. If you have the time, you might look into adding it.

Also, see if you can get a recommendation for a particular guide. The guide's the thing, after all!

Tarangire to Lobo straight on. We won't even let our drivers go that long. Have to stop midway, usually in Seronera.

Likewise, if July, I'd prefer to be in the northwestern Serengeti rather than where Lobo is in northeastern. Best I can tell, the herds move from the western serengeti thru northwest Serengeti into the Mara. They return from mid-Oct on from Mara into the northeastern Serengeti.

Do ask about private/special campsites, they don't cost that much more per day. I'd also agree with Leely to try to throw in a lodge or two somewhere to get a decent bed and proper hot shower.

Leely - Karutu! Is that the town?
It's a bit of a drive from the Crater, especially if you want to be there early early morning.

Sandi:

Twiga Campsite in Mto wa Mbu village
http://www.ewpnet.com/lodgemap.htm

Den

Thank you everyone! I am going to contact Sunny to ask about private campsites.I am also going to try and add Kilimanjaro to the itinerary.

laslaff
I would change the itinerary around and do Lake Manyara first then drive to Lobo
from there
do Tarangire last
also the facilities at Simba campsite Ngorongoro are incredibly rough, sometimes the toilets dont flush showers arent working, can be very crowded and it can also be very cold at night
Why not stay in a lodge for these two nights
It would really make a difference to your trip
Sandi: What vehicles do you own?