traveller07

Hello,

We are two friends who wish to go to africa, for 8 to 9 nights, interests are staying in luxury accomodation, gourmet food(vegetarians, have only eggs) and spot lots of leopards and lions,
Suggestions required asap,

Cheers

Ritu

HariS

Leopards and luxury - Private reserves around the Kruger park in SA. Should be no problem for vegetarians ......

traveller07

Hari

Which reserves around kruger, and are they great for other cats,like lions and cheetahs

ekscrunchy

Take a look at the Sabi Sands Reserves places: Mala Mala, Londolozi, Sabi Sabi, Lion Sands, etc. You can do a seach here for all of these and more..just search for "Sabi Sands."

traveller07

My friend is interested more in east africa,

any suggestions,

HariS

Ritu,

I would think for leopards in particular ...... can't beat Sabi Sands as mentioned above! Lions too will be there .... cheetah can be hit or miss!!! ekscrunchy has mentioned some of the top Sabi Sands lodges ....

East Africa - if you mention the time of the year you wish to travel, posters can help you with choosing appropriate locations.

Rgds,
Hari

sandi

In East Africa, Tanzania would be best with visits in the Serengeti. Areas between Central/Southern and/or Ndutu which is in the Ngorongoro Conservation area. While November is still the wet season, many of the camps are probably booked. You'll have to inquire as to what's available in the lux category. If so, is $1,000+/nt/person what your friends consider luxury. Others will be i the $600-1,000/nt/person.

Consider:
Drive to Tarangire 2/nts (Swala and Oliver's are closed; Treetops here is luxury; check if the Nomads Camp is open in Nov)
Drive to Lake Manyara 1/nt (Tree Lodge is lux, but a long drive for 1/day)
Drive to Ngorongoro Crater 2/nts (Crater Lodge, if available; otherwise, Serena or Sopa, or nearby Farmhouse)
Drive to Serengeti 4/nts (Sayari South, Tanzania Under Canvas, Nomad's - all in the lux category)
Fly to Arusha, depart from Kilimanjaro (JRO) or Nairobi (NBO)

Good luck. Hope there's space at this late date.

traveller07

Sandi, we donnot mind spending around 800-1000$ per day for 2 people, and if necessary even more, basically the lodge/tent should be luxurious and the game drives should be with excellent, top of the line guides and vehicles.

At present we are happy doing tarangire 2 nights, crater 2 nights and 4/5 nights serengeti.

what is the distance(driving hours) between tarangire and crater and the crater and central serengeti
and from jro to tarangire

Which is better,serengeti under canvas/nomad/sayari for best wildlife viewing( for excellent guides and location) as all are in the luxurious category,
and which location would be the best to spot the big migratory herd of wildebeest,zebras and gazelles,

Hari, my friend is stuck on east africa, thanks for the info,

Ritu

atravelynn

If you make your dietary preferences known up front, that should be no problem.

Lots of leopards translates to the Sabi Sands in South Africa to me. I'd stay more than one place there, especiailly to increase your lion odds. If there are disruptive dynamics in the pride structure, lions can be scarce within one concession.

The other place people have been seeing loads of leopards is Mashatu in the very Southern end of Botswana. It is often paired with Sabi Sands camps.

I just read where your friend is stuck on East Africa. You'll have a great time there, but the leopard odds are better elsewhere.

Sandi just posted these drive times on this thread.

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=35086239

Arusha/Tarangire - 2-2.5/hrs to park entrance.
Arusha/Manyara - 2.2.5/hrs to park entrance.
Arusha/Ngorongoro - 5/hrs
Arusha/Serengeti (beginning) - 7/hrs
- to Central, add 1.5/hrs
- to Western, add 2.5-3/hrs
- to Northern, add 5+/hrs
Tarangire/Ngorongoro - 4/hrs
Manyara/Ngorongoro - 2.5/hrs
Ngorongoro/C.Serengeti - 3/hrs

sandi

Lynn - Thanks for providing the approx. drive times for Ritu.

Ritu - You won't go wrong with any of the three: Sayari South, Nomad's or Serengeti Under Canvas. As mentioned, at this late date, it would much depend on who has availability. November in the Serengeti isn't (even with the "short" rains) the low season, so space is booked well in advance.

Check with your agent/operator.

traveller07

Thanks for the info,atravelynn and sandi,

my friend wants to see lots of lions, myself am happy with both,my friend is co-ordinating with the agent,and space according to her for 2 people(one room) is available.

Also we are keen to see the migration, our operator is suggesting the northern sayari camp,nomad,or serengeti under canvas at kliens,(based on availability)which should we select, or should we split our time between 2 camps

Also how many nights should we do serengeti, to maximise the migration and big cat viewing, should we skip tarangire and do only serengeti for 7 nights

Ritu

HariS

Ritu,

Yep, will stick to Serengeti for a week if i were you!

Cheers,
Hari

traveller07

thanks Hari,

wow serengeti for 7 nights, sounds fab, let's hope it goes through with my friend,

Ritu