Hints wanted on planning for a 2-weeks Safari in Tansania

Hello there!

Maybe this is much too early yet, but I feel like beginning to plan for
a Tansania Safari to take place in August of 2007.

We will be a couple just about getting near the 50-year-frontier, plus
our son (19 years old then). We have some Safari experience based on 3
individually organized tours we did in Kenya, where the latest of them
has been totally planned and carried out by ourselves.

But this was quite some time ago, so that I am sort of uncertain now
whether for Tansania, we should just "book" a Safari or try to arrange
one completely on our own. I know quite well from our tours in Kenya,
that being on Safari - especially when you're on your own - can be kind
of demanding and exhausting. And as we're no longer those young guys we
used to be in those days, I wonder ...

Your opinions here are welcome.


The Safari should be at least 14 days.

Would you prefer to start in Arusha, or in Dar Es Salaam?

We have not too much points on our itinerary yet. Of course we want to
visit the Serengeti, for maybe a week. And I want to stay for at least
one night at the Lobo Lodge near the Kenyan border. What else would you
suggest?


After the end of our Safari we'd like to add a week to be spent at the
coast near Tiwi in Kenya - for relaxing and to "process" all those fresh
emotions and impressions from Tansania.

What would be the best way to change countries here? A flight from
Arusha or Dar Es Salaam to Mombasa? I guess there is no overland bus
from Tansania to Kenya that could be recommended, is there?


Cheers and asante sana!

johnmiller77@ schrieb:

> I think you should ask yourself what you want to see or do. If its the
> migration then change you trip

No, it's not so much the migration we want to see. We experienced it
before, and well, yes, it was spectacular but I have learned that
trying to repeat such a great experience mostly failes somehow.

> On the otherhand, if you're just looking for a 2
> week safari and you want to share the experience with your family then
> there are plenty of places all over africa to choose from.

Agreed. But we'd like to stick to the Tansania/Kenya area.


> You could also spilt you tour up and have a week on safari and then
> another week at a beach (zanzibar/mozambique)

Are there beach locations in Tansania that can "compete" with the
Kenyan coast south of Mombasa?

Thanks

>John Macdonald schrieb:
>
>> We camped at some public campsites, to keep the cost down so
>> we could have a longer holiday, but we also stayed in lodges.
>
>Do tour operators or others rent camping equipment normally?
>
>
Yes. We had a driver and cook with us. They put up the tents and did
all the hard work for us.

The vehicle coped well with four adults and all the equipment. On the
days we stayed two nights at a campsite or lodge, the cook stayed at
base - he had seen it all before!
--
John Macdonald

> Are there beach locations in Tansania that can "compete" with the
> Kenyan coast south of Mombasa?

I haven't been there, but my daughter took the ferry from Dar es Salaam to
Zanzibar and liked that city/island well enough to stay for a week. She is
taking my wife there when we visit in July, so she thought enough of
Zanzibar to want to take her mother.

(I think they also want to look for Tanzanite jewellery in Dar es Salaam.
We owe her a graduation present because she just finished her degree while
teaching in Uganda.)

Scott