Hi all,

New to the forums but very excited, really hoping you all can give me some advice. I will be in Tanzania in September and am in the process of planning a safari (have emailed a million operators), but could use some opinions. It looks like we'll have 5 nights (there'll just be two of us, and we want to keep it a private safari), starting September 19th (we'll actually be around Moshi the night before, so was curious if anyone knows what a taxi from Moshi to Arusha runs). Below is what I am thinking is a good itinerary given what we are interested in. It seems that Tarangire is supposed to be great at this time of year, so that's why was thinking to spend 1.5-2 days there, but do you think we'd be better off just sticking to one day there and heading straight to the Serengeti? I know I've heard varying things about Manyara, but I've always wanted to see it. Manyara's close enough to Tarangire that if you left Tarangire early you could easily do a morning drive in Manyara, right? Now in terms of the Serengeti, it seems that at this time of year, given the time we have, it will be best to stick to the northern Serengeti, does that sound right (maybe will have opportunity to drive through Central, but for the nights)?

Finally, in terms of accommodations, I think we've decided we don't want to to budget camping, but are open to pretty much anything else. I absolutely love the idea of "luxury" mobile camping and/or permanent tented camps, but those unfortunately seem prohibitively expensive, so I have a feeling we'll have to stick to the lodges. I think we've decided on Sopa lodge in Ngorongoro, as we'd like to be right on the crater and it sounds a lot better than the Wildlife lodge (and just as good or better than Serena). I heard about a nice sounding place right outside Tarangire (which actually appears to be one of these permanent tented camps and reasonably priced) - Whistling Thorn Camp. Has anyone heard of this or been there? The Serengeti is what I know the least about and am very curious to hear people's opinions. Also, any idea folks have of how much an itinerary like this should reasonably be cost would be great.

*19 September - leave on safari, full day in Tarangire, night Whistling Thorn Camp
*20 September - morning in Tarangire, afternoon either walk near Tarangire (this has been offered by one of the operators) OR canoe trip in Lake Manyara (have people done this? is this a good time? someone said there might not be enough water), night Whistling Thorn Camp OR Manyara
*21 September - morning in Manyara, drive to Serengeti (hoping there's time for game drive there that afternoon), night Serengeti (where?)
*22 September - full day in Serengeti, night Serengeti (where?)
*23 September - morning drive in Serengeti, drive to Ngorongoro, afternoon drive in crater, night at Ngorongoro Sopa
*24 September - morning drive in crater, transfer back to Arusha

Whew, sorry for the long-winded post, but I'm really hoping to get this right. Any advice folks can give is most appreciated. Thanks so much in advance!

-Sascha

I haven't been to the Serengeti, so the advice I can give for your trip is limited, but... based on my trip to Tanzania last October, I would definitely recommend Tarangire. If you're making a choice between one day each in Tarangire and Lake Manyara or two days in one of these parks, I would choose more time in Tarangire (especially if you're fond of elephants!). Remember to factor in your travel time from place to place when deciding how many days to spend in each. The location of the camps/lodges you choose will have a big bearing on that -- for instance, on your first day, how much of that time will be spent driving to Tarangire?

Having said that, I did enjoy Lake Manyara and had a fantastic night game drive there. I don't know about the canoeing there, but I spent an afternoon canoeing in Arusha National park and really enjoyed it. We also had a fun walking safari in Tarangire. Unfortunately, there are too many fun things to do in Tanzania!

But I do think you should seriously consider how much time you want to spend driving from place to place, if you only have 5 days. That will eat up a LOT of your safari time. Have you looked into flying part of the way (perhaps making your way to the Serengeti by road and stopping at the Crater on the way there, then flying back from the Serengeti at the end)?

As others have mentioned, with only 5/days and if you wish to possibly catch some of the migration, you'll have to think "flight" somewhere.

In Sept it's possible to catch those wildies that don't cross into Kenya in the very north. However, there are few low-cost (or mid-price) options up this way; consider Lobo Lodge in the northeast, a lovely area, but can't guarantee any of the migration.

Besides, whether the overnight prior this part of the Serengeti is at the Crater, Manyara or Tarangire... you'll spend a full day driving... seriously should stop mid-way for you and guide/driver safety.

You can certainly visit both Tarangire and Manyara if you don't mind 1/nighters. Drive time from Arusha to Tarangire is 2-2.5/hrs. From Tarangire to Manyara, assuming you stay at a lodge/camp at the northern part of Tarangire (Whistling Thorn - 5/traditional small safari tents immediately outside the park; River Camp - also immediately outside park, but great site overlooking the river, about 15/tents beautifully appointed and should be about same price as Whistling Thorn) - drive time is 2/hrs. Here, Kirurumu or E-Unoto are nice properties.

So, that's 2/days. From Manyara you can easily get to Ngorongoro (about 2/hrs) for afternoon crater tour and overnight; Sopa or Serena are good choices. Next morning you can do another crater tour then depart for Central Serengeti, which with water sources has game year-round, especially predators.

From here, next morning you can continue to Northern Serengeti for remainder of safari which will be only 1/day. Then fly back to Arusha.

Day 1 - Drive to Tarangire - o/n
Day 2 - Drive to Manyara - o/n
Day 3 - Drive to Ngorongoro - o/n
Day 4 - Drive to C.Serengeti - o/n
Day 5 - Drive to N.Serengeti - o/n
Day 6 - Fly to Arusha

Of course, you can do this routing in reverse - fly to northern Serengeti where guide/vehicle meets you and work your way back.

Personally, too much driving (which is long and quite tiring, dusty and bumpy) when you can instead be game viewing.

I wouldn't go any farther than Central Serengeti, as:

Day 1 - Drive to Manyara - o/n
Day 2 - Drive to C.Serengeti - o/n
Day 3 - C.Serengeti - o/n
Day 4 - Early morning depart for drive to Ngorongoro; afternoon crater tour - o/n
Day 5 - Drive to Tarangire - o/n
Day 6 - Drive to Arusha

Ideally, you need another day or two so you're not rushing thru and barely remembering the experience.

Thanks all for the very helpful responses so far, I really appreciate it.

Given all this, and considering that it was not necessarily the migration that I was after (I'm sure I'll be back one day at a more opportune time for that, I was just thinking that the Serengeti is supposed to be so amazing all the time so should try to go), I'm thinking perhaps I should just cut out the Serengeti. Seems like it would make things much more leisurely and enjoyable.

So now I'm thinking maybe 2 nights in Tarangire, one in Manyara, 1 in Karatu (the places there sound really nice) and 1 on the Crater. Does this look like a more reasonable itinerary?

*19 September - Tarangire, night Whistling Thorn or River Camp (it does seem Whistling Thorn's a bit less, and I heard they're very good and local)
*20 September - Tarangire, night same
*21 September - Manyara, night Kirurumu, Migunga Forest(?), or E Unoto
*22 September - Manyara in morning, overnight at Gibb's Farm or Plantation Lodge (any preferences?)
*23 September - 6 hours in Ngorongoro, overnight at Sopa
*24 September - 6 hours in crater, return to Arusha

Seems like this makes a lot more sense, yeah?

To me, I would rather pay the extra money and stay somewhere nice than to pay for the flights.

In terms of the walks, yes, I realize that you cannot actually walk in the parks, but it seems like it would still be fun at these places (i.e. Whistling Thorn) that almost border the parks (and I believe it's included there anyway). I'm really hoping the canoing works out.

Anyway, I think I may have to go this route, seems a lot more reasonable, but please do keep the suggestions coming and let me know what you all think of my drastically revised itinerary.

Thanks!

That looks much better to me and is what I was going to suggest if you didn't want to add flights.

The two trips into the Crater will cost you quite a bit. It seems like the fees are $100. Check with the outfitter you're using and see if they are being allowed to stay in the Crater all day with a picnic lunch. If it's not too busy, you might be able to stay there all day on 9/23. What I'd do is stay at the Sopa that night, if there is availability. That would allow you to get down in the Crater early and possibly stay all day. Then, you could stay down in the Karatu area the next night. I enjoyed my stay at the Plantation Lodge, but I usually prefer Ngorongoro Farmhouse.

Thanks again to all for the helpful replies. I think I've tweaked it a bit more even (a little less moving around) and wanted to see how folks thought this sounds. And yes, I realize the two crater tours are pricey (I think it might even be $200 each time), but I know that they only allow you six hours at a time, so I just want to do two full six hour tours, rather than try to go for a full day and pay twice and get only maybe 8-10 hours, and I definitely think it's worth it for two six hour tours, that's the one place I've been, and I just remember how amazing it was.

So what do folks think of this?

*19 September - leave for safari (pick up/departure from Moshi if possible, if not we can make our way to Arusha), visit Tarangire NP, overnight at Boundary Hill Lodge (anyone been here?), Tarangire River Camp, or Whistling Thorn Camp
*20 September - Tarangire again, walk in afternoon if possible (I know you can't walk in parks, but at Whistling Thorn they do walks right outside), same overnight accommodation
*21 September - day in Manyara NP (arrive as early as possible), canoing there in afternoon if enough water, night at Gibb's Farm (I think it really sounds great)
*22 September - possible early morning game drive in Manyara, breakfast and lunch at Gibb's Farm, hang out there, that afternoon drive to Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge
*23 September - 6 hr crater tour in Ngorongoro Crater, hang out at lodge, same overnight
*24 September - another 6 hr crater tour, return to Arusha, overnight at Impala Hotel (if they can get a discount on this, that's great, otherwise we can book Arusha accommodation ourselves)

Thanks!

you might wanna check out www.12visitme.com too. Here are nice tips about local people you can help through visiting them

Marc

I just do not see how you site is helpful to someone planning a safari in Tanzania!

Perhaps you should start a new thread and explain how it all works?

To begin with, how do you ensure there is:

No fraud (send me money to build a $90,000 school will need some explaning)?

No safety issues (just contact me - a stranger - and I will show you around)?

No licensing issues - can anyone now be a tour guide regardless of country laws?

marc,

Maybe not the right forum to have posted the website but something I'm going to check out further. It looks interesting.

Sorry to have hi-jacked the OP.