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#1
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Game drive organized by lodges or safari companies?
Hi,
We are planning to visit Tanzania in september and doing a 4 day safari. We don't want to drive all day during safari and Iam wondering if staying in a nice lodge with morning and evening safari trips is a good alternative for the 4 day safari trips organized by the safari companies. Anyone can give me some advice in terms of quality and costs when comparing these two? How about transportation to the lodges for example? Thanks in advance! David |
#2
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Game drive organized by lodges or safari companies?
In message . com
"David" wrote: Hi, We are planning to visit Tanzania in september and doing a 4 day safari. We don't want to drive all day during safari and Iam wondering if staying in a nice lodge with morning and evening safari trips is a good alternative for the 4 day safari trips organized by the safari companies. Anyone can give me some advice in terms of quality and costs when comparing these two? How about transportation to the lodges for example? Although all day out in the field with a packed lunch is relatively common with 'brochure' safaris in Tz compared to Kenya, you'll find that many companies still only offer the 'standard' early morning/late afternoon game drives. Swings and roundabouts: if you go on an organised safari, you'll be with the same group all the time so your driver knows what you've seen and what you still want to see. With the lodge drives, you may be with different people every day, who want to see what you saw yesterday. I don't know how it's done in Tz since it's a while since I was there, but I know in Kenya, e.g. the Serena group of lodges organise everything for you, including transfers to/from Nairobi and internal flights between the lodges: maybe the Serena group in Tz does the same? If you're only able to have a four-night safari, don't even think of visiting more than two places or you'll be travelling all the time. Maybe even consider only one place: at other times of year 4 nights in Serengeti would be great, but of course, all/most of the migration will be in the Mara then. Best bet would be to try to arrange a private safari, where just you and your friend/partner/spouse/family travel together with one guide. Safari njema Liz -- http://www.v-liz.com Kenya; Tanzania; Namibia; India; Galapagos Photo galleries: http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery/free/gallery.asp?memberID=165111" http://www.photoshopuser.com/napmem/...g.php?id=39466 |
#3
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Game drive organized by lodges or safari companies?
David writes ...
We are planning to visit Tanzania in september and doing a 4 day safari. We don't want to drive all day during safari and Iam wondering if staying in a nice lodge with morning and evening safari trips is a good alternative for the 4 day safari trips organized by the safari companies You can organize a private safari with your own driver and do it the way you describe ... we always go out at 6 AM, come back for lunch and rest, then go back out around 3 PM since we are mainly photographing and the light is usually poor mid-day. You can arrange this with your driver/guide on a private safari, but probably not on a canned package tour where you are sharing the vehicle with other people. Anyone can give me some advice in terms of quality and costs when comparing these two? Just contact a couple of companies like Leopard Tours or Roy Safaris or similar and ask for their prices for a custom trip and then compare I guess ... How about transportation to the lodges for example? You didn't say where you were going ... from Arusha it's pretty quick to drive to Tarangire or Lake Manyara, just a couple hours, and maybe another 90 minutes to Ngorongoro Crater so it would make sense to start early from Arusha and you still have time to do a game drive that afternoon. But Serengeti is a much longer trip and in Sept you probably want to go to the northern part anyway, which could take all of one day, the last several hours over bumpy dusty roads. In that case you might be better off flying into Seronera or even further north .... I think Precision Airlines has daily flights from Arusha each morning, for example ... if doing this and staying at one nice lodge you could easily arrange to be met at the airstrip and then use the lodge's jeep, then fly back at the end of your trip, but it will be a hassle if you want to switch lodges or parks. Alternatively the companies I mentioned will also send a driver out from Arusha to meet you, but this might cost more. Probably you need to decide which game areas you wish to see (Tarangire, Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro are fairly close to each other and to Arusha, but Serengeti is about half a day further), then decide if you want to drive or fly, then decide if it makes more sense to do a custom trip or use the lodge's vehicles (which I would think makes most sense if you are flying into one lodge in the Serengeti since it's otherwise hard to move between lodges). Bill |
#4
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Game drive organized by lodges or safari companies?
Thank you Liz and Bill, this defenitity helps me with choosing!
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#5
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Game drive organized by lodges or safari companies?
David wrote:
We are planning to visit Tanzania in september and doing a 4 day safari. How many of you are there? If there are several, the more cost-effective choice would be to use a driver and vehicle from one of the operators in Arusha and have him as your private Guide. We don't want to drive all day during safari and Iam wondering if staying in a nice lodge with morning and evening safari trips is a good alternative for the 4 day safari trips organized by the safari companies. It is not exactly an alternative. With a safari organized by one of the safari companies, you stay in the same lodges and have the same game drive schedules. But - as pointed out by others in this newsgroup - you control the timing of the game drives and need not be concerned about anyone else's interests. Anyone can give me some advice in terms of quality and costs when comparing these two? The packages offered by the lodges will probably be more expensive because you must fly to them. And it doesn't necessarily save time. I would not go to the Serengeti in October, but suggest a short 'loop' that would be 2 nights at the Ngorongoro Crater, and 2 nights at a lodge in the Lake Manyara Park or the Tarangire Park. I suggest contacting this operator for a quotation: http://www.bushbuckltd.com/tanzania.htm we have used them for many years. They need to know EXACTLY where and when you will enter Tanzania, and whether you will be staying somewhere else in Tanzania before commencing your safari, so they can create a reasonable itinerary for such a short safari. Why? Because travel time to get to the safari areas will also be important in determining how you use your time. |
#6
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Game drive organized by lodges or safari companies?
In message . com
"Bill" wrote: You can organize a private safari with your own driver and do it the way you describe ... we always go out at 6 AM, come back for lunch and rest, then go back out around 3 PM since we are mainly photographing and the light is usually poor mid-day. You can arrange this with your driver/guide on a private safari, but probably not on a canned package tour where you are sharing the vehicle with other people. These are the standard game-drive times of most 'brochure' safaris, although normally you come back for breakfast around 9 or 9.30 a.m. As you suggest, you can often make arrangements to take out a packed breakfast. If you're going out all day with a packed lunch, you have breakfast around 5.45 - 6 a.m. (according to the lodge/camp) and go out as soon as you finish, or if you're moving on that day, you usually have a later breakfast and 'game drive' out, unless it's just a short distance, under two hours or so. Slainte Liz |
#7
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Game drive organized by lodges or safari companies?
I suggest you go ahead with your plans and organize your trip with Time
Warner Safari. Get in touch with them on . checkout their website http://www.timewarnersafaris.com |
#8
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Game drive organized by lodges or safari companies?
Filgga wrote:
I suggest you go ahead with your plans and organize your trip with Time Warner Safari. Get in touch with them on . checkout their website http://www.timewarnersafaris.com And especially scroll down to the bottom of their home page where they have a link to information about the lions, elephants, and TIGERS in Tanzania! If their game drives do indeed include the chance to see tigers, then they know more about Tanzania wildlife than I do. |
#9
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Game drive organized by lodges or safari companies?
Dave Patterson writes ...
And especially scroll down to the bottom of their home page where they have a link to information about the lions, elephants, and TIGERS in Tanzania! You're not insinuating these people are clueless spammers, are you Dave? On a internet Newsgroup? Naaah. If their game drives do indeed include the chance to see tigers, then they know more about Tanzania wildlife than I do. We've seen seven species of cats in Tz so far but we also missed the tigers ... if I see one I'll blame it on the Larium. Bill |
#10
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Game drive organized by lodges or safari companies?
In message
Dave Patterson wrote: Filgga wrote: I suggest you go ahead with your plans and organize your trip with Time Warner Safari. Get in touch with them on . checkout their website http://www.timewarnersafaris.com And especially scroll down to the bottom of their home page where they have a link to information about the lions, elephants, and TIGERS in Tanzania! Oh, Dave, have a heart. I was drinking tea when I read that! Slainte Liz -- http://www.v-liz.com Kenya; Tanzania; Namibia; India; Galapagos Photo galleries: http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery/free/gallery.asp?memberID=165111" http://www.photoshopuser.com/napmem/...g.php?id=39466 |
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