Hi everyone! I'm planning a trip for early July (July 1 - 8) for a safari in Africa. We thought we had settled on Tanzania, but one of the travel agents we spoke to said that at that point in the year, our best bet was to skip Tarangire (too many tsetse flies and not much to see) and Ngorongoro and instead do four days in the Masai Mara and four days in the Serengeti to make sure we catch the migration and don't miss out. Does that make sense? Otherwise, our plan is to concentrate just on Tanzania, and do the following:
Day 1: Tarangire
Day 2: Ngorongoro Crater
Day 3: Southcentral Cerengeti (Olduvai)
Day 4: Serian/Mbalageti/Dunia
Day 5: Serian/Mbalageti/Dunia
Day 6: Serian/Mbalageti/Sayari Mara
Day 7: Serian/Mbalageti/ Sayari Mara
Day 8: Serian/Mbalageti/Sayari Mara
Any advice would be helpful (including which of the camps on Days 4-8 might be the best for the time period.
Thanks so much!
Early July Safari in Kenya or Tanzania
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jessi - I replied to you on TA.
yes, it definitely does. am planning a trip to kenya myself this july. after a lot of research, i have noticed that kenya should be included in the itinerary for the following reasons:
a) most tours start from nairobi, kenya. logistically, there are more options if you join a kenya-tanzania tour. i am pretty sure plane tickets to kenya are less expensive.
b) my dentist (i know, of all people) suggested going to kenya in july for the migration. herds of wildebeest migrate to kenya in july. in february, they all migrate back to tanzania. since you're going in july, going to kenya first sounds like a good idea.
i arrive in kenya end of june. perhaps we can join the same tour. how many people will there be in your party? i have heard that the more people who sign up for a safari, the lower the price.
let me know what u think.
best,
jojo
The herds usually enter Kenya around the 4th of July. Not that they are marking a holiday celebrated on the other side of the globe. So mid to late July, if the goal is the migration, I think a split between Mara and Serengeti makes sense. First week of July is a bit of a gamble for a split if you are trying to see the migration. Some years the herds have crossed to the Mara as early as June. I would not gamble that the herds would be in Kenya in big numbers on July 8.
I have not had severe tse tse problems in July in Tarangire. There have been some, but also some in Serengeti. Tarangire is known for eles in picturesque settings. Again late July is a little better for the eles than earlier due to reduced water access in late July compared with early July in normal years.
Why don't you get an all Tanz itinerary, priced with drive times between destinations and get a Serengeti-Mara itinerary with pricing and drive/fly times. That info may sway you one way or the other, or you could post those results here for further comments.
If you stayed in Tanz the whole time, I'd split the Serengeti time between Central/Western and Northern Serengeti. It's about 2 hours between Central and Western so you can cover both in a day's outing.
If your days were even July 1-12, I be more enthused about a split because (a) it would increase the odds of wildes in the Mara a little later in the month and (b) you'd have more time in both Serengeti and Mara.
Here's a site that shows camps throughout the Serengeti.
http://www.africatravelresource.com/serengeti/
Good luck to both of you in your safari planning.