Tanzania

finally chose a tanzania safari operator---any comments?

thanks so much for all your help in planning our egypt/tanzania trip. we narrowed our safari operator options to about 5 companies that we felt very comfortable with, and then bargained it out. MELAU TOURS won the game! has anyone ever had any experience with them? they have been in operation 15 years, fully TALA licensed and a TATO member. everything seems to be in order, and heaven knows i've peppered them with enough questions, to which they've very promptly and thoroughly responded.

their website is www.melautours.com

thanks again for all your help, and please do let me know if you've heard of or had any experience with these guys. now just have to settle on an egypt operator, and we're all set!

Ngorongoro Crater + Serengeti OR Maasai Mara for 3-4 day safari. Pls help!

I am a 27 year old female traveling solo. I am trying to decide between Tanzania's Northern circuit: Ngorongoro Crater & Serengeti (going from Arusha) or Maasai Mara (going from Nairobi). I will be in both Nairobi and Arusha anyway, so the cost of getting to those places isn't an issue, but the cost of the safari is.

I'd like to do a budget safari in late February (timeframe is fixed) for about 3 (or max of 4) days. So 2-3 nights. I'm alone, so i'd prefer to join a group to save costs and also to make it more fun.

My questions are as follows:

1) Overall which experience would be more memorable - Ngorongoro Crater (with possibly Serengeti) or Maasai Mara in Kenya? The experience I want is to see a lot of animals and I am also excited to see some of the authentic Maasai people (although I don't know how authentic they are in the Maasai Mara park??? I hear they are ... more »

meserani snake park

Hey,

Has anyone been to meserani snake park near Arusha? Any idea of how much it is to get in and how much it costs to camp? Ive been on their website but couldnt find any prices. Also does anyone know of local busses or dalla dallas that head out that way? Any info on the place would be great.

Cheers

Kilimanjaro to Zanzibar

Greetings,
my name is Jonathan (29 as of trip) and I plan on climbing Mt Kilimanjaro and then spending time in Zanzibar and relaxing. The details so far of my trip are as follows. I plan on leaving Washington DC-Dulles on May 18 @2200. I arrive in NYC for 13 hour layover and plan on partying the night there and then going back to JFK to fly out to Dar E Salaam via Dubai. From Dar I plan to to travel to Mt. Kilimanjaro and climb up the Coca-Cola route (I would do a harder one, but I would hate to travel around the world and NOT get to the top). While I am up there, I plan on adding a day so I can get aclimatized (spelling?). Following this, I will take some land transportation to Zanzibar, pray the weather is warm. This should be May 28/29. Depending on how long I can be there I plan on spending some time in Zanzibar. Then I plan on flying back Jun 4th from Dar E Salaam.
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Zanzibar to DAR in the morning

I have booked the BA flight from Tanzania which unfortunately is an early morning one. WOuld anyone advice if there is a chance to get to DAR airport early in the morning to get to the airport (DAR) at abt 7am? Or is it necessary to get one night sleep at DAR? Thks a lot

Safe Way to Pay for Safari/Kilimanjaro

Hi All,

I am organizing a trip for 7 people total, including Tanzania northern circuit safari followed Kilimanjaro. I am currently based in Nairobi but most of the group is coming in from UK. We are very close to booking with a Kenyan company who we have met and just about trust.

The company has asked for a 20% deposit to their Kenyan bank account, which seems reasonable as a percentage. The problem comes with the remainder. A fair portion will need to be in US dollars for park fees etc.

We could pay the company the remainder of the safari cost upfront at the beginning of this trip, but we don't want to pay for the Kilimanjaro portion until we have been on safari, by which time we will know for sure whether he will perform as he says he will. However, the Kilimanjaro cost will be circa $1100, which is obviously not an amount we want to carry with us while we are on a b... more »

Kigoma accomidation

There's a fair chance I'll be in Kigoma for several days around early March awaiting the boat to Zambia.

Does anyone know of backpackers accomidation there?

Thanks

Jim

Edited by: orry

Good, Tame Taxi Driver in Daer Es Salaam, Tanzania

Just back from Dar Es Salaam.

While there we found John, a Private Hire taxi driver in the city.

He speaks good english, has a respectable vehicle, and charges fair rates. He is also prepared to meet busses/ ferries/ aircraft which avoids the hassle associated with Taxi touts.

He is also very knowledgable about his city, and knows a lot of useful people - good for opening 'doors' that might otherwise not open to travellers.

His number - +255 (0) 682819970

Cheers