SAFARI ITINERARY
Arrival Kilimanjaro - Arusha
Welcome to Tanzania! Upon arrival at Kilimanjaro airport, you will meet your guide who will transport you to your first hotel. The rest of the day is yours
to get acquainted with Arusha as you wish!
DAY 1: Cultural Tour: Maasai Village
After breakfast and briefing, you will head out to Olpopongi Maasai Village where you will experience traditional Maasai culture in an authentic setting; you will experience the Maasai way of life just the way they live it every day. Later in the day, you will head out to Shanga Cultural Village where you will interact with a friendly community of locals committed to promoting local arts and crafts; you will interact with them as they make crafts from beads, glass and a number of other local materials. At Shanga you will also have the opportunity to sample local cuisine served in an open-air restaurant.
If interested you can support the artisans by buying some of the art and craft work they produce.
Dinner and accomodation at your hotel in Arusha.
DAY 2 : Arusha - Lake Manyara National Park - Karatu
After breakfast in Arusha, our tour guide will drive you to Lake Manyara National Park; upon arrival, you will head into the park for a game drive until lunchtime; lunch will be served in a designated picnic spot and thereafter, you will head back into the park for more game viewing.
The park is dominated by a shallow extensive alkaline lake that hosts large flocks of seasonal pink flamingos. The lake occupies about two-thirds of the surface area of this park. The other parts of the park are made up of acacia forests that are home to elephants, giraffes, buffalos, hippos, zebras, wildebeests, warthogs, impalas, gazelles and resident lions. Leopards and cheetahs also call the park home but they are not seen as frequently as the other animals.
In the afternoon, when the lake is approached from the east, the rift valley walls appear on the horizon forming a spectacular backdrop to the lake.
In the evening, you will be driven out of the park heading to your hotel in Karatu for dinner and overnight accommodation.
DAY 3 : Cultural Tour: Hadzabe Bushmen
After breakfast at camp, our guide will drive you to Lake Eyasi. In this region a truly African encounter awaits you; you will meet the Hadzabe bushmen who will kindly show you where they live and how they hunt. You will also pay the Dagota pastoral nomads and herdsmen a visit; the Dagota culture resemble that of the Maasai. Apart from being pastoralists, the Dagota are also blacksmiths; they make knives and arrowheads which they trade with the Hadzabe bushmen. Along the beaten terrain, you will also experience birds of many colors and kinds, especially along Lake Eyasi.
The weather in this region is nearly always very hot and intense, but it makes the tour a more fun and authentic African experience.After this adventurous cultural experience, you will be driven back to Karatu for dinner and overnight accommodation at your hotel.
DAY 4 : Karatu - Ngorongoro Crater
After breakfast in Karatu, you will be driven into the Ngorongoro Crater for a day of game viewing inside the world’s largest unflooded caldera. The crater is approximately 20 km wide, 600 meters deep and 300 km2 in area.
Inside the crater, you have the best chance of seeing the big five – lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos and herds of buffalos; all within a few hours of game viewing. You will also see waterbucks, elands, bushbucks, Grant’s gazelles, Thompson gazelles, hyenas and a huge array of bird species.
Dinner and overnight accommodation at a lodge inside the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.
DAY 5 : Ngorongoro Crater - Serengeti National Park
After an early breakfast, you will be driven to the Serengeti National Park via Olduvai Gorge. At Olduvai Gorge, you will view fossil and footprints of early humanoid dating back millions of years.
The Serengeti is Tanzania’s largest and most iconic national park, it is best known for the annual migration of thousands of wildebeests and zebras. In the Serengeti, you will also experience rolling plains, uniques rock formations popping out of the grasslands and abundant wildlife.
Along the great herds, you will find Africa’s top predators tagging behind ready to score an easy meal; you will see lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas and wild dogs.
Dinner and overnight accommodation at a lodge/ a wilderness camp inside the Serengeti.
DAY 6 : Serengeti National Park (full day)
After breakfast, you will head out into the great Savannah for a full day game drive. Here you will observe Africa’s top predators and big game. You will observe lions, leopards, cheetahs, zebras, giraffes, elephants, hippos and the great herds of wildebeests and zebras.
The areas you will visit inside the Serengeti will depend on the location of the great herds. During the short rainy season of November to December, the great herds tend to move from the northern hills towards the southern plains. During the long rainy season of April to June, the herds move back north to the hills.
Although locations of herds vary from year to year depending on the amount of rainfall, our guides are experienced, so they know where to find the animals; due to their experience, they also know where the best vantage points can be found.
Dinner and overnight accommodation will be at a lodge/ a wilderness camp inside the Serengeti.
DAY 7 : Serengeti National Park(half day) - Arusha - Departure
After breakfast in the Serengeti, you will start your journey back to Arusha. Our guide will drive you slowly as you continue to watch game along the way. You may get lucky and see animals that you did not see inside the plains in the previous two days.
Lunch will be served in a select spot, and after that, you will continue with the drive back to Arusha where you will arrive early in the evening ready for dinner and overnight accommodation or an airport transfer depending on your prior booking arrangements.
