Nairobi - Tanzania travel

Hyderabadi · Post by **Hyderabadi** » Sun Mar 04, 2018 9:20 pm

Has anyone traveled to Kenya and Tanzania? If yes, what are your experiences? Do's and Don'ts

dbs · Post by **dbs** » Mon Mar 05, 2018 9:32 am

I took a trip to Kenya/Tanzania last august.

It was very hectic, Leaving 7ish after breakfast every day for 10 days.

There are really no dos/donts. As long as you behave politely and not in a condescending manner, treat every one as equal; there would be nothing to worry about.

At the same time, we were not really exposed to general public. My son's friends had organized the trip with a tourist agency. Except for a 15 minute when we had to stop near a market, we did not interact with general public. I had gone around the market, a departmental store; behaved like a likely customer, also did some shopping and haggling with curio sellers, never felt threatened.

Yes, do not change dollars to local currency. Dollar is accepted every where and we used to tip in dollars.

The temperature between early morning and afternoon can vary quite a bit, so be prepared for it.

We had travelled to Masai Mara. The trip to masai mara village was a waste of money. I would advise friends to miss it. We sadly fell for it and spent around $100 per head.

Perhaps go for dinner to 'Carnivore' in Nairobi. That was truly an experience.

If going from Kenya to Tanzania, the visa on arrival at Tanzania is a cake walk. Kenya is a bit of bureaucracy and long queues at immigration and roads are not too good. Tanzania the roads are excellent.

Serengeti and Ngorongoro in Tanzania are a must and I am sure you are planning to go there. And strictly follow the directions to not step out of your room/tent without asking for a guard. Remember to close the zipps all around when leaving the tents. Things can and do happen otherwise.
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Been there, done that, several times because apparently I never learn

return2blore · Post by **return2blore** » Mon Mar 05, 2018 11:45 pm

Dbsji - I presume, your journey originated from India and you have a UK passport. If this is true, did you have to get the yellow fever vaccination? I know that, Indians, with Indian PP need this and I think, the journey origin country matters and not the PP.

MrLong · Post by **MrLong** » Mon Mar 05, 2018 11:57 pm

DBS,

Are there big variations in safari price/package depending on where one books from? Is US or UK more expensive to book, compared to booking from India?

dbs · Post by **dbs** » Tue Mar 06, 2018 10:01 pm

MrLong;671713DBS,

Are there big variations in safari price/package depending on where one books from? Is US or UK more expensive to book, compared to booking from India?

I really do not know as the package was booked by DS's friend.

But if you go to internet then all packages are available irrespective of location being booked from. The flight charges would be different in any case. In case the origination is shown as Dubai the usa or India does not matter. In fact the flight from DLH to Nairobi would have been significantly cheaper via Air Kenya (service?) but since others coming from usa were flying through Dubai we had also selected Dubai as staging point.

At the same time there could be wide variations in prices depending on the type of resort/hotel you chose on safari.

But, yes, if you manage 11 days trip to India prior to the start; you can get Yellow Fever vac for Rs. 300 instead of $300(?) in usa. But book well in advance.
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Some river valleys are absolutely gorges.

return2blore · Post by **return2blore** » Sat Mar 10, 2018 11:18 pm

dbs;671763
But, yes, if you manage 11 days trip to India prior to the start; you can get Yellow Fever vac for Rs. 300 instead of $300(?) in usa. But book well in advance.
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Some river valleys are absolutely gorges.

DBSji - No vaccination required for tourists from the US (-$300 from the trip budget:wink). Perhaps not required for UK tourists too. This is the reason I asked you, if the trip origin country is the criterion or the PP. Since you took it, I think, it is the trip origin country that matters and it makes sense this way.
I fully agree with you about booking well in advance for the vaccine. About 4yrs ago, when my SIL was to travel on a GOI trip, Bangalore was out of stock for a few months and my BIL had to use his GOI Babu contacts to have a vial shipped from Hyderabad to Bangalore. Obviously, we the aam aadmis cannot do this.

dbs · Post by **dbs** » Sun Mar 11, 2018 11:10 pm

return2blore;672017DBSji - No vaccination required for tourists from the US (-$300 from the trip budget:wink). Perhaps not required for UK tourists too. This is the reason I asked you, if the trip origin country is the criterion or the PP. Since you took it, I think, it is the trip origin country that matters and it makes sense this way.
I ......

Just check whether your country will allow you back in without this vaccination when travelling back from Kenya/Tanzania. Also any countries in transit.

All my co-travelers were from usa and they did get the yellow fever vaccination prior to the trip. I think it is required by the host country.