Welcome to Tauck’s Great Migration: Tanzania & Kenya Forum
Welcome to Tauck’s Great Migration: Tanzania & Kenya Forum - Find the answers to your trip questions, answer questions posted by fellow travelers, plus share your Tauck experiences and stories. Stop by often and join in on the discussions.
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We are travelling on the Great Migration that begins August 18th. So excited!! Looking forward to meeting our fellow travellers.
SandiJN, I hope you will take the time to write a review when you return. We are booked on this trip in January and I would love to read your impressions and recommendations.
Would also like to read a review. I just don’t know how the migration can be predicted unless it entails covering a lot of ground to find the animals. Either way, this is a very expensive trip compared to all the other Safari ones for what you get and I don’t think it’s worth it. We have seen plenty of animals on all safaris and some small ‘river crossings’ where the animals are so skittish getting into the water because of the waiting crocs. I’m also assuming there’s a much bigger chance of tsetse flies during the migration and more dust.
After reading the literature, looking at the map, and reading about mobile camps and providers of this type of tour, it appears there are numerous "mobile camps" operating under the name, "Legendary Serengeti Mobile Camp" which appear to be operated by several companies. The Tauck tour info says your camp is "Set up in three different locations in the Serengeti during different times of the year." I can't tell for sure, but the camp at this link and this link might be the one since they reference 3 locations and the picture of the lighted dining area matches Tauck's. After two days at Ngorongoro Crater you will fly to one of them that is close to one of the main bodies of the migration. If the tour is during a transition month or the weather has been different during the previous months, you may or may not know which camp or where it is located until you arrive at Ngorongoro or until you actually get there. I also suspect none of the camps are located too far from the nearest dirt airstrip. Also, it is not hard to imagine that a lot of driving might be required- you will be chasing a moving target that is not following any set path.
FYI, if you look at the route map you see you fly from the mobile camp to Kisumu a major city (3rd largest in Kenya) on the shores of Lake Victoria. The reason for that is because you can't just drive or fly directly from Tanzania to the next camp in the Masai Mara in Kenya, you must enter Kenya at an official port of entry where there is an immigration and customs station like in Kisumu.
Sounds like that is why it is so expensive.
In the trip itinerary it says for the 3 days at the mobile camp in the Serengeti you have a private safari vehicle. This is also why it is expensive
I am not sure what that means, All the safari vehicles on Tauck’s tours I would class as private, meaning no more than six people. We commonly had just four people in vehicles.
It means each tent has its own private driver and vehicle. You don't share with anyone else. At least that's how I understood it. On the itinerary for those days if you click on the name of the camp, it's in the hotel's description. Both of our Africa tours were full. Each safari car had 6 people. Maybe someone who's taken this tour can clarify.
Doing Great Migration Kenya and Tanzania late September-mid October. Are bugs/flys an issue? Do we need netting hat/head cover?
No, you do not need a netted hat, people would laugh at you! Sometimes there are tsetse flies, sometimes there are none.
We took this trip in July/August 2019, our last trip before COVID. It was dry, cool in the morning and evening and temperate during the day.. The roads were bumpy and dry so there was alot of dust, but no flies. We did find that masks or face scarves (buffs) were helpful.
All our jeeps seated 6 people and all from our Tauck groups. Tent cabins in the mobile camps had indoor plumbing and hot showers, although the water was supplied by individual outdoor water tanks which had to be "prepared" by the camp staff.
The dining room was enclosed, had carpeting and table linens, china and crystal and a large assortment of hot foods and drinks.
"Mobile" camps means that the whole campground is moved (by the staff) from location to location following the movement of the animals.
Our camp in the Serengetti was visited at night by zebra and wildebeests, but we were driven to the river to witness the actual migration crossing sites.
British is right about people laughing at mosquito netting. On our Elegant South Africa tour we were laughing with this woman and not at her. She was a lot of fun, and she is not British. 🤣This was in Kruger. .
Hey. Don’t get confused, that is not me. Anyway, our son recently got bitten by a tsetse fly right through thickish pair of beige pants on our safari in Tanzania. It hurt and drew blood through to the surface of the fabric. So far, no signs of sleeping sickness. I was bitten on our very first Africa tour through a sock.
We did the Great Migration tour August 2024. Couple of comments…..a total of 4 clothes changes is all you need; laundry done at each stop, no issue; it was chilly until mid morning, take a heavy sweater and wind jacket at a minimum; I was comfortable in shorts in Tanzania; we experienced virtually zero bugs of any kind; lots of dust in the Serengeti, you might take an antihistamine if you have allergies…no meds available on the trip. The Songa Serengeti camp is nothing short of first class, don’t know about any other; all other accommodations were very nice. TD was experienced, informative and worked hard, I thought, to deliver a memorable experience for all.