Safari in 01/2007
 

So, finaly we are back from our 2007 Safari in Tanzania. Please find below some info.
Our tour operator was "Bobby Camping". They proved to be a reliable company. We made a prepayment of 50% some two months before the trip. The rest was payed on arrival. There were no surprises. Everything was booked as promised. We also had a very good guide who took care of 4 of us. We had an 8 day (plus 2 days in Arusha) lodge/permanet tent safari.
DAY 1:
We arrived from Amsterdam at Kilimanjaro airport at night. The flight was on time. There was no problem to get a visa on arrival. A person has to pay 50USD and you get a stamp. If you do not have exact money you shall not expect change. A couple infornt of us did not have USD. They asked if it were possible to pay in Euro. Of course it was. They gave a one hundred Euro note and never got a change. It is a simple as that. The driver, Adam, was waiting for us at the arrival terminal. He took us first to the "bobby camping office' where we were greeting by an owner who went thru all the travel arrangements again. Then we went to IMPALA HOTEL.
NIGHT 1: IMPALA HOTEL: The hotel has seen better days. Since we arrived late we got the worst rooms possible. So, if you arrive ask for rooms that do not face the circle. It is very noisy at night. The rooms facing the back are much nicer and not so laud.
DAY 2: After an average breakfast we left for LAKE MANYARA. On the way we got some water and other stuff. The drivers usually take you to rather expensive places. For your information a bottle of water 1-1,5 liter) should cost c. 600-700 TSchillings. On he way we stopped at many places with the wonderfull countryside. Of course we stopped at gift shops. There is no obligation to byu anything. But I would rather suggest not to buy the first day, because you do not know the prices. (Just for your info: For the same stuff we payed 8USd and later 1 USD on the street). Usually the price to be payed is c. 30-50 percent of origibal price. We arrived at LAKE MANYARA. A beautiful place with a nice forest, wonderful smells, monkeys, elephants. We stayed at LAKE MANYARA HOTEL. It has a wonderful view. It has seen the better days I it was acceptable to us. They have a nice pool. The food was ok.
DAY 3-4: We went to Serengetii Park. Safari was on the way. We also payed a visit to Masai village. It cost us 50USD to enter. They did some singing. It was all done for tourists. Then we were given a chance to byu their products/gifts. Of course we payed twice as much but we did not care to much about it. We had a wonderfull time and that was it. Of course we had great animal sights on the way. Of course wildebeasts, and zebras. Migration was in the south, that is near Ndutu. Then we had a close up encounter with chetah and her 3 cubs. What a wonderful view it was. They were just some 5-10 meters from us. A sweet sight. Of course I forgotten to mention giraffs and elephant in aboundance. The drive was rather hard. We stayed for two nights at IKOMA TENTED CAMP. It is just 3 km outside the boundary of Serengetii. We had a night game drive. We did not see much but we a a great time and fun. IKOMA was very nice. Wonderful sunrises, sounds. We felt great. It is only a little off the road. Next time I would spend the first night somewhere in the southern part of Serengetii and only then go to the north.

DAY 5-7: From Ikoma we went to Ngorongoro. On the way "millions" of zebras,impalas, wildebeasts, topi.We had a good sight of lions (a big family). On the way we went to Olduvai George. In our opinion not worth a visit. We stayed in Sopa Lodge forr 3 nights. A nice place, a little bit touristy but with a nice view of the crater and not too far from the desent road. The following day we had a early morning game drive. In my opinion it is a must to go there early. otherwise there are too many people and you do not enjoy it the most. We had a very good close ups with manned lions (just 3 meters away). The following day we wnt to Olmoti Crater. We took a ranger from the Sopa Lodge. The trip is great and worth going. Treking is easy and very rewarding. There is a village nearby with a school. I went there. I asked the teacher whether I could see a class. So, I visited a clas, spoke with the pupils and had a 15 minuts talk to the class. There were 80 pupils in the clas. So, remember this if you want to byu them something (like pens or pencils). The third day we went to Tarangire Park. In all next time I would stay only 2 nights in Ngorongoro.
DAY 8: We arrived in Tarangire PARk. At the begining it was very promissing. Large herds of elephants. But as we drove to SOpa Lodge we noticed that at this time of the year Tarangire is almost devoid of animal life. At least we have not seen buch (but some elephants). It is very hot there. And uch tse-tse fly which are almost impossible to kill. And Tarangire is hot, realy hot (in comparison with Lake Manyara and Serengetti).
We spent a night in Sopa which is ok. They have a nice pool.
The following day we drove to Arusha and stayed in IMPALa gain. This time we got better rooms. Then we left for Zanznibar. But Zanzibar is a different story. Maybe next time. If you have any questions I will be pleased to answer.

Thanks for your report!

Thanks for the report. The cheetah encounter had to be wonderful.

<font color="GREEN"><i>&quot;On the way we went to Olduvai George. In our opinion not worth a visit.&quot;</i></font>

Agreed, at least for me. Though I know for many seeing the area that is supposedly the 'cradle of civilization' is a big highlight. yawn ((A))

Where is Ikoma camp? Western serengeti? or northern?

Hari

Ikoma Camp is in the northern part of Serengeti, c. 40 km from Seronera.

Ikoma is sited between Western and Northern, closer to Western. Northwest from Seronera.

ok. Thanks

Hope you'll tell us about Zanzibar too!