Can you please comment on the itinerary below for 2 people in September 07? I am having trouble making up my mind!!! (hair pulling going on here!!)This is a first time safari. Thank you so much for your assistance!!!

Nairobi - Safari Club
Samburu - (fly in) 2 nights Larsens
Sweetwaters - 1 night
Mt Kenya Safari Club - 1 night
Aberdares - 1 night Ark
Lake Nakura - 2 nights Lion Hill
Masai Mara - Mara Explorer 1 night
Mara - 2 nights Kichwa Tembo
MM/Nairobi/Ambosei - 2 nights Tortolis
Tsavo West - 1 night Ngulia or Kilaguni
Nairobi - home

The first thing that pops out at me is that Tsavo deserves more than 1 night. On the other hand, you've already got a very tight schedule and if you can't add nights, where do you cut?

Is the reason your splitting your stay between Mara Explorer and Kichwa Tembo because of availability?

Except for the flight to Samburu, is the rest of your itinerary driving or do you have some other flights?

I'd opt for 2 nights at Sweetwaters rather than split 1 night each between Sweetwaters and MKSC.

Hi missmac

my suggestion is to start with Amboseli-Tsavo circuit & finish with the highlight of Samburu-Mara

As always, i'd drop Sweetwaters for a sweet-water LAKE - Naivasha
Or (if you don't go for Naivasha) i'd add another night to Samburu or Shaba, or even Mara.
Many bresk the long drive Samburu-Nakuru by stopping in SweetWaters,
but you have MKSC (& Ark) as a break.

BTW you can leave Samburu, come for lunch to Sweetwaters, make an afternoon Game-drive, pat Morani, see the chimps & go to sleep at MKSC (i've done this a few times)

As for Tsavo, it is too quick for most Fodorites, but is doable (i've done it a number of times)
It is all a matter of what & how you'd like your safari. if you'd like a perspective of more habitats/parks
(vs. wanna see as many lions as possible...) it is OK; Next Safari shall be at 2 parks only...

aby

Patty, appreciate your thoughts....I really dont know much about Tsavo so can you expound on why more than 2 nights? Would it be better to drop Tsavo and add another night in Amboseli or Mara? I cant add more nights to this trip, just move some around.

Im not sure why he is splitting the lodging in the MM, but it is ok with me. I love new places!

yes, the only flying is to Samburu now. I am at about my budget but if you were to add another flight, where would it be?

Is there enough to see in Sweetwaters for 2 nights if I delete MKSC?

Thank you!

Re: aby's suggestion above - if you were to cut 1 night from the Sweetwaters/MKSC portion (both are very close to each other and I can understand the reasoning) and chose to sleep at MKSC, would you still be able to go on a night game drive at Sweetwaters? That's a question that I'd ask because that's something that I enjoy (night drives). On the other hand, it may not be important to you.

As much as I love Tsavo, it may end up being the place to cut on your itinerary if you can't add more nights. Tsavo West is a huge and varied park so I think it deserves more than 1 quick night.

Samburu, Mt Kenya area (Sweetwaters/MKSC), Aberdares, Nakuru, Mara work well together logistically from a driving point of view.

The drive from the Mara to Amboseli via Nairobi will take you around 10 hours, possibly longer since you're starting out from Kichwa Tembo which is on the western end, so this is where I'd add a flight if you can. Keeping your itinerary order the same, you can fly from the Mara back to Nairobi and drive from Nairobi to Amboseli which will take you around 4 to 4.5 hours.

However, what I'd probably do instead is fly to Amboseli at the beginning of your trip, fly back to Nairobi connecting to a flight to Samburu the same day. The reason being I'm pretty sure you'll be using camp vehicles/guides for your game drives at Tortilis so you don't need your own vehicle there (someone please correct me if I'm wrong). Switching the order may pose an availability problem at this point though. Has your operator confirmed availability?

We stayed at Sweetwaters for 2 nights and felt there was enough to see. However, 1 night is also fine if you need to allot more time elsewhere. I was just thinking there's no reason to pick up and move to MKSC but now that you mention you love trying new places, then perhaps you'd enjoy the 1/1 split more.

Do you think I am messing up by not including Tanzania - Ngorongoro, Lake Manyara. I have itineraries from other operators that include it. Would you say these area of Tanz are better than Amboseli/Tsavo? Of course, like most "newbies" I think this is my one and only trip to Africa!!!

The way I see it, if flying to Samburu and then heading south to Sweetwater's, MKSC, Aberdates, Nakuru and the Mara, you'll be having a guide meet you either when arriving Samburu or when ready to depart south.

In the Mara, Explorer is the most expensive camp at which you'll be staying and like Patty, splitting the time, may have to do with availability.

If visiting Samburu, for ellees and unique species, I might eliminate Amboseli and instead add a day to the Mara and another day to Tsavo.

Except for Sweetwater's, no other place for night drives, unless Kichwa Tembo does these; but check if and whether there's a cost associated if they do.

I would also suggest you head down to Tsavo first. Problem though, the flight from Tsavo arrives NBO 11am, so you can't connect to flight to Samburu or Mara in the morning. But, you can instead, do the itinerary in reverse. Heading to Nakuru, then thru Aberdares to MKSC for o/n, then Sweetwater's for night drive. Finally to Samburu. From here you can fly to the Masai Mara.

Day 1 - Arv. NBO - o/n
Day 2 - Fly to Tsavo - o/n
Day 3 - Tsavo - o/n
Day 4 - Fly to NBO; drive to Nakuru - o/n
Day 5 - Nakuru - o/n
Day 6 - Drive thru Aberdares to MKSC - o/n
Day 7 - Drive to Sweetwaters; night drive - o/n
Day 8 - Drive to Samburu - o/n
Day 9 - Samburu - o/n
Day 10 - Fly to Masai Mara - o/n
Day 11 - MM - o/n
Day 12 - MM - o/n
Day 13 - Fly to Wilson; sightseeing in afternoon, day-room till evening transfer to JKIA for home.

At Tsavo and MM, will be shared seating in camp vehicles. All the others, with private vehicle/guide.

All said, it might come down to what is available, as space is already tight.

On the current Safarilink schedule, there's a 11:30am Nairobi-Samburu flight. I believe this is timed so that passengers arriving from Amboseli/Tsavo flights and elsewhere can connect http://www.safarilink-kenya.com/safa...dules_2007.pdf

So having Tsavo at the front end as Sandi suggested and flying on to Samburu the same day would work. Then you'd continue the rest of your journey as an all drive safari and it would save on the flight costs vs Samburu-Mara.

Thanks! I like Sandi's schedule so will contact the operator and see if that is possible. Thank you so much for your input!!
I still wonder if I'm missing the boat by not including Ngorongoro someway on this. I think, however, it is just too far out of the way to squeeze in.
Does anyone know about the Flamingo Hill Camp? Would that be better than Lion Hill?

Re: Patty's comment/question about night drives at Kichwa Tembo. Bateleur's Camp at Kichwa Tembo includes night drives at no extra cost, with a tracker. I was told that it is a benefit of being outside of the park, but I was there in 2003. Night drives were fantastic. I'd check to make sure this is still accurate, and that it applies to main camp, but I wouldn't see why not. I adored Bateleur's. Staff and accomodations were great.

MissMac,
To include the crater, you would probably need another day or so and you might have to give up Tsavo. I used Sandi's schedule.

Night game drives can be done at Kichwa Tembo Camp for an additional fee (see their website). At the KTBateleur Camp, these drives are included (should be at the per night fee they charge).

I have another question please!! Is one half day game drive enough for Ngorongoro or does one need at least 2 there? I have a day in Lake Manyara I would probably have to give up.

Here are links that discuss your question at length.

Giving up Manyara in Sept to spend a whole day in the crater would be a reasonable tradeoff.

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34925907

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34953890

Are you adding Tanzania onto your Kenya itinerary?