No promises on how often we'll be able to update our blog, but we will do our best. We will all be keeping journals so we'll keep our thoughts recorded and get them up here when we get internet access. This trip came up so fast, and I still can't believe that we leave tomorrow!
Here is our itinerary for the next three weeks!
Love you all! See you when we get home!
DATE ACCOMMODATIONS ACTIVITIES
| Wednesday July 21 | Travel Day | Delta Flight # DL 2670 Depart Arrive KLM Royal Dutch Flight # KL 6058 Depart |
| Thursday July 22 | | Arrive |
| Friday July 23- Monday July 26 | | Andrew will arrive on July 25th KLM Royal Dutch Flight # KL 652 Arrive |
| Day 1 Tuesday July 27 | Moivaro Coffee Lodge Arusha Double Room Triple Room | KLM Royal Dutch Flight # KL 571 Depart Arrive Pickup at Dinner and overnight at Moivaro Coffee Lodge. |
| Day 2 Wednesday July 28 | Moivaro Coffee Lodge | Breakfast at Moivaro Coffee Lodge. Your next ten days include in-depth opportunities to learn animal identification, wildlife tracking, and spotting wildlife in the landscape in the company of a Deeper Africa naturalist. As well, Ammy will begin to introduce you to conservation issues including human wildlife conflicts, poaching controls and conflicts, and community involvement in wildlife conservation. Begin your wildlife viewing in Arusha National Park which contains savannah, lake, and forest ecosystems. Arusha National Park is rich in herd animals, interesting birds, and you may have sightings of the rare colubus monkey in the forest ecosystem. Seven shallow lakes were formed from the volcanic activity caused by Mount Meru’s eruption. Alkalinity in the lake from different algaes is perfect food for filter feeders, including flamingos. It is also a great habitat for hippos. Between the floor of Ngurodoto Crater and the area called Little Serengeti you’ll have ample opportunities for sightings of zebra, buffaloes, elephants, giraffes, warthogs, and several species of antelope. Focus first on animal identification and learn to distinguish herd species. Enjoy a picnic lunch in the park. While wildlife viewing throughout your safari, you’ll have a cool box in your Land Cruiser stocked with water and your favorite sodas. Morning meet up with your canoe guide. Enjoy canoeing on Lake Momella with great bird watching and hippo watching. Dinner and overnight at Moivaro Coffee Lodge. |
| Day 3 July 29 Thursday | Oliver’s Camp Double Tent Triple Tent Laundry included Beverages including alcohol included | Breakfast at Moivaro Coffee Lodge. You’ll drive from Arusha to Tarangire National Park with wildlife viewing as soon as you enter the park traveling south into the remote wilderness. You have exclusive access to this area of the park as there are no other lodges or camps in the area. Off-road game driving and walking safaris are allowed in this wilderness zone within the park boundaries. Your naturalist guide and private Land Cruiser are available for wildlife viewing from 6 am to 6 pm. Tarangire contains a range of ecosystem: from grassland and woodlands in the north, to scrub and wetlands further south. The Sundowners (“drinks at sundown”), dinner, and overnight at Oliver’s Camp. |
| Day 4 July 30 Friday | Oliver’s Camp | Breakfast at Oliver’s Camp. Tarangire boasts one of the largest and most conspicuous elephant populations in Sundowners, dinner, and overnight at Oliver’s Camp. |
| Day 5 July 31 Saturday | Karatu Double Room Triple Room | Breakfast at Olivers Camp. After breakfast Ammy will drive you to Lake Manyara National Park. Setting against the Rift escarpment is Manyara’s evergreen groundwater forest. While it looks like a rainforest, not enough rainfall occurs to sustain this forest. Rather, mineral springs seeping through porous volcanic soil provide most of the water for the huge mahogany, tamarind, wild date palms, croton, sausage trees, and strangling figs. In additional to the evergreen groundwater forest, the park also contains a variety of ecosystems including acacia woodland, grassy plains, a swampy fan delta, and, of course, the lake. This variety attracts a wide variety of mammal, bird, and wildlife species. Flocks of flamingos are attracted to the large amounts of algae in the lake’s soda environment while the forest areas attract large flocks of pelicans, storks, herons, ibis, and egrets. Bird watching is spectacular at Manyara, with over 380 bird species recorded. As well, the primate viewing which includes blue monkeys, vervet monkeys, and very active baboon troops is quite enjoyable. Enjoy a picnic lunch while you observe your surroundings. Elephant, buffalo, impala, bushbuck, waterbuck, hippos, and lots of elephants roam near the lake. There are sightings of klipspringers on the rocky escarpments on the southern side of the rift wall. While at Rhotia Valley consider visiting the children’s orphanage. Rhotia Valley operates a bed & breakfast which puts all profits into the care and well being of orphaned children from the local community who are provided with a safe place to live and a quality education. To learn more about Rhotia Valley Children’s Home visit: www.rhotiavalley.com. You can also take a guided walk through the community, if you choose. Arrive at |
| Day 6 August 1 Sunday | | Breakfast at The Crater is an expansive environment inside an extinct volcano. Between 20,000 and 30,000 animals wander the floor. The Crater ecosystem showcases an astonishing microcosm of East African wildlife environments: grasslands, wetlands, acacia forest, and soda Arrive back to Rhotia Valley Lodge for dinner and overnight. |
| Day 7 August 2 Monday | Dunia Camp Double room Triple room Laundry included Beverages and alcohol included | Breakfast at The word ‘Serengeti’ is derived from the Maasai language, meaning endless plain. This vast savannah grassland extends northward into the Maasai Mara in The annual migration is what makes the Serengeti famous. The herds gather on the Tanzanian side of the ecosystem from sometime in November or December through early July. The migration includes vast herds of wildebeest, but also zebra and Thomson’s gazelle. The herds steadily move southward through April or May when the seasonal rains cause them to turn and begin the journey back northward toward the Maasai Mara. Wildebeest are well suited to harvest the short grasses that cover the semiarid plains of the Serengeti. The soils of this region have an underlying hard pan covered by a fertile layer of volcanic soil. Grass growing in this soil is highly nutritious taking up nutrients trapped by the hard pan. Sundowners (“drinks at sundown”), dinner and overnight at Dunia Camp. |
| Day 8 August 3 Tuesday | Sayari Camp Double Tent Triple Tent Laundry included Beverages and alcohol included | Breakfast at Dunia Camp. Continue wildlife viewing as Ammy drives you northward to the Mara River area. Picnic lunch. Sayari Camp is located in a stunning area of the Lunch, sundowners, dinner, and overnight at Sayari Camp. |
| Day 9 August 4 Wednesday | Sayari Camp | Breakfast at Sayari Camp. This northern section of the Serengeti connects with Sayari is ideally located to witness the world famous river crossing of the Great Migration which occurs from time to time during the end of July, August, and November. Lunch, sundowners, dinner, and overnight at Sayari Camp. |
| Day 10 August 5 Thursday | Sayari Camp | Breakfast at Sayari Camp. There are always hippo pods and crocodiles in the Mara River; the river is just a short distance from camp. Plain’s game is plentiful on the “little Serengeti” plains area which is not far from Sayari. There are opportunities for sightings of resident topi, hartebeest, gazelle, wildebeest, and elephant. Many other animals occupy the plains area. This is a remote wilderness area, untouched by the tourists who roam the more populated areas of the Serengeti. There are three lion prides with territories near Sayari camp area and Ammy will begin tracking them as soon as he arrives. There are cheetahs on the “little Serengeti plains” and you may have the opportunity to see a collared cheetah, who actually roams down from the Maasai Mara. The Mara cheetah is being followed by the Cheetah Foundation which operates in the Maasai Mara and the border to the Kenya is only 15 to 20 kilometers away. Lunch, sundowners, dinner, and overnight at Sayari Camp. |
| Day 11 August 6 Friday | Double Room Triple Room | Breakfast at Sayari Camp. Morning game drive as you travel to Kogatende bush strip for your late morning bush flight to Tanganyika Flying Company bush flight Depart Kogatende airstrip @ 10:50 am Arrive Pickup at Zanzibar Airport by Deeper Africa driver. He will have a sign that says: Krause . He will drive you to Kiwenga beach and Shooting Star. Dinner and overnight at Shooting Star Sea View Cottage. |
| Day 12 August 7 Saturday | | Breakfast at Shooting Star Sea View Cottage. Activities as you choose: Village walk to nearby Kiwengwa Village Snorkeling at Mnemba Atoll (Additional charge) Deep sea fishing or diving (Additional charge) Sailing trip on traditional dhow (Additional charge) Bicycling (Kayaks available) Sunbathing at the pool or on the beach Beach walking and exploring Lunch, dinner, and overnight at Shooting Star Sea View Cottage. |
| Day 13 August 8 Sunday | | Activities as you choose. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and overnight at Shooting Star Sea View Cottage. |
| Day 14 August 9 Monday | | Pick up by One Ocean at 7:45 am for morning snorkeling. One Ocean is the premier dive and snorkeling operation on Zanzibar. They will have you back at lunch time. Visit their website @ www.zanzibaroneocean.com. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and overnight at Shooting Star Sea View Cottage. |
| Day 15 August 10 Tuesday | | Activities as you choose. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and overnight at Shooting Star Sea View Cottage. |
| Day 16 August 11 Wednesday | Travel Day | Breakfast and lunch at Shooting Star Sea View Cottage. Morning activities as you choose. Pickup by your guide @ 2:00 in the afternoon for transport to the Dar es Salaam ferry. We have you booked with first class fare. Upon arrival look for your Deeper Africa driver at the Dar es Salaam ferry departure dock. He will have a sign that says: Krause. Transport to the Slipway Restaurant for dinner. Arrange the pickup time with your driver and he will return to take you to the international airport. KLM Royal Dutch Flight #KL 569 Departs Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (DAR) @ 11:35 pm |
| Day 17 August 12 Thursday | Travel Day | Arrives KLM Royal Dutch Flight #KL 6059 Departs Arrive KLM Royal Dutch Flight # KL 7990 Depart Arrive |
Nguigi Githinji 0784-666510 Ammy Nnko 0787-50063 Robert DeMello 0777-413009 Dar es Salaam Emergency Contact Fran Marti 0787-144388
Tipping Guidelines
v Please remember:
· Gratuities are at your discretion and should commensurate with the service that you receive.
· Gratuities can be given in US Dollars or Tanzanian Shillings.
· The exchange rate is about 1463 Tanzanian Shillings to the US Dollar. Lower exchange rates will be used by some hotels.
v Gratuities comparable to a 20% tip (Level of Excellent Service):
Waiter at lodge or hotel: $1 from time to time
Porters or Baggage Handlers: 50 cents per bag
Smaller lodges with tip staff boxes: $3- $5 per person, per day
Deeper
Canoe Guides: $15 for the entire family
Snorkeling Guide: $20 for the entire family
Drivers: $5 for the entire family
v Recommended tip amount for your safari: $160 to $200 USD per person
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