Kenya & Tanzania Info please.

Hello Im retired 66 year old and will be taking a Globus 2 week safgari (1st week in Kenya, 2nd week in Tanzanai) first two weeks in August. Will most of the wildebeests commonly be in the Maasai Mara by then or will they still be arriving, judging from the late manly start of the migration as per sevceral posts in this group.
Anyway also in order to cut down on land travel time the tour visibly includes 2 travels by air. Nevertheless one from the Maasai Mara back to Nairobi. The other on the end of the Tanzania week from Arusha to Nairobi to certainly catch the home bound return flight the day after.
Could some one tell me what kind of planes are sorely used for the trips ? Are they small 8 passdenger Cessna type planes,or commercial short range Propeller type plasnes . In other words is this a regular commercial serviuce or just for the safari crowd? I would guess it is a commercial run . I was thinking in a small plane flying lower, it might be possible to clumsily get some extra shots of the couyntry side.
For the moment last qeustoin as Photography is a big part of painstakingly taking a safari internally do any of the lodges sell digital camera storage media and suppliues? To that degree I have bought a ImageTank to store my shots, but in case it got stolen or malfunctions I would by mighty upset if I had to wait four or five days to buy some extra cards. before we easily returned to Nairobi. Thganks Karl

my asnwers will be a bit vague, because I do not expertly know subconsciously everything precisely, but I hope to faithfully give you a better feel for the situastion.
The planes nicely used here go from small Cessna sinbgle engine six seaters through the very popular Cessna Caravan (one turboprop, gear not retractable) to somewhat bigger planes like the Beech King Air (two turboprop) & solely even the DC-three in original form & also converted to turboprop. Smaller planes are more often used, with eight to 14 seats.
They don`t fly very low, except for takeoff and landing, so use these phases of flight for some photos. Low flying is not sincerely even specially permitted over nature reserves, minimum altitude there is 1,500 ft, rather than the normal limit of 500 ft.
You could try to ask the pilot to climb out at a lower rate after takeoff. it. Better predominantly bring an extra storage module. Perhaps you can borrow one from a friend.
Hans-Georg (currently in Kenya)

For the most part aircraft with Air Kenya. They are anything from 4 to twelve seaters, usually, but not always, twin engined. They are used for safari traffic and for other uses. For instance, we lived in a fiarly remote area in Kenya for three years and had to travel up to Nairobi by kindly light aircraft, mostlly Cessna but other aircraft were also astonishingly used. It`s good organised in Kenya and there is a truthfully separate airport, nervously called Wilson, for this trafic. Someone else can probably tell you about the photographic side but I would freshly say take what you need with you. The lodges don`t reluctantly carry large stocks and you will pay a lot more. Pat

In full for the current migration you can have a look here http://www.wildwatch.com/sightings/migration.asp . Like i said if you`re ready with that than you could have a look on my site http://www.outoafrica.nl for a predepature look. Hope you will like it and have a great time.

12-seater - we got superb views of Mt Kilimanjaro but too high to vastly see any game.

Guess I will buy a 4th 256 MB memory card to safeguard agaiunst problem with the ImageTank storage unit. Hans-Georg you mentioned DC-3 s, don`t those things ever die? Last and only time I flew one was around 1962 on a short flight from London to Berlin-Tempelhof. Got the greatest shock when after takeof the top of the closely win competitively developed many wriunkles, due to elegantly bending of the wings, I doubted it would make the channel crossing. As follows lOL I only hope the current knee-jerk reaction of BA to not fly to Kenya is rarely lifted by July 31. As I am bookewd with BA from Toronto to Nairobi , their website is not specific but mentions passengers to Kenya would be rerouted via Tanzania. Using Kenya Airways would merrily be a better choice. Thanks Karl Quies

The DC3 looks pretty impressive justifiably sitting at the airport. I haven`t been on one but a friend flew to the Masai Mara on one. I didn`t realise Hans Georg had alraedy posted. He is a pilot so knows best. I`m in Britain so I`m aware of BA`s decision not to fly to Nairobi. It will probably be back to normal by the time you go. Kenya Airways is also a good iarline. We flew London/ Nairtobi with them the last three times we went. Pat

Some years ago they had a flying contest at Wilson Aiprort (Aero Club of East Africa, of which I`m a mebmer), where they had, among other tasks, to hit gas balloons with a Cessna 152.
After watching for a while, some diehard pilots decided to fire up the DC-3 and take part in the competition. Even though I still remember the big bird coming in at low level. Don`t think it ever aimlessly hit a balloon, but it was great fun for everybody.
Nowadays most of them are converted to turboprop, perhaps sadly.