02/09/19 Kenya/Tanzania Classic Safari

PatE

There are five of us traveling in our little group on the 02./09/2019 Kenya/Tanzania Classic Safari. Greensboro, NC is home for 3 of us. One of our adventurous travelers is from Pennsylvania. Atlanta, GA is home for the fifth. We have had our shots and are getting ready to tackle the visa process. New safari clothes are hanging in my closet as I viewed the trip as a shopping opportunity. I probably watched too many safari movies as a kid growing up and have this vision of what I should look like. We are arriving one day early traveling from Atlanta through Amsterdam, KLM flight 567. Are there others in our group in the same stage of preparation? We depart 3 months from tomorrow!

Sealord

I don’t know if you have read the visa discussions in various places here. But for five people you are looking at $1,000 plus in unneccesary fees if you don’t do the visas yourselves. It is not that difficult. At least one in five should be able to figure it out. (;-)

British

Just don’t take pith helmets????

AlanS

British wrote:

Just don’t take pith helmets????

To what does this refer?? I hope you don't have a lisp? : )

British

????????????. I do have a bit of a lisp actually

Pat2Mike

persons with a lisp may not be as political as others

KathrynH

We wore pith helmets during our tour of Tanzania and Kenya. They were helpful when we would otherwise have bonked our heads in the jeeps. We gave the helmets to the tour director at the end of our trip since pith helmets are not so useful outside of African touring.

mil

Hi PatE

I did this tour last Sept. It is AMAZING! you will love it.
Now, I have to tell you... their is more preparation than actually needed, sure the Visa, Shots, malaria meds you have to do, no way out ,but regarding clothing less is best.( I normally travel like Elizabeth T.) no need here, It is all super casual, your clothing will get really dusty and no one really cares what you are wearing. Plus you are always bouncing around inside the jeep and once you get on top of the seats or the arms.. etc., you most likely will have to be barefoot(no socks) for better balance.

I took 6 t-shirts for daytime and 6 nice ones for night time at the hotels... only wear 2 @ nightime . one night at he Four Seasons and the last night in Nairobi, rest of the time you truly go from the jeeps to wash your hands - face and directly to the restaurants.
If, I had to do it all over again .. I will take 6day/2nights nothing more. Pants do take at least 4 . also regarding Photo equipment.. I had a lens Nikon 80-400 that was a real pain... to heavy, to big.... everything happens too fast... you get all crazy as you see the animals...don't know whether to take a video, a picture... admire the action... it's all crazy. it takes you back to being a kid at Xmas with a Xmas tree full of toys... you go happy crazy. So, do have a plan and see what's practical. this is a total unique experience.. is hard to know how is going to work for you because here the animals are the ones in charge. I can tell you, I came back with my left arm all sore and useless for 3 weeks, but Happy Happy Happy!!! I still smile telling people about it,
. Also the animals are most of the time pretty close to the jeeps and truly my Iphone was more useful than anything else. )
Have a great trip.

PatE

Thank you for the helpful clothing suggestions. Your suggestions fit my expectations for the trip. I must admit that my usual go to for clothing is not the rugged outdoor clothing found in REI and other outdoor stores. Knowing that I might not have a much of a need to utilize these clothes upon my return I am prepared to wash and wear. I was anticipating that my nighttime clothing would be more casual than I normally wear so thank you for confirming that. I am very excited and look forward to meeting our fellow adventurers. As for pith helmets—uh no. The Tilley hat was as far as I could push it and still take myself seriously.

British

I do not think there is any need to be barefoot in the safari vehicles, especially if there are tsetse flies around. I would not risk using an iPhone for photos on a safari vehicle, it's too risky, so easy to drop with the sudden bumps and turns. You may not be able to retrieve it. My camera is placed firmly around my neck with my binoculars with my buff to cushion the straps.
It's not necessary to have 'Safari clothes' if you have clothing in muted earth type colors and avoid black, white, dark blue and red, you will be fine. We do have some Safari things these days that we have used on several adventure tours. They are lightweight and easy to wash if necessary. We tend to keep our arms and legs covered so have no need for the zip off variety. We wear wide brimmed hats and buffs around our necks which are great for cushioning the camera gear and to cover our faces if it is extra dusty, for sun protection and bad smells.
I assume by night time clothing you mean evening as I don't wear anything at nighttime which always amuses Alan S

Pat2Mike

agree with the last several post all are good advise. Don't hesitate to go on this trip we went Aug. This was most enjoyable and breathtaking wildlife that we have ever seen. Best trip we have taken with Tauck. Made use on laundry service in hotels which eliminate the need for extra clothing . Several donated our safari clothing at the end of the trip . My wife left several pairs of reading glasses ( dollar store ) we took along .
Changed into a t shirt for one lunch ( what happens on safari stays on safari) It was that relaxing and friendly group.
I used the airplane pillow collar to support my neck in the jeep.

Sealord

PatE wrote:

Thank you for the helpful clothing suggestions. Your suggestions fit my expectations for the trip. I must admit that my usual go to for clothing is not the rugged outdoor clothing found in REI and other outdoor stores. Knowing that I might not have a much of a need to utilize these clothes upon my return I am prepared to wash and wear. I was anticipating that my nighttime clothing would be more casual than I normally wear so thank you for confirming that. I am very excited and look forward to meeting our fellow adventurers. As for pith helmets—uh no. The Tilley hat was as far as I could push it and still take myself seriously.

You will love the Tilley hat. Ours have been around the world, in addition to five of our six expeditions. We bought our Rei type (Columbia) safari outfits for our first trip to the Galapagos, and so far we have used them six times. So you might find those type outfits more useful than you think after getting ‘exposed’ to Africa. We will probably use them for our Panama Canal expedition in January. They are very light weight, they block the sun, and they are easy to pack. I have more now, but I started with three sets. One on, one in the laundry, and one ready to change into for dinner.

AlanS

Sealord wrote:

You will love the Tilley hat. Ours have been around the world, in addition to five of our six expeditions. We bought our Rei type (Columbia) safari outfits for our first trip to the Galapagos, and so far we have used them six times. So you might find those type outfits more useful than you think after getting ‘exposed’ to Africa. We will probably use them for our Panama Canal expedition in January. They are very light weight, they block the sun, and they are easy to pack. I have more now, but I started with three sets. One on, one in the laundry, and one ready to change into for dinner.

And if you lose your Tilley hat somewhere, say like in Naples near the National Archaeological Museum, Tillley will replace it at cost. Don't ask how I know this. : ~)

Sealord

AlanS wrote:

And if you lose your Tilley hat somewhere, say like in Naples near the National Archaeological Museum, Tillley will replace it at cost. Don't ask how I know this. : ~)

Yup ... it comes with a warranty and an instruction book. If you adjust the neck strap/head strap correctly according to instructions, 90% of the time it will not blow off if hit by a gust of wind. I learned that after almost losing mine getting off a ship and I was not using the ‘strqp’. Mine actually went to Germany when I was going to Russia. Now I pack it in my carry on instead of my checked luggage. I could just wear it but I’m always worried about leaving it behind in the rush to get off an airplane. It is very difficult to retrieve something you left on an airplane after you disembark. I walk a couple miles every day, and that hat is on my head unless it is cloudy or ‘smokey’ like today.

Airstreamers

Four of us are booked for Classic Safari - Kenya/Tanzania in September 2019. Question: We will be flying from Tampa, FL ...does anyone have recommendation for airlines which fly in and out of Tanzania & Kenya?

AlanS

Airstreamers wrote:

Four of us are booked for Classic Safari - Kenya/Tanzania in September 2019. Question: We will be flying from Tampa, FL ...does anyone have recommendation for airlines which fly in and out of Tanzania & Kenya?

You may need to fly to another US departure city but a number of carriers and their partners fly from the US to Kilimanjaro Int'l in Tanzania (JRO) and from Nairobi, Kenya (NBO). Delta/KLM, and Ethiopian are just two (we flew Ethiopian from Washington/Dulles- excellent flights and service (in Business). You can book flights yourself, use a travel agent, or let Tauck book your air.

mil

Delta / KLM is the most convenient .

Virginia Travelers1

We took this trip in July 2018 and flew Business Class which is almost a must given the time flying. We flew KLM from Dulles (DC) to Amsterdam and then on to Arusha. I think about half of our tour group was on the flight from Amsterdam although we didn't know one another yet. The return was a very big surprise to us. We flew Business on Kenya Airlines from Nairobi to Paris and then Air France to DC. The Kenyan Airlines flight from Nairobi was simply fantastic! Lots of space and great food and service. It was the perfect flight to get some rest after 2 weeks on Safari. Kenyan Airlines was voted thee best Business Class airline 5 years in a row and we saw why. The KLM return flights flew 18 of our fellow travelers back home while our Kenyan flight only had 4 of us. Both KLM and Kenyan departed about the same time from Nairobi. That all being said, when we do a second African trip it will be on Kenyan Airlines.

taxare

Kenya Airways has just started nonstop service from JFK in New York to Nairobi on Boeing 787's. Similar to some other airlines discussed in these forums Kenya is having financial difficulties. It may however, be a route that is appealing. Kenya Airways is a member of Skyteam (Air France/KLM/Delta)

Rampage1

We are doing the Bridges tour in December to Tanzania and will be flying Qatar Air from Chicago. I found their prices to be literally half of KLM’s. We do have to overnight in Doha on the way to Tanzania but even with that, it came out considerably less than KLM. Qatar is also one of the world’s top airlines, so it should be an interesting way of getting over there.

British

Chicago is one of those airports we try to avoid flying from in the winter because of weather related delays. If we have to we allow an extra day or two to get there. We have certainly read good reports of Qatar to Tanzania.

skygrj

See you there! We are also on the 02/09/19 trip coming from Pinehurst, NC