Desibabe

Hi! My spouse and I are planning a safari to Tanzania for Sept/Oct. 2023. Would love your feedback on my potential itinerary as well as recommendation on a tour operator. We will be flying from the US.
1. Planning 10 days max. - Arusha (1nt), Tarangire (2 nts), Ngorongoro (2 nts) and Serengeti (4 nts), back to Arusha
2. Would like to do private as much as possible and a combination of mid range to premium for accommodation - looking at tented camps
3. Keen interest in seeing the migration (fingers crossed to see a river crossing) and Ngorongoro crater. Focus is on wildlife, less on personal butler type service.
4. Reached out to Access2Tanzania, Discover Africa, Go2Africa and Kensington Tours
5. Budget per person $8k - too low?

What else should I be considering? Serengeti - should we stay put in one camp for 4 nts or split time between 2 mobile camps?
Have been on safari in S. Africa private game reserve and feel we're ready for east Africa. Super excited! TIA for your suggestions.

ErinYu

Sounds good. I don't think the budget of $8000 per person is very low.

If you go to Serengeti first and then Ngorongoro, you can consider living in two camps respectively, because the north of Serengeti is far from Ngorongoro, so you can stay in the middle of Serengeti for one night.

amyb

That seems about right for budget. If it helps you at all, I went with Access2Tanzania on my first safari and loved it. They will take very good care of you. I also used them to plan Rwanda (with their Treks2Rwanda company) and same excellent service. It sounds like you're planning almost the same itinerary we did on a private safari, which is the traditional north circuit. I'd suggest keeping Serengeti for the end. It's a good finale. Nothing you see before it will really measure up. A2T will be able to put you in the place most likely to be near the migration, although like anything else with Mother Nature, it's really hard to predict from year to year. It depends on drought and how much grass there is where.

Another safari planner I've used who is excellent is The Wild Source. They have their own camp in the Serengeti but also book in all the other camps around. The owner is a big cat naturalist and the camp in the Serengeti has big cat researchers at it. My "next" safari will include this. They too will book you on a private safari. I used them for a Kenyan safari and it was my best yet.

I did a Tanzanian trip report here in 2013 with all the details, including itinerary and camps. I'm happy to help you as you plan. Feel free to reach out via private message or here.

Desibabe

Thanks guys for the great feedback! Very happy to hear A2T worked well - I'm inclined to go with them because of pricing and service so far. Need to tweak the choice of accommodation.
Will reach out via PM as well.

maureenelee

We are leaving for Kenya and Tanzania very shortly. Keep in mind additional expenses - visas, medications (primarily for malaria), insurance, consultation with a travel medical expert on what you may need - Tdap, etc. This can all add up. Anti Malaria medication alone was $250.00.

amyb

Hmmm…did you check with your health insurance, Maureen? All of the travel clinic and vaccinations were covered by mine. I would think at the very least the more common vaccinations that anyone should have anyway, like TDAP, would be covered. Anyone reading this as trip research should check as it has been covered for most everyone I’ve known who’s gone on safari (US citizens). Your mileage may vary…

maureenelee

You were lucky. Certain vaccines were covered. TDAP was covered. My comment was referring to Atovaqupne which has never been covered for us. We are now on Medicare and a supplement. That was the $200-+.

nannettebell5600

My expenses have been a Visa at $298 and Yellow fever vaccine with malaria pills is $309. None covered by my insurance here in the States

maureenelee

We could not get yellow fever as we are above 70. So saved some money there. I tell everyone to add 20% on to their safari for extra expenses. Visas for Kenya and Tanzania were $596 for the two of us. I was having trouble with both, as were some other people on this forum, so decided to use a service. Also, was told there were delays up to 8 weeks in getting the visas. Have fun whenever you go.

amyb

You don’t need the yellow fever vaccine if you’re coming from the US/Canada/Europe AND not transiting through a country that has yellow fever endemically. So if you’re just flying US to Kenya or TZ via Europe and not stopping in Rwanda, for example, you don’t need YF vaccine. This is readily available as information on the CDC (for the US) travel advisory website, and often repeated here and Trip Advisor. I’m sorry you didn’t check here first!

It’s unfortunate you didn’t get the visas applied for online. I don’t understand the 8 week wait part, because for Kenya you can’t really apply that far out. Both visas are relatively cheap. $50 for Kenya and $100 for Tanzania. As of this writing, you can still get the TZ visa on arrival, no need to get it ahead of time. I wish you’d asked her or Trip Advisor, because this too was easily remedied.

I’d like to clarify for other reading this planning trip that the 20% extra for things like this is not generally the common experience (20% of a $12,000 safari for two people is not at all realistic!). I’ve been on 6 safaris and never had to lay out that much extra! Please speak with whomever is planning your safari because they have the most current information on this and can help you with getting visas. Access2Tanzania, who the OP is working with to plan their safari, offers this guidance: https://access2tanzania.com/planning...a-information/