matnikstym

great blog, mahale sounds nice, but sounds like if you see the chimps on the first day, you don't get to go back again? just fish or lay around for the next 3 days? sorry patty this has taken over your thread....

lovetodiscover

Your question about how many times you can view the chimps sent me surfing the net. Will ask ATR if there is a limit, but did find information / link to Thomson's document that is to be signed for Mahale visits. It did state in the notes that you might see chimps at least one time in 3-4 day stay - so maybe there's not a limit. Wonder if that family just didn't want to hike and it was the fishing that kept their attention.

Here's the link: http://www.hmnh.harvard.edu/travel/p...20viewing'

kimburu

it's not a secret from you... ANYbody could be looking ;-)

... it's on the C&P Web site but the interior appears only in the More Pictures section.. raised bed.

kimburu

By the way "the place formerly known as Sangare" is it's official name now... Serah told me the "Livingstone's" people pulled out and future plans are unknown...

Back to planning again....

kimburu

I just realised ANYTHING could happen now! Three free nights between Samburu and Sweetwaters...

Will I stick with Aberdare NP? I think so but..... hmmmmm :-?

Patty

Paul,
Really? Serah hadn't mentioned it to me since I'd pretty much dropped it from my itinerary. I thought you were staying at ACC those nights? Did you switch? Off to the C&P site to find "your room"

Dennis,
I seem to recall mention of at least two chimp treks on the Flycatcher camps site. I don't know if it's the same for the Nomad camp.

lovetodiscover

Sorry Patty for so much on Mahale on your post. ATR advised you can go chimp trekking every day you're there or stay in camp and do other activities.

Patty

No problem. I started it

kimburu

Yes Patty, we had switched there. ACC was only ever a standby so that if I spent a long time getting something more exotic organised and it fell through we'd still have somewhere to stay and a good base for exploring Aberdare NP. It's good to have it on hand and I've now got two or three months to see if I can come up with anything else for those three days, with the luxury of a backup plan that won't fall through.

By the way, how's your itinerary looking now or is there still quite a bit up in the air?

Patty

My itinerary is still a bit up in the air. Meru, Shaba & Samburu are definites. I originally wanted to include Kitich or Sarara camp, but neither will re-open in time for us. Serah suggested Borana, but if we're going to Laikipia, I may just stay at El Karama again. The cost difference between Borana and El Karama is substantial and Borana was never on my wish list to begin with.

I'm thinking about taking the money we save by staying at El Karama and upgrading to Joy's Camp in Shaba. I haven't asked for the cost yet, but I think this will be somewhere in the neighborhood of an additional $200pppn.

I have to fight hard not to Rocco-ize my entire trip but I definitely need a couple of cheaper places in there to balance the others and my splurge at the end.

The plan right now is to do the above combination first. Julius will drop us off somewhere in the Aberdares/Mt Kenya region on Dec 8 and he can head back to Nairobi that afternoon.

kimburu

So we won't be crossing paths unless we fly over you or something - not even in Nairobi, I guess. Well, remember to leave the trip report notes with Julius!!! ;-)

Joy's Camp sounds like a good idea and has crossed my mind more than once. However, you are already looking at Larsen's, Elsa's and something plush in Tanzania and.... hmmmmm I am realising this argument could go either way couldn't it? Depends on exactly how much less you owed the IRS than you thought, I guess ... remember the next trip!

By the way I just stayed at a fantastic place in Chiang Rai in northern Thailand but I guess those plans are off indefinitely now, right?

Patty

Chiang where?

"remember the next trip!"

I'm not that much of a forward thinker

"I am realising this argument could go either way couldn't it?"

Yep, reverse your thinking. The idea of staying at the Sarova lodge in between Larsens and Elsa's isn't sitting well with me right now

kimburu

Go for it Patty... I'm sure Mark understood that "Don't worry, we'll slot some budget places in-between to keep costs down" really meant "We'll actually be slipping in even more exclusive places along the way, but we'll keep the cost of the horse riding reasonable and I won't charter a private jet unless it would mean missing a afternoon's game viewing if we didn't."
;-)

Patty

I still have a few more details to finalize, but the basic itinerary is worked out and accomodation space has been confirmed.

Nov 29 - arrive Nairobi in the evening/overnight Hilton
Nov 30/Dec 1 - El Karama/Laikipia
Dec 2/3 - Larsens/Samburu
Dec 4/5 - Joy's Camp/Shaba
Dec 6/7 - Elsa's Kopje/Meru
Dec 8/9/10 - Olea Africana/near Aberdares
Dec 11/12 - Hilton/Nairobi
Dec 13/14/15 - Sand Rivers/Selous
Dec 16 - day room in Dar and fly home early morning Dec 17

We stayed at El Karama and Olea Africana last year and are going back to focus more on horse riding in these areas. The rest are new locations for us. We decided to take the morning Nairobi-Dar flight and afternoon Dar-Selous flight on December 13 and will have a few hours to wander around Dar. I also have a full day in Nairobi on the 12th to sightsee and shop.

Now I just have to figure out what to do with myself for the next 6 months!

Leely

Awesome itinerary. Color me jealous (again).

bat

probably rack up ff miles for a rapid turnaround trip

sounds like a great trip.
I'm with leely, color me amp;

joeyi

Patty,
you probably know this already, Dec 12 is Jamhuri Day, independence day. I don't know if the shops close, but it is a big holiday in Kenya. i think there is even a parade.

Patty

No, I didn't realize that. Are you saying it's going to mess with my shopping plans? Darn

Patty

Guess what? I couldn't help but inquire about the cost of a charter flight from Dar to Selous (the arrangements for that day were still bugging me). My tour operator came back this morning with a quote for $722 one way. That's a lot better than what I thought it was going to be. I still need to reconfirm a few things like I didn't misread the quote or something and we can do charter one way/scheduled flight back, but unless my understanding is drastically different from what they meant, I think we're going with it.

Taking into account the cost of two seats on a scheduled flight, a car to pick us at the airport and drive us around Dar for half the day and back to the airport, and considering how much I can spend shopping in those hours, I actually think we'll SAVE money by chartering (or at least that's how I pitched it to Mark).

Everyone feel free to add your comments to help me rationlize the cost, remember only pro-charter comments please

Leely

Sounds perfectly logical to me.

How much was the scheduled flight costing out at? (For my files, because you've already determined what is most cost-effective for you and Mark)