Tanzania: Wrap-Up and Tips

A week! That's enough time taken to tell a story of our little Tanzania trip and uploading some photos along the way. I was beginning to wonder when it will end. Silver Bullet is still in the midst of sorting out his photos...so that will take a little while more before I can post his fantastic pics; pics which I can't quite capture with my compact digital camera.

I would definitely do Tanzania again; time and budget permitting, of course. The country is definitely worth a 2nd visit. Only this time, I would spend 3 days or more at the Serengeti, just a night at Ngorongoro, and other parts of Tanzania. With the exception of staying at the cabin with a personal chef at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, I would give the rest a miss.

Some tips if you ever consider going for a safari:

• Invest in a pair of good hiking shoes - you never know what kind of hiking you have to do
• Binoculars is a must
• DSLR and the mega lenses! Compact digital cameras are proven quite useless for close-up shots of animals in a distance.
• Long cargo pants and long-sleeve shirts
• DEET! 95% no less. The flies in Serengeti are aplenty and super-annoying and I'm happy to just DEET 'em up dead.
• Bring enough clothes to last through the Safari - laundry services can be expensive
• Be prepared to tip. The average tips for a Safari Guide ranges between USD 10-25 per/day
• Bring a strong sunblock. Africa gets 51% of the earth's sunlight...and the sun will really sneak up on you, no matter how cloudy and overcast the day may look.
• Bring sweaters/jackets as it tends to get cooler at night
• Go for the smaller, but reputable Safari company (a matter of preference)
• Don't fly Precision Air
• Bring a flashlight
• Hats, caps...anything to cover your head from the scorching sun
• First-Aid kit with all the necessary medical supplies
• Lastly, have your wits about you. It is not safe to travel alone, especially at night and conveniently, nothing about safety has been explicitly mentioned anywhere in guide books or websites.