Tanzania, Botswana, Namibia - Here we come ....
Aug 3rd, 2006, 02:48 PM
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Tanzania, Botswana, Namibia - Here we come ....
First and foremost, thank you all – you have no idea how helpful this forum has been to planning our trip – from figuring out where to go, how long to spend, how much to spend, how to book our trip, what to pack, things to read, etc. You’ve been an invaluable resource and I can’t imagine having planned my trip without you! While I have not been an active participant in the forum (though I’m sure I will be once we return), I have read, studied and absorbed whatever I could get my hands on in the forum – I began planning this trip in May (yes, May – a couple months ago) and did not even know what questions to ask. Once I got my bearings, I contacted recommended travel agents which led me to dear Julian (aka jasher) at Destiny Africa.
As a bit of background, in April, my husband began a 6-month leave from his all-consuming job on Wall Street (I am on an “extended” sabbatical). We had trips planned to Argentina, Chile, New Mexico – as well as a brief return to school to take an intensive architecture survey program at Cornell – which left us with two months to fill at the tail end of his sabbatical. While in Chile, we were brainstorming about multiple destinations for the last two months – New Zealand via winnebago, Nepal, Cambodia, Israel, Morocco … and Africa. Climbing Kili became a focus point (we’re both active hikers and nature lovers), and gradually we realized that we should maximize the time available in nearby countries. My husband and I are very well traveled but tend to whimsically depart for foreign locales without any reservations made or itinerary planned (generally a product of our jobs – no time to plan and use-or-lose vacation policies). Nevertheless, in our travels, I had only used a travel agent once – and that was for our honeymoon in Bhutan. Naively, I thought planning a “last minute” trip to Africa wouldn’t be too tough (after all, it was May and we weren’t planning on going until August – boy, was I in for a surprise)
Once I realized that I was in deep s#)*!, I contacted travel agents recommended in the forum – I must have contacted 10 and only 4 replied to my email. Needless to say, most were VERY skeptical about what I would be able to book (regardless of my budget). From the very beginning, my interaction with Julian was calm, thoughtful and detailed. Honestly, while my experience with travel agents is very limited, I cannot imagine a more pleasant experience than planning this trip with Julian – and I’m admittedly a difficult (and demanding) client – if I thought we were getting a second rate trip, I was ready to go to New Zealand. As you will see from the itinerary below, he did not disappoint and pulled together an itinerary that I would have been happy with had I planned a year or two in advance!
Our itinerary is:
Aug 9, Depart NYC
Aug 11, Dar Es Salaam (Holiday Inn)
Aug 12-14, Nomad Sand Rivers
Aug 15, Arusha (River Trees)
Aug 16-21, Kilimanjaro trek
Aug 22, Arusha (River Trees)
Aug 23-25, Nomad Tarangire
Aug 26-27, Fundu Lagoon
Aug 28, Serena Stonetown
Aug 29, Joburg (The Grace)
Aug 30, Victoria Falls (Victoria Falls Hotel)
Aug 31 – Sept 2, Duma Tau
Sept 3 – 5, Seba
Sept 6 – 7, Xigera
Sept 8 – 9, Chitabe
Sept 10 – 11, Jack’s Camp
Sept 12, Windhoek (Hotel Heinitzburg)
Sept 13 – 15, Serra Cafema
Sept 16 – 19, Skeleton Coast
Sept 20 – 22, Little Ongava
Sept 23 – 24, Damarraland
Sept 25 – 27, Sossusvlei (Little Kulala)
Sept 28, Return to NYC
October 3, Back to work
As you can see, we’ll be visiting a couple new camps – and while we have a few 2-night stays at certain camps, I was happy with the diversity in locations and geography/terrain we cover during our trip. If you have any special insights on any of our camps (ie. Recommended guide, room preference, don’t misses), please let me know.
Thanks again for all your help and your infectious enthusiasm!
Sonia
As a bit of background, in April, my husband began a 6-month leave from his all-consuming job on Wall Street (I am on an “extended” sabbatical). We had trips planned to Argentina, Chile, New Mexico – as well as a brief return to school to take an intensive architecture survey program at Cornell – which left us with two months to fill at the tail end of his sabbatical. While in Chile, we were brainstorming about multiple destinations for the last two months – New Zealand via winnebago, Nepal, Cambodia, Israel, Morocco … and Africa. Climbing Kili became a focus point (we’re both active hikers and nature lovers), and gradually we realized that we should maximize the time available in nearby countries. My husband and I are very well traveled but tend to whimsically depart for foreign locales without any reservations made or itinerary planned (generally a product of our jobs – no time to plan and use-or-lose vacation policies). Nevertheless, in our travels, I had only used a travel agent once – and that was for our honeymoon in Bhutan. Naively, I thought planning a “last minute” trip to Africa wouldn’t be too tough (after all, it was May and we weren’t planning on going until August – boy, was I in for a surprise)
Once I realized that I was in deep s#)*!, I contacted travel agents recommended in the forum – I must have contacted 10 and only 4 replied to my email. Needless to say, most were VERY skeptical about what I would be able to book (regardless of my budget). From the very beginning, my interaction with Julian was calm, thoughtful and detailed. Honestly, while my experience with travel agents is very limited, I cannot imagine a more pleasant experience than planning this trip with Julian – and I’m admittedly a difficult (and demanding) client – if I thought we were getting a second rate trip, I was ready to go to New Zealand. As you will see from the itinerary below, he did not disappoint and pulled together an itinerary that I would have been happy with had I planned a year or two in advance!
Our itinerary is:
Aug 9, Depart NYC
Aug 11, Dar Es Salaam (Holiday Inn)
Aug 12-14, Nomad Sand Rivers
Aug 15, Arusha (River Trees)
Aug 16-21, Kilimanjaro trek
Aug 22, Arusha (River Trees)
Aug 23-25, Nomad Tarangire
Aug 26-27, Fundu Lagoon
Aug 28, Serena Stonetown
Aug 29, Joburg (The Grace)
Aug 30, Victoria Falls (Victoria Falls Hotel)
Aug 31 – Sept 2, Duma Tau
Sept 3 – 5, Seba
Sept 6 – 7, Xigera
Sept 8 – 9, Chitabe
Sept 10 – 11, Jack’s Camp
Sept 12, Windhoek (Hotel Heinitzburg)
Sept 13 – 15, Serra Cafema
Sept 16 – 19, Skeleton Coast
Sept 20 – 22, Little Ongava
Sept 23 – 24, Damarraland
Sept 25 – 27, Sossusvlei (Little Kulala)
Sept 28, Return to NYC
October 3, Back to work
As you can see, we’ll be visiting a couple new camps – and while we have a few 2-night stays at certain camps, I was happy with the diversity in locations and geography/terrain we cover during our trip. If you have any special insights on any of our camps (ie. Recommended guide, room preference, don’t misses), please let me know.
Thanks again for all your help and your infectious enthusiasm!
Sonia
Aug 3rd, 2006, 03:40 PM
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That's a great trip, and personally, I like two-night stays, so don't fret that you have two-night stays at some camps -- to me, I'd rather see more camps and environments, and a two-night stay allows four game drives, which, to me, is enough to see almost all that a camp has to offer. I'm sure you'll have a great time!
Aug 3rd, 2006, 05:20 PM
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Oh, that itinerary is just disgusting (I'm actually green with envy)!
Congrats to both you and Julian for being able to put this together, good job! =D>
Have a wonderful trip and can't wait to hear all about it.
Congrats to both you and Julian for being able to put this together, good job! =D>
Have a wonderful trip and can't wait to hear all about it.
Aug 3rd, 2006, 08:31 PM
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A 6-7 day Kili climb is pushing things a bit. I imagine you have experience at higher altitudes from your trip to Bhutan. But, I just wanted to note that if you can add even just one more day to help with acclimitization, it would probably be worthwhile.
Aug 4th, 2006, 05:32 AM
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I agree with lifelist about Kilimanjaro.
6-days are short, lowering your changes by quite a percentage and not succeeding will put a damper on the rest of the trip. You said it is your focus point, so maybe you should consider improving your odds by going for 7 or even 8 days.
Why not skip Fundu Lagoon on this trip? It is a long way out there for 2 days considering the flights and transfers.
Other than that it is an amazing itinerary!
6-days are short, lowering your changes by quite a percentage and not succeeding will put a damper on the rest of the trip. You said it is your focus point, so maybe you should consider improving your odds by going for 7 or even 8 days.
Why not skip Fundu Lagoon on this trip? It is a long way out there for 2 days considering the flights and transfers.
Other than that it is an amazing itinerary!
Aug 4th, 2006, 06:55 AM
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My husband and I have done high altitudes in the past and felt comfortable with adding one day to the traditional kili trek for acclimitisation purposes. That being said, in hindsight, we probably should have added a few days on the trail - not so much to ensure success (which would have been all but guaranteed if kiliwarriors had availability!) - but to enjoy the scenery - it looks fantastic.
As for Fundu - we tend to get A.D.D. on long trips and mixing things up become quite necessary (we were once in the canadian rockies camping for a couple weeks and decided to get in the car and drove all night to seattle for the day - go figure) ... my husband would have probably preferred adding a few days in Vic Falls for rafting, etc. but I liked the idea of being on a beach - and since I was doing the planning ...
In any event, I suspect we will be in Africa many times over - and perhaps climb kili a couple more times (another dream - climbing it with my kids - don't have any yet though ...)
As for Fundu - we tend to get A.D.D. on long trips and mixing things up become quite necessary (we were once in the canadian rockies camping for a couple weeks and decided to get in the car and drove all night to seattle for the day - go figure) ... my husband would have probably preferred adding a few days in Vic Falls for rafting, etc. but I liked the idea of being on a beach - and since I was doing the planning ...
In any event, I suspect we will be in Africa many times over - and perhaps climb kili a couple more times (another dream - climbing it with my kids - don't have any yet though ...)
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