mazda610328 wrote:
Thanks much, Bill. It's helpful.

I just checked some website covering consolidated Safari Operators
info. and found that the cost per day ranges widely. For budget ranges
around USD 70-100 per day per person, is it normal price or cheap?

Sounds very low to me given the cost of park entry fees etc ... my
guess is on a trip like this you are sharing a jeep with many other
people, doing one game drive mid-day instead of doing one in the early
AM and another in the afternoon, and staying at the cheapest
accomodations ... I don't know much about Kenya, maybe Dave Patterson
or Hans-Gorg Michna (who both know Kenya well) can chime in with some
words of wisdom on this and correct any misconceptions I have.

what's the lodging quality I could expect, clean & acceptable or lousy?

I don't know ... in Tanzania pretty good lodges like the Serena or Sopa
chains are running around $400 double per night with all meals while
the "Wildlife Lodge" chain with supposedly lousy service, shabby rooms
and indifferent food are around $200/night/dbl rack rate. Comparable
lodges in Kenya are supposedly cheaper (the Serena in Masai Mara is
under $300 double, for comparison), but I don't know what you'd get if
paying $100 per person for the vehicle, driver, park fees, food and
lodging ...

And~ when you were in Tanzania, what did you do there? Watching animals
all day long?

Our goal was to get in as many game drives as possible and photograph
animals ... you can see how we did at this site ...
http://members.aol.com/bhilton665/africa/ ... if you have limited time
to look at pics these are the pages that are most popular, with the
cheetahs, lions and birds ...
http://members.aol.com/bhilton665/ta...06/cheetah.htm
http://members.aol.com/bhilton665/ta...lion_fight.htm
http://members.aol.com/bhilton665/ta...etah_T4710.htm
http://members.aol.com/bhilton665/ta...lion_T2707.htm
http://members.aol.com/bhilton665/ta.../birds_all.htm

To get shots like this we have a private vehicle so we can stay out as
long as necessary and, especially important, leave the lodge at first
light ... most people wait for breakfast at the lodge and get to the
animals about 2 hours after the best action.

How long does it take to travel from Masai Mara to Serengeti?

They are adjacent, the Masai Mara is basically just the northern
extension of the Serengeti ecosystem ... however Tanzania shut the
border crossing many years ago so it's not feasible to drive directly
across the border there and most people return to Nairobi, then to
Arusha and then to Serengeti ... for the months you mentioned there is
more going on at Masai Mara so if you go there I wouldn't stress out
trying to reach the Serengeti to see lower numbers of the same animals
.... in Sept and Oct I think the best parks in northern Tanzania are
Tarangire and Lake Manyara plus the Ngorongoro Crater area.

Bill