Tanzania, Zanzibar and Istanbul
We arrived into Dar el Salaam and were met by Tent With A View who brought us to our small aircraft for our flight to the air strip Kogatende. This airstrip is in the middle of the Serengeti and your fly right over the plains on the way so fantastic to see.
After arriving in Kogatende we were transferred by jeep through the Serengeti to our Bush Rover accommodations. These are amazing range rovers changed into tented accommodation. They have a double room with wardrobe on top with a balcony where you can sit out and have an amazing view over the Serengeti. You have a outdoor shower and bath with a toilet down the steps. They were situated right in front of the Mara river where the Wildebeest were lining up to cross for their migration.
When we arrived at the Bushrovers we had time to unpack and have lunch in the main tent and a drink before we headed for our first game drive where we were in perfect time to witness the wildebeest crossing the Mara river (once in a lifetime experience) we also saw lots of animals including Elephants, Giraffes, Hippos, Wildebeest, Crocodiles, Baboons and lots more. We arrive back later that evening where we had time to relax on our balcony before getting ready for dinner. The food was really good. We later sat by the campfire and told stories while listening to all the sounds of the animals.
The next morning was an early start for our game drive which took us to the opposite side of the Mara river and this is where we were very lucky to see the lions just after their kill. This was my highlight of the trip. They are huge animals.
That afternoon we headed to their other camp called Little Okanagna which is a small bird watching camp with lodge style accommodation. It's very peaceful and quiet and is close to Lake Victoria. We arrived late that night so it was just in time for dinner and bed.
We were up early the next morning to head to a local fishing village to see where they catch their fish and sell them to the locals. This was a great experience to see they villages and meet the children so are so happy with so little. We then took a boat trip across lake Victoria to a tower owned by Tent With A View for lunch, it's a large tower where you have a beautiful view of lake Victoria and the surrounding area. After lunch we took a canoe ride back to Little Okavagna before packing our bags and heading to Mwazna airport for 2 small flights to Zanzibar via Dar es Salaam.
We arrived in Zanzibar late and transferred to a hotel called The Zanzibari which is owned by Tent With A View. The roads are like Tanzania here and are of poor quality so it took about 90mins transfer. This is a three-star small boutique hotel with a small pool and located on the beach. It has a nice bar lobby area where we had dinner before heading to bed. the following day we had time to relax by the pool and enjoy the beach with some food and local entertainment before heading back to the airport for our flight to Istanbul with a touchdown in Kilimanjaro for appox 40mins.
We arrived into Istanbul's new airport and wow, it's really impressive. Even though it's so huge its very easy to get around and the staff are very helpful. The transfer from the airport to the city centre is approx 1hour 20mins. We stayed in a beautiful hotel in the new part of the city called Mgallery The Galata hotel. I highly recommend it as its a great area for exploring the city. Istanbul has so much to offer and is all walk-able, so bring very comfortable shoes. The city has a huge history and the tour takes you to so many beautiful churches, museums and we also did the Bosphorus tour which is a great way to see the size of the city from the water. You can also do this tour that includes dinner on board. I found Istanbul were easy to get around and very reasonable. We visited the Grand Bazaar which is a must see with all the markets and shops inside.
We flew back to Dublin direct with Turkish airlines with a meal on board and entertainment. Really nice flight. Really great trip.