June 2008 Tanzania Itinerary Help Needed
 

Hi all,

I posted here a couple of weeks ago and everyone was very helpful. I've decided on going to Tanzania this June with my fiance for our honeymoon. I have thrown together a potential itinerary and would like peoples' thoughts. We would like to do as much as possible but realize this may be difficult.

It looks like for the roughly 2 weeks we have it is pretty tight and probably not possible to do both Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro. We would probably prefer Ngorongoro, but would be open to suggestions if people feel strongly otherwise.

Day 1 6/10/2007 Arrive Arusha, 7:55pm
Day 2 6/11/2007 Drive/Tarangire
Day 3 6/12/2007 Tarangire
Day 4 6/13/2007 Tarangire
Day 5 6/14/2007 Drive/(Lake Manyara or Ngorongoro)
Day 6 6/15/2007 (Lake Manyara or Ngorongoro)/Drive
Day 7 6/16/2007 Serengeti
Day 8 6/17/2007 Serengeti
Day 9 6/18/2007 Serengeti
Day 10 6/19/2007 Drive/Arusha
Day 11 6/20/2007 Fly/Zanzibar
Day 12 6/21/2007 Zanzibar
Day 13 6/22/2007 Zanzibar/Fly

When it says "Drive" it means to drive from one location to another, not a game drive.

Any help at all is appreciated, even if it is to suggest lodging at any of these locations. Thanks!

Use part of one of your Tarangire days to visit a Maasai village; that's always a special experience.

I would prefer the Crater over Lake Manyara. You could always do a partial day's drive in LM on the way to the Crater (Day 5)... I've done that a couple of times. On Day 6, you could then visit the Crater (full or half day, whatever they are allowing next June).

On Day 10, you could fly back to Arusha from the Serengeti, arriving in time to connect to an afternoon flight to Zanzibar. That would give you almost an extra day there.

Do you have a safari outfitter, yet? I've used Kibo Guides three times and Ocean Tours Zanzibar for that portion of the trip (also three times.)

I would suggest you take one of the three days at Tarangire and add it to Zanzibar or the Serengeti. Early June, while good at Tarangire will still have tall grasses, so some game difficult to spot.

If choosing between Zanzibar or Serengeti, Zanzibar will probably be less expensive.

As you don't incidate accommodations, I assume you haven't received quotes and options for lodgings.

As to a cultural visit, you may want to spend the morning before heading to Tarangire at N'gresi Village, which is unlike the traditional Masai Manyatta. N'gresi is an agricultural community and visitors comment they preferred this over the Masai visit. Of course, you can still do a Masai Manyatta visit elsewhere along the itinerary.

At Ngorongoro, it's still only half-day crater tours, so you can do an afternoon and following morning visit (makes for a full-day).

Space at lodges/camps is getting tight (if not already) for June, so I wouldn't ponder confirming for too long.

ShayTay,

Thanks for your response! I really like your idea about doing a Maasai village visit as part of the Taranire portion. That would be very interesting.

If we can fly from Serengeti to Arusha it might make sense to stay there one more day or lengthen the Tarangire or Ngorongoro portions a bit.

We do not have a safari outfitter yet. My plan was to come up with a good itinerary which I could then email to 11 companies I have looked up and liked. Hopefully after that I can then start to narrow it down to one company. I hope that doesn't take too long.

11 companies. Ouch!

Depending on your budget you're going to get a wide array of accommodation choices - all lodges, all Serena/Sopa, combo lodges/camps, mid-range lodges/camps, or lux camps.

The weather will be lovely on the mainland, but by the time you arrive on Zanzibar, remember it's hot & humid. While most properties have ceiling fans, do consider, seriously, air conditioning

Happy reading!

I concur with the previous replies. We stayed (in February of 2007) only two nights in Tarangire, and I would use your third night there somewhere else. I certainly concur about flying back from the Serengeti to Arusha/Zanzibar. We did that, and are really glad we did. It is a long, mostly bumpy, mostly dusty ride between central Serengeti and Arusha, and you will save a day for somewhere else.

One tweak you might consider is what we did and thought it was good, at least for us. After our second morning game drive in Tarangire, we drove to Manyara (not very far) and had an afternoon game drive. We spent one night at Manyara (including an afternoon game drive, a night dinner/game drive in the park, and a morning game drive), and enjoyed this small but lovely park. We then drove (again, not very far) to the Crater for an afternoon game drive, spent that one night at a rim lodge, and did a morning game drive. We thought that was enough time in the Crater. Then that afternoon we drove to the Ndutu area (nearest part of Serengeti, about three hours from the Crater, as I recall). If you are going farther into the Serengeti, as is likely in June, that day might be a little long.

Many people prefer to avoid one-night stays, but we like seeing as many different places as possible, within reason. The two consecutive one-nighters (Manyara and Ngorongoro) weren't bad for us, especially since Tarangire to Manyara and Manyara to Ngorongoro aren't long drives. Fitting both Manyara and the Crater into your schedule is certainly possible, and I even suggest it. If only one, the Crater wins. If you save a day flying, add it to the Serengeti, or maybe Zanzibar if you think you'll have had enough safari time (I know that borders on heresy in this forum).

If you want to read more detail about our trip, I did a report here on the forum called "Tanzania Safari Diary, Feb/March 2007." I still don't know how to do a link, but you can search under "hguy47."

Eleven bids might be a lot to digest, you might want to cut that down some. Whatever you do, it will be great, but June is very, very close, so proceed with due haste.

Grumbo, I agree that you don't need as many days in Tarangire. Most do 2 overnights there.

You could certainly do a morning game drive in Lake Manyara, followed by an afternoon crater tour. No need to choose between the 2 - do them both.

Cultural experiences are great. I did the N'giresi tour that Sandi mentions, and this year I'm doing at least 2 Masai guided walks.

I think submitting your itinerary to 11 travel agents is excessive. Try to narrow it down to about 3 or you'll be tearing your hair out comparing responses. It would be great if you could narrow down the type of accommodation you want, and even pick specific camps/lodges you want to book.

Good luck with the planning.

I also think that 11 companies is a lot to initially email. I find 3-4 contacts to be more manageable to start with and will expand further if I feel that the initial responses aren't in tune with what I'm looking for.

BTW I think the record on this forum is 70+ emails ;)

I lived in kigoma, Tanzania this last summer. In Zanzibar, make sure to go to the North beaches of the island if you want to get away, with the east side just as void of tourist iflux.

Sorry for the poor formatting on my last post. I was trying to preview and I guess I posted by mistake. Since I cannot edit that post I will put the list of places I was looking at here again:

Ngorongoro - Wildlife Lodge, the best in the Serengeti/Seronera area for June, in park, amazing views, very cold at night, dress warmly

Ngorongoro - Crater Lodge, High end, CCA? lodge

Ikoma - Alternate for Wildlife Lodge

Serengeti - Lobo Lodge, Not ideal for June, far and not a lot of animals, good food

Serengeti - Seronera, good food and great views, no electricity midnight-5am and 9am -5pm, older but nicely maintained, lots of monkeys

Serengeti - Shompole and Olonana, Very high end?

Serengeti - Serena, Good but higher number of guests, $300-325pppn, looks like good for June, good views

Serengeti - Sopa, Similar to Serena?

Serengeti - Kirawira Camp, Great staff, on a bluff, 25 tents, good food

Serengeti - Grumeti River Camp, 10 tents, open top game drives, outdoor showers, hippos nearby

Serengeti - Mbuzi Mawe, 16 high end tents, great location, expensive?

Tarangire - Boundary Hill Lodge, The pluses, besides the view, were the very nice people who worked there and the great food. The minuses were the bugs (they left a can of bug spray on the desk which I used, but there were a lot of them) and the infrastructure still needs a little work (we showered when we got there in the early evening and the water was still pooled at the bottom of the shower when we left the next day). offer a night game drive

Tarangire - Oliver's Camp, Tented camp. Expensive, but very good. 5 tents. Supposedly great. Great guides

Tarangire - Sopa, Large rooms, good amenities, hot water showers, just ok for wildlife nearby

Lake Manyara - Kifaru, Not recommended

Lake Manyara - Gibb’s Farm, more of a spa, expensive, felt like they were trying just a little too hard to replicate an imagined experience. felt just a little too commercial

Lake Manyara - Lake Manyara Hotel, Good views, ok rooms, older sheets and comforters

Zanzibar - Serena, good

Zanzibar - Emerson & Green, Like an old castle

Seems like I'm still having problems. My post above was to correct a post I had made earlier. In that post I thanked everyone for their help so far and agreed that 11 companies was too many to contact. I have started sending out emails to companies today and hope to get that ball rolling quickly.

The above post is a request for information on the lodging posted there. I have taken people's comments from here and elsewhere and put it next to each place. I would appreciate any advice on these or other places to stay in each park. I don't have information on pricing for these places, but am looking for mid-range places for the most part.

Thanks again and sorry for the confusion with the posts. Sometimes I see my earlier post and sometimes I don't.

Based on your list of accommodations for June travel:

At Ngorongoro - Wildlife, Sopa and Serena are good. Wildlife the least expensive. Many prefer Sopa, though not as nice as Serena, as they have their own access road. Yes, it will be cold on the rim at night and early mornings; warmer inside the crater.
- Crater Lodge is very expensive and doubt they have any space for June.

In Central/Seronera Serengeti - Wildlife or Serena Lodges or Mbuzi Mawe Camp are mid-range prices. Alternate would be seasonal camps as Olakira, Savannah, EMC, Nomads or CCA Tanz.Under Canvas.. the last two are most expensive.
- Lobo is too far out of the way for June
- Ikoma, there are a few with this name, some better than others.

Western Serengeti - Kirawira or Mbalageti Camps, both expensive; maybe fully booked by now.
- Grumeti River Camp may also be fully booked for June/July.

In Tarangire - Boundary Hill Lodge, Sopa Lodge, Safari Lodge (actually a tent camp) with great views, small tents; River Camp and Kikoti Camp; Treetops, Nomad's, Oliver's & Swala - latter four very expensive.

Lake Manyara - Serena Lodge, Kirurumu Camp, E-Unoto Retreat; Gibb's Farm and Plantation Lodge are in town of Karatu mid-way between Manyara/Ngorongoro. Great food and grounds at Gibb's.

Zanzibar - Serena is most expensive; E&G now called 236 Hurumzi; also Dhow Palace and Tembo House or Zanzibar Palace - all in Stone Town.
- beach resorts can be found on the north, northeast, southeast, or in south of island. Some on the west coast; some small islands off the island, i.e., Chipwani or Chombe.

- Shompole and Olonana - wrong country, these are in Kenya. Olonana in the Masai Mara and Shompole on the border with Tanzania... expensive.
- good to visit Aug-Sep-Oct

Sandi,

Thanks a lot for the info! More to ponder over while I wait to hear back from the operators.

Would you say Central or Western Serengeti would be better during mid-June?

Grumbo you can stay at either the Central or Western Serengeti in June because your game drives can take you from one to the other. I'd be inclined to remove a night from Tarangire and add one to the Serengeti. That way you can stay 2 nights in the western corridor and 2 nights in the Seronera.

As Calo, either Central or Western. Only 2/hrs apart and game moves between both. Not unusual for game drives to be back-n-forth. But make sure your tour operator has "unlimited" miles, instead of guide advising "sorry, we can't drive there."

Thanks Sandi and Calo. Here is my revised itineraty based on people's input.

Day 1 6/10/2008 Arrive Arusha, 7:55pm , overnight at Arusha
Day 2 6/11/2008 Drive/Tarangire , overnight at Tarangire
Day 3 6/12/2008 Tarangire , overnight at Tarangire
Day 4 6/13/2008 Tarangire (Maasai or N'gresi Village visit)/Drive , overnight at Lake Manyara
Day 5 6/14/2008 Lake Manyara/Ngorongoro , overnight at Ngorongoro
Day 6 6/15/2008 Ngorongoro/Drive , overnight at Serengeti Seronera
Day 7 6/16/2008 Serengeti Seronera , overnight at Serengeti Seronera
Day 8 6/17/2008 Serengeti Seronera/Drive? , overnight at Serengeti Seronera or Western Serengeti
Day 9 6/18/2008 Drive?/Western Serengeti , overnight at Western Serengeti
Day 10 6/19/2008 Western Serengeti , overnight at Western Serengeti
Day 11 6/20/2008 Fly (Seren -> Arusha -> Zan)/Zanzibar , overnight at Zanzibar
Day 12 6/21/2008 Zanzibar , overnight at Zanzibar
Day 13 6/22/2008 Zanzibar/Fly , overnight at ---
Day 14 6/23/2008 Arrive Home , overnight at ---


I ended up emailing 7 companies (I know, too many) and have heard back from one of them (Hoopoe) who said they will be able to help me after the Kenya situation dies down.

This looks a lot better to me (I guess it should, it is very similar to our schedule). Now getting and comparing bids, especially the various accommodations, is critical. Hopefully you included some of the Tanzania-oriented operators (Roy's, Kibo, Sunny, Green Footprint, others) on your list, since they should not be as embroiled in the terrible Kenya situation.

Just one quick suggestion....
If doing Ngiresi Village, it would make sense to do it the morning you leave Arusha prior to heading off to Tarangire. Otherwise it would mean backtracking to Arusha to fit it in. Here's the way I think I'd do it:
Day 1: arrive Arusha
Day 2: morning Ngiresi Village visit, drive to Tarangire for afternoon game drive & overnight.
Day 3: Tarangire, game drive, walk with Masai, overnight.
Day 4: Drive to Crater, afternoon tour, overnight
Day 5: morning crater tour, possible Masai village visit, (long) game drive to western Serengeti, overnight
Day 6: Western Serengeti, overnight
Day 7: Central Serengeti, overnight
Day 8: Central Serengeti, overnight
Day 9: drive to Lake Manyara, overnight
Day 10: drive to Arusha for outbound flight to Zanzibar

Calo - I'll take that change into consideration.

The companies I contacted were:
CC Africa
Green Footprints
Good Earth
Eastern & Southern Safaris
Born Free Safaris
Hoopoe
Access2Tanzania

Keep us posted, Grumbo.