Best port to do a Safari??

[Kiwi_cruiser]

Thank You everyone for your information,  very helpfully 😊

I just wanted to post an update from our cruise and share some photos from our first Safari:

On 22nd November 2019 we were in Port Elizabeth, South Africa and we did our first Safari.

It was really good. We saw Zebra, Elephants, Giraffe, Rhinos, Lions with a fresh kill, Warthogs plus lots of Springboks to name a few…. It was a good day!
 

The game reserve ask us if we want to post photos of the Rhinos on social media, not to name them, as then poachers, will know that they got rhinos and go and try and poach them!

 

 

 

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[4774Papa]

Where did the Bengal Tiger come from?

[John Bull]

On 7/14/2019 at 12:25 AM, smtcan said:

We did a safari in Tanzania a year ago with Kuoni Tours, which I think is a British Company.  Our son made the arrangements for our family group of ten.  The whole experience was beyond our expectations.  We spent time in the Serengeti and   the Ngorongoro crater and saw more wildlife than we ever imagined.  Our grandaughter compared it to the Lion King, when there were animals as far as the eye could see.  We had a seven day safari followed by five days in Zanzibar.  Next year we are planning a cruise in South Africa, but don't think we could top our safari, so plan to do other things there.

 

 

We're off in 3 weeks time to do much the same -  a week on safari Serengeti / Ngorogoro crater followed by a week in Zanzibar .

 

I don't think Kruger would top the Serengeti, but the Nat Park is inexpensive' plenty of big game and easy to self-drive if your trip takes you that way. Overniting in a Kruger rest-camp (self-catering or use on-site restaurant) is also good and inexpensive. 

We went there on a road trip Kruger to Cape Town.

 

So what are your plans pre / post - cruise?

 

JB 

[Kiwi_cruiser]

 

15 hours ago, 4774Papa said:

Where did the Bengal Tiger come from?

 

That was at the game reserve we visited.

They help injured animals.

[teacherman]

For Kiwi Cruiser:  We are doing similar cruise in Feb 2021.  Can you tell me with whom you booked your safari?  Did you go to Addo Elephant park?  I would very much appreciate any information concerning shore excursions you took on your cruise that you felt were good, or not so good.  Thank you.

[31 cents]

I was hoping to go to south Africa in Jan./Feb 2021, but with the Covid 19 virus, it is on hold.  I think my expectations are too high,  I would like to visit the Krugar area, Capetown and VIctoria Falls.  I hope to include stays at 2 different lodges for safaris for 2-3 nights,  I think that is doable, but my problem is I am a cruise lover.  I also have a hard time with long flights.  We are coming from the united states.  I have found cruises that sail round-trip Capetown and also from Dubai to Capetown on NCL that are reasonably priced.  So we would do the Safaris before of after the cruise.  I like some of the packages OAT has.  My problem are the flights.  Flying to Dubai or Capetown is sooooo long.  Any ideas?

[4774Papa]

56 minutes ago, 31 cents said:

I was hoping to go to south Africa in Jan./Feb 2021, but with the Covid 19 virus, it is on hold.  I think my expectations are too high,  I would like to visit the Krugar area, Capetown and VIctoria Falls.  I hope to include stays at 2 different lodges for safaris for 2-3 nights,  I think that is doable, but my problem is I am a cruise lover.  I also have a hard time with long flights.  We are coming from the united states.  I have found cruises that sail round-trip Capetown and also from Dubai to Capetown on NCL that are reasonably priced.  So we would do the Safaris before of after the cruise.  I like some of the packages OAT has.  My problem are the flights.  Flying to Dubai or Capetown is sooooo long.  Any ideas?

We decided to do our safari in Kenya and Tanzania, which is reported to be the best place for a safari in Africa.

My Son and some of his friends visited South Africa and Zimbabwe, doing a cruise at Kruger Park.  They loved it, but said it was common knowledge that East Africa is best for safaris.   We have a safari booked for July 2021 with my Son and friend now.

 

Getting to South Africa or East Africa for a safari and not flying would be possible on a cruise.  There are cruise lines that visit South Africa (not sure about Kenya).  I think NCL and MSC have cruises that go there or originate there.

I think some originate and end there, which would not be what you want.

 

We had friends that took an MSC cruise from the UAE that ended in South Africa.  Still, they had to fly back to England (their home) one way.

[cashmeremypuppydog]

Hello from Canada,

We just came back in Feb 2020 from our first trip to Africa: Uganda (15 nights), Tanzania (8 nights) and Zanzibar (11 nights). It was just outstanding. We really enjoyed the 2 boat Safaris in Uganda, trekking chimpanzees and gorillas also in Uganda and the outstanding safari in Tanzania. Tanzania had obviously much much more wildlife but both countries were brilliant. We will cherish FOREVER our first 2 safaris (Feb is an awesome time to visit Ndudu (Serengeti Tanzania) as it is calving season: a million wildebeest give birth to 8000 babies every day, and as these newborns take their first steps, they’re targeted by lion, leopard, cheetah and hyena).  We don’t think we will ever have a better trip in the future!  We barely EVER saw any other Landcruiser.

 

I just want to start by explaining how I created our trip to Uganda & Tanzania. I read Lonely Planet Uganda and Lonely Planet Tanzania. I made the itinerary myself and found 2 small companies I read about in Lonely Planet.

 

We had the choice between: budget, mid-luxury or luxury. We selected mid-luxury and we had all our meal included. Creating our own itinerary went very smoothly and was painless.  Buying directly from a company in Tanzania made us save thousands of dollars over buying from a travel agent in Canada or a specialized safari company in Canada. If I would do it again, I would spend longer on our safari in Tanzania and only 7 nights in Zanzibar.

 

Your driver/guide will certainly make or break your safari.  I explain myself.

The moment we met our driver/guide in Tanzania, Jeff, we loved him. He was personable, funny, full of stories and easy to be around. During a safari, you get to know your driver as you are with him up to 12-hour per day. He astonished us with his PASSION. Jeff acted as it was his first safari (but he has been doing Safaris for 10 years) by having relentless curiosity, energy and passion. I should not forget to mention Jeff is an excellent driver as some of the road conditions were questionable (very muddy and/or no roads in the middle of “nowhere”). On a few occasions, we did not think we could get unstuck! But Jeff used his unbelievable skills to get us out. Believe me, we were not the only one stuck as we were in the middle of the wild Serengeti.

 

We never imagined we would see SO MUCH wildlife and be SO CLOSE to the animals. Our experience with Jeff was beyond perfect, magical & overwhelming. Our accommodations were UNBELIEVABLE, the food was great and I just wish we could have stayed extra nights.

 

Personally, if we go back to Tanzania, Jeff will definitely be our driver. We love him like a son.  But I am hesitant to go back in Oct (to see another area of Tanzania as animals migrate!) as it would be more busy (busy season) so more Landcruisers all over...

 

Now, South Africa/Botswana.  I am currently reading, planning, researching for winter 2021.  Should I bother with a 2nd safari?  Kruger is a no with their paved roads.  It would be laughable after doing rugged Ndutu where we were surrounded my thousands of wildebeest and zebra in the wild.  DH and I can not believe places we drove...

Botswana is an option but as we want to go in Jan, it is the rainy season.  Plus, it is extremely expensive as it is exclusive.  We don’t need exclusive but this is Botswana.  My goal with our 2nd time in Africa would be to experience many boat Safaris as seriously, the game drive in Tanzania can not be beaten and boat Safaris are special!

 

Time will tell if a cruise with Oceania in Africa will be added to the land experience.  A minimum of 7 days is needed to see most attractions in Cape Town.  Then, we would fly to Victoria Falls and cross the border to Botswana.  We would then do everything last minute so the cost would be greatly reduced.

 

Just my two cents worth.  If you can, do a pre cruise safari as it is VERY tiring.  Then, relax on the cruise ship.

 

If anyone wants to book directly with our driver in Tanzania, please, email us chantalanddennis at hotmail dot com

 

The Canadians!😎

[John Bull]

6 hours ago, cashmeremypuppydog said:

the game drive in Tanzania can not be beaten

 

 

The Canadians!😎

 

 

Hi, Colonials ,

 

Sounds very much like our safari, also back in February - from Arusha to Tangire, Serengeti, Ndutu, Ngorongoro, Manyara,

Totally brilliant. 

So much wildlife - including multiple lion sightings right alongside our jeep (and tree-climbing lions in Serengeti, Ndutu and Manyara), all of the Big Five, literally thousands of wildebeest (in the early days of the calving), and so much more. We tailor-made a mix of budget bungalows, tented encampments in the middle of nowhere, and one excellent lodge in Ndutu. Weather was fine, but it had rained a lot in the days before - we got stuck a couple of times & other jeeps pulled us out, and we did the honours for another that got stuck.

Did you see the stranded landcruiser in the muddy head of the lake at Ndutu? One day a couple of jeeps were unsiccessfully trying to pull it out. Next day a tractor tried & failed. I wonder if it's still there.

 

Having self-driven Kruger NP in a car, I'd reckoned we could self-drive Serengeti in a Land Cruiser. But information on geography and accommodation was scant on the 'web, and there were insurance excess issues with rented land-cruisers, plus much higher park fees for non-Tanzanians, so we booked an organised safari. Having done much the same safari, you can understand why I was so very very pleased that I'd chickened out of self-drive !!!! .

We too booked with a local safari operator. We chose Lion King Adventures, and the arrangements, safari, driver, accommodation & everything else was faultless.

Like everywhere in Tanzania, payment by card is subject to a 5% fee. So we paid a deposit by credit card (thereby committing the card issuer to liability for the entire cost) and paid the balance by bank transfer.

We fixed our own flights UK to Kilimanjaro, Arusha to Zanzibar (5 days beachfront resort in Nungwi & 2 days in the heart of old-town Stonetown), then Zanzibar back to UK - just as Covid had started in UK (phew).

btw - what did you think of Zanzibar's magnificent airport 

 

So glad that we'd already driven Kruger. It was our first safari, and we loved it. But after Tanzania it would have been comparatively very bland and park-like.

 

JB 

[4774Papa]

8 hours ago, cashmeremypuppydog said:

Hello from Canada,

We just came back in Feb 2020 from our first trip to Africa: Uganda (15 nights), Tanzania (8 nights) and Zanzibar (11 nights). It was just outstanding. We really enjoyed the 2 boat Safaris in Uganda, trekking chimpanzees and gorillas also in Uganda and the outstanding safari in Tanzania. Tanzania had obviously much much more wildlife but both countries were brilliant. We will cherish FOREVER our first 2 safaris (Feb is an awesome time to visit Ndudu (Serengeti Tanzania) as it is calving season: a million wildebeest give birth to 8000 babies every day, and as these newborns take their first steps, they’re targeted by lion, leopard, cheetah and hyena).  We don’t think we will ever have a better trip in the future!  We barely EVER saw any other Landcruiser.

 

I just want to start by explaining how I created our trip to Uganda & Tanzania. I read Lonely Planet Uganda and Lonely Planet Tanzania. I made the itinerary myself and found 2 small companies I read about in Lonely Planet.

 

We had the choice between: budget, mid-luxury or luxury. We selected mid-luxury and we had all our meal included. Creating our own itinerary went very smoothly and was painless.  Buying directly from a company in Tanzania made us save thousands of dollars over buying from a travel agent in Canada or a specialized safari company in Canada. If I would do it again, I would spend longer on our safari in Tanzania and only 7 nights in Zanzibar.

 

Your driver/guide will certainly make or break your safari.  I explain myself.

The moment we met our driver/guide in Tanzania, Jeff, we loved him. He was personable, funny, full of stories and easy to be around. During a safari, you get to know your driver as you are with him up to 12-hour per day. He astonished us with his PASSION. Jeff acted as it was his first safari (but he has been doing Safaris for 10 years) by having relentless curiosity, energy and passion. I should not forget to mention Jeff is an excellent driver as some of the road conditions were questionable (very muddy and/or no roads in the middle of “nowhere”). On a few occasions, we did not think we could get unstuck! But Jeff used his unbelievable skills to get us out. Believe me, we were not the only one stuck as we were in the middle of the wild Serengeti.

 

We never imagined we would see SO MUCH wildlife and be SO CLOSE to the animals. Our experience with Jeff was beyond perfect, magical & overwhelming. Our accommodations were UNBELIEVABLE, the food was great and I just wish we could have stayed extra nights.

 

Personally, if we go back to Tanzania, Jeff will definitely be our driver. We love him like a son.  But I am hesitant to go back in Oct (to see another area of Tanzania as animals migrate!) as it would be more busy (busy season) so more Landcruisers all over...

 

Now, South Africa/Botswana.  I am currently reading, planning, researching for winter 2021.  Should I bother with a 2nd safari?  Kruger is a no with their paved roads.  It would be laughable after doing rugged Ndutu where we were surrounded my thousands of wildebeest and zebra in the wild.  DH and I can not believe places we drove...

Botswana is an option but as we want to go in Jan, it is the rainy season.  Plus, it is extremely expensive as it is exclusive.  We don’t need exclusive but this is Botswana.  My goal with our 2nd time in Africa would be to experience many boat Safaris as seriously, the game drive in Tanzania can not be beaten and boat Safaris are special!

 

Time will tell if a cruise with Oceania in Africa will be added to the land experience.  A minimum of 7 days is needed to see most attractions in Cape Town.  Then, we would fly to Victoria Falls and cross the border to Botswana.  We would then do everything last minute so the cost would be greatly reduced.

 

Just my two cents worth.  If you can, do a pre cruise safari as it is VERY tiring.  Then, relax on the cruise ship.

 

If anyone wants to book directly with our driver in Tanzania, please, email us chantalanddennis at hotmail dot com

 

The Canadians!😎

 

[4774Papa]

Just now, 4774Papa said:

 

Thanks for the great information on your safari experience.    We aren't doing a month in Africa, just an 8 day safari in Kenya and Tanzania.  Each to their own, but that is plenty for us.

We are visiting many of the places you indicated  as well as John Bull in Tanzania.  Also, some days in Kenya.  We are excited about it, had to postpone it from July 2020 until July 2021.

[cashmeremypuppydog]

13 hours ago, John Bull said:

Hi, Colonials ,

 

Sounds very much like our safari, also back in February - from Arusha to Tangire, Serengeti, Ndutu, Ngorongoro, Manyara,

Totally brilliant. 

So much wildlife - including multiple lion sightings right alongside our jeep (and tree-climbing lions in Serengeti, Ndutu and Manyara), all of the Big Five, literally thousands of wildebeest (in the early days of the calving), and so much more. We tailor-made a mix of budget bungalows, tented encampments in the middle of nowhere, and one excellent lodge in Ndutu. Weather was fine, but it had rained a lot in the days before - we got stuck a couple of times & other jeeps pulled us out, and we did the honours for another that got stuck.

Did you see the stranded landcruiser in the muddy head of the lake at Ndutu? One day a couple of jeeps were unsiccessfully trying to pull it out. Next day a tractor tried & failed. I wonder if it's still there.

 

Having self-driven Kruger NP in a car, I'd reckoned we could self-drive Serengeti in a Land Cruiser. But information on geography and accommodation was scant on the 'web, and there were insurance excess issues with rented land-cruisers, plus much higher park fees for non-Tanzanians, so we booked an organised safari. Having done much the same safari, you can understand why I was so very very pleased that I'd chickened out of self-drive !!!! .

We too booked with a local safari operator. We chose Lion King Adventures, and the arrangements, safari, driver, accommodation & everything else was faultless.

Like everywhere in Tanzania, payment by card is subject to a 5% fee. So we paid a deposit by credit card (thereby committing the card issuer to liability for the entire cost) and paid the balance by bank transfer.

We fixed our own flights UK to Kilimanjaro, Arusha to Zanzibar (5 days beachfront resort in Nungwi & 2 days in the heart of old-town Stonetown), then Zanzibar back to UK - just as Covid had started in UK (phew).

btw - what did you think of Zanzibar's magnificent airport 

 

So glad that we'd already driven Kruger. It was our first safari, and we loved it. But after Tanzania it would have been comparatively very bland and park-like.

 

JB 

Hello JB,

We had the exact same itinerary. I feel I would help someone with their itinerary, i would advise not to sleep in Arusha but to go straight to Tarangire National Park.  We stayed only 1 night outside the park and our accommodation ‘Sangaiwe Tented Lodge’ was out of this world!  Instead, I would advise 2 nights...  Tarangire was very special, great place for first spotting of the wildlife.  However, we were all disappointed with Manyara.  The reviews were so outstanding and our visit was way below average...  However, Tarangire was outstanding!

 

i could go and on but words do not explain what you see and experience in Ndutu.  That was by far our favourite.  Ngorongoro was great but you have to stay on the road so little chance of being stuck and less freedom as you have to stay on the dirt road.

In Ndutu, we stayed in a ‘Tented Lodge’ they moved every 3 months.  We could not believe it as we had a king size bed, a writing desk, a sofa... (you see the picture) in our room.  The moves take 1 month each time!  This is crazy.  This is why Safaris are expensive...

 

When we first arrived in the Serengeti, we saw a few Lanbcruisers off road (not allowed apparently).   Our driver talked to another driver  (in his language) and got very excited.  He explained we were going to see something very rare...  We drove off the road and he was a bit nervous as he said it was not allowed.  As we were trying to find “the surprise”, we found a baby antelope (sorry I forgot the exact type of antelope) that had been born a few minutes ago.  It was so small, still “gluey”.  Jeff explained the mother had left the child alone so our “surprise” would not come after it...  The mom was no where to be seen but I am sure she was watching us.  After drive around in the middle of “no where”, we finally found our surprise: 2 wild African dogs.  Jeff said it was quite rare to see them in Tanzania.

 

Enjoy the photo!

 

The Canadians!😎

[cashmeremypuppydog]

13 hours ago, 4774Papa said:

Thanks for the great information on your safari experience.    We aren't doing a month in Africa, just an 8 day safari in Kenya and Tanzania.  Each to their own, but that is plenty for us.

We are visiting many of the places you indicated  as well as John Bull in Tanzania.  Also, some days in Kenya.  We are excited about it, had to postpone it from July 2020 until July 2021.

Hello 4774Papa,

Could you post your itinerary?  I always love to see itineraries...  I am sure your safari will be as exquisite as ours...  We do not travel outside Canada from June to Sept as it is the best time of the year to be in Canada.  Georgia is much hotter than Canada in July so it is a good time for you to travel.  If everyone would travel at the same time, it would not be good!

Enjoy your safari to the fullest.  Enjoy the photo.

The Canadians!😎

 

 

[cashmeremypuppydog]

I could go on and on...

[4774Papa]

54 minutes ago, cashmeremypuppydog said:

Hello 4774Papa,

Could you post your itinerary?  I always love to see itineraries...  I am sure your safari will be as exquisite as ours...  We do not travel outside Canada from June to Sept as it is the best time of the year to be in Canada.  Georgia is much hotter than Canada in July so it is a good time for you to travel.  If everyone would travel at the same time, it would not be good!

Enjoy your safari to the fullest.  Enjoy the photo.

The Canadians!😎

 

 

 

Here is our itinerary:

 

Fly into Nairobi- we have one night in a hotel and the next day we leave for our safari.

 

Day 2 Masai Mara Game Reserve--Have game drive , staying at Mara Serena Lodge

Day3 Masai Mara Game Reserve- More game drives, visit to Maasai village, see herds of elephant, impala, buffalo, giraffe, leopard, cheetah and lion- stay at Mara Serena Lodge.

Day 4 Leave Masai Mara with lunch boxes for Serengeti, crossing Tanzanian border, Gme drive en-route to our camp in Serengeti Stay at Kirawira Serena Lodge.

Day 5 More game drives in Western Serengeti, including Grumeti River (crocodiles and hippos) Stay at Kubu Kubu Tented Camp.

Day 6 More game drive in central Serengeti in search of large predators.  Stay at Kubu Kubu Tented Camp.

Day 7 Morning Serengeti game drive then to Nogoronogoro with optional visit of Masai Village and Olduvai Gorge. Stay at Ngorongoro Serena Lodge.

Day 8 Descend into Ngorongoro Crater for game drives, lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo.  Later in the day drive overbite in Tarangire. Stay in Maramboi Tented Camp.

Day 9  Game drives in Tarangire including along Tarangire River.  Later in day depart to Arusha.

early evening, fly out of Kil-Arusha airport back home.

 

Tour is with Good Earth Tours.

[4774Papa]

Regarding payment by bank transfer.  We tried to avoid the credit card surcharge on our Peru-Cusco-Machu Picchu tour with a Peruvian tour company (great tout by the way) by using a bank transfer.  Unfortunately, we found the bank transfer cost almost as much  as the credit card surcharge.

[John Bull]

Papa. .............. I can't comment on your itinerary, only to say that the safari operators know where and when is best to see the wildlife. Much of your itinerary is different to ours / the Canadians', and that's down to your different time of the year - which is also the reason for the move-able tented camps.

The main exception is in the crater at Ngorongoro - the animals in the crater don't migrate.

 

Shortage of time and thinness of wallet sadly meant we couldn't visit the Masai Mara, but we did come across Maasai villages in northern Tanzania. The warriors wear red cloaks, which reputedly keep the lions at bay. They use donkeys for transport - they're known as "Maasai Landrovers" .

But I think the optional "Maasai village excursion" in Tanzania is to a purpose-built tourist version of a village - we passed it very close to the road between Serengeti and Ngorongoro, & we chose not to stop by. Can I suggest you dig into the detail of that excursion before deciding, because it may be a bit Mickey-Mouse. 

We would have liked to stay at Ngorongoro Serena, it's brilliantly located, overlooking the crater . My wallet instead chose Rhino Lodge, which was perfectly adequate.

Yes, we too got caned a little on bank transfer charges, but it still saved us about £150 (vaguely something over $200)

 

Canadians.............. we did get stuck in the crater . But not of our own making. Following overnight rain one jeep dropped into a deep steep-sided hole. Trying to tow it out, they managed to get the front wheels out, only to drop the back wheels in instead..  As you say, here everyone has to stay on the "roads" and a queue built up while they were trying to extricate it. 

 

 

On the same subject, here's the marooned jeep in Ndutu. Doesn't look difficult, but really deep and very sloppy gooey mud.

 

 

You did really well to see the Wild Dogs, they're rare anywhere.

Rarest we saw was a Civet, but no camera handy at the time.

Got some great photos & video, but been having trouble up-loading them.

Will try on a different post.

 

Our driver too took a chance and went into the bush a few times - for lions and cheetahs, including lions at a buffalo kill.

We returned to the same spot next day, half a dozen lazy lions lying around but all that was left of the buffalo was the skull and a hollowed-out torso.

 

Driver was in pretty constant radio communications with other drivers (of all safari operators), receiving and passing on sightings. Very useful, but occasionally this meant that the biggest herd that we saw was a herd of .................... Landcruisers .
One particular occasion was a sighting of a cheetah family near the shore of the lake in Ndutu. Mother was an exhibitionist, posing proudly with her cubs - "look at ME". The drivers all know their stuff, they formed a semi-circle rather than a full circle so that folk could get photos without a backdrop of landcruisers.

Our first night was at Arusha - Loin King provided a transfer from Kilimanjaro, but when
we got to Arusha we started to wonder what we'd let ourselves in for - very grubby and unappealing town, and a busy but deeply rutted and washed-out street to our accommodation at Ilboru Safari Lodge. The lodge -  rondevals (round bungalows) in pleasant manicured grounds, with pool, bar, etc - was excellent, but we abandoned plans to dine out. Our safari driver collected us from the lodge around 8am and we got to Tangire around 10am..

So I can understand your suggestion not to stay in Arusha, but that'll depend on folks' arrival time and is likely to mean having the safari jeep and driver at an extra full day's cost.    

 

Our first day was Tangire and we too rated it excellent, especially for elephants - but it did pale in comparison after we'd visited Serengeti and Ndutu.

Ngorongoro crater is unique, as much for the geography as for the wildlife.

Manyara was our last day, we too rated it the poorest. And I don't think that was simply because it was post-Serengeti and Ndutu. Perhaps the wrong season - dense vegetation, and the track to the little island under water and inaccessible, probably better for Papa's time-of-year

 

JB  

 

 

 

[4774Papa]

Love all the photos.

 

When I started researching for safaris, I first looked at popular large travel firms and was shocked at the cost.

 

We had used Vantage World Travel for three wonderful tours and river cruises, but their safari in East Africa was over $9,000 per person.  Abercombe and Kent (I think that was the name) wanted more than $11,000.  Vantage's safari included a few days on the coast at Zanzabar which we didn't want and the total tour was 17 days with about 13 days on safari.

Gate 1 Travel had a well priced safari, but the itinerary was not super.

 

I found two excellent choices.  The firms were Good Earth Tours and Goway Tours.   We picked Good Earth Tours which offered us a private safari for our group of four.  Goway seemed a good option as well.

 

Our safari is $4500 per person.  The optional tour of the Masai village is $60.  

[cashmeremypuppydog]

On 6/9/2020 at 6:31 AM, 4774Papa said:

Our safari is $4500 per person.  The optional tour of the Masai village is $60.  

Have you made a payment yet?  If not, contact me at chantalanddennis at hotmail dot com

I have not researched your accommodation but we were mid-Luxury.  I don’t want to write to much here... 

The Canadians!😎

[cashmeremypuppydog]

On 6/8/2020 at 9:13 AM, John Bull said:

Papa. .............. I can't comment on your itinerary, only to say that the safari operators know where and when is best to see the wildlife. Much of your itinerary is different to ours / the Canadians', and that's down to your different time of the year - which is also the reason for the move-able tented camps.

The main exception is in the crater at Ngorongoro - the animals in the crater don't migrate.

 

 

One particular occasion was a sighting of a cheetah family near the shore of the lake in Ndutu. Mother was an exhibitionist, posing proudly with her cubs - "look at ME". The drivers all know their stuff, they formed a semi-circle rather than a full circle so that folk could get photos without a backdrop of landcruisers..    

JB  

 

 

 

Hello JB,

You are right about Papa’s itinerary...   The tour operators and drivers/guides know what they are doing and will deliver.  Papa’s itinerary look great.

 

When were you in Ndutu with the cheetahs experience as we experienced the same.  We were there around Feb 5 or 6.  I will post a photo when I have a chance.  We are currently entertaining friends from Calgary...

The Canadians!😎

[John Bull]

Here's a few random photos

 

JB 
 

[4774Papa]

4 hours ago, cashmeremypuppydog said:

Have you made a payment yet?  If not, contact me at chantalanddennis at hotmail dot com

I have not researched your accommodation but we were mid-Luxury.  I don’t want to write to much here... 

The Canadians!😎

We made a deposit last year, so we aren't switching to another company.  Our accommodations are the top choice of three.  In other words, we picked the best lodging available.

[4774Papa]

We picked late July because of the Great Migration.  It was the most expensive time of the year for the safari.

[cashmeremypuppydog]

On 6/10/2020 at 11:22 AM, 4774Papa said:

We made a deposit last year, so we aren't switching to another company.  Our accommodations are the top choice of three.  In other words, we picked the best lodging available.

I just want to be happy!  I wish you have the best safari ever!

The Canadians!😎

[cashmeremypuppydog]

These are the photos of the cheetahs & all the vehicles.  There were a lot of happy customers taking photos...  The drivers/guides are  not selfish and share all info with other drivers. 

 

Plus, all our photos were taken with iPhone11.  We could not believe how great they turned out.  Papa, you will get so close to the animals that you don't need a super duper camera...  

The Canadians!😎

 

Edited June 11, 2020 by cashmeremypuppydog