safaribound

I have got a quote for a combined kenya and Tazania Safari 12-13 days followed by a 7 day trip to Egypt inc 3 nights of Nile cruise for $3790 from Africa point. Has anyone used this company? Also is it too much to put the 2 trips together - This is our first Safari a nd i would like an opinion as to whether we are taking on too much travelling

waynehazle

I used AfricaPoint to do a Kenya & Tanzania Best AND THEN flew to Rwanda for 10 more days and saw gorillas and chimps. If you are hardy travelers, you can do it.

What is the Tanzania itinerary?

Overall I was very happy with AfricaPoint & people who have gone with them since then have done very well.

safaribound

Thank you wayne hazel, I am thinking the egypt part should be more relaxng 3 days nile cruise, so finsh the safari first and then head to Egypt. It is 10 days Kenya and Tanzania with one day in lake Nakuru 2 days in Masai Mara and 2 days at the Ngorotogoro cater and 2 days in the Serengeti, and one day in Lake Manyara. My husband and i like travelling but the long driving days sound tiring, are the raods really bad??

waynehazle

" the long driving days sound tiring, are the roads really bad?? "

An evil grin comes up over my face. The roads aren't bad... they are ABYSMAL in certain areas.

Go to my site: waynehazle.com/eastafrica/
watch some of my travel videoes (choose the ones on travelistic)

In Particular watch the Serengeti & Crater ones for the roads. But check out the Mara and Nakuru also.

The driving from Lake Manyara to Crater to Serengeti is LOOOOOOONG & dusty.

bottom line as I said in other threads, when you do a "best of" tour, you are doing lots & lots of driving, only staying in a place for a day or day and 1/2 and you are on the road again. As long as you are mentally ready for that you will be OK. The point of a sampler tour is to see lots of stuff and then (hopefully) when you go back you know the places you will stay in longer and the places you will skip.

atravelynn

Roads are not great but I've encountered worse than Kenya and Tanzania. You can fly on scheduled flights and eliminate some driving. You can also spend 2-4 instead of 1-2 nights at your camps/lodges so you have plenty of time to recover between the drives.

Putting the 2 trips together makes good use of your flights to the continent.

Have you done 3 weeks of traveling previously? If so, then this should be fine with the cruise on the end.

If you post your itinerary and when you are going, then more specific comments can be made.

atravelynn

Is your Egypt trip the one with several nights on the train? Train and ship would contrast nicely with safari.

Patty

What time of year are you going?

safaribound

Yes that is what i thought, pay one airfare and do Egypt along wiht the Safari, the Egypt trip has a few days on the train and the the 3 day cruise;

Here is the itinerary:
Day 1 NAIROBI -LAKE NAKURU
Dinner and overnight at Lake Nakuru Lodge
Day 2: LAKE NAKURU -MAASAI MARA
0800 hrs- Drive to via the Great Rift Valley to arrive at Maasai Mara in time for lunch
at Mara Sarova Camp. .
Dinner and overnight at Mara Simba Lodge
Day 3. MAASAI MARA
0630 hrs - early morning game drive in the Mara. Dinner and overnight at Mara Simba Lodge
Day 4: NAIROBI -
After breakfast return to Nairobi arriving around 1300 hrs. Drive to Carnivore for lunch.
The restaurant is gamed for its game meat. After a good time at lunch,
transfer to Panafric Hotel to relax.
Day 5 ARUSHA / NGORONGORO
0800hrs take a shuttle to Arusha arriving at Impala Hotel in time for lunch.Later
depart for Ngorongoro Conservation Area.
Dinner and overnight at Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge
Day 6 NGORONGORO
After breakfast you depart for a day crater tour with picnic lunch..
Dinner and overnight at Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge
Day 7 SERENGETI
After breakfast, depart for Serengeti National Park passing via Olduvai Gorge.
You arrive in time for lunch at 1200 hrs at your lodge.
Dinner and overnight at Serengeti Sopa Lodge
Day 8 SERENGETI
You dedicate this day to Serengeti and take a morning and an afternoon game drive.
Meals and overnight at Serengeti Sopa Lodge
Day 9 LAKE MANYARA
After breakfast, depart for Lake Manyara National Park to arrive in time for lunch at your lodge. You will spend the night at Kirurumu Tented Lodge.
Day 10: LAKE MANYARA - ARUSHA
0800 hrs- Drive to Arusha to arrive for lunch at Impala Hotel at 1200 hrs.
1400hrs drive to Kilimanjaro Airport for flight back to Nairobi at 1540hrs
arriving Nairobi at 1640hrs.
Flight to Cairo
Day 1 CAIRO -ASWAN
After breakfast at your hotel, you will meet with the day's tour guide.
You visit the Egyptian Museum and, then the Pyramids of Giza, where you will
also see the Sphinx -one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
You may enjoy a camel ride round the Pyramids as you contemplate the
achievements of Ancient Egypt. In the evening
transfer to take the Sleeper Train to Aswan.
Dinner & overnight onboard Sleeper Train
Day 2: ASWAN - KOM OMBO
Breakfast will be served onboard Sleeper Train. Arrive at Aswan and transfer to
your Nile cruiser.
Dinner & overnight onboard Nile Cruiser
Day 3 KOM OMBO- EDFU
After breakfast, you visit the Temple of Kom Ombo. The Graeco-Roman Temple of
Dinner & overnight onboard Nile Cruiser
Day 4 EDFU- LUXOR
Dinner & overnight onboard Nile Cruiser
Day 5 LUXOR- CAIRO
After breakfast, visit the West Bank Valley of the Kings, the Temple
of Hatshepsut and Colossi of Memnon. Transfer to take the Sleeping Train to Cairo
Dinner & overnight onboard Sleeper Train Breakfast will be served onboard Sleeper Train.
Day 6: After arrival at Cairo, have a day use room in Cairo. Flight back to Toronto

Pl tell me what you think

safaribound

Patty in response to your question we are considering September 20 to Oct 10 , 2007 for the trip. Our quote is for the Mara Simba lodge, Sopa Lodges everywhere eldse and the Kirurumu Tented camps, would it be better to upgrade to Serena lodges?

waynehazle

WHEW!!!!

Yeah this is definitely a whiplash tour all right. Landing in Nairobi and headed right to Nakuru really struck me. Then the fact that you leave Nakuru the next morning. I wonder what time you get there from Nairboi... this is important to find out.

Day 5 is also pretty long.

I am not trying to be negative in anyway. I just want you to be mentally prepared. I stayed at a lot of the same places on your list. The trip was still one of the greatest trips of my life.

Patty

Given the time of year and number of days you have, I'd skip the Serengeti and spend more nights in the Mara. The migration should be in the Mara. If you can get space there, I'd definitely opt for the Serena in the Mara rather than the Simba lodge. In Tanzania, you can do Ngorongoro and Tarangire or Ngorongoro, Tarangire and Manyara. This will be less driving overall. At Ngorongoro, I'd keep the Sopa as it has its own access road into/out of the crater. Kirurumu will allow you to experience a tented camp so I'd keep that too. You could select a tented camp in Tarangire as well.

The itinerary as it is is too much rushing around to me.

atravelynn

Do you really land in Nairobi and head straight to Nakuru? Or do you arrive Nairobi the night before? If it’s land and go to Nakuru for the night, that is not very relaxing. I’ve landed and gone immediately to the Maasai Mara, but then I’ve just stayed there for many nights.

2 nights in the Mara in late September is not good. You want 3 or 4.

2 nights at Crater at Sopa is just fine and I’ve done that and thought it was excellent.

I’d skip the Serengeti and add more time to the Mara in Sept. The migration action will be in the Mara.

Lake Manyara is not at its best in October. As a driving transition day it is ok. Maybe you could do Nairobi to Arusha, then on to Lake Manyara for your first night in Tanzania. The next day, head to the Crater. Then you’d arrive at the Crater with more time to enjoy it. That would mean you’d have to be able to get to your flight from Kilimanjaro before 1400, leaving the crater. That should be doable.

I saw Africa Point does custom safaris so they should be able to alter yours so there is less running around.

After typing them in, I noticed my comments are similar to the others. That makes the message more forceful.

I've made no comments on Egypt, since I'm not familiar with travel there.

safaribound

Thanks Patty I have asked for a quote using Serena Lodge in the Mara, I also got a quote from a company called Safari Line, a little more expensive tha Africa point, has anyone used them? their website says luxury Safaris

Patty

Here's a recent report from someone who had Safariline as their operator in Kenya assuming that's the one you're referring to (there's another US based company with a very similar name) http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34939376

I would also ask Safariline which operator they'll use on the ground in Tanzania. I don't know if their relationship with Good Earth is reciprocal or not. Vehicles and guides generally don't cross over, so if you do a combined Kenya/Tanzania itinerary, you'll have two operators, one for each country.

You should find more reports on the East Africa index thread http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34860283

As I recall all of the reports were positive.

sandi

WOW! You won't have a minute to relax until you return home. The schedule in East Africa and Egypt are similar in that days start early. With the above you are constantly on the move, on the road and insufficient time game viewing.

For Sept/Oct, I'd pass on the Serengeti and concentrate on the Masai Mara. Of course, if you could add a few flights, this might ease the rough road travel, but only you can decide whether you can. I would consider a few as example below:

Day 1 - Arv. NBO, drive (2-2.5/hrs) to Lk.Nakuru, afternoon game drive - o/n
Day 2 - Lk. Nakuru, game drives - o/n
Day 3 - Drive (5-6/hrs) to Masai Mara; afternoon game drive - o/n
Day 4 - Masai Mara
Day 5 - Masai Mara
Day 6 - Masai Mara
Day 7 - Opt. #1 - very early depart to drive (5-6/hrs) to Nairobi; lunch; drive to Amboseli - o/n
Opt. #2 - Morning game drive, then fly to NBO; lunch; drive to Amboseli - o/n
Day 8 - Amboseli - o/n
Day 9 - Drive to Namanga border; border procedures, change vehicle, drive to Arusha; lunch; drive to Lk. Manyara, afternoon game drive - o/n
Day 10 - Drive to Ngorongoro; afternoon crater tour - o/n
Day 11 - Morning crater tour; afternoon at leisure - o/n
Day 12 - Early depart for drive (5-6/hrs); 2pm shuttle bus to Nairobi; to JKIA for flight to CAI - o/n CAI
Day 13 - CAI - busy busy busy, transfer to station for train to Aswan
OR
o/n in Cairo
Day 14 - if o/n in CAI Day 13, early morning transfer to airport for 7am flight to Aswan. If you took train, you arrive Aswan in the morning. You can visit Philae Island, Unfinished Obelisk, board Nile cruiser - cruise
Day 15 - Cruise
Day 16 - Cruise - dock at Lusor
Day 17 - Luxor; visit Valley of King/Queen, Luxor and Karnak Temples.
Day 18 - Flight to CAI, airport hotel; then flight home.

Tarangire in Tanzania omitted as Amboseli shown in place - both elephant experiences. Breaks up some of the very very long days on the road. Not completely, just a bit!

Do realize, that Sep/Oct is winter in East Africa, so cool to downright cold mornings and nights. But in Egypt it will be hot. You may need different types of clothing.

Day 13

Patty

Here are two more reports that had Safariline for the Kenya portion -

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34697880

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34691922

aby

safaribound

personally, i take the drives easy...
furthermore when hitting the bumpy road, i start to get excited, my mind rings a bell "i'm on my way to a park"
(can't imagine reaching a game-park on tarmac. missing the adrenaline ???)
Roads r interesting to me i watch a lot of things (though some i've done more than a hundred times)...


i've done quick itineraries like yours, moving at such a pace, many times. it's possible; i've seen many people enjoy it very much.
I know nothing of your experince, expectations, age or your back's situation, so can't really advise you

i back the opinions about adding to Mara instead of Serengeti
I strongly suggest to visit Samburu

<font color="red"> why do they mention only some game-drives?? e.g. thers is only early-morning GD on day 3 ??? </font> it has to be checked, otherwise they may tell u &quot;anything not mentioned is extra&quot; (??)

i've seen many itineraries doing 2 GD a day - i'm used to 3...

aby

atravelynn

Aby,
I like your take on bumpy roads. You view them as meaning something exciting is coming up.

I don't mind the bumping along since I've been blessed with a good back to this point. But I don't like having a high ratio of transfer-drive time to gamedrive time.

safaribound

Thank you waynehazel for your exceellent journal, read it this weekend and shared it with my husband, amazing!!!! just thinking, was it AFricaPoint vehicles in general or did you just get a couple of real lemons??
Question on the safety issue, my husband and i are going to be the only 2 travelling, if we go on a private safari, will we have only the two of us or will they put us toghet with another couple travelling at the same time( it is OK with us if they do), is there a concern if it is only the 2 of us with the guides??

atravelynn

Cannot comment on Africa Point vehicles. For your question regarding only 2 passengers with the guide in a vehicle, that is quite common and safe. The driver will have a radio. Another 2 people might be able to help change a tire faster, but the driver is skilled in that. I am comfortable as one female alone in a vehicle with the driver/guide.