Africa - Getting from DAR to Serengeti

What is the easiest way to do this?
We will be finishing a safari in Tanzania (ending in DAR) on afternoon of October 1st, and will need to be back in DAR for the October 7th morning BA flight to LHR, effectively leaving us with 5 full days for a Serengeti trip including getting to/from Serengeti from DAR.

Is this doable? Is it worth it for such a short time? What are the transportation options? (Price is less important than easy/quick travel).

Thanks for any help you can provide!

I think it's very doable but whether it's worth it depends on when you're going.

There are flights between DAR and JRO on Precision Air (PW) and Air Tanzania. From there, you have to transfer to ARU to get a small plane (Excel Air is one "airline") to SEU. The drive from JRO to ARU or v-v is at least 20-30 minutes if not more and quite a few miles. I did this trip in reverse in 2004.

When is this trip? The Serengeti could be empty depending on when you are going. You could alternatively start from Arusha and go by land via Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro to Serengeti and fly to ARU, or fly ARU-SEU and return by land to JRO. Allow plenty of time to connect at DAR just in case the JRO-DAR flight is late.

SEU is just a dirt air strip so don't expect anything bigger than a Cessna Caravan (CNC). Here's a pan movie clip (http://www.flickr.com/photos/40310983@N08/4115283748) of the parking lot and terminal building, and runway.

Thanks so much for the quick reply.

After further research it looks like the Serengeti may be emptyish for this trip (October 2010). The advice we have received from experienced travelers in the region is to instead go to Masai Mara.

We will likely finish our trip in DAR on afternoon of October 1st, then travel to Masai Mara (possibly via NBO), and then fly out of NBO on the evening of the 8th - this would effectively give us two additional days.

Flight will be open jaw LHR-DAR//NBO-BRU-LHR and we'll have to find our own way from DAR to Masai Mara which based on what I've read, is feasible.

Let me know if you think that doesn't make sense.

Ask Johan Rebel who seems to be the authority (for Africa wildlife watching in general). You might consider Ngorongoro as it appears to have a concentration on wildlife year round (the critters are happy to stay in the caldera year-round). Tarangire (heard in June 2004 that there were some 1,000 elephants there) and Manyara are also options but you're there towards the tail end.

With that much time, you may be able to fit in all the parks above and Maasai Mara as well. You can stay near or in Tarangire 1st nt, have a full day there on 2nd day, pass through Manyara briefly on the 3rd day and spend the night in Ngorongoro, 4th day at Ngorongoro, 5th day driving to Maasai Mara (about 200 km and brings you through the Serengeti even if it may be empty), 6th and 7th days there, and have the 8th day to head to NBO. As an example, we arrived mid morning at JRO, got picked up, stopped in Arusha briefly to pay the balance of the safari, brief stop for provisions, stopped at the Serena Lake Manyara overlooking the lake for lunch, and got to the Serena Ngorongoro by mid afternoon. That road (B144) has been paved by the Japanese since so travel can be faster.

I think it would be easier to fly DAR-NBO and go to Maasai Mara from there if that's all you want to go/see (KQ and Precision Air fly that route). IIRC, going by land requires you to switch land transportation at the border.

See: http://www.tanzaniaparks.com/index.html

Leaving aside the vagaries of irregular weather and rain patterns, October is a nice time of year.

I should like put in a word for Lake Manyara, which is rather underrated. Most visitors stay in one of the massive lodges up on the escarpment en route to or from Ngorongoro/Serengeti, and do a lightening morning or afternoon game drive. If you spend a couple of nights at the &Beyond (formerly CCA) Manyara Tree Lodge at the very southern end of the park you avoid most of the pop-up roof vans racing around in the north. The lodge is really very nice, and they also offer night drives. Lake Manyara is great for birds (depending to some extent on water levels in the lake and wetlands); the lions really do climb trees surprisingly often; and the combination of lake, wetlands, Acacia woodland, the escaprment and groundwater forest is scenically very appealing.

Personally, I prefer the Serengeti in January/February, when the blue wildebeest congregate and calve on the southeastern short-grass plains. Everything is lush and green and the wildebeest tend to stick around for a while. The famous river crossings take place any time in a period of six weeks or so, so unless you have that much time to spare you will be taking a chance and might well miss out on the action.

The short-grass plains are actually mostly outside the Serengeti proper and thus in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, which is not the same thing as the Ngorongoro Crater, which is not a crater but a caldera. Confusing, I know, but it it boils down to picking lodges in that area, e.g. Ndutu.

In October, I would rather pick the so-called Western Corridor along the Grumeti River. &Beyond's lodge is a good choice. Not very Serengeti-like (i.e. not like the iconical wide-open plains seen in all the wildlife films), but the far more typical mixed Acacia woodland with koppies and patches of open grassland, as well as the riverine gallery forest fringing the river. Very good game viewing all year round. If you are on a spending spree, the Singita lodges in the adjacent game management area might be an option.

Tsetse flies can be a pain (quite literally) both at Grumeti and Lake Manyara. The only repellent that I have found to be effective is Mosi-guard, rather to my surprise. But then again, tsetse flies (and all other biting insects) are exceptionally fond of me, and I often react badly to their bites. Others may be less bothered.

Johan

Thank you both - this is really very helpful.

We are still in the very early planning stages, so I hope you don't mind if I reach out to you for more help a few weeks/months from now :)

Ont thing to watch is that you can not connect from the North of Tanzania (anywhere) to BA - you would need to take the night of the 6th in either Dar or Zanzibar

SEU is just a dirt air strip so don't expect anything bigger than a Cessna Caravan (CNC)

Regional Air & Precision fly bigger equipment in. ATRs and Otters do go here as well.

But to come back to topic. I presume you are talking about oct 2010? You can be lucky if the rains start early but If you want to see the migration you have to be flexible. It could that they are down in the Mara but they can have moved south already. Just follow this page and book later next year

http://www.tanzaniaodyssey.com/northern-tanzania-safaris/the-great-migration.htm