I’ve not had time to post about the 8/20 K/T because we’ve been kept so busy. It has been nothing short of amazing. We arrived at the Mount Kenya Safari Club today. Everything has gone exceedingly well. We have 24 in our tour group—two couples traveling together, a family of 4 (the “kids” are adults), and various others mainly couples. It is a congenial group. One couple is infirm and requires assistance and wheelchairs. I don’t understand how they thought this was an appropriate trip for them to take. From what I gather, Tauck was not aware of their significant deficits until after the tour began and didn’t have much choice but to make accommodation. The only other issue we had was that several of us contracted digestive ailments, although only one required medical care. We’ve all recovered and most who had it (including me) did not miss any tour components. Our TD, Taryn, is fantastic. But then every TD on all of our past tours has been absolutely wonderful. We’ve seen the Big 5 and other amazing sights such as a mama elephant nursing her baby, a mama warthog nursing her baby, rhinos rolling around in the mud to keep cool, the mingling of different animal species sharing spaces harmoniously, and too many more to list here. We have not witnessed any kills or their after effects, although we’ve seen plenty of carcasses especially zebras (likely the drought and lack of food led to their death). With all the trip reports on K/T and the focus on the large animals, I don’t recall anyone mentioning the beautiful, colorful birds. I’m not a birder, but I’m enjoying photographing the different birds we see. With 4 days left, I’ve already taken nearly 1400 pictures—can’t wait to see them on my large computer screen. Our accommodations have been very nice, the buffet meals are adequate, but about what I expected. We didn’t come to Africa for the food anyway. And the people in both Tanzania and Kenya are warm, welcoming and very friendly. As for Tanzanite (per some previous discussion), I did purchase an authentic tanzanite bracelet at the Arusha Cultural Center. This trip has more than exceeded my expectations. We’ve seen so much it will take me awhile to digest. Now we’ll have to consider when to return and perhaps experience another part of this vast continent.
Jan, good to read your report. There have been several conversations about birds and lots of pictures here. Have you seen my favorite yet, the Secretary Bird?
Seeing an actual kill taking place is quite rare, we actually saw our first kill happen on our last K and T tour, a leopard running like the wind after an antelope, it caught it, killed it and then a hyena rushed in and stole it. We’ve seen lions eating their kills etc, but again that doesn’t often occur.
Watch out at Customs on your return with that bracelet.
Continue to enjoy your tour!
British, yes. I’ve got several pics of the Secretary Bird. So far, my favorite is the superb starling. I love its colors. What about customs? US customs? We’ve spent way under our individual limit.
Yes, I did mean US customs, that’s good, I’ve been on tour with people who have spent hundreds of dollars. I have no idea of the cost of tanzanite, my tanzanite is fake, I don’t wear jewelry enough to justly buying the real stuff.
If you have GOES, you aren’t even asked upon arrival. Procedure has changed…at least at DFW it has. Put your passport in and in seconds you’re sent to the officer who glances at your photo and says “Welcome Home”.
We will be on the first leg of our trip home later this evening. Needless to say, we are exhausted. As I mentioned in a previous post, this tour surpassed our expectations, which were pretty high to begin with. Especially my husband—when I first talked with him about K/T about 4 years ago, it had not even been on his radar. He absolutely loved it! In a previous post, I mentioned an infirm couple with significant mobility issues who should not have been on this type of tour. A few days ago, the gentleman slipped in the shower, broke his arm and he and his wife had to leave the tour. Thankfully, they are OK. Our TD handled the situation with compassion, courtesy and grace while still assuring that the needs of the rest of us were met. The weather was fantastic. Only one late afternoon downpour in the Mara, which let up just as we began our afternoon game drive. A couple of particular high points related to wildlife viewing—the super-pride of nearly 30 lions we came across in the Serengeti, and the cheetah mom and her two adolescents grooming themselves out in the open in Masai Mara. Incredible. Also, I must mention that every one of our drivers/safari guides was superb and worked really hard to give us the best experience possible. That concludes my report. Now, to go through the nearly 1800 photos I took!
So happy you had a good time Jan, and some extra special sitings!
I wonder if the TD managed to procure a tip from that couple? I hope they had the insurance!
With the drought in East Africa, it’s good to hear they are having rain now in what is traditionally the dry season. Was it interesting to see how quickly the grass grew afterwards?
We saw a lot of zebra carcasses in Kenya likely resulting from the drought and lack of food rather than predators. They have been getting heavy afternoon rains recently, and one of our guides pointed out how quickly things get green and all the new growth just after a rain. However, they had a challenge negotiating the mud pits with the vehicles. We saw no rain in Tanzania. Oh, and BTW, I forgot to mention that the elephants came to the Four Seasons watering hole everyday around lunchtime. It was fun watching them drink and bathe!
We are from Orlando but are willing to fly to a major hub to fly with one of the top airlines. (for example, we flew to Houston to fly Qatar on the Jordan/Egypt trip) I believe the Kenya/ Tanzania trip fly into Kilimanjaro airport and out of Nairobi.
I used Qatar Business Class from Boston to Arusha via Doha and return from Zanzibar via Doha to Boston. I will say that I was really looking forward to the Q-Suite as I have traveled Qatar before in the Q Suite. This time I was disappointed. Plane changes, flight schedule changes and only 1 of the 4 segments in Q-Suite. The planes from Doha to Arusha and from Zanzibar back to Doha were from another century and retrofitted--not very well, I might add--and did not provide the level of comfort or amenities that I expected from Qatar.
The plane from Doha to Boston was also a change but at least it was very comfortable in an angled lie flat seat--but not the Q-Suite. So disappointed because they are pretty expensive.
I did book Qatar for another trip in March to South Africa and Botswana, not with Tauck. It looks like only 1 of the flights will have the Q-Suite and the other 3 angled lie flat seats. At least those are better than the side-by-side barely lie flat seats to/from Doha/Africa for the previous flights. They were the best connections and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Qatar doesn't pull a switcharoo 5 days before my flight telling me I can rebook or get my money back or just live with the change. I lived with the change and a very long layover in Doha in the middle of the night. And no, my flights were not close to World Cup madness so that wasn't the reason for the changes.
I am carefully watching what is going on with Star Alliance and Emirates. I have used Emirates in the past as well and really liked them. I was able to accrue points on my Jet Blue account which was a nice feature. I would love to accrue the points on my United account but so far that doesn't seem as though it's in the near future although I believe it will be possible on Air Canada. I'm not overly fond of United but I do have a lot of points with them and would love to use them for a trip to Australia in business class. Awards are hard to come by there though.
I will say that I do believe Qatar focuses on some of the larger US airports, and Boston is not one of them, so your chances of getting Q-Suites are much better out of a big hub like Newark, Chicago, etc. Having said that, keep in mind that on your return you will have to clear customs wherever you first land in the US, claim your bags, and then get another domestic flight home. I've done that a couple of times in the past through Newark, NY, and DC and have decided it's not for me. Once I land in the US, I just want the car to pick me up and take me home.
I did Tauck K&T in October and it was beyond fabulous. I hope you will love it as much as I did.
It is not of concern to everyone, but some airlines have to make a profit to stay in business, and others do not. How do you think the World Cup ended up being played where it is being played?
Thanks to everyone that provided your airline experiences. We do love the Q-suites on Qatar and their great service. We just weren't sure the best airport to fly out of to get to Arusha. We have also flown Emirates, and think they are great as well. A little concerned with them since our last trip we had booked with them had the flights changed so many times. We have also flown KLM, so I will check that out as well. Thanks again for all the suggestions!
Mimitravels, I should have been more specific in my comments. I flew to Kilimanjaro, not Arusha. Tauck will pick you up there and it's an easy ride to Arusha. You will be on enough puddle jumpers (my term) during the tour. No need to start out with one.
Comments
Great that you took the walking tour in the park Jan, I loved it.
Just a sample, here are a few more pics.
I’ve not had time to post about the 8/20 K/T because we’ve been kept so busy. It has been nothing short of amazing. We arrived at the Mount Kenya Safari Club today. Everything has gone exceedingly well. We have 24 in our tour group—two couples traveling together, a family of 4 (the “kids” are adults), and various others mainly couples. It is a congenial group. One couple is infirm and requires assistance and wheelchairs. I don’t understand how they thought this was an appropriate trip for them to take. From what I gather, Tauck was not aware of their significant deficits until after the tour began and didn’t have much choice but to make accommodation. The only other issue we had was that several of us contracted digestive ailments, although only one required medical care. We’ve all recovered and most who had it (including me) did not miss any tour components. Our TD, Taryn, is fantastic. But then every TD on all of our past tours has been absolutely wonderful. We’ve seen the Big 5 and other amazing sights such as a mama elephant nursing her baby, a mama warthog nursing her baby, rhinos rolling around in the mud to keep cool, the mingling of different animal species sharing spaces harmoniously, and too many more to list here. We have not witnessed any kills or their after effects, although we’ve seen plenty of carcasses especially zebras (likely the drought and lack of food led to their death). With all the trip reports on K/T and the focus on the large animals, I don’t recall anyone mentioning the beautiful, colorful birds. I’m not a birder, but I’m enjoying photographing the different birds we see. With 4 days left, I’ve already taken nearly 1400 pictures—can’t wait to see them on my large computer screen. Our accommodations have been very nice, the buffet meals are adequate, but about what I expected. We didn’t come to Africa for the food anyway. And the people in both Tanzania and Kenya are warm, welcoming and very friendly. As for Tanzanite (per some previous discussion), I did purchase an authentic tanzanite bracelet at the Arusha Cultural Center. This trip has more than exceeded my expectations. We’ve seen so much it will take me awhile to digest. Now we’ll have to consider when to return and perhaps experience another part of this vast continent.
Jan, good to read your report. There have been several conversations about birds and lots of pictures here. Have you seen my favorite yet, the Secretary Bird?
Seeing an actual kill taking place is quite rare, we actually saw our first kill happen on our last K and T tour, a leopard running like the wind after an antelope, it caught it, killed it and then a hyena rushed in and stole it. We’ve seen lions eating their kills etc, but again that doesn’t often occur.
Watch out at Customs on your return with that bracelet.
Continue to enjoy your tour!
British, yes. I’ve got several pics of the Secretary Bird. So far, my favorite is the superb starling. I love its colors. What about customs? US customs? We’ve spent way under our individual limit.
Yes, I did mean US customs, that’s good, I’ve been on tour with people who have spent hundreds of dollars. I have no idea of the cost of tanzanite, my tanzanite is fake, I don’t wear jewelry enough to justly buying the real stuff.
If you have GOES, you aren’t even asked upon arrival. Procedure has changed…at least at DFW it has. Put your passport in and in seconds you’re sent to the officer who glances at your photo and says “Welcome Home”.
Nancy, we do and that’s what I recall as well.
We will be on the first leg of our trip home later this evening. Needless to say, we are exhausted. As I mentioned in a previous post, this tour surpassed our expectations, which were pretty high to begin with. Especially my husband—when I first talked with him about K/T about 4 years ago, it had not even been on his radar. He absolutely loved it! In a previous post, I mentioned an infirm couple with significant mobility issues who should not have been on this type of tour. A few days ago, the gentleman slipped in the shower, broke his arm and he and his wife had to leave the tour. Thankfully, they are OK. Our TD handled the situation with compassion, courtesy and grace while still assuring that the needs of the rest of us were met. The weather was fantastic. Only one late afternoon downpour in the Mara, which let up just as we began our afternoon game drive. A couple of particular high points related to wildlife viewing—the super-pride of nearly 30 lions we came across in the Serengeti, and the cheetah mom and her two adolescents grooming themselves out in the open in Masai Mara. Incredible. Also, I must mention that every one of our drivers/safari guides was superb and worked really hard to give us the best experience possible. That concludes my report. Now, to go through the nearly 1800 photos I took!
Jan
Thanks for the reports!
Now perhaps you know why we have done this trip three times.
So happy you had a good time Jan, and some extra special sitings!
I wonder if the TD managed to procure a tip from that couple? I hope they had the insurance!
With the drought in East Africa, it’s good to hear they are having rain now in what is traditionally the dry season. Was it interesting to see how quickly the grass grew afterwards?
We saw a lot of zebra carcasses in Kenya likely resulting from the drought and lack of food rather than predators. They have been getting heavy afternoon rains recently, and one of our guides pointed out how quickly things get green and all the new growth just after a rain. However, they had a challenge negotiating the mud pits with the vehicles. We saw no rain in Tanzania. Oh, and BTW, I forgot to mention that the elephants came to the Four Seasons watering hole everyday around lunchtime. It was fun watching them drink and bathe!
We just booked this trip for late September 2023. Thanks for all the tips and photos. JanP - I'm happy your trip went so well.
Thanks Jan for all your info and pictures. We are excited to go. We will be on the Sept. 17th trip.
You don’t always get conditioner.You are mainly staying in luxury resorts, so expect the same as resorts like that anywhere else.
Does anyone have airline suggestions for this trip?
Recommending an airline would require knowing where you are flying from/to?
We are from Orlando but are willing to fly to a major hub to fly with one of the top airlines. (for example, we flew to Houston to fly Qatar on the Jordan/Egypt trip) I believe the Kenya/ Tanzania trip fly into Kilimanjaro airport and out of Nairobi.
We took this trip in August and flew KLM business class from Chicago thru Amsterdam and were pleased with the airline and service.
Thank you JanP!
I vote for Business Class Qatar outbound via Doha to Tanzania and inbound from Nairobi via Doha.
Minitravels I'm from Orlando, I flew Delta to JFK and Amsterdam and KLM to Kilimanjaro, however you can not beat Qatar for first class service.
I used Qatar Business Class from Boston to Arusha via Doha and return from Zanzibar via Doha to Boston. I will say that I was really looking forward to the Q-Suite as I have traveled Qatar before in the Q Suite. This time I was disappointed. Plane changes, flight schedule changes and only 1 of the 4 segments in Q-Suite. The planes from Doha to Arusha and from Zanzibar back to Doha were from another century and retrofitted--not very well, I might add--and did not provide the level of comfort or amenities that I expected from Qatar.
The plane from Doha to Boston was also a change but at least it was very comfortable in an angled lie flat seat--but not the Q-Suite. So disappointed because they are pretty expensive.
I did book Qatar for another trip in March to South Africa and Botswana, not with Tauck. It looks like only 1 of the flights will have the Q-Suite and the other 3 angled lie flat seats. At least those are better than the side-by-side barely lie flat seats to/from Doha/Africa for the previous flights. They were the best connections and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Qatar doesn't pull a switcharoo 5 days before my flight telling me I can rebook or get my money back or just live with the change. I lived with the change and a very long layover in Doha in the middle of the night. And no, my flights were not close to World Cup madness so that wasn't the reason for the changes.
I am carefully watching what is going on with Star Alliance and Emirates. I have used Emirates in the past as well and really liked them. I was able to accrue points on my Jet Blue account which was a nice feature. I would love to accrue the points on my United account but so far that doesn't seem as though it's in the near future although I believe it will be possible on Air Canada. I'm not overly fond of United but I do have a lot of points with them and would love to use them for a trip to Australia in business class. Awards are hard to come by there though.
I will say that I do believe Qatar focuses on some of the larger US airports, and Boston is not one of them, so your chances of getting Q-Suites are much better out of a big hub like Newark, Chicago, etc. Having said that, keep in mind that on your return you will have to clear customs wherever you first land in the US, claim your bags, and then get another domestic flight home. I've done that a couple of times in the past through Newark, NY, and DC and have decided it's not for me. Once I land in the US, I just want the car to pick me up and take me home.
I did Tauck K&T in October and it was beyond fabulous. I hope you will love it as much as I did.
It is not of concern to everyone, but some airlines have to make a profit to stay in business, and others do not. How do you think the World Cup ended up being played where it is being played?
Thanks to everyone that provided your airline experiences. We do love the Q-suites on Qatar and their great service. We just weren't sure the best airport to fly out of to get to Arusha. We have also flown Emirates, and think they are great as well. A little concerned with them since our last trip we had booked with them had the flights changed so many times. We have also flown KLM, so I will check that out as well. Thanks again for all the suggestions!
Mimitravels, I should have been more specific in my comments. I flew to Kilimanjaro, not Arusha. Tauck will pick you up there and it's an easy ride to Arusha. You will be on enough puddle jumpers (my term) during the tour. No need to start out with one.