suggested arrival day for Serengeti Tanzania Tour?

cb2labs

We will be on the July 3 tour. I haven't been able to find any information on tauck site about pre-tour meeting at the Serena Lake Duluti Hotel. Some have mentioned there is a briefing everyone should not miss day before tour leaves for Lake Manyara/Ngorongoro. Can anyone provide some feedback on this? I would assume most are coming in at least a day early due jet lag, etc...but if not, plane lands JRO after 7pm...briefing would be missed.

AlanS

cb2labs wrote:

We will be on the July 3 tour. I haven't been able to find any information on tauck site about pre-tour meeting at the Serena Lake Duluti Hotel. Some have mentioned there is a briefing everyone should not miss day before tour leaves for Lake Manyara/Ngorongoro. Can anyone provide some feedback on this? I would assume most are coming in at least a day early due jet lag, etc...but if not, plane lands JRO after 7pm...briefing would be missed.

There are at least three issues to consider if you don't arrive at least one day early-

You'll need at least a day or two to adjust your body clock. For some that may not be enough.

Though it doesn't appear on any schedule and it depends on the TD, there is typically a briefing the night before the tour starts. The next morning (Day 1) you have an early start for a long day on the road (Arusha to Lake Manyara to Ngorongoro crater)

If you have flight issues and get delayed a day, it can be difficult and expensive to arrange transportation to catch up to your tour. Remember you are a stranger in a strange land.

Our flight arrived mid-afternoon a day and a half early. We relaxed that afternoon and evening. We slept in a bit and took a tour of Arusha National Park the following day, attended the informal meeting that evening, and got a good night's sleep before the first tour day.

Wayside

Thanks for the info AlanS. We are also on the July 3 tour, arriving a day early to help with jet lag and accommodate travel delays.

cb2labs

Wayside wrote:

Thanks for the info AlanS. We are also on the July 3 tour, arriving a day early to help with jet lag and accommodate travel delays.

Wayside, will be nice to meet up with you. Where are you from? We are two gals traveling from Broomfield, CO...

cb2labs

AlanS wrote:

There are at least three issues to consider if you don't arrive at least one day early-

You'll need at least a day or two to adjust your body clock. For some that may not be enough.

Though it doesn't appear on any schedule and it depends on the TD, there is typically a briefing the night before the tour starts. The next morning (Day 1) you have an early start for a long day on the road (Arusha to Lake Manyara to Ngorongoro crater)

If you have flight issues and get delayed a day, it can be difficult and expensive to arrange transportation to catch up to your tour. Remember you are a stranger in a strange land.

Our flight arrived mid-afternoon a day and a half early. We relaxed that afternoon and evening. We slept in a bit and took a tour of Arusha National Park the following day, attended the informal meeting that evening, and got a good night's sleep before the first tour day.

thanks Alan, we are excited about the trip. We do plan on coming in with two free days on front end, one for jet lag "catch up"...and then other day trip to Arusha National Park, we will just need to make sure we arrive back in time for TD meeting evening before Day 1.

Wayside

cb2labs wrote:

Wayside, will be nice to meet up with you. Where are you from? We are two gals traveling from Broomfield, CO...

My wife and I are from Sudbury, MA. We look forward to meeting you in Tanzania.

TLady

I'm also traveling from Arusha to Zanzibar. I will be arriving one day earlier on 7/2 from Dulles Airport. I believe I chatted with Cb2labs last year. I look forward to meeting you all.

cb2labs

TLady wrote:

I'm also traveling from Arusha to Zanzibar. I will be arriving one day earlier on 7/2 from Dulles Airport. I believe I chatted with Cb2labs last year. I look forward to meeting you all.

yes TLady, so glad our trip is coming up soon. Very excited and been waiting along time for this. We booked early May of 2016. We decided to do a two day stopover in Amsterdam before coming into Arusha, so hopefully not too much jet lag left when we arrive July 1st.

Looking forward to meeting everyone!

TLady

Hi cb2labs,

I was also thinking of spending a few days in Amsterdam as I have a connecting flight through there, but I decided I would probably be more exhausted as I would spend all of my time running around Amsterdam to take in the sights. I have a six hour layover on the way back, so I found that I can take the subway from the Airport downtown, and take a canal ride around the city. The reviews indicate that the canal ride is better than a land tour by private car. I just need to confirm that I can obtain a locker at the airport for by carry-on bag. Security is so tight now, so I will find out on my way over. See you in July.

vivamus

TLady: I was just in & out of Amsterdam on another Tauck tour. I had scouted out the luggage storage at Schiphol due to early a.m. arrival and wanted to stow luggage there and tour around before going to hotel. If you look at Schiphol site, or google luggage storage at Schiphol, you will find info. It is easy and well marked. The signage to the locker area has a graphic of a suitcase and a lock. Web site gives info for where they are located. And somewhere, maybe U tube, I even found a video for how you pay to lock and unlock the locker. Other airports should take a lesson from Schiphol, as it was pretty easy to stow luggage. And travelling in the Netherlands is also made easier as nearly everyone speaks English so well. I agree that canal boat is great way to see Amsterdam. There is even an hop on and hop off canal boat. Happy Travels!

TLady

Vivamus - thank you.