Late June Budget Safari Nairobi to Arusha - Advice Needed

Hey . For the Kenya sector --Mara i know a company which can offer budget accomm at Olmoran Tented Camp per day with transportation using a shared minivan vehicle and park fees per day included at a cost of USD 280per person per day . The driver is experienced and i have recomended other guys who have used this company and has been excellent . The accommodation is on full board basis which is ensuite rooms These can organize the Kenya sector pretty well and maybe if you also approach them they could as well do Tanz . There contacts are info@bisonsafaris.co.ke . You may reach them on that contact .

All the best ,

I just got back from a wonderful safari in Kenya at both Amboseli and Maasai Mara.

I won't address all your questions, especially as relates to Tanzania as I didn't go there (except we did technically cross the invisible border while at Maasai Mara!).

The wildebeest migration is at Mara right now. I saw the crossing. It was spectacular. I am thinking that if the crossing in the Maasai Mara is in September this year then the reverse side in Tanzania is probably going to be earlier than June/July, but anyone can feel free to correct me (and I'm also aware that the actual timing of the migration varies from year to year and is always unpredictable, but my parents did go to Tanzania/Serengeti in July two years ago and saw plenty of wildebeests but they weren't making the "crossing" either). But another point to consider is that while you may be around during migration season, whether in Tanzania or Kenya, it doesn't guarantee that you'll see the river crossing. The herds may stay on one side of the river and wait a day or two before making the crossing. The guides just can't guarantee that you'll see the crossing, although you will certainly see the herds. Case point is that with my safari company, people saw the crossing the day before I arrived at the Mara, on the day I arrived at the Mara, and on the day I went into the park itself, but not the day afterwards!

Amboseli was wonderful but the other comment about visibility of Mount Kilimanjaro is on target. It's not a crystal clear view of the mountain. The outlines were visible as was the remains of the snow capped peak, but for the most part it's hazy. But for me the real glory was the ecosystem at Amboseli, not the mountain, and the herds of elephants and hippos and amazing birds.

Safaris seem to be one of those activities where the more you spend, the more you do really get out of it. While not universal, but I have picked up that the more you spend with a proven, reputable company, the much better guides you get (and a good guide is extremely important in tracking the animals as the top guides all keep in touch with each other and will relay the important discoveries and sightings to each other). The better guides will also be much more knowledgable about the animals themselves. The better the location of the camp sites/lodges will be with greater wildlife numbers. The fewer people will be crammed into your safari vehicle and the vehicle itself will be better, instead of a cramped minibus you get a proper open air land cruiser. Instead of taking long, 8-10 hour bus rides from one park to another, you take short flights on tiny planes or the slightly larger SafariLinks plane with wonderful views of Kenya from above.

I did my safari through Gamewatchers, a subsidiary of the luxury Porini group which offers luxury camping safaris. Gamewatchers offers everything Porini does at their main camps except that you sleep in basic traditional tents and your facilities are a bit more rustic (but still have proper toilets and camp showers available). For the first half of the safari I stayed at Gamewatcher's camp in their private conservancy adjoining Amboseli and it was truly wonderful, I saw a leopard walk by the camp! We had a whole day inside Amboseli itself. For this I paid 350/night (estimate) inclusive of everything, and this included a singles supplement. I was supposed to stay at the Gamewatchers camp at Mara too, but at the last minute received a free! upgrade to the Porini luxury camp itself, which was fabulous although in terms of food, quality of the guides and the wonderful open air land cruiser vehicles it was the same, with only the tents being different (larger, proper beds, lovely decorated a la a fancy safari from 1905). At Porini's Mara conservancy (where both the luxury camp and the basic Gamewatcher's camp are located) I saw a pride of 10 lions and cubs, plus two male lions, a leopard, two different cheetahs with their cubs, elephants, herds of zebras, giraffes and wildebeest and gazelles plus assorted nocturnal animals.

Based on my experiences with Gamewatchers, I would really strongly advise you try to up your budget a bit to stay in the Gamewatchers camps because the quality of the guides and experience was just wonderful. The other advantage to Gamewatchers/Porini is that they generally don't have set dates for the safaris the way most safari companies do. They take bookings based on availability at their camps with guaranteed multiple drives every day and at least one all day visit to the main park itself during your stay. This flexibility worked perfectly for me as none of the quoted dates from other safari companies worked for me (most safari companies are really safari brokers, who book accommodation/vehicles as needed for a group and will combine you with other people, unlike Porini/Gamewatchers, who own their own facilities).

I may sound like a shill for Gamewatchers, but after doing careful research into safaris in Kenya and initially balking at the prospect of spending quite a lot of money just to sleep in a basic tent, my experiences with Gamewatchers showed why it was well worth the money and why I was right to avoid taking cheaper safaris. While definitely doable to find cheaper companies, you won't get quite the same intimate experience that made such a wonderful difference to my trip. I'm aware of budget constraints and I do have budgets of my own and this was probably the most expensive trip I took based on a per day basis, but frankly, if you can come up with an extra thousand dollars between you and your wife to bump you up to the better levels of safaris, you will not regret it. At all.

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