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In the Serengeti now
We are beginning day 5 today. A few things in my perspective- if dry bothers you, bring saline nasal spray and some good in scented lotion.I am having a lot of bloody noses. As repeatedly said, you don’t need many clothes, especially if what you bring is the light weight stuff. You can wash it in the sink and it will dry out overnight. Most ppl on our trip are just doing cell phone pics, so don’t let camera or no camera worry you. It’s a tough trip but worth the hardships. 
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Simply stunning!
Great photo CaraBeth! Laundry is very cheap in Africa.
I’ve noticed less and less cameras on tours. On our just completed Kingdoms and Dragons tour , my hubby was the only one with a big camera, he didn’t even take it with us some days, just used his phone. So we won’t be looking at his effort til we get home. Someone else had a tiny camera. I’m probably going to get a new iPhone in the next couple of weeks, my current one I think is an iPhone 7
Personally, I think the African safari trips are the easiest of all tours because their is virtually no walking
What are the hardships you mention?
@British - I love the ones with walking. They are easier for me, but not my husband. There is lots of medical preparation and visa prep required for this trip. The flight was very hard- very long with a long layover. The beds have been very uncomfortable until we got to the Four Seasons. The food has been mediocre to lousy, especially at Ngorogoro Crater. The air is very dry and I’ve had a LOT of nose bleeds. Love the safaris but going very early, staying out 6 hours, returning for 1 or 2 hours and back out until 7 pm is also hard on the body. I find this trip hard like the Peru/Bolivia trip. I would never say NOT to go, but I would want ppl to know it’s not an easy trip.
CaraBeth, your photo is gorgeous! We just got back from K/T a few weeks ago. It was one of the best tours we’ve taken with Tauck (our 9th). I’m sorry your experience hasn’t been as good. We expected early and long hours due to the nature of a safari—early morning and late afternoon are best for wildlife viewing. I think the hardest thing for us to adjust to was the timing of meals. Some evenings we didn’t finish dinner until after 9:00, and it’s tough to go to bed shortly after eating. But, again, we understood the necessity. I hope you enjoy the rest of the safari.
Great picture CoraBeth
It is not for everyone. We have done it three times, and I’ve not crossed it off the list. We have three ‘other’ Tauck trips scheduled, so another K&T would be down the road a bit. I never thought about the food … never considered this a ‘foody’ trip. We had one really good meal at the specialty restaurant at the Mt. Kenya Safari Club which was reserved for Tauck that night. If you are looking for a ‘foody’ experience, K&T is not it.
Sealord, I completely agree. I for one did not go to K/T for the food. At 71, I’m not sure I have the time to do K/T again considering all the other places we want to go. That being said, we are considering SA, Elegant Adventure for September 2024.
Isn’t 71 is the new 41; maybe 51. I’m right behind at a young 70. As the expression goes “a body in motion, stays in motion. Here’s to years of travel.
I think you have misunderstood. I am loving every minute. But those who are considering the tour should understand the potential difficulties. It’s a fabulous adventure but not a luxury vacation. One couple who is on their 12th Tauck trip have had to receive medical services three times since arriving. The husband had to have an acacia thorn surgically removed. He also sliced his leg open in the safari transport and she jammed he fingers. On the other hand, no one has been bitten mya mosquito or a tsetse fly.
Wow CaraBeth, so sorry you have had so much disappointment. Maybe you took the wrong flights. I highly recommend Qatar for this tour. We arrived home from a Qatar trip tonight, 8 hours, two and a half layover and then 14 hours. I’ve done K and T and Tanzania via Amsterdam in the past, will never do that route again.
We did not expect food to be gourmet in Africa, but have never been disappointed with it, and we like to cook.
Never felt beds were uncomfortable. People know I don’t like the Four Seasons on that tour. I’m so glad it’s not on our 2024 tour any more.
Didn’t you realize that the safari drives were going to be spread out, early and evening, the best time to see the animals, it’s all been mentioned here on the forum. I think you might have enjoyed the Elegant South Africa more, now I understand your limitations. I’ve never known anyone have trouble with dry air there. Maybe you need to get you bloodwork checked when you get home.
I would have to say again, I disagree and think this is one of Tauck’s easier tours. Does anyone agree with me?
@British you misunderstand. i was not “complaining” or saying that I have medical problems or even that I was not enjoying the trip. I thought the purpose of this forum was for information sharing for potential travelers. I was sharing information abt this particular tour group. Our flight was with Qatar and although long, it was fine. Others in this particular group we are in have expressed how long and hard their flights were. We are down to abt half of us doing the two safaris/day. It’s too hard for some of the folks who are here. They had only read abt how cool the trip is. They didn’t factor in how much energy they were able to expend in getting here and doing the activities. I thought by sharing info abt this current tour those who come to this forum for information might see more than the glowing accts of those who are travel junkies. But, it seems that anyone who says anything that others disagree with is immediately discounted.
I’m sorry if I misunderstood you CaraBeth, but it did sound as if you yourself were making those observations. Yikes, you must be with a very unfit group of people, what a shame. It’s a good thing that it is not a walking tour if riding in safari vehicles is too much. Please continue to enjoy your tour yourselves, at least you might get chance to have just yourselves in a safari vehicle. Who is your tour director?
For length of flights, this is by no means one of the most challenging tours. People please note CaraBeth’s observations. The only comments made in the past have been about the bumpy roads. On our first tour some years ago , there were comments constantly about the dust from the same people, but back then there were far more unpaved roads and no Four Seasons or Mt. Kenya Sadie club either.
An acacia thorn!
We are a bit ‘older’ than the ages mentioned here, but we did not skip anything except the weavers … and that was so we could go horseback riding. We did have a couple people take a day off for what British would probably call a ‘covid’ attack … but they were back in the mix the next day. There were only fifteen of us on our trip, but no one was ‘diagnosed’ with covid, and no one had any substantial illness. I had my ‘omicron’ shot the other day so I’m now up to ‘five’. I will need a new CDC card for the next one. I don’t think we have ever thought about ‘bed comfort’ on our three K&T trips. Sleeping when your day is upside down is always a challenge for the first week or so. I always recommend arriving at least one day early to get a little rest. We had several people who had their planned early arrival eaten up by travel disruptions. One of those couples was on Qatar.
I also had m Omicron vaccine a couple of days ago. I didn’t get a reaction (thank goodness) to this shot. It was easy peasy compared to the others.
We got our Omicron shot last night, no arm discomfort like the flu shot. No one was ill on our just completed trip and we did not have to worry about the locals, at 95% vaccination rate they consider the population has herd immunity. Yesterday we joined only the four and a half million Americans who have bothered to get the ‘Omicron’ shot. SeaLord, we came home to discover that my dear friend, about your age, always fit, is really ill with Covid. She was just about to get a chest X-ray when I called. People might be interested to know that the TD’s no longer wear masks, so Tauck obviously think it is over, it is not, there are still over 400 Americans dying of Covid every day, it is not a joke. We wore masks mostly in the transport which was what is required locally in the countries we visited. Most meals were outside. Qatar is reasonably strict about mask wearing, although in business class,you are too far apart from each other to be of too much concern for individuals in thatvsection. They do require masking up getting on and off the plane and the airports we went to had good compliance. How lucky you and we have been.
I agree British, I also went for my Omnicron shot, did have a little discomfort on the arm but not bad. I was very comfortable throughout the Kingdom & Dragons tour.
British and Gladys - We are thinking of going on this tour in 2024. Did you book your Qatar air with Tauck?
Noreen, do you mean K and T tour or the Kingdoms and Dragons tour? We booked Qatar ourselves for our 2019 K and T tour, but because of the pandemic, we asked Tauck to book for the Kingdoms tour. We have used Qatar for Borneo and have flights booked for our Arabia tour in January. Basically, once we found out about them, they are our go to airline if we are going somewhere they fly to.
British - I meant Kingdoms and Dragons tours and thank you!
We are beating the mask drum again, so I will relate the story of our last trip to the Rhine. We were three couples, one of which wore masks all the time except while eating. Yup … that is the couple who definitely got covid, became ill at the end of the trip, and tested positive when they got home. Actually, he tested negative first, but repeated the test a couple days later and was positive. My wife and I had a cough for one day, which some here think is covid, and others including me think is hogwash. But, our mask wearing buddies definitely got covid. They also chose seats where they would not be seated next to someone else.
Ok, of course I’ll comment. If you didn’t test, then you will never know,
Well, I know I don’t have it now. Tested negative this morning after having a ‘bad’ day yesterday. Perhaps it was just a delayed reaction to the omicron and flu shots we got last week.
I just returned from our seine river cruise which I will review in another post. No Covid no masks but I did come down with strep 4 days after arriving home. I want to comment on the safari trips because I took my grandsons on the Serengeti to Zanzibar trip in late July. I am 67 have a myriad of health problems from lupus to RA and thoroughly enjoyed this trip. It sounds to me like the couple requiring medical assistance are not exactly as physically fit or alert as they should be. Yes those thorns are everywhere when you visit the Maasai villages but if you wear the proper shoes and watch where you walk. I’m also quite petite but I had no problems getting in and out of the vehicles without assistance. There were people on our trip that truly should not have been there my son and grandsons could not believe these people thought they could handle the trip however they survived and were not allowed to distract others from enjoying a fabulous trip. As far as the beds I live with pain everyday and I did not find any of the beds that uncomfortable. My grandsons ages 19&20 eat a lot and they found all the food in Tanzania wonderful however we nearly starved in Zanzibar. Now for the dry. I also have Sjögren’s syndrome which dries you out without any help from the environment. I alway take My Purmist travel inhaler. You do have to put it in your carryon but is well worth a little extra weight for the benefits. If people would read all the information Tauck puts out about their trips as far as a level 1-? for the activity level they might have a better idea of what trips they should take.
They also state plainly that they cannot assist nor should they have to people who cannot walk on uneven surfaces or get in or out of the safari vehicle. With that said, I encourage others to go on these trips but do get your self in the right mental and physical shape to do so. You can enjoy life and adventures at any age if you are willing to embrace the challenges and rejoice that you still have the ability to go. My motto has always been No whining.
Oh dear, it does seem to be reported here more and more about people being on trips that are not physically fit for them
Now here is the funny thing. I think Tauck told me some time ago that because of the disability act here in the US, they are not allowed to ask people if they are fit enough for a trip. All they can do is state what ‘level’ their trips are and stress how much walking there is etc. Another company we use is Canadian and the rules are different. You have to fill out a form writing down all the medicines you take etc etc. And if you are over 80 you have to have a Doctor’s letter. Another US company we were told the fitness required for the tour we were booking and asked if we were up to it. We said yes, but when we arrived on the tour, there was a very elderly lady who arrived in a wheelchair. The local agent spoke to the rest of us and told us she would be sent home, she was not. It impacted our entire tour. I won’t go into total detail, but one of the local guides had to stay with her inthe vehicle while the rest of us did our walks, depriving us of a more intimate group each. She could manage to shuffle, one time, we all waited in 100 plus degree heat for an and extra 15 minutes until she could reach the local tribe we were visiting. On one flight, small plane, an ambulance had to collect her from the plane to get her to the terminal…I won’t go on, but it was bad for the rest of us and one reason why I will never travel with that company again.
I know we will all find ourselves not being able to travel on certain tours in the future and yes it’s sad. I just hope people people realize their limitations. We do all we can to keep ourselves fit, and are thankful that so far we remain very mobile.
Like climbing all those stairs we heard about and saw pictures of on your recently completed Singapore/Bali tour!
We had a similar experience on our recent K/T tour. There was one couple who should never have been on this tour—one was morbidly obese with weak legs, and his wife, although not obese, had numerous other health issues and was unstable on her feet. it took 4 people and removal of 2 seats to get the man onto one of the small planes. Add to the mix that they were not at all social, it was unpleasant for the rest of us and an added hardship for our TD. By mid-tour, they were both in wheelchairs. About 4 days prior to the end of our tour, the man slipped in the shower, broke his arm, and they left the tour to fly home. Although unfortunate, no one was particularly surprised as they were both accidents waiting to happen. After that first airplane experience, I’m sure our TD worked with her management team to make arrangements and take precautions for these two people as the rest of the transportation and tour activities went smoothly and did not significantly impact the rest of us.
Maybe Tauck really should emphasize this more clearly in bold print and also in capital letters in their catalogues and website how physically demanding some of these trips are so those people who assume they can take an active trip would think twice. I’ve also seen this on our trips. As mentioned in very nice ways above, it really isn’t fair to other people who have paid quite a bit of money to take these trips. I think people such as what you’re speaking about always think they can do more than they can like they used to when they were younger. I see that with my aging parents. If a person walks with a cane on a typical sidewalk, then they should not assume walking on cobblestones would be the same.
Tauck does have a 1 to 4 scale for Pace and Activity. An example from the Northern India and Nepal trip which we have been on, is below. I don’t think this is really enforced but more for informational purposes.
Cathy, these descriptions that Tauck gives are pretty generic. The activity level of 4 for this trip was not much different than most other trips we have taken in my opinion. The pace was pretty accurate as there were many longer days with a lot crammed into the day.
I have only fairy recently been inducted into the 70’s club and at the time we took this trip in 2017 I was still a youngster. As I recall, most on the tour were older than we were with a couple in their 80’s. Nobody had any real problems.
I know you have done some considerable research on this trip and I am sure you will be fine.
We have never had anyone who has been late for a bus on any tour. On our recent tour, anyone who had walking difficulties would have been in real trouble, just walking from the domestic terminal to the international terminal was around three miles at a fast pace on one part of the tour.. All the steps were stressed at the start of the tour, and that was accurate. The same with the Gorilla trek in Africa, that was a 4. When we have paid $30,000 for a tour, we want the best experience and Tauck stresses the importance of the TD having to consider the group as a whole, not to have to give more assistance to anyone. If an accident or illness occurs on a tour, as it often does, that’s different.
And last of all, the person who was in the wheelchair on our tour was late to the bus with her elderly friend for the first three days. The tour director was annoyed and told them if they were not there at the correct time, we would go without them. There are plenty of tours that cater for people who ate less able, for example there are companies who do private personal tours. Cathy, I’m afraid not everyone is as patient or as kind as you.