alldaytravel

Hi Everyone - Decisions, decisions! I am starting to research my trip to Kenya & Tanzania in September and could really use some itinerary suggestions.

We will be leaving NYC on August 31st and planning to depart around Sept 21st or 22nd - so, it is a 3 week trip, but not sure how long we will actually have on safari since I am not familiar with travel times from place to place. We would also like to stay in Zanzibar or Seychelles for a few days on the backend...So safari time may be between 14-16 days.

The parks which we will definitely visit are the Masai Mara (for the migration in Sept), Ngorogoro Crater and Tarangire.

We are also interested in:

- the Serengetti (but not sure if we should visit here since I know it is a similar landscape as Mara - but would still love to go if we have time!)

- Arusha - seems beautiful

- Amboseli - for wildlife viewing and Mt. Kili - unfortunate that it seems run-down from tourism based on what I've read

- Lewa Downs

- Selous - possibly for an off-the beaten path experience and boating safari

- Samburu

I am so confused - these places all seem wonderful, but we obviously have limited time...Any recommendations on how to lay out our itinerary? Which parks to see and skip? Any other places I missed? We don't want to spread ourselves too thin and end up traveling from park to park more than game viewing, so travel times between parks will be important to maximize our time. Is it much more expensive and more convenient to fly between parks? Thanks so much!

atravelynn

You may want to start with your several days in Zanzibar for logistics. I think Zanzibar is easier to do and less expensive than Seychelles. I have no personal beach knowledge.

8-31 Fly
9-01 Arrive

9-02 to 9-04 Zanzibar
9-05 back to Arusha

9-06 Arusha National Park, local village

9-07 and 9-08 Tarangire, stay at Treetops or Tarangire Tented Camp

9-09 and 9-10 Ngorongoro Crater, I like Sopa for the access road, Serena is a step up, Wildlife Lodge is less expensive and was fine, Crater Lodge is highly luxurious.

9-11 Back to Nairobi

9-12, 13, Fly to Samburu, stay at Larsen’s Tented Camp or Intrepids (northern species here & best chance for leopard)

9-14 and 9-15 Lewa Downs—rhino sanctuary. You could also stay at Sweetwaters with the Jane Goodall chimp sanctuary. Or stay in Mt. Kenya. You could choose tostay only 1 night here. I really liked Lewa Downs and most stays at this camp are at least 2 nights. The 1-nighters are more common at Sweetwaters or Mt. Kenya.

9-16 Lake Nakuru for flamingos, variety of wildlife

9-17, 18, 19, 20 Four nights in the Mara is good this time of year. There are many fine tented camps. See what has availability.

9-21 Leave the Mara. I like to leave on the later flight for more time in the park. You can leave on the earlier flight and use the time for shopping at the end of the trip so you don’t have to carry merchandise with you.
9-22 Arrive home

You mentioned the Serengeti. Personally, I’d remove the time near the water and replace it with the Serengeti, if you wanted to visit. But Zanzibar does add a nice, balanced component to the trip.

You could also gather up days as follows:
1 depart for home on the 22nd, not the 21st, meaning you arrive home the 23rd.
1 don't spend a day in Arusha.
1 spend one night in Mt. Kenya or Sweetwaters, instead of 2 in Lewa Downs.
1 Only 1 night in the crater.

That's 4 days for the Serengeti. You can do two in Central and two in Northern Serengeti. I did that on my first trip.

You could also allot just 2 or 3 days to the Serengeti.

<b>Whatever you do, don't delay, things are filling up for this September.</b>

Good luck!

Patty

For wildlife viewing with a Kili backdrop, also consider the West Kilimanjaro area in northern Tanzania. Choices here include Kambi ya Tembo, Heminway's camp and Ndarakwai ranch.

Selous is supposed to be at its best during your time frame and I really enjoyed my boat safaris here. You'll need to fly here.

I'd also fly to Lewa. Since only Lewa vehicles are allowed on game drives, there's no advantage in arriving with your own vehicle. Of the places you listed, Lewa and Ngorongoro offer the best chances of viewing rhino.

I'd probably skip the Serengeti if you're going to the Mara.

I don't usually suggest itineraries for others, but here's my stab at it:

8/31 depart NYC
9/1 arrive NBO, overnight
9/2 fly to Lewa
9/4 fly to Mara
9/8 fly via Nairobi to Arusha, road transfer to West Kili
9/10 transfer back to Arusha, drive to Tarangire
9/12 drive to Ngorongoro
9/14 drive to Manyara airstrip, fly to Selous
9/17 fly to Zanzibar
9/21 fly to Dar or Nairobi, fly home

I think this gives you a diverse experience hitting most of the places you mentioned. The few road transfers I've included aren't too bad and the travel pace is reasonable IMO for 15 nights on safari (I wouldn't try to include any more places than the number I have).

For logistical purposes, I'd opt for Zanzibar as there are several daily flight options from various airports whereas there's only twice weekly service to the Seychelles and only from Nairobi. If you insist on the Seychelles, then I'd probably drop Selous, start in northern Tanzania first, work your way to Kenya, then fly from Nairobi.

I know the decision is so confusing and the possibilities endless. I struggle with it each trip, so no it doesn't get any better after the first

The critical factor now is timing. Sep is high season and you'll need to start checking availability right away. You could spend weeks coming up with the &quot;perfect&quot; itinerary only to have to make compromises to accomodate availability.

Whatever you come up with, you'll have an incredible trip!

atravelynn

Nice stab, Patty. For a once in a lifetime, the Selous would deliver a wild, remote safari finale before Zanzibar.

Calo

I think both Lynn and Patty have come up with very nice itineraries for you. I'd go on either of those trips in a heartbeat! I'm including West Kili in my 2008 itinerary, so I like that suggestion.

<i>&quot;- Arusha - seems beautiful&quot;</i>
You'll notice that neither Lynn nor Patty included anything but an overnight in Arusha. Arusha generally doesn't hold much attraction other than being the safari capital of northern Tz where people either start or end their safari.

aby

alldaytravel
i'm short on time so my message will be brief:
IMHO Arusha NP is really a worthy place
(search &quot;Arusha NP&quot; for arguments)

Zanzibar cannot be compared to The Seychelles (in fact IMHO it shouldn't be mentioned in the same phrase/sentence).
If you go for Zanzibar a week is tooo long

Samburu is a must (so is Mara of course)

Selous is a good idea

Have you consulted the new index ?
http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...Text=New+Index
aby

PS
<i> the Serengetti (but not sure if we should visit here since I know it is a <b>similar landscape as Mara </b></i>
alldaytravel, please specify - if you'd like a varied-landscape-safari you may consider an Afro-Alpine habitat, a freshwater Lake etc

atravelynn

Next time I get to Tanzania (whenever that might be) I want to spend a day in Arusha National Park. I think it would be worthwhile including it in this itinerary, but with only so many days, not everything fits. Now, if there were no Zanzibar, then there'd be time for Arusha and other things.

<b>Calo</b>, are you using Roy's again for your Tanzania trip?

alldaytravel

Thank you ALL for your feedback! It is a very tough decision to decide which places to travel to - 3 weeks sounds like a lot, but it really isn't considering all that East Africa has to offer.

I agree with Patty's point - I am trying to do all of my homework this weekend b/c I know that availability will be tight and I want to try to book ASAP.

I forgot to include Lake Manyara in my &quot;parks of interest&quot; list above. Would you substitute Selous for Lake Manyara? I don't know how much travel time Selous would eat up...I may also add 1 extra day to my safari, so not sure if that helps...(i.e, returning on Sept 22nd instead).

Patty

Selous does add time and expense to your trip but puts you within easy access to Zanzibar at the end. The Manyara-Selous flight departs at 8:35am but doesn't arrive until 1:05pm because it stops at Ruaha and elsewhere along the way.

You mentioned cultural experiences in another thread. Take a look at Kisima Ngeda camp at Lake Eyasi. You could drop Selous and add 2 nights here and perhaps another night at Lake Manyara. You can't compare Selous and Manyara as they're just completely different. Selous is a huge wilderness area and you can't do boat safaris in Manyara.

However, Eyasi + Manyara would also give you something different than the rest of your itinerary. Hard to go wrong here.

You can also arrange a Maasai village visit in the West Kili area which wouldn't be &quot;commercialized&quot; as there are few tourists in this area.

Calo

<b>Lynn</b>, sorry for my delayed reply...I've been away for a week at a work related conference.

I'm not booking with Roy again next year, although I <i>am</i> going with the same guide who has left Roy and has started his own company.