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More Classic Safari Thoughts
Hi All,
* I just bought an inflatable donut cushion at Walmart and made a cover for it..I gave it to one of the drivers on the last day.
* I had brought enough insect repellent and wet wipes for an army so I also left that behind.
* We had a room safe in Arusha, Seregenti, Mt Kenya & Masai Mara
* Orphanage Visit - Many people had brought things for the children which we gave to the tour director and she puts everything together in a duffle for the school. Once I saw the orphanage I wished I only packed 2 changes of clothes and then filled my luggage with things for the children.
* In the morning it would be 50-60 degrees then warm up to 70 degrees. The windy breeze makes it feel cooler. I would wear a knit top with a lightweight sweater and then a light jacket - and then remove layers. Game drives are like riding in a convertible on a dirt path.
* Just about everyone had a bandana to pull up over their nose and mouth - dust, dust, dust!!!
* I took over 1000 pictures - the joy of digital! I am now in the process of editing and deciding which will make it to the scrapbooks.
* I'm not much for "journaling" but, one of the ladies on the trip used the itinerary booklet that we were given on the first day. She would jot down the animal sightings or guide tidbits by that particular day in the booklet. I really wish I would have done that.
Hope this helps.
* I just bought an inflatable donut cushion at Walmart and made a cover for it..I gave it to one of the drivers on the last day.
* I had brought enough insect repellent and wet wipes for an army so I also left that behind.
* We had a room safe in Arusha, Seregenti, Mt Kenya & Masai Mara
* Orphanage Visit - Many people had brought things for the children which we gave to the tour director and she puts everything together in a duffle for the school. Once I saw the orphanage I wished I only packed 2 changes of clothes and then filled my luggage with things for the children.
* In the morning it would be 50-60 degrees then warm up to 70 degrees. The windy breeze makes it feel cooler. I would wear a knit top with a lightweight sweater and then a light jacket - and then remove layers. Game drives are like riding in a convertible on a dirt path.
* Just about everyone had a bandana to pull up over their nose and mouth - dust, dust, dust!!!
* I took over 1000 pictures - the joy of digital! I am now in the process of editing and deciding which will make it to the scrapbooks.
* I'm not much for "journaling" but, one of the ladies on the trip used the itinerary booklet that we were given on the first day. She would jot down the animal sightings or guide tidbits by that particular day in the booklet. I really wish I would have done that.
Hope this helps.
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Comments
Cheers,
Jan
1. The tour says it includes Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner; does that also mean it includes beverages both nonalcoholic and alcoholic?
2. The website says non of the locations have air conditioning; for some reason I find this hard to believe as all the hotel properties appear to be 5-stay (i.e., Fairmount, etc.)?
3. Did you do laundry on the tour at any point? (if so was it free or did you have to pay) The luggage restrictions appear pretty lean and was hoping to understand how you travel for 13 days with a small duffle bag?
4. I believe the whole tour is "hotel" based; however, I thought there were pieces of the tour in some sort of fancy tents and stuff. Could you help me clarify?
Appreciate your feedback, first time doing something like this and I'm normally traveling via cruise ship where much of these basic things are taken care of.
Thanks again!!
Alcoholic beverages were included at the welcome cocktail party and the farewell cocktail party. We purchased them at the bar the rest of the time. Non-alcoholic beverages, such as Diet Cokes, were always included.
The Bilila Lodge had air-conditioning and possibly the Mt. Kenya Safari Club (not sure). However, it was generally pretty cool at night and A/C was not needed. In fact, there were hot water bottles placed in our beds at 3 of the hotels. The only place we were warm at night was Amboseli.
Laundry service at the hotels was fast, inexpensive, and good. You can do this tour with 3 pants, 3 shirts, a sweater or sweatshirt, and 1 or 2 nicer tops to wear for dinner in the fancier hotels.
The accommodations at the Fairmont Mara Safari Lodge are in deluxe tents. For many of us, it was our favorite accommodations of the entire trip, despite the grunting hippos in the river behind the tents!
Each hotel/lodge is very different than the others, but let me assure you that all are very comfortable, and the employees are very eager to please you.
Ilene
We are very interested in bringing goods to donate to the kids.
What items do people generally bring, or more importantly, what do they actually need the most? Shoes, clothes, pencils, etc.???
We are leaving next week for the 8/11 trip so any quick response would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Curt
Most of us brought school supplies: notebooks, pens, pencils, rulers, erasers, markers, etc. Your Tauck leader will collect everything in a shopping bag and give it to the teachers to distribute.
All of the children want to touch you, and many have runny noses; so bring Purell or other hand sanitizer to use when you leave the school. The little girls love to be hugged!
Ilene
Another question - I saw in the packing list toilet paper was mentioned; not to be gross or anything, but is it safe to assume the hotel properties have this covered for us? Or did you bring it incase of any "emergencies"? I'd hope the bathroom / shower situation was westernized if you will?
Was Internet (WiFi) included in the hotel rates anywhere or was that at a fee? Was there any locations where you could not get Internet access? I assume either Internet or Phone was available to let family back home all was well?
No, you don't need to bring toilet paper from home. Just take some from a roll from the hotel and keep it with you at all times in your backpack because some of the bathroom stops are in the middle of nowhere and they might run out of toilet paper right before you get there. One person in our vehicle brought a roll and we kept passing it to the next person to go in, and then she passed it to the next person, etc.
There are 2 places where there is a special event in the middle of the great outdoors and they set up a little mini-tent with a very primitive hole in the ground. Those are the only two occasions when you don't have a real toilet.
We paid a small fee for wi-fi at the Serena Mountain Village and the Amboseli hotel, but I believe it was free in the other hotels. Sometimes you could only use it in the lounge or the bar, not your guest room. Use Skype to make phone calls over the internet because regular telephone calls are very expensive. See my posting on another topic in this forum for more information about phones and internet.
I'm happy to help all of you.
Ilene
For the primitive toilets where you can't sit down, another suggestion is to pee in a paper cup like you do at the doctor's office, (by putting it right up against you), and then pour it down the hole. That keeps your shoes and pants dry. (LOL). Carry a few paper cups in your backpack just in case.
Love your sense of humor!! It is actually a great suggestion - would have never occured to me to bring cups - now I definitely will.
Carolyn