Maria,
Do your plans still include both Kenya and Tanzania? You might want to have the tour operators you're contacting, price the whole itinerary, rather than parceling it out in bits and pieces and see what they come up with.

Patty,
the offer from Roy's is for budget camping (Simba Campsite) for 1 night, that's why I think 390,-USD pp is definitely too much
Patty and Leely,
I just contacted Sunny Safaris, they are in my LP guidebook :-)
Leely,
BIG THX for the link to TATO, it's always worth checking if the operators are a member, did the same for the Kenyan part at KATO's website ;-)
/Maria

Leely,
no details for Zanzibar so far, any tips on accomodation ?
/Maria

Maria,
There is no shortage of accommodations for all budgets all over Zanzibar. It really depends what you're looking for.

For an opinionated overview of select properties, see:

http://www.africatravelresource.com/...nzibar/Z01.asp

Also see zanzibartourism.net.

But get your safari nailed down first; that's the hard part. And good luck--I think you'll really enjoy your trip!

Maria,
That's a pretty steep price for 1 night of budget camping. I wonder if they just didn't want to mess with such a short booking so quoted you a really high price.

I would have whichever tour operator you're using for the Kenya portion quote you a price for Tanzania as well (or vice versa). It may not make that much of a difference cost wise versus booking with 2 separate operators and simplifies things for you. Most tour operators will want a deposit upon booking unless you can talk them into accepting payment on arrival.

If we decide to go to Masai Mara I think we'll go with Kenia Tours, asked them for help with flights and Ngorongoro; I also emailed Sunny Safaris, Simba Safaris and Safari Makers for quotes on a 2d1n safari to the NCA, awaiting for the replies and reading about Zanzibar ;-) /Maria

I'm wondering about Serengeti vs. Masai Mara - in October animals migrate to S, I get that, but what will the view be in MM at the end of November - no animals or what ;-) ? /Maria

Long time no... report ;-) Sorry - I was simply busy, but here it goes :
11/18 Nairobi We didn't like the city, but we expected it to be this way, so we only dined at Carnivore Restaurant (very nice place and the ostrich meat was superb, crocodile very good, only the camel was awful - very dry) and overnight at the Norfolk Hotel.
11/19-21 Masai Mara NR
Early morning drive through the Rift Valley to Masai Mara with Kania Tours. 3 nights at their camp = nice, spacious tents, but terrible facilities... never again. Big plus was we had a very good cook and a very clever driver (showed us all the animals and on top of it we saw a leopard 3x and a black rhino). Gameviewing : 19. afternoon and evening, 20. morning and evening, 21. morning through afternoon.
11/22-23 Lake Nakuru NP
Drive up to Lake Nakuru also with Kania Tours. This time we overnight 2 nights at a charming colonial guesthouse. Evening and morning gamedrive. In Nairobi they dropped us of directly for our shuttle to Arusha. We arrived in Tanzania around 7 PM and overnight at a very clean Lutheran hostel.
11/24-25 Ngoro-Ngoro CA
We went on a 2 day safari with African Trails to the Ngoro-Ngoro crater and Lake Manyara. Spectacular views. Overnight again at a different Lutheran hostel (also very clean and the portions of all meals were huge). After gameviewing on the second day the driver drooped us of at the Kilimanjaro airport where from we took a flight directly to Zanzibar, where we stayed for 2 nights at Matemwe Baharini Villas.
11/26-27
I strongly recommend http://matemwevillas.com/index.html . Practically it was a 100 yards from our bungalow to the crystal clear water. We relaxed for 2 days in our little paradise, then drove to the airport (on the way visiting Stone Town - lovely buildings, but terribly covered with mold) and flew back to Nairobi for our flight back to London.
Reassuming it was a great trip - very interesting animals, spectacular views and the palmy beach on the clear waters of the Indian Ocean :-)
10 days there and the costs PP = 50(hotel in Nairobi)+355(KeniaTours)+15(shuttle bus)+455(AfricanTours)+400(domestic airfare)+100(Zanzibar:MBV+transport)+maybe125(extr as&gifts)=1500,-USD + of course airfare NYC-NBO. You can see my pictures on http://www.mariawitas.com/Kenya.html and http://www.mariawitas.com/Tanzania.html

Maria
in Mara - wasn't it raining cats & dogs ? (leopards & bat-eared foxes 4u)
if so how were the roads at Mara (u hada 2WD probably) ?
were was your campsite?
Can we have any info on these Lutheran hostels (location,costs)?
& did i understand correctly the cost is for 2 persons in a car (or u joined a group)??
aby

Hey, MW123, I'm so glad I noticed this. Thanks for checking back in with your report. Sounds like a wonderful time and interesting to hear firsthand about matemwe villas. Was it terribly hot, or did the breezes keep you comfortable?

I'm off to look at your photos instead of cleaning my bathroom. My shower blames you. ;)

Aby - the whole time we were in Africa it was raining only one day (NgoroNgoro Crater) and not the whole day just maybe 3 short little showers 15 minutes each, otherwise it was very sunny, esp. in Masai Mara, so the roads were very dry there
our campsite was located not even a mile from the main gates to the reserve, but I don't recommend it, the facilities were terrible, on this continent it's really better to stay in guesthouses or lodges
the costs were Per Person (PP) and it was only the 2 of us in the car during all the safaris
as for the hostels, sorry didn't note the info, both overnights were arranged for us by African Trails Ltd from Arusha and included in the price, I strongly recommend their service (ask for Ms. Hellen, she really cares for her customers)

Hi Leely :-)

I posted only 2x16 pics on my website, so I guess your bathroom wasn't mad at you for not grooming it for more than 115 min ;-)
sorry it took me so long to post the report, I'm pretty busy lately
as for Zanzibar it was awfully hot, after spending maybe 3 hours at the beach we had to get back in the shade for a while, otherwise we would loose our skin ;-) so the morning and evening breezes were refreshing /Maria

15 minutes ;-)