Sep 2006 Tanzania itinerary, need help!
 

We are first timers, after much research and reading we decided to go with ATR. We are traveling from Sep 13th til Oct 3rd.
This is our itinerary:
-Arusha, Moivaro lodge 1 night
-Tarangire, Mawe Ninga camp 2 nights
-Karatu, gibbs farm 1 night
-llmisigiyo village, camping 1 night
-South Serengeti, Olduvai tented camp 1 night
-Central Serengeti, Ronjo Flycamp 1 night
-Serengeti Mara Triangle, Sayari camp 2 nights
-Stonetown, Dhow Palace 1 night
- Zanzibar, Matemwe beach, 8 nights
for two people $8,550.00, please comment on price, accommodation choices, and time of year to visit this parks. We appreciate your input.
Jessica

There are some very seasoned travelers on this forum, so you should get some good feedback. For 18 nights and $4200pp doesn't sound out of line, pretty good. Don't know some of those camps and the village you mentioned, though.
Assuming you are going on a private safari and driving between locations?
Didn't see mentioned of Ngorongoro. Will you be doing any game drives there?

Gibb's was one location that caught my attention for a good homecooked meal and atmosphere. Also was a good break between park to allow time to enjoy.

I've also decided on ATR for a trip this December.

The itinerary shows 4 consecutive one night stays. I've got 2 back to back myself. Have you thought about combining a couple of those nights so you don't have to move/pack up so frequently? Maybe it due to availability at the camps. Just a thought.

Jessica-

From a cost stand point, I think you are doing quite ok. My main concern is the 8 nights in Zanzibar, and quite a few single nights out on safari. I would have less locations and more time to enjoy the location that you are at. I would do something like this:

Arusha - 1
Tarangire - 2
Gibbs - 1
Ngorongoro 1 or 2
Central Serengeti - 2 or 3
Lemai wedge (mara triangle area) - 4
Stone Town - 1
Matemwe or Nungwi - 3

Your cost will certainly go up, as Zanzibar costs are much less than safari costs. My first time to Zanzibar was incredible, but 8 days on the same beach would drive me nuts.

The Olduvai (Oldupai is the real Maasai word) tented camp is not good in September, as there isn't that much resident wildlife to view during the extreme dry season. My vote is to skip the camp and spend another in the central Serengeti. Even though there are more vehicles in the Seronera region, there are a ton of resident animals there, and you are more likely to see leopards in the central region than any other area.

I hope this helps!

Andy

thanks for all your input. We are doing game drives in Ngorongoro crater after leaving gibbs farm and before going to sleep at llmisigiyo village which is supposed to be 1 hr away. I am going to request to add a night at one of the Ngorongoro lodges, skip the south Serengeti, add 1 night to Central and 1 to North Serengeti, and cut on Zanzibar nights, to align more to what you suggested. We are scuba diving in Zanzibar, so this should take some of our time. Has anyone scuba dive here? any recommendations???

Jessica - since you are working with ATR already, might ask to talk with Tony Fishlock from ATR who, from their web, is the scuba expert. Go to the ATR link, select about us in lower right panel, then pick link to "who we are".