Welcome back, friends! I am so excited to start sharing my experiences in Tanzania. I had the absolute best time. It’s been a while since I have felt so deeply connected to a place; I don’t think I’ve had that feeling since I lived in London 10 years ago. I hope you can get a sense of just how amazing this country is and you decide to experience it for yourself!
A little background information on the trip before we get started!
I booked the trip almost exactly a year before the departure date through EF Ultimate Break. I’ve used them twice before, this being my third trip (and I recently booked my fourth). I love EF for many reasons but the one that stood out for this trip specifically was the ability to pay monthly. No matter how you visit Tanzania, it will be expensive (average is about $6k) so having the option to pay in increments made all the difference.
Secondly, I knew that this kind of trip was out of my own personal comfort zone meaning I really didn’t know where to start in terms of planning. EF is great about providing a fantastic itinerary and support throughout your adventure. This ended up being a great choice because as I learned being over there, you really need to work with a tour company to have a successful trip.
EF plans out the itinerary, books flights and accommodations, provides either a tour director, or in this case, expert guides along the way, and support for any needs or questions such as visas. You can find more specific information about the exact EF trip I took here.
Full disclosure: I was part of the first set of tours they ran for this specific trip, meaning we were all testers. Because of this, my trip was significantly cheaper than what you’ll pay now. Testers allow them to learn and evaluate the success of their itinerary, accommodations, guides, etc. EF is a qualified and credible company so even their testing trips are always great. I knew while on the trip that we had gotten a fantastic deal and had no doubt the cost would go up. They run sales frequently so if the cost makes you nervous, definitely wait for a sale. They do also price match so if you book it and a month later see a better price for the trip, reach out to them and they’ll discount your remaining balance.
For our game drives, EF booked us with Leopard Tours. Our driver was Johnson and to say he was incredible is an understatement. Whether traveling with EF or not, I would use Leopard Tours a million times over and I highly recommend them to you! Definitely ask for Johnson!
I learned a lot about packing and what you should bring for this kind of trip. I wrote about it here!
Here’s a map of our general route. Today, I’m going to write about the flights getting to Tanzania as well as share pictures and details of our first game drive: Lake Manyara National Park!
To start, my flight path was a little wonky. I flew out of Philadelphia but had to make a connecting flight in Detroit, the opposite direction. This does happen sometimes with EF. When they book flights, they are trying to get as many people on the same flight paths as possible to make final arrivals easier for the tour director/guides. A lot of people in my group were on the Detroit flight so I can definitely see why EF thought it would be good to have me hop there first. There are also no direct flights from Philadelphia to Amsterdam so they were going to have to have me connect somewhere. So Detroit it was!
Philadelphia to Detroit is only about an hour and a half so we had a fairly small plane. I had a 3-hour layover in the Detroit airport and then I boarded my 7.5-hour flight to Amsterdam. I had strategically stalked the airplane seating chart and purposefully picked a flight towards the back of the plane without a seat behind it. My planning would pay off and there ended up being two seats between me and the other passenger in our row for our overnight flight. Winning. Pro tip for EF and flight seats: EF books seats in groups with other travelers. If you would like the option to upgrade your seat, simply ask them to book your ticket outside of the group. It won’t cost extra and you’ll be able to work with the airline to purchase an upgrade. You can also ask EF to upgrade your tickets for you but beware, it’s quite expensive.
Navigating the Amsterdam airport was a breeze. I didn’t have to clear customs or go through security again, which surprised me since this is pretty standard when entering foreign countries. Not Amsterdam! I walked right over to my gate and met up with my group. All of us would be on the same flight to Kilimanjaro. Meeting a new group of people always gives me deep anxiety. I cannot tell you how anxious I felt walking up to the group of people that would be with me for the next 10 days. No matter how old I get, this whole process is still terrifying. The only thing that gets me through it is knowing it’ll all be worth it on the other side….and that everyone was exhausted and wanted to spend our next 9 hour flight sleeping.
We flew from Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro on KLM Airlines and I have to say that those flights (both there and back) were the nicest I have ever been on. The windows had multiple options for shades, the seats were decently comfortable (the best you can really get on a flight these days), and the entertainment options were great. I had previously downloaded tons of TV shows and books for my trip there and back so I was all set. If you’re interested in what I downloaded, head to my packing list here! I did mention that you should download enough entertainment (books, tv, movies, etc) for both the trip there and back. Data and Wi-Fi aren’t reliable in Tanzania so you’ll want to be prepared for the long journey home.
Now, I know you didn’t just come here for some boring details about my flights so moving on! Kilimanjaro airport is tiny so clearly customs took about an hour for everyone. We were greeted by our driver and began our journey to Arusha, our first overnight stop. I will say I was a little bummed I wasn’t able to see Mt. Kilimanjaro but we landed at night so it was too dark and we weren’t hanging around the area.
It was about a two-hour drive to our hotel in Arusha and our driver entertained us a bit by teaching us some basic Swahili words. I tried to take in as much as I could driving through small villages. I was immediately struck by how everything was set up. There were very few lights on, maybe one per home/business. There were also many people walking along the road, heading home from work. This drive was my first taste in just how different the people of Tanzania live.
We arrived to our accommodations late and were brought quickly to our rooms. For our first night in Tanzania, we stayed at the Sundown Carnival Lodge in Arusha. Certainly not the fanciest or nicest place I’ve ever stayed but after 30 hours of traveling, I really didn’t care where I was staying as long as it had a shower and a bed. Waking up the next morning, I was finally able to see how cute and charming our hotel really was. There was a line of two story cottages and you could see mountains in the distance. We stayed at the Sundown one night and made a quick stop for lunch a few days later. The staff was so friendly and warm. If you’re staying in Arusha or need a stop between Kilimanjaro and the Serengeti, I definitely recommend them.
After checking out of our hotel, we were quickly split up into 3 safari vehicles. This is where we met our beloved driver, Johnson! I cannot say enough about how amazing Johnson was. I swear he has laser vision. The man could see a cat hanging in a tree almost half a mile away. He was also so wonderful about letting us get all the pictures we wanted, even if it meant we directed his driving sometimes. We often joked about how Johnson had 6 new wives and he frequently said, “I just want to make my ladies happy.” You’ll always have a special spot in my heart, Johnson. You were the best first husband I ever had.
Our first game drive was at Lake Manyara National Park, about an hour south of Arusha. During the dry season, the lake is just about all dried up. Lake Manyara was a great warm up to the rest of our game drives. We were able to see monkeys, water buffalo, zebras, wildebeests, elephants, and giraffes! We spent about 4 hours on this game drive and stopped midday for a lunch break in the park. Here are some of the pictures I captured!
As you can see, we were able to have some awesome animal encounters. I think my favorite thing about Lake Manyara National Park was how much quieter it was than our other game drive locations. It’s certainly not as popular as Ngorogoro or the Serengeti so we were able to have a lot of one on one time with the animals instead of trying to fit in with a bunch of other cars for some pictures.
After our game drive, we headed to the Bougainvillea Safari Lodge, in Karatu, about an hour drive from Lake Manyara. This hotel was beyond gorgeous. It’s tucked back off the road in a gated area. There are small cottages sprinkled throughout surrounding a beautiful pool area and main house which served amazing meals throughout the day. Something to note about the mainland and the hotels is that there aren’t a lot of options for food. Your main dining options will be at your hotels so when choosing your accommodations, definitely check out the information on the food.
Hope you guys enjoyed seeing some pictures from our first game drive! I’m working on my Serengeti National Park post which I know y’all are going to love. I’ll be sharing all kinds of pictures and information on what it’s like to camp in the Serengeti. Stay tuned!