In message
"Jørn-Morten Innselset" wrote:
Thanks, Liz
By limited I mean that as a safari really is not our main target activity,
we might stretch to $200-300 each if it at all is worth the time and money.
Would a trip to the southern game reserves pale considerably compared to
Ngorongoro and Serengeti, and would we be better off saving the whole safari
experience for another journey? I really don't know what to expect, and what
makes a "good" safari (except not being ripped off or avoiding being killed
in a freak road accident).
The only real rip-off merchants I've heard of seem to be the 'rock-bottom
budget' outfits, and even that may not be deliberate, but just a result of
the fact that because they are very low budget, they haven't themselves got
the funds to allow for 'contingencies'.
Freak road accidents, sadly, can happen at any time. :-(
I can't actually help about Saadani and Mkumi as I haven't been to either.
If no-one posts in the next couple of days, I'll try to get in touch with
our local RSPB warden, who's actually a Tanzanian national (technically: he
left when he was about 11: a few years back he was seconded for two years to
work near Mkumi and went into the park quite a bit: though on his own, not
with a company.
It is becoming very standard nowadays to have a safari which 'does' Ruaha,
Selous and Zanzibar, but these never seem to be cheap - as far as I know all
the camps in Ruaha and Selous are pretty expensive. I've been in Selous
http://www.v-liz.com/safari/tanzania/selous/sel_a.htm. When we went, the
game was rather 'skittish', but that was in '98 and the reserve was very
little visited then. The guides were assuming that the more the reserve was
visited, the more habituated the animals would be. It may also be that since
we were there, some less expensive accommodations will have opened? But you
would really have to fly in from Dar or you'd lose a lot of time travelling,
which would push the prices up.
I've also got some Zanzibar & Chumbe pages, which aren't particularly
informative(!).
http://www.v-liz.com/safari/tanzania...bar/zanhom.htm
I'm sure you'll have a great time, whatever you decide.
(Be *sure* to have sundowners and an evening meal at New Emerson's)
Safari njema
Liz
--
Virtual Liz now at
http://www.v-liz.com
Kenya; Tanzania; Namibia; India; Seychelles; Galapagos
"I speak of Africa and golden joys"