We booked this, our first safari, thru Green Africa Tours www.gat.co.tz , out of Arusha. Initially, we had planned on visiting parks in both Kenya & Tanzania. We dealt with the owner of Green Africa Tours, 'Wilson'. Wilson was wonderful to work with. Quick to respond to questions, easy (and fast) to revise suggested itineraries. By the time that we finalized our plans, we had selected all Tanzania parks for our visits (in conjunction with the migration). We booked 9 nites of safari, at Arusha National Park, Tarangire Park, Serengeti Park, Ndutu Park, Ngorongoro Crater and Lake Manyara Park. We planned on staying at moderate-upper level lodges, primarily in the Sopa chain, with one evening (Manyara) at the Serena. Getting to this final itinerary/price was pretty easy for us, with all of the work that Wilson did.
Wilson met us at the Safari Club Hotel in Nairobi after our first nite. He's a very personable and enthusiastic man.
Our trip started off with a short visit to the Karen Blixen Giraffe Center in Nairobi. What fun !!!! From there, we headed to the Wilson aiport for our flight to Tanzania.
We had a private flight from Nairobi to Arusha town, where we were met by Michael Urassa, our guide for the next 9 days/nights. Michael was unbelievable in his ability to find animals in the parks. We saw more lions and leopards than I thought we'd ever see, including a close encounter with a pair of tree-climbing lions in Lake Manyara. Michael found animals by using his instincts/knowledge of the parks and by using his two-way radio to communicate with other guides in the area. Each day in the parks was better than the day before.
Midway thru the trip, we did experience a problem with the bookings of three nites lodges. Apparently, we were not confirmed for our third nite at the SOPA Serengeti, nor for our two nites at the SOPA Ngorongoro. We had to make due with lesser-quality lodges for two evenings, while we communicated back and forth with Green Africa. To make up for the inconvenience, Green Africa changed our reservations for our last two nites, upgrading us significantly to include one nite at the Manyara Escarpment Luxury Lodge and one nite at the Arusha Hotel, near the clock tower. We were not charged for the upgrades.
It should be noted that we did not miss any game viewing hours because of the lodge mixups. During this time, Michael remained professional and patient. We knew that the mixups were not his fault, and we all did our best to deal with the inconveniences.
Once home, I emailed Wilson with the story of our difficulties for those three evenings. Wilson volunteered a partial refund per couple, to make up for all of the lodge mixups.
Bottom line - we had an incredible trip. I always hesitate to use the expression 'trip of a lifetime'. (but, this was pretty darn close).
Please feel free to contact me if you have any additional questions on our experiences.