Tanzania - My trip of a lifetime

by Nancy Grenager

My FAM trip with Excellence Guides Tanzania was my trip of a lifetime and we had an awesome time. Tanzania is special, with beautiful unique scenery, very polite and nice people, and a destination with very little crime. It’s still very 3rd world, but amazing how well all the people work together, and are so polite and accommodating. They all speak English; we didn’t see anyone that did not except maybe in the tribe visit.  We stayed in multiple hotels, 4- 4.5 star to a very nice, tented type lodge called Lake Burunge Tented Lodge which was like a deluxe camping right in the mist of the animals that come through. We heard a lion very close roaring! Another which was an upgrade from Lake Burunge called Kirawira Serena Camp and Grumeti game reserve. Very nice tented but just like a nice hotel room.

All of them have different characters of their own and give you quite the experience. All amazing in their way, but if I had my fav, I think it was both:  Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge and then Lake Manyara, but all were great experiences, never saw bugs, or dirt in rooms, very clean, and good caring service.

We started off in Grand Melia Arusha which is listed 5-star, and it was very nice but very modern, or American. We did sight inspections of Arusha Serena Hotel in Arusha which is an old Victorian style and then two luxury resorts in the Serengeti: And Beyond Serengeti, and the Four Seasons Serengeti. The road to get to the Four seasons was long and terrible, but the resort is very beautiful (of course it’s the Four Seasons). People need to know this about most of the roads.  They have a few private airports in the Serengeti for private planes and this is an option but I’m sure expensive.  Another sight inspection and very nice property is Serena Hotels.  This resort has a great view of Ngorongoro Crater and highly recommend this also.

 Somethings to keep in mind.

First, it’s for totally adventurous types that love nature, different cultures, and wild animals and you will see plenty.  “The big five” is a term for the main 5 animals which are the most popular to see.  The African Lions you will see many groups of these, plenty of Elephants, cape buffalo, but hard to find leopards and Rhino’s but did see at least one of each. So many other animals, zebras, monkey’s, baboons, different birds, Dik-dik(small miniature deer), Topi, (deer like) gazelles, and hartebeest. We also saw Cheetah’s with their young, a few hyenas, and other animals. Don’t drink the local water and be careful outside the resorts what you eat.  We had plenty of bottled water in our rooms, and in the jeeps. (I did have some stomach issues).  You don’t have to be very active, or totally in shape either.  The Safaris are sitting and standing in jeeps for the most part and most places you do not want to hike or walk around unless it’s a guided walking tour, but you can still walk around towns. Your guide is with you every day, and sets up the plan for the next day, so each day we explored a different park, or different area of Serengeti which is larger than Yellowstone. You can’t see the whole Serengeti in a week or so. The main road in and around Arusha, the airport to the National Park entrances mostly are all paved (not to all the parks, but to the main larger parks).

One thing about driving in their parks is that all the roads are not paved, some can be as bumpy as our mountain roads with rocks etc. During a downpour, some can be washed out.  A definite adventure!  The jeeps can get a flat; one vehicle breakdown in our group.  Excellence Guides have drivers and vehicles close by to go pick them up if this is the case. Another tour company, the guide tried to make it through a muddy water hole and got stuck with his tourists.  They had to sit it out until the rain stopped.  Glad it wasn’t us!  You definitely need a guide.

The Parks we visited in this area were: Arusha National Park, Tarangire National Park, Manyara National Park, Serengeti National Park (is the biggest and we spent 4 days here), and Ngorongoro Crater which is part of the Serengeti.

Tipping is a must for everyone, from your guides, to waiters, to baggage porters and room attendants, etc.  Bring plenty for tips, and they love American money.  You don’t need to carry the local currency with a guided vacation.

Let me know if you need help anytime with Tanzania. I can highly recommend Excellence Guides TZ.  It was the trip of a lifetime that I will always cherish in my memories!