Tanzania: Serengeti to Zanzibar trip May 24, 2014

Shelli

Been trying to find other guests going on this trip as a sort of "meet and greet" beforehand. Also have questions about the food - I'm a big salad eater and I wonder if I'm going to have to do without for this trip. What protections are in place when we are in the tented camp? Are the rooms checked for snakes EVERY DAY??? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

British

Well, I never thought about snakes, so waiting to hear what other people say. I will be going on this tour in July. I have already been on the Kenya and Tanzania tour and therefore stayed in some of the camps we will be using this time. I guess if you keep your tent zipped up as you would when doing camping trips in the US, there is less chance of a snake creeping in
I am not sure about the status of snakes, types and so on in that part of Africa, maybe someone can do the research and let your know or you can do it yourself. Just to clarify, if you have not been on A Tauck Safari trip before, these 'tents' are really like a really nice hotel room, sort of on a raised deck, some with marble bathrooms. Now you may get to your room in the evening and notice a snake-like thing in the bed but you will find that it is a hot water bottle that your very kindly resort person housekeeper has put in your bed for your comfort. I cannot recall being warned about snakes. In some camps you will be told not to walk back to your tent without an armed escort at night.
Now in the Tauck Costa Rica tour we did, there were notices in the rooms of one of our resorts to pull down the bed clothes fully before we got into bed to check for scorpions and shake out our shoes each time. And, lo, as we set off on one of our adventures, the group on one of the other buses screeched to a halt, some screaming and one of the group had a scorpion in her backpack, all part of the Tauck memorable experiences.
I'm pretty sure we ate salad last time, the tour director always warns you of any problems, the last thing they want is a group of sick people. Always listen to the tour director's warnings and instructions, it's for your safety and enjoyment. Of course, as We have taken a good number of Tauck tours now, it never ceases to amaze us personally how many people do not listen to the information they are given at the Welcome meeting, like, tomorrow we are going to be walking on very uneven, jagged volcanic rock and you look down at some people's feet the next day and they are wearing flip flops!