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10/5/26 K&T Classic Itinerary Change
We just received notice that we will be going to Samburu National Park instead of Amboseli NP. We will be staying at the Soroi Samburu. Does anyone have experience with Samburu that can comment on the change? It appears that we will be driving instead of flying, a 10 hour drive according to Google Maps. The notice is blaming the change on several incidences of gastrointestinal illness at the Amboseli Serena.
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When we took this tour with Tauck back in 2007 for the first time, we did a lot of road travel rather than planes. The roads have been improving in recent years. Don’t forget you will be seeing wildlife along the way. We did go to Sambiru but I can’t recall specifics. I thought Tauck had not been using Serena hotels in recent years. We were last on the tour in 2019.
Half the folks on our August 17 tour got sick, at or shortly after leaving the Amboseli Serena. I heard it got much worse with subsequent tours—too many to ascribe it to carelessness with water. Your doctor can give you a prescription for Azithromycin to take with you; take it on first sign.
Thanks for your insights, guys. I already have my Azithromycin; hopefully we won’t need it.
We were at the Amobseli Lodge for two nights on 7/31 – 8/1. It is the
smallest of the lodges/hotels and was at the mid-point on our
itinerary. Several other large tour groups were there as well. The
dining format was always a large buffet with lots of “fresh salad”
options.
Out of our group of 18, 4 experienced gasto issues (22%) at some point
along the entire tour. I cannot pinpoint exactly when they fell ill
but it was not before visiting Amboseli. Fortunately, Tauck had
physicians on site to assist them. The thinking at the time was that the individuals ate the salads or did
not heed advise to always use bottled water – even to brush your
teeth. Perhaps there is more to this issue than we thought.
Thanks for the input TrippleTime and a big THANK YOU for your trip report. It was very helpful and I passed it along to others that we are traveling with.
Can you be more specific, was this vomiting and diarrhea or just one of those? Malaria meds can cause diarrhea. Food poisoning usually starts with vomiting within a few hours of infection.
British:
The travelers who got sick (vomiting and diarrhea ) were treated by a physician and included fluids via IV. The doctor stayed several hours during the night with one of the stricken travelers after we arrived at the Mount Kenya Safari Club (awesome place by the way).
DanS: If you have any specific questions about something I didn't mention in my trip report, please message me.
Thank you TrippleTime, then obviously it was food poisoning which has never been mentioned on any forum posts before and Tauck changing hotels shows it is serious.
I heard directly from a traveler on a late-August tour that 25 of 28 on that tour got sick (as I noted above, half of the 14 on our August 17 tour were sick). The traveler specifically cited the Amboseli Serena as probable source, and noted the hotel change.
DanS: From the pictures I see online of the Soroi Samburu Lodge, it seems to be an upgrade from the Amboseli Lodge which was somewhat dated. Hopefully your adventure will go smoothly.
And thanks for your original posting. This particular forum has been quiet for more than a month.
Good to hear TrippleTime. It does seem like a nice place with good reviews. At this point, I just wish they would provide a flight to it instead of spending the whole day in a jeep. I was also surprised at the lack of posting lately though your trip report more than made up for it. 😊
Probably too late to get tickets for any flights
DanS: Day #7 is the longest day of the whole itinerary.
As I recall, our experience included an early morning brief bush plane flight from the Four Seasons Safari Lodge area to Arusha. There our group of 18 boarded a nice motor coach for the ride to the Cultural Heritage Center. 90 minutes was not nearly enough time there! After crossing the Kenya border, we split into 3 jeeps for another 2-hours of bumps and dust to get to the very isolated Amboseli Lodge. Quite unpleasant.
Hopefully your ride up to the Soroi Samburu Lodge will be mostly via motor coach vs jeeps. At least try to grab a front row seat in the bus. You may see lots of animals along the way. We had to slow down once as two giraffe crossed the highway.
A bus, no, it won’t happen! I still remember our first k and T tour about 20 years ago with Tauck, long bumpy roads, one seemed strewn with big rocks for miles, my husband still talks about the condition called ‘safari boob’ that I experienced. Back then, I believe Tauck did mention about supportive underwear. Of the times I’ve been in K and T, it remains one of my favorite times there. So much wildlife along the roads and lots of fun.