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Tanzania
Hello, I just have seen that you done a safari in tanzania about one year ago with the tour operator shidolya. I am French and I want to make a safari in June, and I search iformations about this tour operator : is this one a good tour operator (for prices, services, etc.). Can I rely on this TO ? Thanks nadege Originally posted by R. Eijk Hello, My wife and I were there in october 2002. Arusha is not a place to spend much time in my opinion. We arrived on a sunday (comping from Dar es Salaam by bus) and stayed in Le Yacaranda, a hotel 2 or 3 kilometers outside the center of Arusha. (50$ double). Not to bad with a good restaurant. On monday we were picked up and started a 5 day safari. I found we stayed in the different parks just long enough. The hotels were good and the dinners and lunch boxes that were provided were excellent. If you want to spend more time you can also visit Tarangire Park for a day (famous for the Baobab trees and the many elephants). There are also a lot of other possibilities (tented camps etc) that are perhaps more adventurous (or primitive if you prefer). I will cut and paste the offer we received from our tour operator: ----------------------------- Thank you very much for your E-mail. With regards to your enquiry, please find a 5 days Lodge safari as follow: Day 1: Leave Arusha for Lake Manyara National Park for game viewing with picnic lunch, dinner and overnight at Lake Manyara Hotel. Day 2: Drive to Serengeti National Park with picnic lunch, game drive en-route, dinner and overnight at Seronera Wildlife Lodge. Day 3: Full day in Serengeti tour, dinner and overnight at Seronera Wildlife Lodge. Day 4: Morning game drive in Serengeti until lunch time, then proceed to Ngorongoro via Olduvai gorge and Museum (optional), dinner and overnight at Ngorongoro Wildlife Lodge. Day 5: Descend down the Crater floor for game drive with picnic lunches, Late afternoon drive back to Arusha. End of Service: Net Quote: The price will be $ 785 per person. Rates Include. Transport 4 x 4 Land Rover or Land Cruiser with pop up roof and radio communication, All Park fees, Driver guide, Crater service fees and Full board accommodation while on safari. Rates exclude: Airport transfers, Airport tax, Accommodation and meals in Arusha town, Tipping, Air fare, Visa fees, and all other items of personal nature. --------------------------------- (We managed to get a 10 percent discount on this offer). We were the only passengers in a landrover with a pop-up roof with a very friendly driver: Moses. The name of the tour operator is Shidolya tours (Arusha), they have a website I think They were recommended by friends that live in Dar es Salaam. If you want to spend more time you can also visit Tarangire Park for a day. (Their mail adress is: ) (I don't have any connections with them and there are probably a dozen or more companies that provide similar arrangements. Just make sure you don't end up in a 20 persons lorry as I have seen in the Serengeti) Rudi Nijmegen, the Netherlands "Edc4" schreef in bericht news:20030125231202.05068.00000295@mb- ... Hi, planning our first trip here. Any recs about what we should and shouldn't do, other than the obvious? How much time should we spend in Arusha? How much in the crater? How much in parks? Any recs about places to lodge? We've been to South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia the past two years so familiar with some safari things. Thanks, Ed Callen -- Posted via http://britishexpats.com |
#2
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Tanzania
On Mon, 12 Jul 2004 16:21:52 +0200, "Berit L"
wrote: "Hans-Georg Michna" wrote in message .. . First of all I think I need to clear up the "safari bit" :-) It may not have been a good way of expressing myself when communicating with people who do not know me, because - by all means - the safari is the big thing on this trip! But to me Zanzibar has always had an exotic ring to it, and it seemed a good comination, a chance to add some beaches, spices and different culture to the trip. And since yesterday I've found out that to go to Namibia from Tanzania we will have to go via South Africa, so I think we'll leave the desert experience for some other time. That means (provided we don't try to combine it with something else, like seeing gorillas in Uganda...) we will have 3 weeks in Tanzania. Then the question is how much time we spend on safari. I'd love to go on a 2week safari rather than one week but I simply don't know that I can afford it... Berit, Tanzania is a huge, diverse country. I don't think you will miss the Namibia trip this time, and I would also not recommend to add a gorilla trip to your first visit, for fear of overloading the trip (and also because it's expensive). Interesting that you suggest going to Zanzibar first instead of last. I had thought of going there last, partly to do the r&r at the end of the vacation, and to let all the impressions sink in before we go back to a cold Norwegian winter. But you do have a point. The safari will definitely be the high point of the trip, and it could be smart to switch things around. I think it depends on whether you enjoy beaches and the Zanzibar lifestyle. My personal opinion is that beaches can be had cheaper at the Mediterranean, and the Zanzibar lifestyle, though sometimes interesting and nice, can't beat watching elephants and lions. If you want to get a small taste, check my travel report of last year at http://www.michna.com/kenya2003/ and check the Lamu days. Lamu is somewhat similar to Zanzibar. I will have a look at your website as well, haven't had time yet. We did originally think of combining Tanzania and Kenya. Is there any particular reason why you have chosen Kenya? I used to live and work in Kenya. Kenya is somewhat cheaper and in some ways more convenient than Tanzania, so it is also not bad for a first-time visitor to east Africa. And it is still a very big country and also very diverse. You can find everything from mountain rainforest to desert in the north. Even the northern tourist paths in central Kenya touch arid, partly desert-like areas like around Baringo. But I'm not saying you should go to Kenya instead. Tanzania is an absolutely fascinating country. You could switch if your travel agent made you a special offer you could not refuse. As to your itinerary, you could also go on a short safari first, then visit Zanzibar, then add another safari in the end. The only thing I personally would not like is to go to the coast after the safari, then go home directly from there. All this depends on the distribution of your safari destinations as well. It wouldn't make very much sense to travel from the highlands 500 km to the coast, only to go back the same way again a week later. Consider also that the coast is hot and humid, skin always sweaty, the mosquito net at night feels as if it warms you even more, and the risk of malaria is several times that out in the bush. In the highlands the climate is much more pleasant, depending, of course, on your personal disposition. It is a question of money though. The wildlife lodges are not cheap and there are hardly any alternatives. You need a car to enter the nature reserves. Cheap accommodation nearby usually does not exist. The only way to shave off some of the costs is to use low season rates, but this year it is already too late for that, as far as my knowledge from Kenya goes. I hope this helps you make good decisions. I also hope that others will chime in with answers to your other questions that I cannot answer. I repeat them here so they are not forgotten. * Accomodation, where to stay in Dar, Arusha, Zanzibar * Safari companies. Have heard good things about Scan-Tan Tours *Transport between locations *How much we ought to organize up front, and how much we can just take as it comes * Anything you can think of in the way of good advice, recommendations, things not to miss, and things to avoid, etc. I think you don't need to book everything in advance, but then I don't know today's Tanzania. Hans-Georg -- No mail, please. |
#3
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Tanzania
"Berit L" wrote in message ...
I had thought of going there last, partly to do the r&r at the end of the vacation, and to let all the impressions sink in before we go back to a cold Norwegian winter. Conversely, after 3 days to a week of bouncing around in a Range Rover, you might want to relax on the beach and give your back a few days to un-wind before getting on an 8 hour flight back to Europe. Dave B wrote in message ... We booked it though Africa Travel Resource who were very good at arranging everything for us (www.africatravelresource.com), and the safari was great! I am glad to hear that, because I have booked through them for a climb up Kili in January! Greg |
#4
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Tanzania
Sun, Jul 11, 2004, 11:40pm (CDT+7)
From: (Berit=A0L) Hi We are 2 women going to Tanzania at the end of September, will be spending approximately 3 weeks there. You must be a couple of ugly bitches to have to go to Af'ka to meet men. Do us good-looking people a favour and just STAY there. Too many of you uggos already |
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