hguy47

Based to a great extent on invaluable information gleaned from this Fodor’s forum, we (two couples in our 50’s) have set what I think is a fairly standard itinerary for the Tanzania northern circuit for late February – early March of 2007, with only the 2-night stay at Kambi Ya Tembo in the West Kili/Sinya area being somewhat unusual. We have already been fortunate enough to get some good advice from Sandi and others (many thanks), but as a final “sanity check” we would appreciate it if you would take a look at the following and give us your thoughts. FYI, my wife and I have been to SA and Botswana (mostly Wilderness Safari camps) in 2003, and loved it, especially the “tented” camps (although I realize the TZ camps we have chosen won’t compare to some of the Botswana camps (Tubu Tree, Little Mombo)). The other couple are Afri-newbies.

Day 1 – arrive around 9:00 p.m. at Kilimanjaro Airport, transfer to nearby for overnight (Kia Lodge)
Day 2 – drive to West Kili/Sinya area, stay at Kambi Ya Tembo – Elephant Camp. KYT will do their own transfers from and back to Arusha, then we start using an operator for the remainder of the trip. At this point, we are considering Sunny Safaris, African Serendipity, and Good Earth. We included KYT in the itinerary for the isolation, topography, few people, and informal Maasai exposure.
Day 3 – full day at Kambi Ya Tembo – Elephant Camp
Day 4 – transfer to Arusha, switch to new operator for remainder of safari. Lunch in Arusha, drive to Tarangire, stay at Oliver’s Camp (opted for Oliver’s over Tarangire River Camp) Game walk and/or night drive while at Oliver’s
Day 5 – full day at Tarangire -- Oliver’s Camp
Day 6 – drive to Lake Manyara, stay at Manyara Serena Lodge
Day 7 – drive to Ngorongoro Crater, staying at Ngorongoro Serena Lodge We are considering the Green Footprints bike ride/village tour for this day. Is a single half-day crater tour enough?
Day 8 – half-day crater tour starting early morning, then drive to Ndutu area with stop at Olduvai Gorge, stay at Olakira Camp
Day 9 – Ndutu area, at Olakira Camp
Day 10 – Ndutu area, at Olakira Camp
Day 11 – Drive to Central Serengeti, stay at Serengeti Serena Lodge Or would you suggest Mbuzi Mawe? They’re about the same price, but lodge vs. tented camp. Can you do the hot air balloon ride from Mbuzi Mawe?
Day 12 – Central Serengeti, perhaps with hot air balloon ride – Serengeti Serena Lodge (or Mbuzi Mawe?)
Day 13 – fly back to Arusha, then either fly home or to Dar Es Salaam, if we add an extension to Zanzibar)

If feasible and worthwhile, we might want to do a couple of the Green Footprint activities (canoeing at Small Momella Lake in ANP, bush dinner and night game drive at Manyara, biking trip and village tour near Manyara). We are thinking about adding one night in Arusha (Kingongoni Lodge?) at the end of the safari to do the canoeing at Small Momella Lake. Any thoughts re these?

We’re also thinking about adding a 3-night extension to Zanzibar. We would like to stay at a reasonably nice place with a beach, a pool, and air conditioning, if feasible. Any suggestions?

Thanks for any opinions, comments, or suggestions. I can already hardly wait.

Leely

Well, if money's no object--I say that because you've been to Botswana -- why not another camp in Manyara rather than the Manyara Serena Lodge?

For Serengeti, anything in the Seronera will feel less exotic than what you've just experienced in Ndutu, but the Serena will put you closer to the game-rich Seronera circuit than Mbuzi Mawe. Not to mention being closer to ballooning. Mbuzi Mawe is a tented camp, however, and isn't going to cost much more. It's a toss up.

Your best chance for rhinos is in the Crater. It's up to you whether you'd like two half-days or one. Personally, one is enough for me; it's quite beautiful but of course very crowded with tourists. I think the bike trip sounds interesting!

I have just arranged for the Arusha NP canoeing, hike and game drive with Green Footprints. We'll be doing this in June, so if you hold off a while I can let you know how it goes.

We stayed at a little place called Sunrise Guest House on Zanzibar, but I think it's probably too downmarket for most Fodorites. Other options we considered were Pongwe and Matemwe Village--don't think either of these have A/C though.

Sounds like a fun trip. I'd love to stay at Oliver's and Kambi Ya Tembo and Olakira and and and.

My diagnosis? You're sane.

santharamhari

Can i get more info on Olaikira camp in Ndutu, pl? Is there a website? Is it a new camp?

Thanks
Hari

lovetodiscover

Hari - think Olakira is the mobile camp called Sayari at other times of the year - an Asilia lodge/camp. Here's a link with some information: http://www.africanmeccasafaris.com/t...pserengeti.asp

hguy47 -- what a great trip and opportunity to relax and have a nice slow bike ride in Ngorongoro (but will it be too hot to bike?) and see the migration in Ndutu ++ all the cultural benefits too.
Have you decided to try out any of the fly camping? Have to admit that's too adventurous for me, but its possible its offered at both Olivers and Olakira.
For Ngorongoro you could play it by ear and do a game drive one the afternoon you arrive and if you see what you want to see, take the bike tour the next morning when it's cooler.
Leely's right about the camps. For March you might be better off in central serengeti to be closer to the predators and be located in seronera area where the balloon rides depart. We chose Mbuzi Mawe in early January just in case the migration isn't as far South as Ndutu area at that time of year. Does look like a wonderful camp though and I would prefer a tent in seregeti to a lodge. Do you mind driving for an hour to get to central Seronera area from Mbuzi Mawe so you can have the tented experience? If not, that's a good choice.
I've also inquired about ANP day trip from Green Footprints. Canoeing sounds good combination to close out the safari. But don't know about Zanzibar.
You've made a great addition with KYT - making me jealous!
As Leely suggests at Manyara - might be fun to pick a single night stay/upgrade to one of the CCA lodgings. Entirely your choice on what's most important to you and your budget trade-offs.

Leely - look forward to hearing about the day trip with Green Fooprints.

You've done well hguy47.

matnikstym

here you go Hari-
www.imagineafrica.co.uk/Content.asp?PageID=496

santharamhari

Thanks for the info, guys.

Hari

bat

hguy:
Looks like a good itinerary to me. I agree with what Leely and lovetodiscover said about the Serena vs Mbuzi Mawe--there are trade-offs. MM is further north (which is not a plus at that time of year "normally&quot. Have you read rocco's trip report about his stay at MM? Yes, you can take the balloon ride--you have to depart earlier to get to the launch location.

Re Manyara, the CCAfrica lodge, although lovely by all accounts, is too far into the Park for a one night stay. Another choice would be Kirurumu.

Looks like a wonderful trip.

bat

PS re Zanzibar--I have seen Breezes, Blue Bay, and Ras Nungwi mentioned regularly when aircon is requested.

We enjoyed our canoeing trip with Green Footprints.

bat

I just had a thought about the Manyara Serena--you may be receiving a discount for staying 4 nights at Serena properties--so you might want to double check on that before switching--besides you will have your 2 nights at Oliver's and 3 nights at Olakira as an offset to the lodges.

Patty

I was under the impression that Olakira and Sayari were two different camps both run by Asilia (kind of like Nomad Loliondo and Nomad Serengeti), so I'm curious why there's no mention of Olakira on www.asilialodges.com only Sayari.

bat

patty:
Perhaps just haven't updated the website because Olakira started 12/05? I remember Paul oliver writing about it.

http://www.paul-oliver.com/safaris/s...s_olakira.html

Patty

Good point, bat. It just seems like we've known about it for a long time thanks to Eben.

hguy47

Thanks to everyone for your responses, they have assured me we’re not nuts and have made a couple of decisions easier. I should clear up a couple of things that my initial post accidentally confused.

Leely –

My apologies to the English teachers -- the sentences in my Day 7 description were poorly organized and led you to a proper but inaccurate conclusion. The bike trip is not after we get to the Crater, but rather leaves from the Manyara area (Green Footprints picks us up at the Serena) in the morning of Day 7, and goes down the Rift Valley into a village, where we can take a tour and have lunch at a local home. Then in the afternoon it’s on to Ngorongoro.

One reason we decided on Manyara Serena, as Bat mentioned, is that Treetops is so far into the park that we couldn’t easily get to Manyara Serena (where the bike trip starts) early enough on the morning of Day 7. Furthermore, I certainly didn’t mean to give the impression that money was no object – after all, I’m not Rocco – and the price tag for Treetops is pretty steep. Kirurumu would have been OK location-wise, but we’ve scheduled this lodge after four nights at tented camps to give us a quick break (as we have scheduled the Serengeti Serena after 3 days at Olakira). As I mentioned, the other couple have never been on safari, so I didn’t want them to be subjected to a “full emersion” bush experience without a chance for a little more familiar lodging type – but who knows, they probably would have loved it.

Based on comments from a few of you, we’ve now settled on the Serena in the central Serengeti instead of Mbuzi Mawe, for proximity, game, and balloonability.

After a little more reflection (so many wonderful choices), we may add one night in Arusha (maybe at Kigongoni Lodge) between the stops at Kambi Ya Tembo and Tarangire, to break up the drive and fit in the canoeing at ANP more conveniently.

Y’all have already filled in Hari about Olakira, so I’ll leave it at that.

Thanks again, time for me to pull the trigger, I guess, on the safari part, and then think about a Zanzibar extension soon.

lovetodiscover

hguy - interested in learning which operator you've picked. Do I have a bad memory and you've told us already? So many options for Tanzania safaris.

Your decision to add a stop enroute to Tarangire and also to stay at Serena are sound. This next step took me a few weeks from advising the operator "it's a go" and giving my credit card for guarantee as they secured formal confirmation for each accommodation. So it is possible it will be as long for you to actually make your down payment. You've probably experienced this before if you did private safaris.

Enjoy talking, planning and readying your friends for the trip.

bat

hguy:
You have done well for your friends--and you!

BonnieN

to see rhino in the crater, since your vehicle must stay on the roads, you must leave your crater accomodation EARLY, like at dawn, since it takes 20-30 minutes to get down to the bottom by vehicle and you can catch the rhinos as they are crossing the road to spend the day in the grassy fields (not so near to even binox range).

Bonnie

lovetodiscover

Bonnie thanks - which entry route are they closest to (one by Sopa or one by Serena?)?

cybor

Loveto:
We saw our Rhino close to the center of the park at the end of the day. We were close enough to see this beautiful male spray. I actually have pics. of his mist - very exciting.
We barely just made it to the gate for our exit.

hguy47

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. We’ve finally settled on our itinerary and told our operator to try to get confirmations, hopefully we’re far enough ahead to get our preferred camps and lodges. We ultimately chose Sunny Safaris as the operator, with Africa Serendipity a close second and Good Earth third. All of them have good reputations and were responsive, But Sunny is Tanzania-based, was somewhat less expensive (enough to be a factor) than the others, promised us one of their new green Land Cruisers (not shown on the website, they sent me pictures), and hopefully the guide of our choice (to be selected later).

We did add one night at Kigongoni Lodge between Kambi Ya Tembo and Tarangire to break up the long drive and do the Green Footprint canoeing in Arusha NP. We are also doing the GF bush dinner and night drive at Manyara, the bike ride and village tour from Manyara, probably a hike when we get to Ngorongoro (instead of the afternoon crater tour), and the balloon ride in the Serengeti (what the heck, it’s only money). Re lovetodiscover’s suggestion re fly camping, since the only place we are staying more than 2 nights is at Olakira and they don’t offer fly camping from their Ndutu location, it’s not very practical to do that, although we would have liked to. We’re still thinking about Zanzibar.

Only 274 days to wait, but who’s counting. I have not started packing yet, but I will be starting my list soon. And I need to buy a video camera to add to my digital camera. And so many other things to do.

BonnieN

not sure which entry we used, but we bolted down the side of the crator. I had to reclose my door and our driver did not even slow down -- worth it as we just caught a rhino crossing the road, but kept our distance.
bonnie