Used the Hilton Safari Award this past August.

* 3 people to a room; 3rd person charged $203 supplement for Salt Lick lodge 4 nights lodging/food

* consider flying into Entebbe or Dar Es Salaam if using mileage award, as much less demand than Nairobi. Each of these cities is an easy 1 hour flight to Nairobi.

* or if paying $$ for a ticket, fly a charter into Mombasa, much cheaper than Nairobi

* only 3 1/2 hour drive from Mombasa to Salt Lick Hilton versus 6 hours from Nairobi.

* consider a 2-3 day diversion to Zanzibar; only 15 minute flight from Dar and 45 minutes from Mombasa

* Worth EVERY penny to fly to/from Massai Mara- 45 minutes from NBO and about 1 hour 45 minutes from MBA. You arrive refreshhed and ready to go. Plus, you spend a few hours a day on your butt on safari game drives anyway, so its overkill driving the 6 hours from NBO to Massai Mara.

* Mara Serena was just about flawless as far as accomodations.

* LAURA TRAN at Hilton Desk in SDcotland is incredibly helpful.

* For local on the ground tour agency, we decided on a smaller/family owned company and were totally impressed. Gamewatchers website is www.porini.com and we worked with Jane Spryopolous. Everyone one of their hotel/restaurant/sights recommendations were terrific; all their subcontractors were reputable and reliable. They were truly our eyes and ears in Kenya/Tanzania.

* Taita Hills sanctuary is relatively compact; its worth paying extra to take a day to visit another park like Tsavo West and its Kilaguni Lodge for a change of scenery.

[This message has been edited by beaubo (edited 10-12-2002).]

[This message has been edited by beaubo (edited 10-13-2002).]