wildlifepainter

I hope you all can take a look at my iteniary and give me your thoughts. This is with Good Earth in FEB 2008. Not the cheapest but I do feel comfortable with their answers to my questions. Is this a fair price? Quite a few companys don't respond (Roy's) and some referred me to others. I'm a wildlife artist so I will be most interested in the photography. Thanks for you thoughts.

Day 00: (FLY DAY)
Depart SFO in am to Amsterdam and catch KLM connecting flight at 10:30am to Kilimanjaro (JRO)

Day 01: (FLY DAY)
Arrive Kilimanjaro International Airport (8:50pm), transfer to KIA Lodge and dinner on arrival, D.

Day 02: (CENTRAL SERENGETI )
Early breakfast and transfer to Arusha Air Strip (1 hr drive) for 8:30am flight to Seronera Valley . Late morning game drive before lunch at Seronera Wildlife Lodge and afternoon game drive, B,L,D.

Day 03: (EASTERN &CENTRAL SERENGETI)
Early morning game drive, lunch and afternoon drive. Seronera Wildlife Lodge, B,L,D.

Day 04: (CENTRAL & SOUTHERN SERGENGETI)
Early morning game drive then in afternoon drive South to Serengeti Plains. Dinner and overnight at Ndutu Lodge, B,L,D.

Day 05: ( SOUTHERN SERGENGETI )
Full day game drive with box lunch or back to lodge for lunch and afternoon game drive. Dinner and overnight at Ndutu Lodge, B,L,D.

Day 06: (SOUTHERN SERGENGETI & NGORONGONRO CRATER)
Morning game drive on the way Ngorongoro. Afternoon game drive in crater. Dinner and overnight at Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge, B,L,D.

Day 07: (NGORONGONRO CRATER & LAKE MANYARA)
Early morning game drive into crater with breakfast box and then back to lodge for late lunch. Game drive toward Lake Manyara Hotel. Dinner and overnight, B.L,D.

Day 08: ( LAKE MANYARA & ZANZIBAR )
Early morning game drive in Lake Manyara then box lunch before transfer to Kilimanjaro airport (2-3 hrs) for 3:30pm departure to Zanzibar . Arrive Zanzibar at 4:30pm and transfer to Stown Town for Tembo House Hotel. B,L.

Day 09: ( ZANZIBAR )
Morning Prison Island Tour, then transfer to Pongwe Beach Hotel, B,D.

Day 10: ( ZANZIBAR )
Pongwe Beach Hotel, B,D.

Day 11: ( ZANZIBAR )
Pongwe Beach Hotel, B,D.

Day 12: ( ZANZIBAR / FLY)
Morning departure for Stone Town and city walking tour, then depart Zanzibar at 4:50pm for DAR, to arrive DAR at 5:10pm. Depart DAR at 11:15 pm on KLM, B.

Price (2 people): $2,690 (safari) + $170 (flight: JRO to Serengeti) + $180 (flight: JRO to ZNZ) + $270 (Pongwe Beach Hotel) + $60 (Tembo House Hotel) + $60 (Prison Island Tour) + $25 (stone town tour) + $85 (ZNZ to DAR) + $50 (transfers in Z’bar) = $3,590/person

Price includes:
-Private safari for 2
-Arrival and departure Kilimanjaro / Arusha / Z’bar airports transfers
-Accommodation as indicated (2 people sharing a double room)
-Meals (B=Breakfast, L=Lunch, D=Dinner) as indicated
-All park fees, and government taxes.
-Services of Professional English-speaking driver- guide.
-Game drives in Land Rover/Cruiser with pop up roof and guarantee window seat!
-Bottled water while on safari
-Unlimited mileage on the safari
-Stone town tour, and Prison island tour when in Z’bar
-Flight: JRO to Serengeti, one way, including taxes
-Flight: ARK to ZNZ, one way, including taxes
-ZNZ to DAR, one way, including taxes

Price excludes:
-International airfare
-Items of a personal nature such as passport, visa, traveler’s insurance.
-Tips to driver-guide.
-Optional balloon safari in Serengeti ($450/person)
-Optional masai village visit ($25/person)
-Optional visit of Olduvai Gorge ($5/person)

Patty

The safari price seems high to me if that's per person for 6 nights using Wildlife/Ndutu/Sopa but let's see what others think. Other quotes I've seen from Good Earth seem very reasonable so I'm a little surprised by this unless pricing will have gone up <i>that</i> much by 2008.

Leely

Agree with what Patty said regarding the pricing.

In terms of good places for wildlife photography, um, yes, you won't be disappointed.

wildlifepainter

The price includes Z'bar lodging for 4 nights with all internal flights and transfers. Also includes some meals.

Patty

I was referring to the $2690 safari part, is that per person? Someone more familiar with 2008 Tanzania prices may be able to give you a better answer.

wildlifepainter

I'm sorry, I misunderstood. Yes that is the price per person for a private safari for 2 people.

sandi

Considering that 2008 prices aren't yet available and won't be before mid'2007, these prices may actually be low. Remember, you are traveling during high season, even if staying at Wildlife and Ndutu lodges. I'd double check so you aren't surprised later with price increases.

I'd figure at minimum a 10% increase for '08, but may be 15% as has been these past few years.

Oh, and flying from ZNZ to DAR there is a small departure tax of $5 or $10/person never included in the ticket; payment in USD on departure.

Geelong2007

wildlifepainter
from my limited experience Aug 2006 in Tanzania and numerous other trips to
East Africa spanning 20 years I would've thought that you could get this trip &quot;safari part only&quot; for about $500 cheaper per person probably even more
this amount seems quite expensive as it is $380 per person per night
for what I think is basic accomodation

wildlifepainter

My experience so far is that some of companies that I contacted told me they didn't have prices yet so to contact them in April or June or Sept. A couple quoted me prices but said they were for 2007. Some don't answer and it has been a week. I don't want to wait to book my trip because I want to stay at the Ndutu Lodge and it is fully booked for a lot of dates in Feb. 2008. So I'm trying to get this together with prices I can budget for. Also I understand that fees for the Crater are now $100 per day per person and the Sergengeti is $50. Are prices going up for 2008 and is tourism increasing?

Denbasking

wildlifepainter:

&gt;Are prices going up for 2008 and is tourism increasing?&lt;

I think so...

I saw this the other day and not sure where I snitched it from to read later or I would have just posted the link. Sorry

USA to promote Tanzania tourism
Correspondent
Daily News; Friday,January 05, 2007 @00:05

NATIONAL Geographic Expeditions members say they will promote tourism in Tanzania based on what the country is endowed with.

The promise was made early this week when the National Geographic representatives briefly met Prime Minister Edward Lowassa in Ngorongoro.

One of the six representatives, Dr Meave Leakey said: &quot; Tanzania is endowed with so many tourist attractions; it needs strong promotion as opposed to what is being done now ... the move will be an eye opener to many people around the world and they will be attracted to visit your country.&quot;

Dr Leakey is a daughterin-law of Dr Louis Leakey who discovered the skull of an earliest man believed to have lived at the Olduvai Gorge in Arusha. She now lives in Nairobi, Kenya where she is carrying out explorations on Lake Turkana.

She said Tanzania has national parks, game reserves, clean beaches, Mount Kilimanjaro and historical sites in Zanzibar which if promoted effectively could boost the tourism sector in the country.

Tom Chielewski from Texas in the US and the group leader told the Premier that he has been in the country for eight weeks and what he has seen is incomparable to what he has been hearing or reading in magazines or on websites.

&quot;Tanzania needs a strong person who can vigorously publicise your country because you have more to offer than other countries in the SADC region as well as in Eastern and Central Africa .

Please keep on conserving the wildlife and the national parks, not only for the benefit of Tanzanians but also for other generations,&quot; said Chilelewski, who has spent more than six months in Africa.

When asked by Mr Lowassa what the National Geographic Expeditions members basically do, he said they promote wildlife conservations, ecotourism and expeditions. He said they had already visited Serengeti, Kirawira as well as Olduvai Gorge .

Ms Hyla Dobaj who deals with children said: &quot;We need to include archaeology in our curricula so that our kids could understand their origin as human beings and also be able to learn other people's history and culture.&quot;

According to National Geographic Expeditions Tanzanian co-ordinator, Joseph Kitia, there are currently two more expedition groups visiting Seronera and Kirawira. He said in 2007, they are planning to hold 10 more expeditions.

Den

Geelong2007

wildlifepainter
the fees for the crater tour are $100 for a 6 hour visit BUT you still have to pay daily conservation fees
for the Serengeti it is $50ppp 24 hour period but things shouldnt go up that much in 2008
find an operator that firstly answers then fits into your plans and then ask for a committment that the price wont go up by more than say 10% on the lodges and vehicle costs
If Ndutu is already filling up then those people must be traveling with someone
parkfees are of course outside the operators control

Bill_H

<b>the fees for the crater tour are $100 for a 6 hour visit BUT you still have to pay daily conservation fees</b>

I think the current transit or conservation fee is $30 per person per day just for being in the NCA, then if you want to descend into the crater it's $100 per jeep. Our ground operator told me the NCA wants to raise the $30 to $50, like in the Serengeti, and we were warned we might have to pay this extra $20/day/p for our stay at Ndutu, which is in the NCA, but apparently this increase hasn't happened yet ...

They said last year they were raising the NCA fees to cut down on the crowds but I guess people paying several hundred a day on safari aren't affected that much by another $20 or so and the crowds kept coming. Ka-ching!

Bill

wildlifepainter

Some companies are suggesting that 2 days is too much time in the crater and that I should add Tarangire Park instead. I thought that Tarangire wasn't recommended in Feb. Any thought?

Bill_H

<b>Some companies are suggesting that 2 days is too much time in the crater and that I should add Tarangire Park instead. I thought that Tarangire wasn't recommended in Feb. Any thought?</b>

January 2006 we did a 14 night trip with 3 nights at Tarangire and 4 nights at Ngorongoro (plus another 7 at Manyara and Ndutu) ... Tarangire was excellent for scenics but with even a small amount of rain (like Jan 06) the animals dispersed widely and we didn't have as many memorable wildlife encounters as elsewhere, except for a couple of ellie encounters. Our guides told us Tarangire was at its best for wildlife in the dry season, when game was concentrated near the river.

Ngorongoro was a mixed bag, great wildlife sightings (rhinos bluff-charging the jeep, mating lions, lions squabbling with hyenas, the two longest tusked ellies we saw, hyenas attacking a buffalo, newborn wildebeests, hippos fighting, flamingos at sunrise in the lake) ... something different every morning. But there were shortcomings for photographers too, mainly with the light and with the time restrictions. And by mid-morning there are a LOT of people and jeeps.

FWIW, we are returning this year and spending three nights at Ngorongoro and zero nights at Tarangire (the rest at Ndutu and Manyara) so you can tell how I feel about it ... we are also inquiring about a Sept or Oct trip and that one will include several days at Tarangire, when it's supposed to be better for game viewing.

Just my thoughts on it, since our interests seem similar (photography) and our Jan 2007 itinerary is very similar to your Feb 2008 itinerary.

Bill

wildlifepainter

Thanks Bill for you thoughts. I should just add on a few more days but then where does it stop?

Bill_H

Painter, to give you an idea of what to expect at these different parks from a photographer's standpoint check out my photos at http://members.aol.com/bhilton665/africa/ ...

The January 2006 link shows what we got during a very dry January and if you open it there are 16 thumbnails. Basically the Tarangire shots are in the first row (except some wildebeest and ellie shots are from other spots), the first three thumbs in row 2 are for Manyara, the last one in row 2 (lion) and all of row 3 are Ndutu (Serengeti border) and the bottom row images are almost all from Ngorongoro Crater. This might help you decide how to best spend your days. For sure we feel we did well at Ngorongoro and Ndutu.

In a wet January it should be even better at Ndutu (a theory I'm going to test out more fully next week )

Bill

wildlifepainter

Those are great images Bill. What length lens are you useing? I'm trying to decide if I need to rent the Canon 100-400 for my digital rebel. I have the 70-300 IS DO and I love the fast focus and compact size but I paint a lot of close up images like yours. What do you think?

Bill_H

Painter, we had 500 mm f/4 lenses, usually with a 1.4x converter, sometimes a 2x for smaller birds. With a 1.3x digital camera this meant about 900 and 1,300 mm in 35 mm terms. We had very sturdy roof mounts, which are necessary for the 2x, I feel.

<b>I'm trying to decide if I need to rent the Canon 100-400 for my digital rebel. I have the 70-300 IS DO </b>

Generally longer is better, but you can still get a lot of fine shots with 300 mm and the Rebel (with a 1.6x crop factor). Tough call whether to rent or not ... we were very close to cheetahs, lions and elephants at times so shorter works fine occasionally (I think the cheetah-on-the-roof was shot at about 24 mm), but if you want tight bird shots you'll appreciate the extra length.

Bill

Geelong2007

wildlifepainter
hi again
since I have posted twice already here I thought I might again
just a thought if this is your first trip to Tanzania
then visit Tarangire
I have been a few times and at diferent months of the year
for a photographer Tarangire excells with
Boabab Trees and Elephants no matter when you go
also birds for them it is fantastic
not to mention leopards, lions ,walks, night drives and the scenery also is so different to Manyara, Ngo, and the Serengeti.

JEStraveler

Just to add two cents on Tarangire. We just returned from Tanzania and due to the long grass, outside of the elephants and baobabs, there isn't a whole lot to see at that time of year. It is a pretty and different setting, but if you want animals galore, Ndutu is going to provide you with the most opportunities both in terms of variety and sheer numbers.