When I told my guide I wanted to see the the wildebeest migration he told me I’d see so many wildebeest I’d cry. I was up for the challenge. This wasn’t my first African Safari, so I knew I wasn’t going to be satisfied with a herd of a few hundred wildebeest. The family I was with was up for everything. The Serengeti and the Crater is clearly the best places in the world to see the diversity of the world’s last greatest animals like the lion, cheetah, elephant, hippo, rhino and so much more.
Spoiler. I got my moment. I was completely surrounded by a herd of migrating wildebeest who were climbing all over each other falling into ravines and it took me to a moment when I was in southern Utah and saw billions of crickets crawling and consuming everything in their path a mile wide. These wildebeests for a moment were the crickets and I was in that moment looking at them in god mode like they were a swarm of crickets. Incredible life experience.
What many don’t realize is it’s possible to see the Migration all year round. The river crossings are from July to November, the huge herds in Serengeti in April to June and calving season with babies and predators from December to March.
I was looking for moments where all I could see was wildebeest everywhere I looked.
It’s sad how after a couple of days you start rooting for the predators and are hoping a crocodile is in the water.
One major myth is it being hot. We went in July and needed jackets some nights. It was NOT hot, the weather was hotter at home. If you were hoping to go before it became a major tourist destination, with major international tour companies, and fees like you were in a top park. Too late. The fees were quite disappointing. Tanzania knows that the Serengeti is a major international destination and getting accommodations in the park for less than $200 per night are nearly impossible. Just pulling up a random date the cheapest per night is $500 for the 28 properties near Serengeti. Go check booking.com… I’m serious! There are primitive camping options at around $150, but for the most part I found most accommodations are only accessible at reasonable rates only through tour companies. These companies seem to have a monopoly on the prices. If you’re thinking you’ll skip the tour and do the drive yourself after 5 days in the park I can tell you they’ve tightened it up so it’s next to impossible to do yourself. The park fees are $50 per person per day, but included in trip costs if you go through a company. The crater entrance fees $200 per vehicle. Let me get off the topic of fees. It’s not cheap, but please do your research. This can be an epic trip, and very worthwhile. It was two days into the trip that I found out from my driver if I went direct I would have had a better price, and here I thought I had the direct price. We must have priced out 30 or more different outfitters. I’ve seen prices commonly between 5K to 30K for a week for a comprehensive inclusive package.
Ultimately there were 9 of us with my wife and our 9 year old, my brother in law and his son, and my other brother in law his wife and 2 kids. We elected to do 2 different big safari vehicles.
My African Safari family – In the back is our guide.
Yes those are hungry hippos in the background. No they don’t have access to us there’s a 30 ft cliff behind us.
06 Days/5 nights Tanzania Serengeti & Ngorongo Crater Safari
Day 1: Arusha – Lake Manyara National Park Pick up from Arusha
Drive to Lake Manyara with picnic lunch .Arrive and start game
viewing later check out of the park and drive to Karatu .
Dinner and overnight at Country lodge/Eileen tree in/Crater rim
lodge.
You never know when a young elephant might jump out of the forest and be a little upset that you cut her off from her mommy. Let me tell you… they aren’t afraid of cars.
Day 2- Karatu- Serengeti
Depart for Serengeti after breakfast, with picnic lunches, you
will drive via Ngorongoro conservation area. Arrive at the park and
start your game viewing. Later drive to Ikoma/katikati for dinner and
overnight.
Of course you start tracking the big 5. The Leopards are beautiful.
Driving nearly all day tracking animals went by quickly, and the sunsets were spectacular!
Even better when a giraffe would pose.
Day 3- Serengeti – Full day
Spend this day with game drives within the Great Serengeti.
Serengeti is the home to Africa’s Big Five. There will be picnic lunch.
Dinner and overnight at the ikoma Camp
This is Disney in REAL LIFE! Simba headed out on the edge of the rock. Circle of life! Hakuna Matata
(Contact me joel.oleson@gmail.com for use of any of the photos. A couple of them are my nephews.)
Day 4: Serengeti – Transfer to Ngorongoro After breakfast, depart
for Ngorongoro Crater passing through Olduvai Gorge. Enjoy an
introductory game drive as you arrive at the crater as you head to the lodge.
There will be no other game drive so spend the remaining hours at
leisure enjoying walking around the surrounding areas and exploring the
lodge’s facilities. Dinner and overnight at the Rhino
lodge/Country Lodge
Ngorongoro is quiet unique as its physical protection from man
natural beauty ranks it among the most pristine wilderness on the earth.
It has been also declared the world heritage and is the largest
intact crater in the world.
The crater didn’t disappoint on providing the illusive black rhino as well.
Day 5: Ngorongoro Crater – Full day
After breakfast, check out of the lodge with packed picnic lunch
and depart for a tour of the crater floor, which is home to numerous
plains game and the big five. Spend the day within the crater and
have lunch at one of the famous picnic spots in the park. In the
evening you will return to the lodge which is strategically perched on the
rim of the collapsed volcano, with the most magnificent views of the
crater floor.Dinner and overnight at the Eileen trees camp/Crate rim
For the most part by day 5 we were already saying we’ve seen enough of the antelope, elephants, and we’ve clearly found the big 5. Let’s track leopards, lions or cheetahs and see them land a kill. We weren’t disappointed, we caught a very interesting hunt of a four male lions tracking a female lioness who was hunting a water buffalo.
Day 6: Ngorongoro Crater – Arusha.
After breakfast at the hotel depart and drive to Arusha. Drop off.
No one told this young one she was in the wrong place.
PRICE BASED ON USE 4X4 SAFARI LAND CRUISERS.
Price per vehicle @ $ 2,150 x 2 vehicles = $ 4,300
Per per adult @ $ 950 x 6 adults = $5700
Per per child 16 yrs. old @ $ 780
Per per child 7, 9 yrs. old @ $ 595 x 2children= 1190
TOTAL $ 11,970
So for my share it was around $3,785 for the 3 of us for 6 nights and 5 days all inclusive.
SAFARI QUOTATION INCLUDES:
Accommodation on Full board basis on safari.
Ground transportation in a private 7-seater Safari 4×4 safari Land
cruiser in Tanzania driven by a professional driver/guide Game drives
and park entry fees.
Mineral water during game drives only – 1 litre bottle per person per day
EXCLUDES:
x Arrival Airport Transfer
× Visas (currently US$ 50 per person)
× Cost of international and Local Flights
× Inoculations and personal insurance
× Beverages unless stated otherwise
× Gratuities/guide tips to Hotel/Lodge staff
× Laundry and other personal expenses
Of course the animals don’t know where the wild ends and the homes are. In fact most of the lodges we stayed at warned us not to wander at night. There were no fences around the camps. In most camps we had armed guards who stayed up late chasing off animals or potential predators that wandered into camp, but the monkeys didn’t care.
Our vehicles do have the pop top which was extremely handy and we ended up using it A LOT!
Make sure you bring a good camera. The photos you see in my blog here are all from an iphone. Imagine what they’d be with an SLR.
You do get quite close to the wild life and the exhilaration you experience when you see a lion chasing it’s game is incredible!
Africa has some incredible animals and to imagine them all in such a short distance is pretty mind blowing.
Don’t let the animals be the only reason you want to visit Africa. As a traveler the cultures of the tribes are easily what keeps me coming back for more. There’s so much we can learn, and increase in our perspectives by learning from each other. The Masai tribes were extremely welcoming. They had a very formal way of receiving us into their village, with traditional greetings, jumping and dancing, and showing us their arts and crafts and then taking us into their homes.
It’s not without a price these days, but if you get past that part, it’s a fascinating journey and your funds are shared among the whole tribe. We were told our money was going to go for medicine for the cows. Having visited the school of the village, I was happy to share that and more. We left books and school supplies that we had purposely brought with us in extra bags.
If you end up planning a trip something like this. I highly recommend what I call a detox in Zanzibar. Go relax in Zanzibar, go to the night markets and relax on the beach. There’s the best food of Tanzania is in Zanzibar. Very easy to find great food on the island, and the pace is perfect for relaxing as well stone town has some fantastic culture, history, and feels a little less like that extremes of tons of tourists or primitive… lots of great deals to be had on Zanzibar. I really enjoyed taking in the culture and spices of the island.
Thanks for sharing my journey!
I’m not selling anything. If you are curious who I used reach out to Edward Massawe I asked Edward how people can reach out. He says “Hello Joel! Jambo? Hope all is good with you my friend!! Here is my email address edwardtz@ymail.com, or WhatsApp me at +255 763 122 626.” He was our driver who said he could even do better direct. He recently posted on Facebook how he saved the life of a baby rhino with some other drivers. He’s got some fascinating tales from Leopards inside the vehicle… stories you’d never believe!
(Note the photo above is from Edward’s friend posted to his Facebook page.)
