stamiya

I've been given the following drive times for transfers between parks and camps in Tanzania. Do you guys agree with these times or are the seriously underestimated? Thanks,

Sharon

ShayTay

Nothing "following"... try listing the info again, please.

stamiya

here are the drive times. Don't know why they didn't show up in the previous post:

Arusha to Tarangire - only 2 hours on paved road
Tarangire to Karatu - only 1.5 hours on paved road
Karatu to Crater rim - 45 mins., unpaved road
Ngorongoro to central Serengeti - only 2.5 hours, unpaved road
Central Serengeti to northern Serengeti - 2 hours, unpaved road

ShayTay

The Arusha - Tarangire time seems about right, but you have to turn off the paved road to get to the park.

Tarangire - Karatu is more like 2.5 to 3 hours, again with a little of it on unpaved road.

Karatu to Crater rim - 45 mins is about right. The paved road ends at the gate to the NCA.

Ngorongoro to Central Serengeti... that can depend on where you're staying on the rim. The Sopa is on the opposite side of the Crater from where the road drops off the rim and on to the plains. In general, it should be about 3 - 4 hours, depending on where you start and where you stop.

Central to northern Serengeti... same issue; it depends on where you start and stop.

Let me give you an idea of these two segments in total We drove from the Ngorongoro Sopa, stopping for a short while at Oldupai, and had a lunch stop at the Naabi Hill gate going into the Serengeti. We then proceeded to the northern Serengeti (Bologonja area) and arrived in the late afternoon. We stopped a few times along the way for game viewing, but not a lot. It's a long day's drive from the crater to the northern Serengeti.

stamiya

Shaytay, would it be easier on our 65 yr. old bodies to drive to the Manyara airstrip from Ngorongoro Sopa and fly to either northern Serengeti or Masai Mara? Is that even doable?

Thanks,

Sharon

canadian_robin

Arusha to the Tarangire turnoff is 102km on paved road (A104), but the going is slow because of traffic and pedestrians/donkeys on the road - we travelled at ~80km/hr. The last 6.5km from the turnoff to the park gate is washboard/rough gravel and slow going. 2 hours would be about right, depending on how far south you then have to drive into the park to your accommodation..

Tarangire to Karatu: 6.5km gravel from the park gate to the A104 and then 25km paved to Makuyuni. Then Makuyuni to Karatu on a good paved road for another 65km. 96.5km total may take you a little more than 1.5 hours. This does not include the time it will take to drive from your accommodation within the park to the park gate.

Karatu to the crater rim: Karatu to Lodoare Gate 16km on good paved road and then 6km climb on the outside wall of the crater wall, which is a slow and beautiful drive - it took us 20 minutes for that climb but we're slow - 45 min is about right

Ngorongoro to the Central Serengeti in 2.5 hours?? - this one I have a problem with - it took us 2 hrs from Olduvai to the fuel station on the rim, with stops for photos along the way. From Seronera to Olduvai the day previously had taken us 4.5 hours with a one-hour delay at Naabi Hill Gate - over 5 hours in total. The road between the crater and Naabi Hill, the entrance to the Serengeti, is one of the worst in the world and then north from there isn't much better. If your guide plans to cover this in 2.5 hours, it will be a bone-rattling trip!!

Central Serengeti (Seronera) to Northern Serengeti - I don't know why you would want to do it in 2hrs - it took us 4 hours from Seronera to Lobo, game viewing all the way (all gravel roads) - you certainly could do it in 2 hrs.

Regarding your last question about flying - there are airstips at Lake Manyara and Lobo, so you likely could fly but I don't know for certain.

We are in our 50s and survived the roads just fine. The drives are long and incredibly dusty, but fascinating nonetheless. There is no need for you to race from place to place - you could, for example, add a night at Olduvai Tented Camp to break up that long drive from the crater to Seronera.

Here is the link to our photos and trip report from our drive through Tanzania this past August - we did the drive you are describing, although in the reverse order. It will give you a pretty good idea of what to expect. I talk about the roads/drive and there are lots of photos. Robin

http://bert-and-bin.smugmug.com/Trav...38901400_BHybf

ShayTay

Stamiya, our group had 71-year-old bodies on the drive from the Sopa to the northern Serengeti and they did okay. You might consider staying in the Seronera area for a day or two (central Serengeti) if you think it would be too much for you to drive all the way to the north. Backtracking to the airstrip near Lake Manyara and then flying to the northern Serengeti seems a bit much; I don't know if there are actually flights that do that. Going to the Masai Mara from the Crater would require you returning to Arusha, flying to Nairobi and then flying to the Mara. Your safari planner should be able to check on that for you. Remember that you're on a "game drive" most of the way from the Crater into the Serengeti, so it's an interesting drive. The road in the NCA was pretty rough, but the park had graded the road within the borders of the Serengeti NP. Of course, that was a couple of years ago... don't know if they've kept up the roadwork.