Originally Posted by
SafariCraig
Hey Glock,
Yes, the SafariLink flight is how Rose got across the border and we have used it for clients as well. I am not saying it can’t be done but your budget is really tight for peak season and the things you want to accomplish. A four night stay at the least expensive camps in the Mara that I would be willing to “put my name behind” will be right around $500 per person per night (Spekes and Encounter Mara Mentioned above). Keep in mind the mandatory park fees are close to $100 per night per person on top of anything the lodge gets to keep. This does not include transport to/from. The flights are about $250 each way.
Amboseli will have good elephants and great views of Kilimanjaro but it will be crowded and dusty. Perhaps consider Meru instead? You could do an 8 night Offbeat circuit combining Offbeat Meru with Offbeat Mara. Offbeat Mara is on the private Mara North conservancy (the private part of the Masai Mara) and a four day stay includes a full day picnic into the reserve to look for a crossing point. They also have horse stables AND you will almost be guaranteed to see rhino at Offbeat Meru which you won’t see at the other places you mentioned. Meru is a national park but there are not a lot of accommodations there and the tourist density is low.
Out of curiosity, why do you keep bringing up Nakuru?
Happy New Year.
Craig Beal – owner – Travel Beyond
Hi Craig, thanks again for your helpful info. As a result, it looks like our budget is going up. We've continued doing research and $8k for 10 days of what we are wanting to do just doesn't seem doable as you've mentioned. We definitely understand the park fees, and $200-250 for flights is about right from what we've seen too.
Good to know about Amboseli and dust. We looked into Meru but it's North of Nairobi. We were thinking that next time we return to Kenya we would aim for the Northern part. We can get JRO-NBO included in our award tickets to Madagascar for free on Kenya Airways, so that's another reason why we're aiming to go to northern Tanzania after the Mara.
Obviously Mara is a must still. We have scrapped the Serengeti at this point because of the difficulty getting there and because the animals are in the very far north or all the way into Mara from additional reading. My wife had a friend who went to Lake Manyara and highly recommends it as well as Tarangire, which are both not too far from Arusha and Ngoro. Do you have any thoughts on Manyara, Tarangire and Ngoro together after Mara?
As for camps, my wife keeps going back to Entim Camp in Mara (
http://www.entim-mara.com/) as a place she would really like to stay at. She also found the Tarangire Safari Lodge and loves it as well. We reached out to each place independently and the cost directly through them is more than when booking through a tour company. She found Chels Tours on safari bookings and we have verified that they are listed with the TTB (Tanzania Tourist Board).
We got a quote from them for:
Day 1: Nairobi - Maasai Mara (driving) - Stay at Entim Camp
Day 2: Maasai Mara – Entim camp
Day 3: Maasai Mara – Entim Camp
Day 4: Maasai Mara – Entim Camp
Day 5: Mara - Arusha flight if possible - stay at Palace Hotel
Day 6: Arusha – Lake Manyara - Stay at Ngorongoro Farm House
Day 7: Ngorongoro full day - Stay at Ngorongoro Farm House
Day 8: Ngorongoro - Tarangire - Stay at Tarangire Safari Lodge
Day 9: Tarangire full day - Stay at Tarangire Safari Lodge
Day 10: Tarangire - Arusha - Stay at Palace Hotel
Day 11: Depart Kilimanjaro
Cost per person is USD 5,091 – double occupancy.
We have also gotten quotes for roughly the same itinerary from other companies listed on KATO, TATO and TTB sites and they are about the same (within a few hundred $).
Do you (or any of you other US operators reading this) have the ability to give a quote for an itinerary like this? Obviously there is value as you and others have said by booking through a US company, but you also seemed to indicate that the price shouldn't be too much more because of abilities to book at lower rates.
We were only brought up Nakuru because it seems typical in the Masa packages. It is off of our list now.
Thanks again!