Planning a Tanzanian Safari

[HardiB]

Hi All,

 

I am planning a Tanzania Safari for spanning 9 days in 2021 once this whole COVID-19 thing settles. I got a reference from a friend to visit via these couple of tour guides who have set up a good website but I see very little online presence. My itinerary is as follows. 

 

First day Arusha

day 2-3 Serengeti

Day 3-4 Ngorongoro

Day 5 Tarangire

Day 6 back to Arusha & a flight from Kilimanjaro to Zanzibar

Day 7-9: Zanzibar 

 

Any feedback on this?

[soleson]

Are you planning on driving or flying between the parks?  What time of year?  If driving, you will spend a lot of time on the road and it may not make sense to try to fit all three parks into 4-5 days.    While I like all three parks, I would probably leave out Tarangire if you can only be there for one/two game drives.  The extra day in the Serengeti would likely be better use of the time.  

[Dick]

Sorry for the delay in replying.

 

Being a bit more specific might result in more comments. As previous poster mentioned, might you be flying any segments of the trip? And, what time of the year were you thinking? Is part of day 1 (Arusha) involved in traveling (to the Serengeti)?  Depending on location in the Serengetti a lot of driving might be involved getting there and the back to the N. Crater.   Simplifying the itinerary might may for a more enjoyable safari  than attempting all 3 parks. Inasmuch as I really, really like Tarangire I too would agree on dropping it. 

 

 

[Biko]

@HardiB Like Dick said, I would skip Tarangire and spend more time in the Serengeti. I have spent a day in Arusha in 2008 and I thought it was a waste of time. Next time I would only take a room for the night there and leave the next morning for the Crater.

[campsafari2015]

On 7/5/2020 at 12:44 PM, Biko said:

@HardiB Like Dick said, I would skip Tarangire and spend more time in the Serengeti. I have spent a day in Arusha in 2008 and I thought it was a waste of time. Next time I would only take a room for the night there and leave the next morning for the Crater.

Sorry if this is threadjacking too much, but hopefully it will help the OP as well.

 

Where did you stay and how long was your travel to Arusha, and how many hours in Arusha? I’m trying to decide whether we should do two nights at Kili Villas in Arusha, as our flight will most likely land at 8pm, after 24+ hours of travel. Starting at 9am the following day seems rather miserable! 

[Biko]

@campsafari2015 We arrived in Arusha after a 10 hour flight around 9 pm. We stayed at Moivaro Coffee Plantation Lodge, a very pleasant place in a  big lush garden; it is 7 km out of Arusha. It was back in 2008.

[Zubbie15]

@campsafari2015 if you want to stay 2 nights around Arusha, I'd recommend staying at a place near Arusha National Park.  You can spend a few hours in the park (I believe you can do walks and canoeing there, if you want to get out of the vehicle), and the rest of the time lounging around the hotel. I've yet to find much in Arusha of interest, not that I've looked very hard. 

 

While I agree that starting early the next morning isn't ideal, note that even the closest parks (Tarangire or Lake Manyara) involve at least a couple of hours of driving through not especially compelling landscapes, so you can nap in the vehicle if you're able to.  I usually manage to stay awake, but my wife normally sleeps.  

[janzin]

We also stayed two nights on arrival, and visited Arusha National Park where it is possible to do a walk.  We arrived after midnight and stayed at a lovely lodge, Ngare Sero Mountain Lodge, which is about 20 minutes from the airport. The grounds of the lodge are a nice place to relax, especially if you like birds.

 

https://www.ngare-sero-lodge.co.tz/

 

We then drove to Lake Manyara on the following day.