CAMERA SAFARI
TANZANIA 2008

ITINERARY

 (updated 4 June 2008)

(FILLED)

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Sun. Nov. 23:     Welcome to Arusha, Tanzania!  We will be staying at one of the finest hotels in the city.  There are some small shops of unassuming appearance that are packed with authentic, old Maasai spears, masks, woodcarvings and other crafts.  It is worth the effort to seek them out.  The precious stone, tanzanite, is mined only in this area.  It has a clear, pale blue-violet color with a slight iridescence; and is quite expensive if purchased in other locations.
HOTEL: (ARUSHA)

Mon. Nov. 24:     This morning we will begin our camera safari.  We will be met at our hotel and transported by private vehicle to Tarangire National Park.  As we ride across a vast savanna; occasionally viewing giraffes and other wild animals, we enter Maasai country, the land of herd and spear. The Maasai are one of the most colorful indigenous groups in the world. They are tall and of regal bearing.  The murranis (warriors) carry spears and wear toga-like garments; their hair is sleeked with tallow and red ocher, then braided around leather strips.  The women wear huge necklaces of colored beads; they will surround us whenever we stop.  Almost all have chosen to isolate themselves from what we call “civilization,” and follow the traditional nomadic ways; although a few have become fashion models in Paris, New York and Milan.  We will stop at Maasai kraals to get to know them better and to observe their way of life more closely.  At the park, we will stay at a traditional tented camp that will remind you of every safari movie you have ever seen.  Our “tents” are elevated platforms with two beds, a full bathroom, screened from floor to thatched roof, private porch, and a 360° view of the green African plain, rolling to the horizon.  The dining room and bar wrap around a mammoth Boabob tree.  All park entrance fees, vehicle fees, and daily fees, here and at Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro Crater, will be included.  All meals will be provided at the camp.  There will be a sunset game drive.  On all of the game drives, we will be furnished with vehicles appropriate for the terrain and for photography; driven by a professional, experienced English-speaking guide.  At night, you will hear the deep-throated growl of the big lions.  They sound as though they are right outside your tent.  A thrill you will remember your entire life!
CAMP: (TARANGIRE NATIONAL PARK)

Tues. Nov. 25:     Tarangire is rich in wildlife and has the highest density of elephants in the world.  They are everywhere!  Also, there are large herds of zebras, wildebeests, hartebeests, elands, kudus, gazelles, waterbucks and impalas.  This park is exceptionally good for bird-watching.  There will be an all-day game drive.
CAMP: (TARANGIRE NATIONAL PARK)

Wed. Nov. 26:     There will be a morning game drive.  Returning to camp, we will stop where a group of Maasai women communally craft the colorful adornments for which they are so famous.  The prices are incredibly low; and the women encourage your photographing them as they perform their rocking, high-jumping dances.  This afternoon we can relax, write postcards, compare digital photos, or just be lazy in idyllic surroundings.
CAMP: (TARANGIRE NATIONAL PARK)

Thur. Nov. 27:     (Thanksgiving Day)  The morning we will ride to Lake Manyara National Park.  The park is home to a profusion of cape buffalo, hippo, baboon, wildebeest, warthog, gazelle, bushbuck, elephant, giraffe, and many others.  This and Ngorongoro Crater are, by far, the best places to view wild animals in Equatorial East Africa.  There will be a sunset game drive, during which we will see most of the specie named above.  Our lodge is dramatically sited on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Great Rift Valley.  All meals will be provided here and at the lodge at Ngorongoro.
LODGE: (LAKE MANYARA)

Fri. Nov. 28:         There will be a morning game drive, and then we will cross part of the Serengeti Plain on the way to Ngorongoro Crater.  The steep walls of this mammoth caldera encircle and protect a 12-mile wide grassy floor containing the highest density of animals in the world.  This Eden is home to all of the species found in Lake Manyara (except giraffe); plus, waterbuck, leopard, dik-dik, jackal, hyena, wild hog, cheetah, and a flock of flamingos that literally covers a soda lake with pink feathers.  The huge Black-maned lion lives here and nowhere else in the world.  There is also a pond filled with hippos, groaning and spouting and farting.  Our beautiful lodge is high on the very edge of the crater rim.  From the terrace, you can watch vast herds of wildebeest along with elephants and zebras as they cross the plain below.
LODGE:  (NGORONGORO  CRATER)

Sat. Nov. 29:     Early today, we will descend down to the crater floor to spend the entire day watching and photographing large animals in the wild.  Only the Maasai and their cattle have been granted free access to the area.  With their explicit permission, we will probably be able to take some exceptional photos of these tall, spear-wielding herders.  Box lunches have been prepared for us to eat by a remote pond by which an occasional elephant strolls.  Be careful!  Predatory birds have learned to dive down, hit your lunch box, and carry it away in their claws (Shades of Alfred Hitchcock).  At dusk, we will return to the lodge.
LODGE:  (NGORONGORO CRATER)

Sun. Nov. 30:     We will drive back to Arusha. Relax by our hotel pool with a bottle of “Tusker” beer; or, make that last minute purchase of a Maasai feathered headdress or that inexpensive carved wood figure for your mantelpiece.
HOTEL:  (ARUSHA)

Total cost of $2,880.00 ($3,081.00, effective Friday, June 6 for new participants); per person, double occupancy*, includes: Condor Adventures staff member accompanying the entire safari; and, all hotel, camp and lodge stays; all overland transportation by private vehicles; all meals at Tarangire, Lake Manyara, and Ngorongoro Crater (box lunches for all-day game drives); all park entrance fees, and vehicles appropriate for the terrain and for photography, driven by experienced, professional English-speaking guides, during the game drives. 

A non-refundable payment of $1,440.00, payable to W.S. Donahoo and received at:

Post Office Box 3415
Winter Park, Florida 32790, USA

no later than FRIDAY, November 30, 2007 is required for a reservation.

AVAILABLE SPACES ARE STRICTLY LIMITED TO 16 PARTICIPANTS; AND WILL BE FILLED ON A FIRST-COME, FIRST-SERVED BASIS UPON RECEIPT OF DEPOSITS; WITH NO EXCEPTIONS.

ALL PAYMENTS ARE NON-REFUNDABLE; Payments are not transferable to other passengers nor other trips.  Credit cards are not accepted.

* There is no additional cost for those signing on alone.

Final payments will be due in August, 2008.  Failure to pay on time will result in the cancellation of your reservations and forfeiture of all payments.

Items in italics are not included, but are suggestions based on location and time available. Flights, entry visas, departure taxes at foreign airports and gratuities are not included.  Porterage is not included; “You bring it, you carry it.” 

Buz Donahoo, Condor Adventures
Post Office Box 3415
Winter Park, FL 32790,  USA
Tel/Fax (407) 645-0490
buz@condoradventures.com