I kinda thought that was the croc story. Curiosity killed the croc.

Pol, if you were organizing this trip to Tanzania again, would you consider doing the Southern Circuit before the Northern Circuit? With the quantity of game in the North, would it make the South an anti climax having to search harder for sightings or does the wildness of the place make up for it.
Just wondering, as I plan to visit the Southern Circuit (not sure which part yet) and would add it on to either some of the Northern Circuit or the Mara. I love the isolation offered in Ruaha and Selous but don't know whether it would feel like a let down if you had seen huge volumes of game already or whether doing Selous first would make the Northern parks seem too crowded and irritating.
Decisions decisions.

Twaffle, I'm also interested in this issue. I'm looking to go to southern Tanzania next September, if I can get a few people together. I've been to northern Tanzania several times and wanted to see the south: Selous, Ruaha and also Katavi in the west.

Twaffle and Shay Tay,

difficult question as it depends so much on the time of year and your own expectations for the safari.

If it was a first safari I would do the South first as the game in Selous wasn't prolific but the birds were and the river cruises offered a very different viewing experience from 4X4. Ruaha offered unique sightings that included the lion/s that killed a crocodile, a 2 day old giraffe, fighting dik-diks and great birds. However, there were times when we wouldn't see an animal, not even a zebra or impala for 30-45 minutes. This is when the bird-watching became a welcome diversion as Ruaha is also good for birds.

The Northern safari delivered well for the 3 newbies this year and DA and DU were satisfied that they had seen as much of the plains game that they could expect, given that night drives weren't possible. I've been to the North twice now and on both occasions we saw more game than in the South. This year, I doubt that we went more than 5 minutes without having animals in sight.

If this is a return safari trip and you don't have a list of must-sees and have a 'happy to see everything' attitude including the small game and birds, then it probably doesn't matter which comes first.

The time of year and other factors such as ease of access to airports and keeping flights to a minimum may also become important to the decision-making process.

Cheers,


Pol

Pol, I've read only through June 24, but am so enjoying your style of writing this. Your details are good. Sounds like a wonderful safari -- but then I can't imagine a bad one!
Samcat

An additional comment: what you've written about Rivertrees at Arusha and even the pictures sound so much like the old house, farm, etc. at Loldia on Lake Naivasha.
Samcat

thanks Pol for your views on South/North first. I think it will come down to organizing the travel between them efficiently given your opinion that it probably wouldn't matter which one came first, especially for travellers who have been on safari before. My husband loves birds so I guess he'll be happy either way!
The long planning stages continue …