Safari in Tanzania

theCzar · 27-02-2012 3:44pm #1

Hi All,

Thinking of a trip to Tanzania for a safari and Kilimanjaro hike. Does anybody have experience with safaris in Tanzania? I'm looking for some price estimates and some reputable companies basically.

g'em · 27-02-2012 3:49pm

I went overland with AbsoluteAfrica in 2007 through Kenya, Tanzania and then onwards. We did Ngorogoro, the Serengeti, Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar, all of which I'd highly recommend (obviously Zanzibar isn't safari, but after roughing it you really aprreciate a few days by the sea!).

If you're thinking of doing Kili you'll be based in Arusha - have you any altitude walking experience?

faceman · 27-02-2012 4:53pm

Tanzania is a beautiful country. Check out http://www.tropicalbreaks.com/ They're based in Kenya but they are a reputable company, I've used them many times and found them cheaper than Irish agents.

theCzar · 27-02-2012 5:23pm

Hiked at altitude a few times (Andes) although this will be the highest

How many days did you take for the Serengeti?

Trilogy · 27-02-2012 7:24pm

Hi Czar,

we did Kili, safari (Tarangire, Ngorogoro and Serengerti) and Zanzibar for our honeymoon last Sept. We used Africa Travel Resource and found them great! They really listened to what we wanted and came back with 8 different itineraries and suggestions. They even went back and forth as we tweaked everything. Nothing was too big or small and they were very quick with responses.

I think the two best things with ATR was that 1) they arrange all your transfers - we like to travel independently, but really in Tanzania you need this all sorted as public transport is difficult at the best of times and 2) they organised our Kili climb with the African Walking Company who were just fantastic and defo one of the best companies on the mountain!

One drawback of ATR was that they charge you 2% credit card fee on payment (which is quite high when you're spending a few grand on the trip) but I just did an international bank transfer thing and I thing it was €26, so happy days!

All in all it is a WONDERFUL country and you will have a brill time!

T

PS - bring a nail brush on kili - you'll thank me!

Clare Bear · 27-02-2012 9:51pm

Trilogy that's pretty much the honeymoon we are looking at for this September so I'm glad to see you had such a good time. Haven't heard of Africa Travel Resource, we've been dealing with Trailfinders and Travel Counsellors but will check them out before we book.

deerpark · 29-02-2012 7:09pm

I can only say this - booking from here seems expensive! These are a summary of trailfinders options (not a great experience with them, our consultant looked hungover and was unhelpful). We havent booked anything or decided anything yet. Interested to hear what you plan to do and what it will cost.

Option 1
Kifaru safari
6 nghts
Stay in lodges
Arusha depart mon and sat
Group based 1900 pp
Superior from 1179 pp

Option 2
kilimanjaro
Rongai ascent easiest, Slow ascent.
Trip code dtkr
8 days moshi moshi
1500 pp

Via Dar Es Salaam
1700 pp flights
Lhr, addis, etc

Via Nairobi
Bus to arusha
1357 Flights
Back from zanzibar to nairobi

1 Week staying in zanzibar
1250 half b and fb 1650 5 nights

A friend thinks he did Kili over 6 days for 300 euro by booking locally. Granted probably with rastafarians smoking pot through the day! :-)

Clare Bear · 29-02-2012 8:35pm

Yeah I found Trailfinders incredibly pushy, we need an answer NOW or the price will go up and when we said we'd need a few days to think about it she sighed. Travel Counsellors have been much nicer and helpful.

Leejo · 29-02-2012 11:42pm

faceman wrote: »

Tanzania is a beautiful country.

This. I did charity work in Moshi, which is right beside Arusha and the place is amazing. You won't meet nicer people, people were literally running out of their house to say hello to us.

We did a 1 day Safari in Kilimanjaro on our day off and it was good, nothing special though. Didn't see any elephants, just zebras, giraffes, monkeys, etc. although there was elephants we didn't see any.

Just to give you an idea of the size of Killi. The photo is taken at 900 meters above sea level already. 253990_10150652298410099_801150098_18612374_7286654_n.jpg

253990_10150652298410099_801150098_18612374_7286654_n.jpg

faceman · 01-03-2012 12:36pm

This...

deerpark wrote: »

Via Nairobi
Bus to arusha

Highly recommend it for the adventure.

Trilogy · 01-03-2012 11:18pm

Clare Bear wrote: »

Trilogy that's pretty much the honeymoon we are looking at for this September so I'm glad to see you had such a good time. Haven't heard of Africa Travel Resource, we've been dealing with Trailfinders and Travel Counsellors but will check them out before we book.

Great stuff Clare! People thought we were NUTS but it was just brilliant. Jaysus you know you'll last a lifetime together if u go thru Kili together !

We found Africa travel resource in the lonely planet guide so it's not really a hidden secret I'm afraid

Hope it all works out for u - pm me if u'd like any specific info. Ps... I'd DEFO recommend Matemwe Beach in Zanzibar.

bungaro79 · 03-03-2012 12:06am

went to tanzania last summer on honeymoon and booked everything (bar the flights to kiliminjaro) with a local company called basecamp tanzania who gave us the trip of a lifetime!! would thoroughly recommend them, i recommended them to a friend at work who is using them for their honeymoon this year!

we didn't do kili but i do know that achmed (owner of basecamp) does offer that if you want. you can just tell him what you want and he'll get back to you with a price. with the safari its mainly the type of accommodation you want which will decide on the price.

we did a 7 day safari which encompassed tarangire, lake manyara, serengeti and ngorongoro crater. we spent most of the trip in the serengeti and every day was amazing! we also visited the oldvuai (sp?) gorge, a masai village and did a cultural trip to a local town (where we got some lovely makonde carvings which we being carved right in front of us). we finished up with a beach stay in zanzibar (matemwe too trilogy!) and a couple of days in stone town.

we also managed to fit in a trip to rwanda to see the mountain gorillas. best thing i've ever done, absolutely amazing

Quirke2b · 12-06-2012 12:18pm

Hi Clare Bear, thinking of Tanzanai & Zanzibar for our honeymoon in Sept 2013 so would be very interested to hear how you get on this September

and congrats, hope your big day is fab!!

harryt · 12-06-2012 12:27pm

Check out africaskys.ie ,tel 6649940.I found them to be extremely helpful

ThunbergsAreGo · 20-10-2013 8:50pm

Old thread i know, but Bungaro, how much did you pay for this? Sent Basecamp an email tonight

bungaro79 · 21-10-2013 11:06am

pm sent naughtb4

Safari in Tanzania

Comments