Just arrived in Arusha; we pick up our 4WD Toyota Range Rover type vehicle on Thursday. We are doing a self drive trip through national parks here in Tanzania ((Ngororongoro Crater eg)…but first to the Lark Plains outside of Arusha for Beesley’s Lark - we are primarily interested in birds. We’ve found through the years we prefer driving ourselves and if we need specific help we will hire a local guide for the day. We’ve had no trouble getting close to “animals” (mammals) in the national parks of South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. For birds we play calls. - using a diurnal owl call will bring in many at once. Rangers in parks use lion calls to bring in resident lions…so if you think outside the box you can get what you want…save a lot of money (and spend more time in these countries) and most importantly have your own adventure. We are our own guides/drivers/porters…Anyway we have a $28/night place right now in Arusha with air con, view order Kilimanjaro and plenty of space. We have booked several Air BnBs for about $30 night just outside the gates of the national park (hiring local people to cook breakfast and lunch for two for $9 USD per day…So there are many ways to do Africa just search around there are many independent travelers and web sites devoted to this. Have your own personal adventure and Dave money too. Once I set up my laptop I’ll send photos
