What you can expect on safari for $400 per day

Dear Yogeeta,

It's about 930am, and my safari tour is breaking for late breakfast in ngorogoro after a 6am start from the lodge after a quick cup of coffee.

Last night at dinner, the chef came to my table to confirm my diet, no eggs and no meat, then the waiter accidentally arced meant plate of diced beef, which luckily I found suspicious and spat out.  With so many Tanzanian indians, I can't imagine vegetarian food is an odd request, and I can imagine the drama doing that to a local Indian would cause.

Today I opened my special lunch box- yea!- and I found the most careless ridiculous contents, four different types of bread.  At home, I don't even eat bread, because it is not very healthy.  If I were camping, I would tolerate this, when one is hungry, calories are calories.  What sort of idiot would think that us a proper brekkie?  For a $4000 safari that is absolutely pathetic.

None of this is my guide Mmbaga's fault.  He alerted the hotel and they screwed up again.  

I go on a long tour on my round the world trip each year and know to bring Tupperware for when I  run into dodgy catering during long days.  The Serengeti lodge apologetically spoke to me at brekkie yesterday and I gave the chef my Tupperware I've had to use to forage food for the road from the buffet, and he kindly prepped a gorgeous masala fish dish in my plastic.  I didn't do so last night since the chef spoke to me personally.

You guys need to learn the best practices of the top South African tour operators, elegant, catering to individual guests.  That said, Mmbaga has gone out of his way to show us fantastic game, on par with sabi sands Kruger park, within the Tanzania natl park regulations, of course, and that is most important.  however, I think you need to at least provide your drivers with proper binocs.  It's not right that he has to borrow ours to identify distant animals.

These Serena lodges are both glamorous and poorly run, for instance no working heat in my room last night in cold ngorogoro, but beautiful bar area and fantastic African entertainment, and unparalleled excellent wifi everywhere which is amazing on safari.

Regards,

Robert 

Nice

Are they joking??!

Making the best of it anyway 

Bread for lunch, too!

Sent from my iPhone on the road

Robert A Main

13/114 Brook Street, Coogee, NSW 2034 Australia

Mobile: +61 405 717 566 

From: robert main [mailto:rmain@yahoo.com] 

Sent: 11 May 2014 09:12 PM

To: Helen Kirby - Rhino Africa

Subject: msg relay please

 

dear helen,

could you please relay this message to my tour company.  hard to do from the road.

 

i am not thrilled with rangers, so far.  ho hum compared to the kruger experience, in terms of service not the animals.

 

regards

 

robert

 

dear rangers,

i am in the serengeti, and think i left my bushnell binonculars in the last rest stop ranger station before the serengeti from ngorogoro.

we'll be back there in two days.  could you please call for me?  i cant figure it out from here.

regards,

robert

Sent from my iPad

 

Robert A Main

13/114 Brook Street, Coogee, NSW 2034 Australia

Mobile: +61 (0)405 717 566