Kenya / Tanzania

I am about to do a trip of three months in East Africa. Two months of
that time will be spent in Kenya, Tanzania, and possibly Uganda.
During the first month my girlfriend will be with me. While I on this
trip I'll need to adhere to a pretty strict budget (about $35 per day
per person not including Safaris) but my girlfriend does not have the
slightest idea what budget travel entails.

The plan for the first month or so is to fly into Nairobi on Jan 10
and take a bus to Tanzania and do the Mt. Kili climb (which we've
budgeted extra for). Afterwards we'll do some sort of trekking or
Safari and finally make our way to Zanzibar and some of the other
spice islands before returning via Dar es Salam to Kenya. Anyway,
this is totally tentative.

The real question is that with all of the park fees and safaris being
so outrageously expensive I'll need to be careful what we decide to
do. Can anyone make suggestions on MUST SEEs in this area or even
better, things we can do in the region that are inexpensive and still
lots of fun? Is there anywhere where independent trekking is
possible? Or are there cheaper tours that involve trekking or biking?

Kevin

On 21 Oct 2003 07:31:23 -0700, Kevin wrote:
The real question is that with all of the park fees and safaris being
so outrageously expensive I'll need to be careful what we decide to
do. Can anyone make suggestions on MUST SEEs in this area or even
better, things we can do in the region that are inexpensive and still
lots of fun? Is there anywhere where independent trekking is
possible? Or are there cheaper tours that involve trekking or biking?

Mountain biking in Hell's Gate National Park is a lot of fun. Park fees
are $15 and you can rent bikes at gate or at the camp ground next to
Lake Navasha. You won't see heaps of wildlife but zebras and cape
buffalo are plentiful. Be careful around the later.

At night you can watch the hippos come out to feed at Lake Navasha.
That's free. It is an amazing experience. Light levels are just low
enough that one can't be entirely sure of distance. All that you can be
sure of is that the animal is very close, you have no vehicle, and the
only thing between you and hippo is a flimsy looking electric fence.

Hell's Gate is in Kenya, about 90K from Nairobi.

While on Zanzibar, head to Jozani Forest to see the habituated troop of
Red Colobus Monkeys. Cheap, and well worth the trip.

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