chrisamg

Hi there,

I was hoping to get a few final ideas from poeple before booking my honeymoon.
The itinery looks like this at the moment:
19/06 Arrive Arusha.Overnight Mt Village (BB)- Ok
20/06 Ngorongoro o/n Ngorongoro Crater Lodge (North/south Camp) - fully booked
21/06 Mbalaget Camp Ok
22/06 Mbalaget Camp Ok
23/06 Kirawira Tented OK
24/06 Kirawira Tented OK
25/06 Olakira Camp - Ok
26/06 Plantation Lodge - OK
27/06 Mto wa Mbu cultural tour then to Arusha.Overnight Mt Village(BB)- OK
28/06 Fly to Zanzibar - Ok. Transfer to Mnemba (FB) - OK
29 & 30: Mnemba - OK
01/07: Transfer to Zanzibar airport ( End of service)

Obviously the one problem at the moment is Ngorongoro Crater lodge. But I am sure we can sort this out. I would be particuarily interested in the opinions of Climbhighsleeplow, Leely and Sandi as I have read thier posts and advice with great interest and would love to hear their opinions and any advice they may have to changes I should make. I have been on safari in Kenya for two weeks and a week in South Africa but I am exceedingly excited about going to Tanzania.
Please feel free to offer any advice or ask any questions.
We are booking with Roys Safaris who I have only read good things about but I was advised that they don't have An ATOL or ABTA number which may mean problems if they go bust.
Doesn't stop me being very excited.
Kind regards Chris Goodwin

climbhighsleeplow

Hi Chris

First off, don't be too concerned about ATOL and Roys. It is normally the overseas agents that go bust, not the companies on the ground that's doing the work! I am sure they don't require a big upfront payment anyway!

Some other observations:

1. You get discounts when you use 2 or more CCAFrica properties. Try to include Grumeti in your itinerary and you can save a bit!

2. Mbalageti Camp? Do you mean Mbalageti Serengeti the permanent camp? Again, it is not necessary to split Mbalegeti and Kirawira as these two camps are close to each other. Please visit my Serengeti map on www.go-safari.com. I would spend a few days at Grumeti instead (it is a nice place and you get a discount).

3. You can try and do the Crater Lodge at the end of the trip if you cannot get in on June 20th.

4. At the end of June, spend 2 nights at Grumeti and 2 nights at Mbuzi Mawe or Migration Camp in addition to Olakira. This way you will cover a huge area. It may even be smart to do 2 nights Grumeti and 2 nights Sayari Mara in addition to Olakira.

5. Replace Plantation Lodge with Manyara Serena or EUnoto if you want to do cultural things at Mto wa Mbu. My Manyara map shows the distances!

This is a lot of changes, but what do you think?

chrisamg

Thank you so so much for your advice. It really does make all the difference when organising a trip of a lifetime like this.I will look into it all right now. As Mnemba is also CCAfrica I will be doing two stays if I can organise Ngorongoro but I will look into Grumeti as well and the others.
I will keep you posted on my updates.
Regards Chris

Leely

Chris,
Blushing with embarassment at being included with climbhigh and Sandi--I am in no way at their level of expertise. Just opinionated, and my opinions are rather baseless, I'm afraid.

That said, I don't think you need Kirawira AND Mbalageti. If you want to spend that much time in the Western corridor, it would be more relaxing for a honeymoon to stay at one place. And then add the extra day(s) to Olakira or Mbuzi Mawe or something. Sayari also looks very interesting to me based on climbhigh's website; would that be something you would consider?

If you don't radically alter your itinerary around availability at the Crater Lodge, I'd just take whatever is available on the Crater rim. The view is incredible even if you end up someplace that's "lesser" than the other camps on your itinerary. But of course it's a honeymoon, so I understand that you may very well want to shoot the works!

sandi

chrisamg -

Since I heard my name being called, I might as well pipe in. So far you've received excellent advise.

Agree that you don't need both Kirawira and Mbalageti which are close to one another. And though climbhigh... offers good advise in covering a wide area in the West and North Serengeti... it is your honeymoon, so think about whether you want to be moving every 2-days, which in actuality only give you 1-1/2 days at each camp. Selecting one camp in the west and one in the north, 3-days each would be a good mix, IMHO.

The comment re booking camps owned/managed by the same company is a good one as often there is a discount when doing this. So know that:

Serena properties = Mt. Village, Kirawira, Mbuzi Mawe and Lake Manyara Serena Lodge
CCA = Grumeti River, Ngorongoro Crater Lodge and Mnemba
Asilia properties = Olakira and Sayari
Elwena properties = Migration Camp

Plantation Lodge is out there on it's own with no affiliation with those above.

Unfortunately, sometimes things don't work out as one wishes. If Mnemba Island is a must and Crater Lodge isn't available, go with Mnemba and try to get two Serena or Asilia properties in the Serengeti. Regardless, while this is a good suggestion, don't sweat it and drive yourself nuts. Be aware that though at this time the Crater Lodge is full, this may have to do with the fact that companies such as A&K or Micato may have a hold on this space; said space will have to be released at least 60-days prior arrival - so put yourself on the "waitlist," while still holding space at the Serena or other at the Crater.

As Leely mentions (girl, you're getting better with each day) if you can't get the Crater Lodge, the Serena is a comfortable and lovely lodge and the views from each lodge here is fantastic.

To add to the mix, an option for Zanzibar is The Palms which is small, intimate, very luxurious space the size of a small "house" and has air conditioning.

Keep us posted.

chrisamg

Hi Climbhighsleeplow, Leely and Sandi,

A big thanks for all your advice. At the moment we are now looking at the following itinery:
19/06 Arrive Arusha.Overnight Mt Village - is this the best option as we arrive in Arusha at 8.30am could drive straight to Manyara.
20/06 Ngorongoro,overnight Plantation Lodge- is there somewhere if about the same price you would recommend perhaps Kirurumu or Serena Ngorongoro
21/06 Overnight Serengeti Safari Camp
22/06 Overnight Serengeti Safari Camp
23/06 Overnight Serengeti Safari Camp
24/06 Overnight Kirawira Tented
25/06 Overnight Kirawira Tented
26/06 Overnight Ngorongoro Crater Lodge
27/06 Mto wa Mbu cultural tour then to Arusha.Overnight Mt Village(BB)Need to be ear airport for flight in the morning
28/06 Fly to Zanzibar - Ok. Transfer to Mnemba (FB)
29 & 30: Mnemba
01/07: Transfer to Zanzibar airport

Then we thought we would spend 5/6 days somewhere cheap on Zanzibar before three days at the Asali suite at Matembwe Guest House.

Any thoughts or ideas would be gratefully recieved.
Many thanks again for all your contributions.
Kind regards Chris Goodwin