Tanzania
26.02-09.03.2005
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How to Organize / Prices
The place to start such a tour is the town of Arusha - it is also possible to organize something from Mwanza but it should be only second best. You reach Arusha easiest from Europe via Kilimanjaro Airport, 50km out of town. A taxi from there into city costs 50US$, there is definitely also a bus service but we could not find it - but since we looked for the bus we were offered a taxi for only 30US$. The visa for Tanzania you get without any problem at the airport, just pay the fee. The queue looks a bit chaotic at first, but it goes actually pretty fast - the immigration guys also want to go home. One of the best connections at the moment offers KLM Airlines. They fly from Amsterdam via Kilimanjaro to Daressalam and back and they offer the ticket with arrival at one place and departure at the other airport (like doing a safari in Serengeti and relaxing on the beach in Sansibar) at no extra cost.
There is lots of accommodation in Arusha - just surf the web and give them a call (calling Tanzania from Germany is less then 20cent/minute) for a reservation. We stood the first night in "The Outpost Lodge" which we didn't like so much and moved then to "Jaquaranda" which was in our eyes better value. Basically you pay around 40US$-50US$ per night for a double room without much luxury and a lousy breakfast which is actually a bit to much compared to non-tourist towns in Tanzania or places in Asia like Bali or Thailand - you don't feel that you get value for your money. This is why we stood after the safari in an up-market place "Moivaro Coffee Plantation" for 145US$ in a really nice bungalow inclusive breakfast buffet and four course dinner and in a really nice garden/plantation out of town - at least you get something for what you pay.
Safari: surf the web and you will see, there are countless safari operators and it should not be a problem to organize a tour by just shopping around within one day. If you look for something special, like the hiking tour we did, there are only a few left. The tour-itineraries are quite similar with most operators and also the food we saw at other guests plates was the same every where. We can recommend "Safari Makers" - who offer good quality for normal prices and who are one of the few who have in their program some special tours like the hiking tour we did. If I have the chance to do a safari again I would stay longer in Serengeti which is really a special place to be and skip Ngorongoro-Crater which feels like a big zoo with all this cars around. A hiking tour gives you a great experience with the landscape and the Maasai.
For the prices it boils down to this: If you do a camping safari and it is only two of you in the car you pay around 130US$ per person per day. If you are four or even five it gets down to 100US/90US. If you want to do something special like hiking or staying in remote camps it climbs up to 150US. If you don't want to camp but stay in a lodge: add ad least 130US$ a day - but you really miss something if you don't camp!!! And of course for luxury safaris there is no price limit.
Money: Bring lots of US$ in cash! You pay hotel and safari in Dollars! For credit cards you are charged really high fees! The exchange rate from Euro to US$ in your local bank in Europe is much better than what you get in Tanzania - you can get a feeling for current exchange rates on the webpage of City-Bank Tanzania.
Hassle and Touts: We read a lot about it before but it was not half as bad as people say. Just be nice and polite to these guys and make it clear that you don't need their service.