pepnjak

My husband and I leave this Wednesday for our trip to Tanzania. We have saved our United miles for years and now for our 40th anniversary we are off! My husband is 64 and I am 62.We both are in good health other than the high blood pressure and cholestral.We feel blessed this trip is even possible! We teach adaptive alpine skiing in the winter in Park City, Utah...so all in all pretty physically fit. We are retiring in October,sooner than we expected and a ??? economy, we are trying to do this trip as reasonable as possible without cutting too many corners.So where do we start......

We were fortunate enough to have a dear friend who has 2 nieces that work in Tanzania. So Tanziania is was for us. We wanted to do more than a safari , we decided on Arusha,6 day safari northern circuit,Mtn. Kilamanjaro, and Zanzibar.

We depart Sept 8 on United from Seattle, Washington(where we live when we are not on the slopes of the Utah mountains.)We arrive in London on Sept 9 and stay with a friend until Sept 13. ( United airlines allows you to get off one way one time with NO extra charge where ever your plane lands for refueling or layovers) We chose London,have never been and affordable since we will be staying with a friend.The cost for this flight was 486.00,taxes.

OTHER COSTS: before leaving the states: Shots and malaria meds(there is a big difference in cost depending on what pill you choose...we chose the lesser expensive one that you have to take for 4 weeks after returning from Africa) We went through our Safeway pharmacy...$45 each for consulation and shots cost the same as local health clinic.This was the most reasonable route to get our shots.We opted not to do yellow fever because of our age and it being a live virus,Tanzania not requiring this shot.

visa: $100 each

Few misc. items,bug spray,sun screen,couple of books, and a pair of shoes that would pack easily.

WIRED MONEY for our safari and one lodging $30 chg for each wire. We did 3,so $90 to our bank!

WHAT WE HAVE PLANNED AND GENERAL COSTS:

Sept 13: Arrive in DarEsSalaam,with pick up planned from our Inn.They are charging us $60,but it will be nice to know someone is meeting us after a long flight from London!
Staying at The Retreat for $160 a night including breakfast.(This is where we will rest and relax before heading north)This is our most expensive lodging.

September 15: We have prepaid for our flight on Precision Air to Arusha. We have our paper tickets. I decided to go through a local agent here,not posting my visa # on a site I was unsure about. This is the not most reasonable way to get to Arusha but I think it will make the trip a little more pleasant and not so tiring. Cost of tickets and agent total : $510.60

Joyce from Songota Falls Lodge will pick us up in Arusha and bring us to our Inn.This lodge costs $70 night including breakfast

Sept 16: No set plans...One day we will go onto Arusha,Ashley has told us many places to visit and her favorite restaurants and of course the local gallery and Mt Meru Game lodge(rescued animals).
Sept 17: This is our day at the Orkeeswa secondary school and the home of one of the students and their village. This school is just outside of Arusha in the village of Monduli. It has now been in operation for 2 1/2 years. I am including the link http://www.ieftz.org/, they are always looking for volunteers and funding for supplies.It is quite impressive and 35 new students will be starting the week we are in Arusha.100 students total I believe.This school was started by my friend's niece, Ashley.

Sept 18: open

Sept 19 Leave for our Safari

I'll add more later

KathBC

Thanks for the pre-trip report penjak, especially costs and why you made the choices you did. Wow you must really be in count down mode!

I, on the other hand am still wading thru the masses of options, reports, itineraries,etc for my planned trip in Sept 2011!!!!Seem to have the Zanzibar portion nailed down but that bit was relatively easy.

Will look forward to your next installment on plans for the actual safari.

moremiles

Look forward to hearing about the rest and reading about the org. that you posted a link for since I will be on my first TZ safari in late Jan. Do you plan on taking school supplies also?

pepnjak

Trying to find the right Safari company was not easy...hopefully my choice will be a good one. Benjamin has been great at answering all of my questions and trying to "tweek" our 6 days to our interests.

Superb Tours will pick us up on the 19th at our lodge. We will head to Tarangie National Park,lodging Tarangireoika Tented Lodge

Sept 20 Lake Manyara National Park,lodging Ngorongoro Farm House

Sept 21 Serengeti National Park,Olduvi Gorge...may want to do a walking tour here,lodging Serengeti Seronera Wildlife lodge

Sept 22 second location at Serengeti National Park ,Ngorongor Conservation area,lodging the same as day before

Sept 23 Ngorongoro Crater,Ngorongoro Farm House

Sept 24 drive back to Arusha...I have some thoughts for this day re: places for local art work..not sure if we will drive by any of the suggested spots, but I will ask! We will be brought to Marangu hotel,near Mtn. Kilimanjaro $120 incl breakfast and dinner. The cost for our safari was $4,190(we prepaid this) we do not want to have to carry a lot of cash. We were told $10 tip a day for our guide.

( I forgot we bought small gift to bring for the children and adults that we meet...a few Washington T shirts for our guide and Benjamin,pencils, crayons, glow in the dark bracelets for the children,notebooks, simple necklaces I made(I do lampwork)..and a few other misc. items. ) We are also bringing 2 deflated basketballs for the school and navy knee highs for their uniforms.

Sept 25 open....we hope to do some day hikes in the area,I think we will welcome this after being in a vehicle for 6 days!
Sept 26 open

3 nights at Marangu Hotel


Sept 27 We depart on Precision Air to Stone Town, Zanzibar
lodging, Zenji B&B $60 incl breakfast plus $15 to pick us up from the airport

Sept 28,29 Coffee House B&B $85 a night,including breakfast

Sept 30 take a Taxi to Bwejuu...on the beach Robinson's Place $60 B&B incl breakfast...$80 round trip from Stone Town

Oct 1 Robinson's Place( we were told for dinner fresh catch of the day..$6)

Oct 2nd..depart and head to Dar Es Salaam Costs??

picked up by The Retreat in Dar...last night at The Retreat

Oct 3 Depart for the USA....37 hours of travel time

pepnjak

Our suitcases are full so only a few supplies. We have our luggage at the 30# mark.

You can always send $$ or bring a few items..email IEFTZ and if you are in the area and you have room in your suitcase maybe there might be items you can bring! He asked us to bring a few deflated basketballs and Ashley mentioned the navy knee highs.If you can't get to the school, there might be a pick up point in Arusha.I believe there is staff housing in Arusha?!

pepnjak

Even when I edit what I have written,still seem to have many mistakes!! Sorry, but I hope this will help a few of you planning your trip. I will post a simple report when we return...if I make it through 37 hours of traveling!!!!!!

pepnjak

A couple of random thoughts: A warm jacket..if you can find a sale on Mont Bell down inner jacket they are the BEST! They pack up to size of a 32 oz water bottle and very warm. I wear mine all of the time...it is so light and warm!!http://www.montbell.us/products/disp...0&p_id=2301132

Also if you don't have warm socks(bulky to pack) go to a sporting good store and purchase hand warmers or foot warmers,they come in very small packages and are terrific. I use them all winter long in Park City.

I am sure I will have more random thoughts,could it be the age???

cary999

Love it, a PRE-trip report!!!
Thanks, and thanks for including costs, I wish more of us would. Costs cause some "heated" discussions around here, yet few actual numbers posted.
The guide tip of $10 per day, that is per person, yes, so $20 total for you two?

I take copies of all important papers, passport, air tickets, payments, medical information, just in case the original gets lost. (Only happened once to Carolyn).

37 hours of travel time, I hear you, I start from California

Expecting a (POST)Trip Report also!!!!

regards - tom

pepnjak

Ashley did not say per person re:tip

Yes, we have copies of everything and copies left at home with our son.

All our meds are packed in our carry-on.

I don't have to worry so much about colors because we are doing more than a safari!

pepnjak

I did some checking...$10 for the 2 of us. This is what is suggested,but we may tip a bit higher,we will see.

ShayTay

September will be rather warm in Tanzania. I don't think you'll need a down jacket. It was in the 90s during the day the last two times I was in Tanzania in September.

pattyroth

This sounds so exciting. We (60 and 61 then) went to Tanzania the end of 2007. Fabulous trip!!! Wish we were going back. Such fun to read about your plans. By the time it came to tip our guide, we had had such a great experience that we wanted to naturally tip him much more. (Roy Safari with Baracka.)

pepnjak

We will be in London also, if the weather is like the N.W.I will use my light weight jacket as moist morning/evening air can be cold. People have mentioned that the early mornings on the safaris are quite cold in the higher elevations? This jacket packs soooo small it is not taking any room and it weighs next to nothing!It really is just an inner layer. I wear it year round in the Pacific N.W.

Thanks for the tip on how warm it will be during the day,I have packed layers!

TC

Congratulations on your 40th! We spent our 40th in Tanzania this past January. Its a marvelous place to celebrate anything. You may want to read my trip report for tips on navigating the Dar airport. That was our only little glitch.
Happy Anniversary.

pepnjak

We have arrived back from our trip and must begin my trip report. It was a wonderful adventure and the tour company was PERFECT! I will explain why I think they were above average in my report. Superbtours(after that beautiful blue bird you see every where!) http://www.superbtourssafaris.com/