newbie query no 2
 

Thanks first of all to all who came to my aid the first time round.
i did my research in true fodorite fashion, and discovered that perhaps east africa was a better choice for july/august rather than south africa, as we could get more game viewing for our money [budget about US$16K for 4 people over 14 days] in kenya and/or tanzania.

am i right? are there any must sees ?[I'm thinking about the great migration at that time of year]
Has anyone been to zanzibar and is it worth giving up a few days in the bush?

Thanks again, y'all

Regards, Ann

Hi Ann

a ""must"" is MARA - i think it's a concensus (/consensus)...
better the latest possible in August (since Jul-Aug is your timing) - that is at the end of your atinerary

Other:

Samburu
Ngorongoro (Tz)

now, as a rep of a monority group on this forum, i must say IMO:

Nakuru (greatest Flamingo show) or Bogoria in case the flamingoes have wandered...
NVL (Night Viewing lodge) Ark / Mt. Lodge / Treetops
a freshwater lake + boating Baringo or Naivasha

Zanzibar ?
why not a gorilla trek instead ?

aby

oops... itinerary

oops again... minority
(it's the time i guess...)

Allow me to do the math. 14 days, 4 people, $16K works to be, ah to be, justa second, ah, a little less than $300 per day per person. This $16K to include airfare? If airfare also in $16K, then you have cut the safari budget part down to around $10K, or less than $200 per day per person.
FWIW
regards -tom

thanks, aby - just the sort of info i need.
tom- the $16k does not include flights, giving us, as you rightly say, approx $300 per day.
i'm tending now to think about dropping zanzibar [DH for whose benefit i had considered this, mainly for the diving, says he's not bothered] - would you do more trecking instead? or stay longer in one place, and if so, Which?

Keep in mind that gorilla trekking will not be an inexpensive add on. The roundtrip airfare from Nairobi to Uganda or Rwanda will run you approx $500 per person (unless you can get this included for less as part of your international ticket). Permits will be $500 per trek by June 2007 and that's not including accomodations, meals and local transportation. Not trying to discourage you, but you would need to cut down quite a bit on other parts of your trip in order to squeeze the trekking into your budget.

For just a safari in Kenya/Tanzania, $300 per person per night should be a comfortable budget if you're considering moderately priced lodges/camps, doing a mostly drive itinerary and have 4 people sharing one vehicle. You may be able to afford a few but not too many internal flights.

thanks, patty - really useful info. you've confirmed what I think about the gorilla trekking - probably a bit beyond our budget.
The trick is going to be fitting everything in without breaking the bank - the south of Tanzania has been recommended as being less visited and less expensive. Is that because there are fewer animals?

The south isn't necessarily less expensive. Room rates at minimum are about $300/nt. most are closer to $400-500+/nt, then the air to/from these parks. Can be quite costly.

Because of the distances between parks, southern Tanzania is generally done as a flying safari so is usually more expensive, not less, though a driving itinerary combining Mikumi, Selous & Ruaha is also possible and will cut down on the cost if you're prepared for longer travel days (I would recommend staying longer at each camp in that case). I was in Selous recently and would say that the game is sparser compared to parks in northern Tanzania/southern Kenya, but keep in mind that I was also there during rainy season, the grass was high, and the vegetation was thick. July/August are supposed to be the optimum months for southern Tanzania. There are fewer camps and what camps are there are mostly fairly small in size resulting in a lower density of vehicles and other visitors too which can be a plus. It all depends on what kind of experience you're after. Do you need to tick off the big 5 or are you looking for more of a wilderness experience (I know this is a gross oversimplification but I think you know what I'm getting at)?

By the way, the rates I mentioned above are per person, per night; not per room per night. Sorry, not to have been clear on that.

Hi, y'all, thanks again for your input.

As to the big 5, patty, as only the DD has been to africa before [a college trip to Swaziland, lucky girl] i suppose that we all need to tick them off, but i think we're really after a more rounded experience - seeing animals and birds, meeting people, etc. travelling slowly and staying longer in one place has always worked better for us [or rather our kids] - any ideas about where we could best do this?

Thanks again, Ann