The Kilimanjaro climb first and the safari later - that was the plan. If it was the other way around, the impending climb would weigh on our minds impeding full
enjoyment of the safari. September was chosen for the trip as would be a good climbing month (before the
rains but after the peak season) and the precise
dates were chosen to coincide summit night with the full moon. This meant that trip would be well into the dry season and the massive herds of Wildebeest and zebra
would be further north in the Mara. But we were assured that there would be plenty to see
even in the dry season and in fact it would be easier to spot them in the low grass.
The US representative from Good Earth Tours recommended a 5 day itinerary that would cover Tarangire National Park, Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Conservation
Area, all part of the famous Northern Circuit. We rejected the "lodging" option in favor of the "camping" as it would
provide us an opportunity to camp out in the wilderness.
We pored over books on Tanzania to familiarize ourselves with what we could expect to see.
| Lonely Planet - Tanzania |
| Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania," Zimmerman , Turner |
| Safari
Companion, A Guide to Watching African Mammals, Richard D. Estes |
The travel clinic at our HMO offers immunization shots and we got the mandatory "Yellow fever" vaccination. We also got adult boosters for vaccinations that we had got as children, namely typhoid, polio and Hepatitis B.
These were not absolutely necessary, but this was as good a time as any other to get them.
Malaria prophylaxis was recommended but we declined it since it could have adverse side-effects that could interfere with
the Kili climbing plans. We would depend on "DEET" to protect ourselves from mosquitoes and other insects.
The numbers in the parentheses refer to the circled numbers in the map above.
| Day 1 | 10:30 am. Start from Arusha (1), reach Tarangire N.P (2). Lunch. Afternoon at Tarangire. Night camp near Karatu |
| Day 2 | 8:30 am. Drive towards Serengeti. Brief stop at entrance to Ngorongoro Crater Conservation area (3). Brief stop at crater overlook. Detour to Oldupai Gorge (4). Arrive Serengeti in the afternoon for game viewing. Camp at Pimbi campsite inside Serengeti N.P. |
| Day 3 | Inside Serengeti all day. Afternoon break at campsite for brief rest. Late evening return back to Pimbi campsite |
| Day 4 | Early morning drive in Serengeti. Break camp in the morning and return to Ngorongoro. An hour's stop at Maasai village just outside crater. Drive down to crater floor and explore crater till dusk. Drive back up to crater rim. Camp at site overlooking crater |
| Day 5 | Drive down to crater floor looking for elusive species only. Afternoon drive back to Arusha. Pack and leave for airport |
Text, Pictures: Malini Kaushik and R.Venkatesh