surfmom

Hi Leely! yes, we had a fabulous trip. It was all we expected and more.

Gamewatchers booked us in a combination of their own properties - Porini Rhino as well as other camps... a bit more luxurious. The most luxurious was probably our least favorite.

editing my thousands of photos now....

Lucia254

Wow, you must be really anxious about your trip. Am sure you gonna love it. I would suggest visit a local maasai home than the ones setup for tourists... It is more natural and captivating

janellebc

Okay,
Think we have narrowed our interest to Tanzania. Probably 4-5 day safari.
Been looking online several sites. Anyone had experience with Tanzania Expeditions?? Looks like there will be a total of 4 of us traveling together. The TE offers what appears to perfect trips that decrease in price by the number of folks booking together.
Any feedback would be appreciated!!

LyndaS

Janelle, I just have to jump in here to say hi to an old friend that I see has posted here as I haven't been around for awhile - but first as mom said it is rude to not answer the original poster if replying, I will throw in my opinion - After 5 safaris I feel that Kenya is a fabulous destination for first time safari goers! We have been to South Africa once, and Kenya/Tanzania 4 times. Our fifth time in East Africa was to be a Kenya only (well OK, we did throw in Zambia and Zimbabwe at the last moment)at this very moment, however, a serious health problem stepped in on April 25th and we had to cancel our May 13th month long trip. I just talked to our friends in Amboseli today, they of course are having the time of their lives even though we are not there.

But all that being said - Tanzania too is an excellent first time choice, but my heart seems to belong in Kenya.

And now to say hi to an old friend - HELLO LEELY! Over the last couple of years I have been on the board occasionally to read posts, but have not seen many of the 'oldies but goodies' - I think of you often!

Leely2

janelle, TZ is a great destination, but 4-5 days is pretty short, distances between parks are long and travel can be rough/slow. Are you planning to fly or drive?

HI LYNDA! I am sad to read that a health problem forced you and Jim to cancel your trip. I hope you are all doing much better now.

I've not been back to Kenya in almost five (five!) years so I too am mostly off the board. Work has kind of gobbled up this sort of trip for me for the time being; I can't really plan things much in advance these days. Hoping maybe 2019... Like you, for some reason my heart belongs to Kenya. You may remember that I went to Tanzania for my first two safaris but there's just something about Kenya...

KathBC

Having been to both Kenya and Tanzania I can also agree that Kenya wins hands down with me too!

4-5 days is not nearly enough time to even do the northern circuit in Tanzania if going by vehicle. You don't want to be packing up & moving every day. The preference is to stay a minimum of 2 nights at any one camp.

Why don't you post the itinerary you're looking at so we can provide some feedback on it. Sometimes the safari packages spend way too much time in transit and not enough time actually on a game drive.

Not clear where you are flying from but if coming from North America that's an awful long way to go for a 4-5 day safari unless you have something else included in your itinerary.

KathBC

Oops just saw you're in California...I'm on the west coast of Canada...a very long way to fly for 4-5 days.

Will you be including time at a beach anywhere such as Zanzib if TZ is your choice?

michele_d

We are combining our safari with a Nile cruise. Figured since I was flying all the way from California I would cross something else off my bucket list.

janellebc

We will be stopping in Amsterdam 2 days prior and 2 days post Africa to help,with the time difference. Thank you for the advice re 2 days per stay on safari...makes perfect sense. Will look into longer stops or fly between camps.
Thank you everyone for your input!! I will post more when I have a better handle on the possible itinerary

KathBC

I also like to stop somewhere in Europe to break up the flight and adjust to the time change. So take the 2 days in Amsterdam going there however one night on your return home should be enough, yoh can always sleep when you get home, then add that day somewhere in Africa.

It would be good to know why you chose Tanzania as it would give us a better idea of what you're looking for.

If there's 4 of you it might be worthwhile to look into sharing the cost of hiring your own vehicle and guide and making your own itinerary. You may find the cost just marginally more but you'd get what you want rather than a company's set itinerary.

I did the northern circuit in TZ over 6 days on my own with a driver & vehicle starting in Arusha then flew to my next destination from the Serengeti. Warrior Trails was the tour operator I used out of Arusha and I was very happy with them.

Clamian the owner is a Maasai so we stopped in his village along the way for a real cultural experience.

amyb

At least coming from the US, if you connect in Europe you always arrive in Kenya or Tanzania just in time for bed. I just push through the long travel day knowing that when I get there I go right to sleep, which actually helps me with jetlag. Then I wake the next morning and am off to the savannah first thing. I only get 2 weeks off at a time and want to maximize the time in Africa. Laying over anywhere in Europe always means packing for a second climate too, at least when I travel in February, so that's another consideration.

I agree with Kath though, you really ought to look into private safari especially if there are four of you. You'll be able to set your own itinerary, daily schedule and stay or move along at sightings as you four wish, not at the whim of a larger group.

janellebc

Thank you will put some feelers out ....
My traveling buddy I'd Dutch so that's why the stop over both ways of the trip. I've never been to Amsterdam-should be interesting

janellebc

KathBC-
Can you give me a ballpark number for the price for your described trip??

KathBC

That first trip was 6 years ago so I imagine prices have changed since.

A private vehicle with driver/guide could be around $250 - $350 per day but when you divide that by four it's well worth it to make your own itinerary and do exactly what you want and when. Maybe someone here can give you a more current rate.

Most tour operators get preferred rates from certain properties. Give them your budget and they'll provide you with accommodation options. Then go to Africa Travel Resource (lots of photos) and Trip Advisor and choose which places speak to you the most and are within your budget. List them here and ask for feed back.

Do yourself a favour and stay in at least one tented camp. Altho a bit pricier than a lodge they really are the best way to experience Africa and get you that much closer to the real deal.

Click on my name and you should be able to find my trip report where you can skip to the Tanzania part.

Be prepared for the addiction to Africa so many of us here have...it's contagious!

amyb

In the last couple years Tanzania has implemented a value added tax, so prices at camps are noticeably higher than they were even when I went a few years ago, making TZ a more expensive option than it used to be. My safari in 2013 was about $400 pp per night for four of us, with a private vehicle and driver/guide for the entire time. My trip report is also on here.

I second the suggestion to talk to Africa Travel Resource, they will give you an itemized itinerary. I also think very highly of Access2Tanzania, with whom I went in 2013. If you give them a budget and your travel style, they will come up with a suitable itinerary, and you'll be in their vehicles and with their employed guides, not subcontracted out to an unknown entity on the ground in TZ.

surfmom

we adjusted to the time easily on the way to Kenya - with just a 3 hour layover in Frankfurt. We arrived in Nairobi at 8pm, got out of the airport, and to our hotel, ordered room service and crashed. Woke up the next morning on local time. Had we stopped en route, it would have felt like "killing time", because all flights from Europe arrive in the evening.

On the way back, it was brutal - we left Nairobi at 10pm, arrived Frankfurt at 5:30am and had until 1pm for our US bound flight. We got a day room at one of the connected hotels in Frankfurt. It was wonderful to shower, put on clean clothes, eat breakfast from the club lounge, use a normal desk for work/studying/reading.

But we did it that way to maximize our time in Kenya. I would do it that way again. We were on the ground 11 days in Kenya - loved having time to do so much.

PJTravels

Here's another tip of the hat to Kili McGowen at Next Adventure. We returned a week ago from our first trip to Africa which she put together for us. (Stay tuned for the TR.)

Kili listens! Her proposals came in at our target budget, and she put together a series of safari camps which gave us a great variety of experiences in animals and terrain.

We interviewed 3 companies at the outset:
Ker Downey's agent did not listen to our objectives, came in way over our target budget, and kept suggesting expensive add-ons. Fish Eagle, out of Houston, was incredibly responsive and provided a lot of food for thought. They also came in at our target budget. We opted for Kili for the already stated reasons, plus she is based in our hometown. It was great to be able to meet with her face to face.

janellebc

Thank you everyone for the great suggestions. I will meet up with my travel buddy and go over the options.
I'm so excited to have the chance to do such a trip!
I'm sure I will be back with more questions.
Happy weekend all!

janellebc

Amyb!!
I have contacted access2tanzinia-they want to give credit to who recommended their group. If you are interested in getting some discount on your next trip give me your info so I can pass it on.

KibungaAtidu

Hello Janelle, lots of suggestions have been made to you but have you got any about Uganda, if not then think about it because going to Africa and you miss out on visiting Uganda, the Pearl of Africa, may leave your story incomplete if you were to narrate to some one about Africa. Still I have some great operator I could recommend as best for you in not only Ugandan Safaris but also East Africa at large.
kind regards,
Atidu.