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Tanzania: Serengeti to Zanzibar, June 2024
My wife and I made a deposit on the June 17th 2024 tour, and the pricing has gone final today. We are wondering, since many of you have either done this tour, or have been in this area, whether we are better off, weather wise, switching to a July departure. Conversely, the June 3 departure is, for some reason, cheaper than the June 17th departure, and what would be the downside of just going on June 3? We are free all summer, hah.
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We did K&T June 13, 2015, the weather was perfect in Tanzania. There must be some reason for the price difference, but it is not weather, there is not much difference in the weather over the season. A typo, different hotel/lodge? All other departures are priced the same as the 17 June departure. Call Tauck and ask- if they are the same, then go with the less expensive one.
We toured in September- not one of your picks - why ? Even though not considered great migration time, still lots of wildlife every day, as animals converge on watering locations. Vegetation not as dense, so easier to locate wildlife Your TD and drivers always in contact with others to get best viewing. September had no mosquitoes and no tse tse flies at all. With no rain, there’s minimal chance drivers will drive thru major ruts in road and get a flat tire. We loved timing on this adventure! Good luck !
I just returned from 10/15 K&T departure and then went on to Zanzibar for a week on my own. The animal sightings were beyond amazing and the trip exceeded my expectations. While not migration season, we saw hundreds and hundreds of wildebeests and zebras going somewhere. There were so many, it looked like a migration and this was in the Serengeti. We came across multiple honeymoon lions doing their mating. Once would have been spectacular--multiple times was simply amazing. There were many very young animals, cheetah cubs, zebras, elephants. One baby elephant was so young it literally walked underneath its mother the whole time we watched the herd go to the watering hole. At first the baby elephant was hard to see because of how closely it was attached to the mom. Rhinos, hippos, elands, dikdiks, ostriches, serval cats, caracal cats. Our tour director told us she had only seen some of these cats but once or twice in her 15 years of doing this itinerary and that we were so lucky to have seen them.
I travel as a single and chose my date based on economics. This date was more cost effective for me. I figured it's Africa; it's not like the animals get on a plane and go somewhere. They're always there. It's just a matter of finding them. My theory is that climate change has significantly impacted their environment and nowhere was this more obvious than in Amboseli where we saw multiple fresh carcasses dead of dehydration or starvation. It was very sad to see.
As far as Zanzibar is concerned, there is not much to do in Stone Town and Tauck takes you on the best excursions. The Park Hyatt was lovely. I booked with my Amex Platinum and got upgraded to a one bedroom suite so perhaps that's why I thought it was so nice. I stayed 3 nights there and then went on to Paje Beach to decompress before going home. If you want swimming in the ocean, neither Stone Town nor Paje is the place to be in my opinion. There are better beaches in the northwest and northeast parts of the island if you are thinking of adding extra days.
After this experience, I wouldn't pay extra for the "great migration" dates because things are changing rapidly there. Everywhere has a new normal these days. Book the dates that work for you. The guides are phenomenal and you will see plenty of animals because they'll find them for you. They don't want you going home disappointed.
Thanks so much for the input! We'll decide this weekend, and are looking forward to this tour. As for why the fall wasn't under consideration for us...it's because we have things planned then already. Our friends are always amazed that we plan out a few years and I admit it does seem odd. But we've already booked some trips for 2025.
voikk32 Welcome Home & thank you for your feedback. I've taken the Southern African safari and now K&T has been added to the list.
Chris W12... U will have a great trip to Tanzania ! Apologize for confusion, when I said "why" - I was referring to why we picked September, certainly not questioning your timing. And yes, we also plan trips ahead. Scotland and Antarctica in the queue, will book upon return from Jordan & Egypt. I agree with Voikk32 about Zanzibar, it's mainly relaxation after safari. Tauck has switched hotels since we were there. The d'how ride and beach grill lunch were fun on Zanzibar. Enjoy !!!
The migration is continuous. It is just a matter of where you may find it. One of the Tauck tours follows the migration. The BIG deal about the migration is catching the massive crossing at the Mara river. We caught it once out of our three tours … at the same time of year. This year the migration (the tail) was in the Serengeti. You cannot plan it. It just happens or it doesn’t. On our first K&T our TD recommended that we skip the trip to the Mara, a long ride, and just do a game drive cuz nothing was happening. We voted to go to the Mara. The massive migration/crossing started just as we arrived … it was amazing. Our next two trips had other highlights, but we never saw another crossing of the Mara.
Thanks for the comments! We decided on the June 3 departure. Only 567 days away...so says my account page! We are still waiting for the Jordan/Egypt 2024 dates to be posted. We'd like to do that in February of 2024. So, a big Tauck year for us. Can't wait!
I hope you have as fabulous a time as I had.
I just booked this trip for October 2024. I haven’t seen any recent postings. Any tips would be helpful. This will be my first to Africa. We had to cancel our 2020 trip .
Choc We are also booked for this trip in October 2024!
It’s a ways away I hope that we will get some postings from this years groups. Hopefully the air prices come down .
Is there much hiking on this trip? I assumed we would be in vehicles most of the time and moving around on foot would be at a minimum.
Also, what are the electrical adapters needed? How often are the comfort stops while out on safari?
Hiking, no hiking unless it has changed since we went. I feel the AFRICA tours are the easiest tours as far as exercising is concerned. You will be so desperate for exercise when you get home.
On our last K and T tour there was walk into Oldupai gorge but several people complained about it, mainly because they had the wrong footwear, so I believe it was stopped.
Adapters, three prong British style
Comfort stops, mainly as required, just ask when you want to go and the guide will check surroundings so you can squat behind a bush.
Thx British, have a great trip yourself
Our driver stopped every 2 hours or so for bathroom stops. If you needed an extra one, you just told the driver who would find a safe place to stop.
How early are the game drives?
As early as a 5-30am call on most safaris.