Charterlink Tours and Travel

We booked our safari out there after emails back and forth with James, he was very helpful both over the net and when we met on the first day. Had a really good 13 day safari in Kenya and Tanzania, managed to see everything but the rhino which was an amazing experience at Serengeti. If we had known how hilly Tsavo West was we might of opted for somewhere else but still managed to see lots.

We stayed in Voi Lodge on our first night and the views were amazing. They have a watering hole and a hidden view point which gets you literally 10 feet from the animals, we had about 6 elephants drinking whilst we were down there.

The second night was spent in Ngulia Lodge in Tsavo West, the views from side of the lodge were nice, overlooking the rhino sanctionary. In the evening they put meat out for the leopad to come and feast on however after staying up late and waking up at 6am for breakfast they still hadn't come. We did speak to another couple back at the hotel who did experience the leopad coming for his meal. The downside to this lodge was the god awful noise of the toilets flushing, they make the loudest noise, worse than airplane toilets. It sounds like the ceiling is falling through and not many people consider that when flushing it all times of the night.

Booking the safari was smooth enough, paying for it was another matter all together. Be aware if the Barclays atm isnt working the main cards they accpet in the other atm's are soley Visa not Mastercard. This meant taxiing to and from the cashpoints three days as the Barclays was out of use for some reason.

We had looked into visiting an orphanage prior to going but deicded to visit the one DSL sponsor, its called BornAgain Childrens Centre and they do trips there every saturday. Although the children must be used to the routine as they all knew when to queue up for sweets and where to stand for photo's, its very saddening to see the conditions they have to live with. I think they said the centre opened in 2004-2005 but they still have many half completed rooms and lack bedding and mattresses for the children to sleep on. We took out pens, books, combs, clothes, tennis balls and brought food supplies out there to give them. We'd urge you to do the same and if you can fit some old bedding into your luggage that would be gratefully appreciated.

Serengeti and Ngorongoro crater was the highlight of it all in our Tanzania part

All in all this was an amazing two week holiday which we were able to combine so many different experiences which gave us memories that will surely last forever.

If you have any questions please ask and I will be happy to try and help.