Posts From June 2013

Our Safari Was The Trip Of A Lifetime

Our safari with ADS was more than we could have hoped for. Lynn was extremely helpful in planning the trip, making the arrangements and giving us many suggestions on what to bring and how to pack. We flew Delta from Tampa to Atlanta to Amsterdam and then KLM to Arusha (Kilimanjaro) airport and arrived May 16. We were met at the airport by an ADS representative and taken through Tanzanian immigration. The ADS meet and greet team picked us up and transported us to our hotel in Arusha luxurious Mt. Meru Hotel.

The following morning, we flew to the Grumeti airstrip in the northwest Serengeti where we met our driver/guide, David. We began our first game drive with David and saw Nile crocodiles and a monitor lizard in the Grumeti River, impala, topi, a lioness, black faced monkeys, and warthogs. Continuing on, we saw a leopard tortoise, Cape buffalo, zebras, giraffes, ostriches before arriving at the Serengeti Soroi Lodge for our first night in the field.

The Lodge, while not conveniently located as it was a 45 minute drive from the main road, was our favorite hotel. With the cottages located on the side of the hill, we felt we were part of the Serengeti but safe from animals. Our accommodations were wonderful and the food and service were 5-star. We also enjoyed our stays at the Mbuzi Mawe Tented Lodge and the Ngorongoro Serena Lodge. Both were wonderful as well and food and service was 5 star.

Each day proved to be as exciting as the last with a never ending view of the Serengeti (endless plains) and sightings of lions, leopards, giraffes, wildebeest migrations, zebras, elephants, cheetahs, buffalo, black rhinos, baboons, Grants and Thompson’s gazelles, eland, jackals, hippos, hyenas, and the many varieties of beautiful birds. We especially like the superb blue starlings and crowned cranes.

David was an expert at locating and identifying all animals, birds, trees, and flowers. He outdid himself in finding elephants (my favorite), cheetahs, black rhinos, and leopards. He was extremely helpful in organizing our daily game drives and made sure we were happy with our accommodations. We had a boxed breakfast and lunch for many of our game drives, and he always found a good place for us to eat. We especially enjoyed eating on the gong rock at the Moru Kopjes.

David paid attention to the land cruiser and each morning, it was clean and supplied with bottled water, soda and cookies. He was always smiling and attentive to our needs. We would recommend ADS to anyone who wants a personalized and unforgettable safari. For us our safari was the trip of a lifetime and exceeded our expectations.

Bonnie and John S.
Brooksville, Florida
Safaris Dates: May 16-23, 2013

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What to Wear on Safari

Some of the most difficult planning considerations for many travelers embarking on an african safari relate to luggage, clothes and gear. It’s certainly a challenge packing for a once in lifetime trip within the strict luggage guidelines imposed by most air carriers in Africa, which is typically 33 pounds per person including carry on luggage. Our advice given that african safari tours by their nature are very informal vacations is to simply wear comfortable, loose fitting clothes. Laundry services are available at most lodges, hotels and camps and many can quickly return laundered items within 24 hours. We advise not to wear dark colors especially dark blue or black as they attract insects. On the other hand, light colors such as white will dirty quickly given the dusty roads. The best bet is to stick with kaki, brown and green colors. Please see our comprehensive safari packing list in our ‘What to Bring on Safari’ section. In addition, feel free to contact your african safari consultant for their specific opinions.

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My Husband Was Hesitant But We Made A Believer Of Him The First Day

Bob and I are happy to tell anyone and everyone about our trip. As you know it was my dream trip and you and the rest of your team made it all come true. From the very first day each place we stayed was better than the last.

The tent camping was everything I had hoped and more! I woke one night and heard an elephant trumpeting so got up and unzipped the tent and stepped out onto our porch and there was an elephant standing there eating the tree in the yard not 6 feet away!! Course I quickly stepped back into the tent and zipped back up!!

I kept a journal of all the animals we saw each day and some days I have 20 or more different ones. The big three are the rhino, the cheetah and the leopard and our guide told us many people do not get to see them as they are endangered and few in the wild but we got to see all of them with more than one sighting of each. We were also fortunate enough to be in the right spot at the right time and saw the start of the great migration.

What you see on discovery channel with all the sounds and sights does not begin to compare with being right there in the middle of a million or more wildebeest and zebras running full tilt onto the plains. Our guide was wonderful and knew all the names of animals, birds and plants and had many books so I could see and read about them. I could go on and on and if anyone would like to talk to me about it we would be glad to help. As you know Bob was very hesitant to take this trip but we made a believer of him the very first day and he was so happy we went!

Sue and Bob S.
Birmingham, Alabama
Safari Dates: May 17, 2013 to May 27, 2013

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By Ally Dhulkfil – Beat About The Bush.

This is driver guide Ally Dhulkfil with ADS. Please enjoy a few snapshots from my latest safari which just ended on June 2, 2013. My clients Robert and Joseanne from California enjoyed their safari very much especially in the Serengeti.

Roof of Africa.
Hyena with young ones – at ngorongoro crater.
Zebra’s on migration.
Group of elephants gathering.
They are in a cub making Western corridor.
Male and female lion preparing for mating, as this is a mating season – at Grumeti, western corridor.
Crocs fishing at Grumeti River.
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