allycb

Really enjoyed the photoshow - it brought back some great memories.

raelond

Yooper1 your slideshow was great! I plan to stay at Kirurumu, Olakira and Kisimi Ngeda next March. I got three quotes, two from operators in Tanzania and one from the US based on 2007 prices. Two were within a few dollars of each other and one was $127. higher.
When comparing what people paid for their safaris, you have to make sure you are comparing similar type properties. Mobile camps such as Olakira are going to cost more than Serena or Sopa lodges.

hguy47

I guess like so many things, luxury is in the eye of the beholder. Leely said she thinks Sayari and Olakira are "luxurious." Having recently stayed at Olakira, I would not say it is luxurious by absolute tent standards, at least not when compared to other tented camps we have stayed at. But remember that Olakira is a mobile tented camp, so it can't really be expected to be as nice as many of the permanent tented camps. There is a bucket shower and a chemical toilet, which are contained within separate small areas of the tent, and the sink (with a bucket to dip from for cold water) is in a corner of the tent. Having said all that, the tent was fine, the food and service were very good, and we liked it very much, and would recommend it, particularly if it is in the middle of the migration as it was at the end of February this year.

giblum

To give some defense to Good Earth, we just booked them for July 2008 (yes 2008). The advantage - they were able to confirm all lodges and luxury camps within a few hours and of receiving my request and I gave them a deposit this morning. When I spoke with the agent today, he said my booking was so easy because it was made so far in advance.

cmlong

Well, after a week of back and forth with Green Footprints, I was able to pin them down, and they admitted that none of the lodging options they've been discussing with us has been checked for availbility, even though I expressed my concern about finding lodging with availability from the start.

But Good Earth has come through with confirmations, some locations downgraded but most we are now happy with, so we have now made our deposit and we are good to go!

The reason we weren't thrilled with Lobo, by the way, is it is or will be undergoing renovations. But hopefully it will be ok.

Our itinerary works out:

Day 1: arrive, Moivaro Coffee Lodge
Day 2-7: Trek Kilimanjaro, camping
Day 8: Arusha to Tarangire. Game drive in Tarangire then later drive to overnight in Manyara. Kirurumu Tented Camp
Day 9: Game drives in Manyara. Kirurumu Tented Camp
Day 10: drive to Ngorongoro. game drive in the crater. Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge
Day 11: More game drive(s) in the crater. Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge
Day 12: Drive to Serengeti, optional visit of Masai Village and Olduvai Gorge. Afternoon game drive in Serengeti. Seronera Wildlife Lodge
Day 13: Drive to Northern Serengeti. Game drives. Lobo Wildlife Lodge
Day 14: More game drives in Serengeti. Lobo Wildlife Lodge
Day 15: Morning game drive, then fly to Arusha. Evening flight.

As I said we are booked, and very relieved it came together. Last thing Good Earth is looking into is availability for 1 night in Tarangire instead of 2 at Manyara, but not sure if thats a good idea, as we're really into birding, so want to spend time at Manyara, and there is a plus to staying 2 consecutive nights at the same place vs the extra move.

morgiane

i'm glad things have worked out for you! I had concerns when you were having issues.

We, like giblum, booked through Good Earth a year in advance (for this July) and had no problems. In my experience, Narry from GE has been wonderful, responsive and helpful.

of course - this being our honeymoon trip I am extra paranoid of things going wrong...so i am nervous about lodgings getting switched or things like that - but I am hopeful that this is not the case.

anyway, congratulations on your booking!

Patty

Congrats on finalizing your booking! Please post a report when you return.

cmlong

Well, we had a booking confirmation listing Moivaro, now G.E. says that isn't confirmed yet, and meanwhile we are in Impala until Moivaro Coffee Lodge is confirmed. Well, I'm not too concerned about that, I was more worried about the safari lodges & camps. Hopefully we wont get bumped from any of them, as we've heard does happen sometimes.

Great slideshow, Yooper. Which route did you use for Kilimanjaro??