Here it is...Any input would be great!

Day 1: Arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport. Dinner and overnight in Arusha at The Karama Lodge
Day 2: Day trip to Arusha National Park for wildlife viewing with picnic lunches. Afternoon canoeing safari. Dinner and overnight at The Karama Lodge
Day 3: A drive to the Lake Manyara National Park for wildlife viewing with picnic lunches. Dinner and overnight at the Kirurumu Tented Lodge or Ngorongoro Farmhouse
Day 4: After breakfast drive to the Serengeti via Olduvai Gorge. Picnic lunch overlooking the gorge, then game viewing for the rest of the day enroute to the Serengeti Sopa Lodge
Day 5: Explore the central part of the Serengeti (Seronera). Lunch, dinner and overnight at Serengeti Sopa Lodge
Day 6: Drive to Southern Serengeti wildlife viewing enroute to Ndutu with picnic lunches. Dinner and overnight at the Ndutu Safari Lodge
Day 7: After breakfast, game drive in the Ndutu area, lunch then afternoon drive to Ngorongoro via a Maasai village for a visit. Dinner and overnight at Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge
Day 8: Early breakfast and descend into Ngorongoro Crater for game viewing in the Crater. Lunch and drive to Arusha for dinner and overnight at The Karama Lodge (or The African Tulip or Rivertrees Country Inn)*
*Extra night at the Ngorogoro Crater can be arranged to include a second crater descend with a 4wd vehicle or a guided trek in Olmoti Crater - Which one should we do?
Day 9: Breakfast and drive to the Arusha airport for the 1325 flight to Zanzibar. Stone Town for two nights stay at Tembo House Hotel (Bed and Breakfast)
Day 11: Transfer to the north coast, for 8 nights stay at the Matemwe Beach Village.
Days 12 - 18: Days at leisure by the Indian Ocean.Dinner and overnight at the Matemwe Beach Village.
Day 19 (Feb 16): Breakfast and transfer to Zanzibar airport for the flight to Dar es Salaam.

THANKS!

If on Day 8 you decide to overnight in Arusha, best to stay in town - African Tulip; the other two, Karama and Rivertrees out outside of town in the opposite direction of the Arusha airport for your flight to ZNZ.

Thanks sandi. Have you done a trek in Olmoti Crater? Any thoughts on that versus spending another day in the Ngorongoro crater?

Olmoti Crater trek or any trek... not for this gal :) Those that do though enjoy it.

On Day 3, they show your overnight at Kirurumu which is at Manyara or Farmhouse which is right outside Ngorongoro... I'd suggest you o/n at the Farmhouse to shorten drive on Day 4 into the Serengeti. At conclusion of activities in/around Manyara its a good road to the Farmhouse where you can easily arrive before dusk.

Next day you will have saved a good 2/hrs drive time which will be an overall long day.

I agree with Sandi on the Farmhouse stay.

IF the rains have fallen on the plains, you will regret not having spent more time at Ndutu. You can easily enough get to Seronera for a day(Olduvai is a very easy trip or a stop on the way - who know the migration may even be in that area. It was last year at the time I was at Ndutu.), all that is necessary - only real reason to visit Seronera is the best chance to see well habituated Leopards. We just missed seeing one twice around Ndutu last year. Around Ndutu the first & maybe second arrivals will see the Leopard and then they often disappear into bush or gullies. They are very hard to spot. I always told my tourists, "You may not see a Leopard, but I guarentee a Leopard will have seen you." They are a pretty common animal - even a pair living in Nairobi city park (in my day).

Once at Ndutu we were returning to the lodge and came across a Leopard walking down a track. We followed at a respectful distance for a little while. Then all of a sudden the Leopard shot up a tree. Less than a minute later, there were two Lionesses at the base of the tree. The Leopard was easier to see a bit away from the tree - it looked like a very large eagle sitting on the top of the tree.

Hi,

This is my very first post but I'm sure it will be one of many. Your trip to Tanzania sounds good, I'm sure your love it!

I'm from the UK, I went to East Africa for a bit after finishing university and never went home. I'm in Arusha at the moment and really enjoying it.

Let me know if you want to know what hotels or restaurants to go to and how much you should be paying or sort taxi's etc whatever you need, will be happy to help.

Also you mentioned volunteering, I would happily arrange something for you if you let me know what you want to do and how much time you have free, work at an orphanage, school etc. (even if its only a day or so, I'm sure there is something you can get involved with). I can also arrange for you to have lunch with some Masai friends and visit a boma if you want to see a bit of a culture.

Let me know what quotes you have from safari companies, if they are in Arusha I will probably know of them, and more than likely had a drink with the guide/owner at some-point and let you know what they're like. There are some very good companies but also so very bad ones about.

Your love Zanzibar, again let me know if you want to know where to go. Stone Town and the North of the island are two very different places but both really worth a visit.

Hope you have a great trip!
Matt

Hi Matt!
We are hoping to volunteer for 4 days at the beginning of our trip. Is there a website that I can take a look at? I would love to get some more information from you. Thanks :0

I would be interested in volunteer opportunities also so look forward to your reply Matt.

Where are most of the volunteer opportunities located? Arusha? We plan to volunteer for 4-5 days after the safari and Zanzibar. I'm trying to decide where to fly to from Zanzibar and also if I should book a departure flight back to Seattle/Vancouver from Kilimanjaro or Dar Es Salaam...

My understanding is that volunteer opportunities in Tz exist just about everywhere. I think you have 2 ways to make your decision about whether to fly home from Dar or Arusha:

1. Find an NGO that you feel passionate about, then book your flight depending on the location of the NGO.

2. If saving a few dollars is important to you, find out the cost to fly home from one location over the other and then find an NGO in that area.

Depending on where you volunteer, know that the KLM flight departing JRO takes off and 1/hr later lands at DAR to pick-up paxs before flying onto AMS.

Sandi, if not Farmhouse close to the Ngorongoro Crater, there is also the Plantation Lodge, which is a really beautiful place - I found it very different to any other lodge I have stayed in in Tanzania - its one of my personal faves.

Regards,

Tom
Ziara Safaris - http://www.ziarasafaris.com/

Sandi, do you have any experience flying with Ethiopian Air?

matt12
Any experience with African secenic safaris or gap adventures?

mctran -

Ethiopian Air? NO!

From the States, believe their departure point is Dulles IAD outside of Wash, DC (not convenient); then there maybe a stop in Rome (no plane change), onto Addis Ababa (stop, no plane change) before onto Kilimanjaro. Up/down doesn't appeal even for a few hundred savings. Why if I'm heading to JRO, it's KLM (via AMSterdam) or another carrier into NBO with onward flight same day or next to JRO.

While in Zanzibar you should check out Sauti za Busara which is East Africa's largest music festival. You will experience some fantastic music and culture.We will be leaving in march and are flying out of Dar because we got a fantastic deal on flights but it is usually cheaper to fly from Nairobi.

I'm headed to TZ next week for my third safari with Unique Safaris. I can't say enough good things about the service and high level of accommodations. Excellent in all regards. My first trip was with Boyd Norton in 08. This 3rd trip will be the second that I have organized and led. I'll be planning another trip as soon as possible. I feel my Swahili has helped immensely. It's very easy to get by without learning any Swahili, however, a few words go a long way.
Safari njema kila mtu! (Have a great safari, everybody!)

Oh, my favortie area? Ngorongoro Crater, bila shaka (no doubt)