plusman

My family and I are travelling to Tanzania during mid-August/early-September. We have 2 children (aged 10 & 11) who are reasonable travellers (e.g. they've been around the world and last year in Peru/Ecuador/Galapagos), but none of us have been to Africa or on-safari before.

I'd appreciate your comments on our itinerary, our accomodations, and in particular what it is like travelling on safari with children (especially advice on things like food, etc., and, aside from the wildlife, what we should be seeing/doing). Also I'd like advice on tipping in Tanzania)

We fly into Dar Es Salaam and then fly to the Serengeti via Arusha. Stay 3 nights at Mbuzi Mawe Camp.

Then drive via the Olduvai Gorge to the Ngorongoro Crater (2 nights at Kifaru lodge)

Then drive to Manyara National Park (overnight E Unoto Retreat).

Then onto Tarangire National Park ( 2 nights at Tarangire River Camp).

We then fly to Kigoma staying 1 night at the Kigoma Hilltop, before transferring to the Gombe Tented Camp for 3 nights.

After a morning in Kigoma / Ujiji Town we fly back to Dar Es Salaam spending 1 night in the New Africa Hotel.

Then we fly to the Selous Game Reserve, spending 2 nights at the Sable Mountain lodge.

Then fly to Ruaha National Park (3 nights at Ruaha River Lodge).

Finally we spend 2 nights in Zanzibar at the Serena Inn, before flying back to Europe.

We're really looking forward to the adventure.

Thanks in advance for your help & comments.

plusman

Any feedback/suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks

Patty

Your itinerary sounds very interesting if a bit heavy on the number of travel/flight days, but if as you say your children are experienced travellers, then they should be OK. My only comment is that Kirafu Lodge might be a bit of a drive to access Ngorongoro crater (I believe it's actually closer to Manyara than the crater).

There was a recent thread on tipping which should help - http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34618739

Please post a trip report when you return. I'd love to hear what you thought of the 'new' Mbuzi Mawe camp and Sable Mountain lodge.

Have a great trip!

P.S. - Would you consider adopting me?

atravelynn

You'll be visiting some great areas.

The children should each have their own pair of binoculars--no need for real expensive ones.

There are usually numerous items to eat so they should find something they like.

Try to visit a Masai village, which should not be hard to do. You'll all enjoy it, and it will be a real eye opener for the kids.

Be sure they keep a hat on and have adequate sunscreen.

Have a great trip.

Leely

I want you to adopt me, too. What a great, covering-all-bases itinerary. I also think 10 and 11 are good ages for this.

I stayed at Kifaru last summer, and I only wish I could remember how far it was from the Crater. We just stayed there to break up the drive from Ngorongoro back to Arusha. I think that as you'll have two nights there you should be okay. (Food is good, farm-fresh. Also, the manager lady is very, very nice.)

I don't have children, and I don't know yours, so I'm afraid I can't advise about how they'll like it, etc. We did see people with children your age and they seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely.

Have a wonderful time.

Sincerely,
Very Jealous (Leely)

Leely

Whoops, not "with children your age" (40ish?), but with children the same age as yours.

Guess I got a little too excited about your itinerary!

Grcxx3

We did a Kenya/Tanzania safari a couple of years ago when our boys were about 10 and 11. SO - here are some thoughts....

1. Meals in the lodges are great, but they don't last long with kids. Bring LOTS of snacks and drinks (stock up whenever possible along the way). Besides, there were several times we got stuck/or were "pursuing" an elusive animal and were late arriving to the lodges for meals - and those snacks came in handy for all of us. At one point, I thought we would be spending New Year's Eve with the wildlife!

2. Be realistic! As ex-pats, our kids have travelled the world - but they are still kids. Wait a day or so, and then let them bring out the Gameboys. Some of the drives get a bit dull, and - to a ten year old - once you've seen 30 giraffes...number 31 isn't that exciting!

3. In addition to their own binoculars, let them have their own cameras. Even if most of the photos don't turn out great - they may get one you miss!

4. I don't know what the weather is like in early fall (we were there at Christmas time), but zip-off pants/shorts really came in handy.

5. The Masai Village near Olduvai Gorge was quite interesting, but my older son was a bit wary when the chief's oldest son too his hand and led him off into the group of grown men. Great photo!!!!

6. Understand that this is the type of trip that they may enjoy now but not really "appreciate" until they are much older. We try to alternate educational/cultural trips with purely "fun" trips. Of course, a lot of the "fun" trips are educational...they just don't realize it!!!!

7. Take the time at Olduvai Gorge to go down (with a guide) into the gorge and see where the Leakey's found their famous bones! Refer to #6 above, but what a great photo/story for a college anthropology class!

8. Make sure everyone watches the Lion King and Born Free before going. Not completely relevant, but it gets you in the mood - kind of like watching Sound of Music before going to Salzburg!

We stayed at different lodges, so I can't help there, but if you have any questions, please email me at [email protected]. Of course, I'm in the midst of moving, so if I don't respond right away...don't worry!

sandi

plusman -

A very interesting and full itinerary. I concur with other's that children's attention does wane after awhile, so having "busy stuff" for them during some of the long stretches of road that you will encounter.

This one is for you and your spouse. Ascertain from your tour operator whether any/which of the camps/lodges have activities to keep the children occupied so that the two of you can have a few dinners to yourselves. Being able to have a few such opportunities will probably be much appreciated and well deserved by the entire family.

... and you can add me to your adoption list along with Patty and Leely. You're all very fortunate. Enjoy your safari and do report back here.

tacos10

plusman, if you're still around, any reports on Gombe Stream?

Thank you.

jdavies

My family and my sister's family, a total of 5 children ages 6,8,9,11,13, just finished an incredible safari to Tanzania using Green footprints safaris. We did a lot of the same National parks as you. We also stayed at the E unoto, which was very nice. One thing I'm glad that we made sure of was that the lodges we stayed in all had pools. It was a great way for the kids to spend their afternoons until we went on our late afternoon game drives. We also flew into the Serengeti, staying at Sayari camp. Although we (the adults) loved it, it was the least favorite for our kids. There were more games drives, no pools, and hotter than the other areas. If you need anymore advice just ask!! Our kids had an awesome time. We also visited a couple of schools. Met the children and visited their classrooms. The kids loved this, all of them!
J

jdavies

I forgot to talk about the food... The food was overall excellent. They really cater to Europeans so their was delicious vegetables, salads, etc.. We always seemed to find something that our kids would like, pasta, bread, jelly, cereal, chicken, rice. We even started using the milk, although we were warned not to by our pediatrician. But the places that we stayed in were very nice so after a couple days we gave in, and the kids ate cereal and milk. Green footprints also does some great activities such as canoing, bike riding, night game drives. That is what drew us to them in the first place.

Grcxx3

jdavies - why were you advised not to use the milk? At least in my experience, most of the milk we had during our years in Egypt and on our safari trip was boxed long-life shelf milk. Other than getting used to the slightly different taste, we never had any problems.

jdavies

We were told that the pasteurization process could be different in Tanzania, and with young children, could pose bacteria risks. But while in Tanzania we met a family with a baby who had been drinking the milk all week from the lodges and she was fine... So we all enjoyed milk with our coffee and cereal after this!!!

Grcxx3

I think that is only supposed to be a problem with the fresh milk. There was some available in Cairo, but my kids got used to the boxed milk and there were no problems with that.

I used to stock up on boxed milk during hurricane season!

Lolazahra

We have just finished planning a trip with our 2 kids for January 07. We are doing the Masai Mara, Serengeti, the Crater, Lake Eyasi, and Mombasa.Our children are 2 1/2 and 4 1/2 and we are coming from the States. Last year, we went on a 2 week safari in South Africa -- doing 4 different areas. The kids loved it!!!!!! My oldest who was then 2 1/2 got up every morning for the game drive -- she did not miss one!!!! My advice is to try and reserve private vehicles whenever possible. It is more expensive, but you are in control of when you leave, come back, the guides can make special stops for things the kids might find interesting, etc. And of course, if they are loud, fighting, have to use the bathroom, etc., it will not be a problem. Have a great time!

waxwing

plusman,
We came back from our first safari to Tanzania in August. We took our two boys (13 and 8) with us and they had a grand time. Our children are also very well-travelled and have been to many national parks in several countries. They voted their first safari their best vacation ever! They wre not bored and were completely involved.
I would recommend that you give them each a digital camera of their own with plenty of memory.
We also had a east Africa wildlife identification book which was very popular with them. They enjoyed identifying everything, be it animal, bird or reptile.
They had their gameboys but did not take it out even once. Perhaps the bumpy rides were not very conducive.
Our kids had no problems with the food. It is a good idea to take some snacks for the game drives.

Grcxx3

I think lusman's safari was planned for Sept 05 - so they've gone and come back long ago. Tacos10 was just looking for some feedback on Gombe Stream