ccarlson

I am just starting my research on this. My husband and I wish to take a safari to the Serengeti in September 2015 for 7 or 8 nights. It appears most 7 or 8 night itineraries include 2 or 3 nights in the park. I see a lot of different combinations of other areas with that. Can anyone give me their thoughts on what to couple with the park and what is not to be missed?

cindy_shyrow

Carlson,
Karibu sana. Most parks require more than 2days to increase your chances of spotting more animals as well as being able to cover most of the area as some parks are extensive eg, serengeti., Mara
That way, you will succeed in spotting games such as cats(cheetahs,lions,leopard) and grazers as zebras, rhino, elephants. Note, some parks have or lack some animals such as elephants due to space(elephants require so much vegetation and water) did you know it could hold 21ltrs with its trunk at once?
we usually include maasai visits (cultural tours) to our packages , or what suits you.E.g in Kenya around august there is a circumcision festival among the bukusu,lughya community which is vibrant and full of dances and feasting as they mark the rite of passage for their young men.
others just like to wrap their game drives with a nice time down the beach.
Hope that answered the question.
Regards

abram

With such a short visit, I think I'd want to focus purely on game drives, and skip cultural events--but that could just be me.
We loved Tarangire NP (elephants!), Ngorongoro Crater (you probably only have time for one 6 hour drive), and the Serengeti. You could spend one night in Tarangire, one night at the Crater, and 2-3 nights in two different locations in the Serengeti.
Do some research about where the Great Migration might be at that time of year to select your Serengeti locations.
Our Tour Operator was Easy Travel, and we couldn't have been happier.

cindy_shyrow

cultural villages are usually just near the Maasai Mara Reserve and usually optional. Some camps/lodges within the park usually have a complimentary maasai dances in their sites. so its not a waste of time. Definitely something you should do next time you visit Kenya/Tanzania Abram.

abram

cindy_shyrow, I wasn't asking for advice, ccarlson was. I didn't call the cultural villages a waste of time.
During our 12 day safari, we did participate in cultural experiences--but they're what I'd give up if I only had 7-8 days. The game drives were just so much more fascinating.
We loved our trip to Tanzania, but won't be returning.

Shirleysharon

I would second Abram on Tarangire and Ngorongoro. The migration will be at the Maasai mara though.

Are you flying direct to Kilimanjaro airport? If so and your only interest is serengeti, you may just take a fly in safari for 8 nights into the Serengeti. lots of operators will custom-make this for you.

ccarlson

We don't have our flight into Africa yet - just Europe. It sounds like we need to move a few different places to see a wide range of animals. I have just heard that the Serengeti is the best. I will ask about Migration. We are not interested in the beach. Did not know that it may take a couple of days to see animals.

amyb

My first safari was to Tanzania a couple years ago. Access2Tanzania did a nice job for us putting together an organized, logical progression of camps that built up to the Serengeti (Tarangire, Manyara, Ngorongoro, Ndutu and Serengeti). I'd highly recommend Ndutu, especially because it is the only place in that itinerary we did that you can go off-road. This means a lot if there is a pride of lions 200 yards off the road, instead of being stuck using your binocs to see them from the road, you can actually drive offroad and get closer (within the park rules). All the other stops on our itinerary we were limited to the roads.

My trip report is on here, and I'd recommend chatting with Karen at Access2Tanzania. They know TZ extremely well, employ their own guides and own their own vehicles (no subcontracting out) and she works with all budgets and preferences. We included two different cultural stops as well as some shopping.

cindy_shyrow

Serengeti is good but Mara has more variety of animals.
OK Abram, sorry.

TravelBeyond

Hi ccarlson, if you only have 7-8 nights “in-country”, that means that you really only have 6-7 nights on safari as the first day/night will either be spent in Aruaha or Nairobi (there are a few select flights that arrive into NBO early enough to commence safari on the same day, but options are limited and I don’t recommend hitting the ground running so hard). In this scenario, I recommend you visit two separate ecosystems do diversity your viewings.

On an average year in September, you should be able to see the migration from both the northern Serengeti and Masai Mara. However, even if you don’t catch the wildebeest crossings, there are heaps of resident wildlife to satisfy any safari goer. I don’t think you need to be so fixated on seeing the migration so much as choosing the right camp that will deliver the best quality of guiding, hosting and location. With such a short period of time, I recommend you keep your safari in 1 country (either Kenya or Tanzania) to minimize time in transit.

If you opt to go the Kenya/Masai Mara route, I recommend the Mara for 3-4 nights and combining this with something like Meru National Park, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, Borara Ranch or Ol Pejeta. The reason for this being – these areas offer you a chance to see the “northern” species to include things such as reticulated giraffe, grevy’s zebra, Somali ostrich, gerenuks etc. Not only will this area expose you to more wildlife, but places like Lewa and Borana have heaps of activities that will get you out of the vehicle (think walking, camel/horseback riding etc.). I personally think that the more diversity you have in a trip, the better!

If you opt for the Tanzania/Serengeti option, I recommend spending your time in the Mara/Lamai/Kogatende area of northern Serengeti. This will give you the best chances of seeing the migration from the Tanzania side. I would not recommend going to the Ngorongoro unless it’s a “must” for you. I personally feel that the experience here will pale in comparison to the other options and the crowds are difficult to deal with. My personal recommendation is to look into a place like Maramboi Camp or, budget permitting, look at Chem Chem (or Little Chem Chem) to give you expose to Tarangire and Lake Manyara. Chem Chem options will get you away from the crowds and the notorious tsetse flies of Tarangire – this is a superb option.

I hope this helps and wishing you an amazing safari experience.

Safari Njema,
Kota Tabuchi – Managing Director: Africa – Travel Beyond

amyb

To add a wrench to your plans, I'd recommend even limiting it to just Kenya. Do you have a reason why you want to go to Tanzania? After Tanzania (which I loved and indeed was wonderful), my safari in Kenya was just tremendous. I spent time up in Ol Pejeta Conservancy and then the rest in the conservancies around the Mara. The benefit of the conservancies is that it is private land on which only those camps who are located there can do game drives. You can "day trip" into the adjacent Mara National Park, but the game is so plentiful and uncrowded in the conservancies that you hardly need bother. The sightings I had in the conservancies were so much more impressive than what we saw in Tanzania. You could combine a northerly conservancy like Ol Pejeta (known for its rhinos) with those around the Mara, or Selenkay near Amboseli (known for its elephants) with the Mara. The Mara has an insane volume of big cats. I stopped counting at 86 individual cats in a period of a couple days. There is a reason they say it's the highest concentration of big cats in East Africa. And they don't migrate with the prey, so even off season (I went in Feb.) it was lush with cats.

I would caution against moving camps more than once in the short amount of time you have, whether it's Tanzania or Kenya. The game rides are either early morning or late afternoon into evening. To leave in the morning for the next camp means you've essentially given up that morning's game drive, which you definitely don't want to do, and then have to get reestablished in a camp in time for the afternoon drive. It's just a lot of work for one or two game drives before you move on again. Something to think about.

ccarlson

Amy - what month did you go? I assume this factors into what you will see?

ccarlson

Kota - can you explain the part about getting out of the vehicle to camel or horse back ride. With the animals around????

amyb

ccarlson, I went both times in February and my return to Kenya next year will also be in February, it was that good. What you get in Ndutu Tanzania in February is the wildebeest birthing season and migration (which isn't the migration you're thinking of like in the Mara, with the dramatic river crossings, it's just herds of hundreds of thousands of wildebeest on the savannah, which is impressive, but not necessarily exciting/dramatic). The Mara and the conservancies around it are pretty constant year round except for when the migration is there in Sept-Oct. The predators (big cats) tend not to move from their ranges to follow prey, so they're in the same general area year round. My game viewing in Kenya far exceeded Tanzania at the same time of year. Again, I think the added factor was being able to go off road in all the conservancies in Kenya, you can get to animals where you can't in the parks/reserves.

Patty

Yes you can go on game viewing horse back rides in Kenya and Tanzania. In Kenya, I've found more opportunities to go on game viewing day rides as part of an overall primarily vehicle based safari. In Tanzania, I've gone on a multi day horse back safari which I think is more commonly found there (this is possible in Kenya as well). Some riding proficiency is usually required, particularly on the multi day safaris. Like other alternative forms of game viewing (walking, camel, boat, canoe, hot air balloon, etc) it gives you a different perspective though you do not necessarily see more game and it's certainly harder to take photos on horse back!

sandi

Patty is spot on re: horseback or camel riding. The latter is often more walking with the camels as pack animals holding everything you require for being out in the wild for a few days. However, you can camel ride for only a day if you wish.

When it comes to horseback riding, there are a few camps in both countries that offer these, but the riding itself often isn't within the park/reserve itself, rather on the outskirts.

There's horseback riding at Lewa, Borana, other areas in Laikipia, also at Ol Donyo in the Chyulu Hills (Tsavo) - these latter were amazing stables and horses. And in Tanzania where I recall Patty did ride, I was fortunate during my stay at Singita (Grumeti Reserve/Serengeti) where likewise, I was amazed by their stock of horses and stables to die for (these latter camps though very expensive).

There are some companies that do horseback riding only at destinations worldwide, so if interested check these sites and then the specifics of which/where stables located and reviews.

TravelBeyond

Hi ccarlson, indeed you can go horse or camel back riding in Kenya! Riding/equestrian safaris are actually quite popular and a great way to go wildlife viewing without the sounds and exhaust fumes of vehicles. I personally love to ride or walk – I think this is a much more “pure” experience and adding diversity to activities makes the trip more interesting (I think). In Kenya, you have more riding options – if you are keen on this idea and wish to ride in areas with good game viewing, I suggest you take a look at places such as the following: Lewa Wilderness (you can ride from any of the lodges in Lewa, but the stables are at Wilderness), Borana, Sosian, Sabuk, Ol Malo, Ekorian’s Mugie (you can do a camel supported ride between Ol Malo and Ekorian), Ol Donyo Lodge, Campi ya Kanzi. Any one of these camps will combine well with a stay in the Mara for the big game viewing.

I hope this helps!

Sincerely,
Kota Tabuchi – Managing Director: Africa – Travel Beyond

TravelBeyond

Hi ccarlson, I should also mention that Offbeat Safaris (who owns Sosian mentioned in my previous post) has a mobile riding program in the Masai Mara for experienced riders (as well as Laikipia and Amboseli). This may also be of interest and surely will produce some amazing wildlife sightings!

Kota Tabuchi - Managing Director: Africa - Travel Beyond