6 DAYS
SAFARIS
SAFARIS TO TARANGIRE SERENGETI & NGORONGORO
Day 1: Arrive to Arusha
Arrive anytime at Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO). We will arrange a private transfer from Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO) to your hotel, where the rest of the day is at leisure. We shall gather in the hotel for a pre-safari briefing and an equipment check.
We shall also confirm you have the appropriate mandatory medical coverage and travel insurance.
Day 2: Safari to Tarangire National Park.
Today we drive to Tarangire National Park, for excellent game viewing. Tarangire is a small park which offers some excellent sights. Generally in the dry seasons Tarangire comes alive as wildlife and birdlife congregate on the Tarangire River, which is a permanent source of water.
Day3: Safari to Lake Manyara National Park.
This is one of Tanzania’s small parks but still offers a rewarding and diverse safari experience. The lake shore at Manyara teems with birdlife, and while you are looking for the birds, you might spot one of the elusive tree-climbing lions. There are a surprising number of other large mammals and the striking cliffs on the Rift escarpment form a dramatic backdrop. In the late afternoon we make a short journey from the park to our special tented camp.
Day 4:Safari to Serengeti National Park.
We head towards the Serengeti National Park. En route there is an opportunity to visit Olduvai Gorge. After lunch we drive into the Serengeti itself and the rest of the afternoon is spent game viewing in the vast plains that are broken only by stands of acacia trees and the occasional kopje. In December, January and February we will normally meet the migration with large herds of wildebeest, zebra, and gazelle. There are always plenty of resident animals, such as giraffe, buffalo, and elephant, and many large predators such as lion, cheetah, and leopard.
Day 5: Full day game drives Serengeti National Park.
We have another full day in this wonderful park, rising early to make the most of our time. Our guides will choose the best spotting locations for the time of year; we can spend time at the Hippo pool watching these majestic animals laze about in the cool water happily living alongside the crocodiles, watch a big pride of lions, be in the middle of the migration, sometimes surrounded by wildebeest, sometimes by zebras, which travel with the wildebeest. This diverse and interesting landscape will provide us with the ultimate in game viewing, we will hopefully see all of the plain games; elephants, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, lions and it you are lucky the elusive leopard and cheetah, as well as huge amounts of interesting bird life, from the elegant secretary birds to the flightless ostrich.
Day 6:Safari to Ngorongoro Crater.
We start the day with an early morning game drive before heading to Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Ngorongoro is a special place in that it is a Conservation Area, not a National Park; this means that the whole area is managed for both the animals and the local Masai people who graze their cattle alongside the indigenous wildlife. The only animal you won’t see in here is a giraffe, whose long legs are unable to cope with the steeps sides of the crater. In the late afternoon we travel just outside of Ngorongoro Conservation Area to Crater Forest .
Day 7: Arusha to Kilimanjaro Airport (JRO)
Free morning to relax after your great northern safari or explore the town, especially maasai market.
Our Tour Include:
Full board accommodation whilst on safari in the above mentioned en suite tented camps and lodges
Private guide
Private 4 x 4 safari jeep with pop up roof for game viewing
Transfers in both directions between the International Airport
Park fees
Crater fees
Airport Arrival/Departure Meet and Greets at the airport
On safari – Vehicles equipped with ice chest with mineral water,
Excludes:
Tanzania Visa: $50 per person on arrival, USA and CANADA passport holders $.100
Personal Expenses (e.g. laundry, telephone, beverages, etc.)
Meals not listed above
Optional Tours (balloon rides $. 500 per person etc)
Tips and any items of personal nature.
What to do
Hot air balloon safaris, walking safari, picnicking, game drives, bush lunch/dinner can be arranged with hotels/tour operators. Maasai rock paintings and musical rocks.
Visit neighbouring Ngorongoro Crater, Olduvai Gorge, Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano and Lake Natron's flamingos.
When to go
To follow the wildebeest migration, December-July. To see predators, June-October.
Serengeti camping
Accommodation
Four lodges, six luxury tented camps and camp sites scattered through the park; one new lodge will be opened next season (Bilila Lodge); one luxury camp, a lodge and two tented camps just outside.
A million wildebeest... each one driven by the same ancient rhythm, fulfilling its instinctive role in the inescapable cycle of life: a frenzied three-week bout of territorial conquests and mating; survival of the fittest as 40km (25 mile) long columns plunge through crocodile-infested waters on the annual exodus north; replenishing the species in a brief population explosion that produces more than 8,000 calves daily before the 1,000 km (600 mile) pilgrimage begins again.
The spectacle of predator versus prey dominates Tanzania’s greatest park. Golden-maned lion prides feast on the abundance of plain grazers. Solitary leopards haunt the acacia trees lining the Seronera River, while a high density of cheetahs prowls the southeastern plains. Almost uniquely, all three African jackal species occur here, alongside the spotted hyena and a host of more elusive small predators, ranging from the insectivorous aardwolf to the beautiful serval cat.
Popular the Serengeti might be, but it remains so vast that you may be the only human audience when a pride of lions masterminds a siege, focussed unswervingly on its next meal.
NOTE
The route and timing of the wildebeest migration is unpredictable. Allow at least three days to be assured of seeing them on your visit - longer if you want to see the main predators as well.
In the past, tourism was of little significance to Tanzania and few people chose to visit it. To have to deal with all the uncertainties, and at the same time not really be sure what natural attractions the country had to offer made one question whether the cost was reasonable. In fact this did not have a negative effect upon the nature reserves and even during the most difficult times major efforts were undertaken to maintain the national parks and also to create new ones.