Tanzania: Serengeti to Zanzibar - December 24, 2016

Jessidoo

Hi all,

We are booked on this holiday tour and it will be our first with Tauck. Anyone else booked?

We usually use other tour companies, can someone help us understand how Tauck experiences are?

Also wondering how others are going to deal with the malaria pill situation, that is the only travel medication that makes me nervous after hearing horror stories from friends that have taken the pills.

Super excited, have been told that this will be one of the best vacations we could ever take.

Jessica

British

We took this tour in July 2014, one of many Tauck tours we have taken and our third safari tour with Tauck. We have taken lots of tours with Tauck, to quite a few which have required malaria pills of different types, if you know anything about Malaria, you require different pills for different parts of the planet. Please do not confuse vaccination with medication, vaccinations, or a course of vaccinations generally cover you for protection from a specific disease for a long time. Malaria pills cover you just for your trip and you have to take them after you return for a certain amount of time depending on the type of pill. If someone invents a vaccine, lives will be saved, unfortunately it's not easy. We have never had issues with malaria meds. It was usually Larium that caused problems, we have never had to take that one. You have to take the pills as recommended, that usually means not on an empty stomach.

DBCahill

Hello Jessica!
My family and I are going on this tour with you! Are you traveling with someone? You will love traveling with Tauck. We have been on many tours and we are always impressed with the knowledge and dedication of the tour guides and directors! As far as malaria, it is recommended that you start taking the small pill before you go. When we were on the South Africa tour, most everyone was on the malaria medicine and those that were, did not have any complications. We look forward to meeting you and spending Christmas and New Years on safari! Thank you also British for the information on all the places we will stay at. It was most helpful!

frequent flyer

I just got back from this trip and it exceeded my expectations.
I'm not sure how December in Africa is but I'm sure you can find plenty of info on that subject.
Don't over pack. Bring cream to repel bugs not spray, hat, and several what we call safari shirts and pants, I didn't use any shorts, because I wanted less area expose to the bugs but others did. I've to say that mosquitos were not an issue, over entire trip I think I may have had 2-3 bites and I'm not sure what kind of bug was it. I was ready, I pretreated my shirts in permethrin and I was fine. Laundry on this trip is very affordable so you can wash often.
One thing that other people missed was a LONG tele-photo lens. Get the biggest one you can bring. Mine was equivalent of 1200mm and that made a difference in my pictures.
Don't forget swim suite - you will use it in Zanzibar for sure and maybe at other lodges during the trip.
It's a great trip but be prepared to bounce up, down and over more than you bounce in any car ever, and eat dust. I brought a buff which I wore around the neck and my face if needed and it help some, bring hard candies to share with others and suck on during the dusty rides.
Mark

Jessidoo

Hi fellow group mate DBCahill!

Happy to meet you! I will be traveling with my husband on this trip. We like to try and be somewhere exotic for the holidays and are very much looking forward to this trip. We booked it over a year ago and actually had to ask Tauck to open this itinerary on this date. They told us that they definitely could but that it would get cancelled if the trip didn't fill up - we watched it for months hoping that enough people would join the group but it didn't take long for it to sell out!

We have already submitted for our Tanzania visa so the trip is finally starting to feel like it is on the horizon.

Thank you British and Mark - all the advice is very helpful!