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First Tauck Tour Great Migration Kenya and Tanzania
I will be taking my first trip on the great migration to K&T in the first week of August. Is anyone else going on this tour or have any tips? Thanks for your time and advice.
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I will be taking my first trip on the great migration to K&T in the first week of August. Is anyone else going on this tour or have any tips? Thanks for your time and advice.
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We took this tour in 2019 and it was amazing. It was our first Africa tour and our 8th Tauck trip. The accommodations were spectacular, especially the tent cabins in the Serengeti and we saw loads of animals, including the Big 5. Be prepared for bumpy dusty rides so take either facemasks or scarves and laugh about the on the road bathroom amenities. Have fun
I'm so glad Tracey asked this question because I planned on doing the same in the GM forum!
I had a few specific questions rolling around in my brain if anyone can help answer:
Regarding luggage, is there any point in bringing anything beyond the Tauck duffle and a book bag? It seems like we'll only have access to that maybe the first and last day, so wondering if we should just plan on those and those only for the entire trip.
Do each of the tent cabins in the Serengeti have their own bathrooms? I've been unclear about if we'd need nighttime escorts to facilities.
What bug spray would you recommend? My husband is wondering how strong a concentration we need to plan for
What shoes are needed? I've seen conflicting opinions from the other Africa tours, but nothing specifically about GM.
To PGH;
1. I am only bringing the Tauck duffle that was sent to me. In addition I will bring a backpack on the plane with toiletries.
2. I don't know the answer about the separate bathrooms.
3. I bought Off towelettes to put on my body each day.
4. I am bringing two pairs of shoes. Something waterproof like a Keen sandal with a toe that I can wear into the shower or if it's really rainy and either a pair of tennis shoes or hiking shoes that I already have.
5. I was told to bring a rain jacket as well
The tent cabins from our K&T tour were quite luxurious, at least they were for our tour in 2015. One clarification though. For us the tented cabin was in the Masai Mara, not in the Serengeti. We stayed at the Four Seasons in the Serengeti, about as far from a tent cabin as you can get. Perhaps accommodations are different for the Great Migration Tour.
Here are a couple of pictures of the tent cabin for our tour.
Thanks! I look forward to your trip report upon your return, Tracey!
You will find that Tauck has a very generic packing list that they publish for just about every tour and it is very misleading. You are very unlikely to encounter any rain during the Migration time. It is not the rainy season. Tauck does not tend to do Africa tours during the long rains. In December 2019 we went on the K and T tour and the short rains were lasting longer and so we did encounter floods and diversions and bridges covered in water and swampy conditions on one of the safari walks, very unusual. Our other five times on safari, we have never seen rain. Dusty conditions are more common. We have never been specifically for the Great Migration becaise you see hundreds of animals anyway and some Wildebeest and Zebra river crossings without the very expensive GM times to go
What would be the best thing to sleep in? Shorts? Pants? Long sleeve, short sleeve? Thank you!
We sleep with no clothing as usual. Yes TMI but true.
TraceyL - I think the point that British is trying to make is that you can sleep in whatever you're comfortable in. No special wardrobe is required for sleeping.
British - TMI is right. The image is burned into my eyes! 😂😂
I was on this tour August 2021. Great time of year to go. One suggestion for shoes might be to have slip in shoes since you stand on the seats to see the animals (after taking off your shoes) and then need to quickly put them back on to get out, etc. I had tie gym shoes and wished I had slip ons. Strangely enough, I do not recall many bumpy roads. There were maybe a few in the Serenghetti, but that was all that I recall. All Tauck accommodations are wonderful with private bathrooms and luxury accommodations. I did spray my clothing with the pesticides prior to the trip. It may be luck or the time of year that I went, but there was no issue whatsoever with mosquitoes or tse tse flies. I brought and used Ultrathon insect repellent in lotion form. Have a great trip!
I thought the Great Migration included mobile tents following the animals as it is never known when and where the herds will be as the time varies every year depending on the weather, which is why the tour is so much more expensive than the other tours in East Africa. Can someone who has taken the migration tour make comments
I don’t think any of the regulars who have been to Africa several times like me have taken this tour.
We took the Great Migration tour several years ago and loved it. It was our first and only tour of Africa and we wish we were young enough to plan another African Safari.It was totally luxurious and we were perfectly suited to it even though we were 75 and 85. Tent cabins are carpeted, electrified, spacious, have ceiling fans, private bathrooms with shower and come with down comforters. All the comforts of home with animal noises to lull you to sleep! Relative to British's comments I believe that the tents are mobile, which means that the Camp site management is responsible for relocating the venue to accommodate the migration of the animals, but from a travelers viewpoint nothing has the appearance of a temporary structure. Even the dining room looks permanent. Our weather in July/August was perfect...cool to cold in the mornings and evenings and little or no jacket needed in the afternoon.
Thank you all so much for your comments. This is all so helpful as I pack to leave in 3 weeks!