BootsnAll Travel Community

Planning a trek for January 09 and doing a 6 day Safari afterwards. So far it is me and one other friend, but always looking for more friends! We're both young, 22-23, and very friendly. He's from Australia and I'm from Southern California. Planning on going the 8 day Rongai Route with the Crater Camp. The Safari also sounds amazing, doing the camp Safari. If anyone is interested in more information, I think I've asked the company every question possible, so I should have an answer. Thanks!

Andrew

ps. Planning on summitting late January, for the full moon.

Andrew,

You are going to have a time of your life. I did the same route and safari afterwards.

Good luck,
Rupesh

Thanks!! Yea, I'm stoked to go, I've never been to Africa, so I'm hoping to take in as much as possible. Any tips or suggestions are more than welcome....I'm debating staying a few extra days after the Safari, any suggestions on cheap day trips...I really want to try Zanzibar, but I'm not sure if I can fit it in my budget. I know its affordable enough once I get there, but I think getting there and back to KJO is $400, which is a bit pricey for me for a 2-3 day jaunt. Any suggestions?

Do try to make it to Zanzibar! After I did the Kili climb/safari combo, it was the best thing in the world to go and be lazy on the beach. It is definitely worth a few extra days. Eat dinner at the night market in Stone Town, then the next day head up to Kendwa Rocks, order a drink and relax!
I did it pretty inexpensively, took the bus from Moshi to Dar es Salam and then had planned on taking a ferry, but ended up taking an aprox 20 minute flight to Zanzibar that was pretty cheap (sorry, I don’t remember how much). My flight home was through Nairobi, so I was able to change my fight to fly straight from Zanzibar to Nairobi for no extra charge.

Hi Andrew,
I'm planning on being in Tanzania mid-Jan to mid-Feb 2009, doing a Kilimanjaro climb and a safari, and then heading to Zanzibar. I'm traveling solo and so probably need to join a group for the climb and safari. I haven't planned anything yet other than reading a guide book a few months ago, as it's a long way out still.
My main question for you, or anyone else, is how far ahead should this kind of thing be booked? I'm hitting the road in a few weeks and was going to do more research into Tanzania along the way. I'll be coming from Nepal so I'm hoping my legs and lungs should be in good shape for the climb.
John

John,

I am currently planning everything out now, so if you want to join my party, I'd be more than happy to have you come along. Actually as of right now, I am the only one booking my trip so far, so I'm paying as a solo traveller, so if you'd like to book with me, that would gurantee both of us get the discount of travelling with at least one other person. Here is what I have planned:

Tour Operator is Team Kilimanjaro, and I plan on doing their specialized Rongai Route with the additional day to do the crater camp. The plan is to summit around the 26th of January, so that we get a full moon out at our night near the top. After we get down from that, I am planning a Safari as well with the same operator, here is the description of the Safari:

day safari, including the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara, Lake Eyasi and Oldonyo Lengai.



This safari would include spending time with the Hadzabe Bushmen at Lake Eyasi. Our safaris ensure that rather than merely observing the tribe, we interact closely with them while they teach us their skills. In the early morning we join the bushmen for a hunt, when en route or back at camp afterwards, there is opportunity to learn how to make very effective primitive weapons from local plants; how to make poisons; how to make fire by rotating sticks; how to identify naturally occurring medicines; finding honey and water; and many other skills.



This safari also includes a trip to Oldonyo Lengai (seismic activity permitting), the sacred mountain of the famous Maasai tribe with active effusive volcano. We do a night ascent, aiming to summit a little before sunrise while it is still dark so that we can see the luminous effusions spurting from the volcano. This is a very challenging undertaking on loose scree and sharp rocks and should not be underestimated.

After that, I believe I'll have a couple extra days, and as mentioned above, I am trying to find a place to spend a short amount of time travelling. Perhaps Zanzibar as Deanna spoke so highly of it! Depending on my budget, if I can make the flight, Zanzibar is my first choice, as I found you can get cabanas for around 20 bucks a night.

I've done a great deal of research and asking around, so if you would like to join, throw me an email or message, and we can organize it. I'm about to put down my deposit soon, so to book the trip solidly, so if you'd like to join before it goes on the net for people to join in, get back to me! I hear team kilimanjaro offers great tours and have heard nothing negative. Take care.

Thanks for that information, I looked up Team Kilimanjaro, they look good and have lots of places open still for many dates.
I started looking at flights yesterday and was told that if I reorder a little I can save a lot of money, so I might now go to Tanzania in August/September instead. I'm going to keep an eye on this board and if I do end up going in January 2009 I'll drop you a line.
John