Whatever your arrival time at Kilimanjaro International Airport, your Simba Adventures driver-guide will be waiting for you with a warm welcoming smile. Kick back and relax in your comfortable vehicle as he takes you to your hotel in Arusha, Tanzania’s self-styled ‘safari capital.’ On your journey to the hotel, you will get a brief impression of this large, bustling, commercial city. Depending on your arrival time, you may have your pre-safari briefing today; if not, it will take place early tomorrow morning.
Accommodation at Gran Melia Hotel Arusha or similar
DAY 2: Arusha – Tarangire
Our two-hour morning journey first takes us westwards from Arusha. Along the route, your eyes will be opened to all the colours and character of Tanzania: perhaps some Maasai herdsmen driving their flocks of goats to new pastures. You’ll get to know your driver-guide, amazed at his depth of knowledge as he effortlessly answers all your questions
Tarangire is huge. As you stand at the park gate and look south, it stretches as far as the eye can see. Known as the ‘Elephant Playground,’ this phenomenal park contains huge herds of these mighty mammals. But Tarangire is also home to buffalo, lion, wildebeest, zebra and gazelle and the park can rival Serengeti for sheer animal densities. What might you see today? Perhaps a solitary male lion stretched out beneath a tree, perhaps a trio of male cheetah enjoying some lazy bonding-time in the sun. Maybe some graceful Grant’s gazelle or zebra bounding away from the road or a couple of giraffe munching happily from the choicest acacia branches. For Tarangire specialities, look out for kudu and oryx.
Here as in other parks, it pays not to ignore the small animals. It’s so easy to be mesmerized by the power and majesty of an elephant or the elegance of the giraffe. Ask your guide to find you an agama lizard, especially a male one who changes colour in front of you according to the temperature! Or a hyrax, known as pimpi, an insignificant-looking creature of around 30cm in length…who astonishingly is related to the elephant!
Not many trees will pass you by without something of avian interest catching your eye. A memorable flash of colour might be a lilac-breasted roller or blue-eared starling. Ostrich are plentiful and it’s hard not to chuckle at the sighting of the well-named, studious-looking secretary bird as it awkwardly pads across the grasslands.
The park is also famous for its splendid baobab trees, rolling savannah and acacia woodland. It can be dusty – wear a scarf over your mouth - but this is a minor inconvenience for sighting wildlife in such abundance.
Accommodation at Acacia Tarangire Luxury Camp or similar
DAY 3: Tarangire Walking Safari – Ngorongoro
Your close encounters with nature and wildlife on your morning walking safari.
Up close and personal: that could be the motto for a walking safari, and Tarangire is a fantastic location to again leave the comfort of your safari vehicle and enjoy the landscape on foot. With a Park Ranger for safety and accompanied by your expert driver-guide, you will be amazed at how much more you can learn from a couple of hours walking in the bush. The great unknown, of course, is what you will see…and who you might meet! Your senses are challenged and heightened, with unfamiliar sounds and smells meeting you throughout your journey. You’ll find out about animal tracks and dung, learn what to do if you get too close to a grazing elephant and discover who lives in those emblematic, strange-shaped termite mounds (and it’s not just termites, far from it!) Being this close to nature may be a whole new experience for you, but the memories will stay with you forever – of that we are sure.
After our walking safari, we will take you back to your accommodation for lunch, before taking a final look with a game-drive through the park on our way to Ngorongoro Conservation.
Our journey from Tarangire to Ngorongoro takes us to the northwest, a journey of around 4 ½ hours.
Accommodation at Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge
DAY 4: Safari in Ngorongoro Crater
Like nothing else on Earth, the stunning crater of Ngorongoro is a unique home for many, many species of Tanzania’s wildlife. With some luck, you may even see a black rhino here.
From the rim, we admire the incredible view then descend into the vast crater itself. At one side there’s the Lerai Forest, classic mountain forest landscape with almost tropical characteristics. This is good elephant country, so keep your eyes peeled. By the side of the nearby swampland is what is sometimes called the ‘elephant graveyard’ as the mighty male tuskers at the end of their lives come to chew on the soft, swampland grasses once their teeth have failed them.
The crater has a population of around 120 lions, with well-defined territories; 15,000 wildebeest, 9,000 zebra, 400 hyenas, and around 50 black rhino. Many wildebeest and other herd animals are resident, benefiting from the many sources of year-round waters and are boosted by some migrators in season. Buffalo, Thomson’s gazelle and eland are also present in numbers. Hippos can be found in pools and swampland and highland birdlife is colourful and plentiful around the waters. Flamingos can often be seen in Lake Magadi, which occupies part of the crater floor.
Accommodation at – Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge or similar
DAY 5 - 7
Ngorongoro – Serengeti
After breakfast, we set off for our next destination, Serengeti, a distance of 145km and a journey time of around 2 ½ hours. On arrival, we take lunch and have an afternoon game drive.
Here’s a National Park which will offer you a whole variety of wildlife surprises over the next few days, but perhaps today’s highlight – certainly for first-time visitors - will simply be the Serengeti terrain itself. The sheer vastness, as the plains roll away in front of you into eternity, will leave you with a sense of awe.
At last! Serengeti, the incomparable wonder of Tanzania, will be the stage for the natural animal theatrics which will be performed over the next few days. Your game drive here combines the known with the unknown, the certainty that you will be amazed with the uncertainty of exactly what you will see and when. Changing light, a changing cast of animal actors, ensuring that at every turn there is a new experience. Snap off some memorable photos, but don’t forget to simply take a deep breath and enjoy nature in its real-time, raw beauty.
Accommodation at – Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge or similar
DAY 8: Serengeti – Lake Eyasi
After a morning game drive and lunch, this afternoon we will head south to Lake Eyasi, a journey of around 4 ½ hours.
Although we will have another chance this morning to marvel at the Serengeti, perhaps today’s highlight will be our meeting with some of our country’s fascinating tribe people. Today, we will meet the Datoga in their traditional village houses.
With its informative visitor centre, the Seronera area of Central Serengeti is the national park’s most popular area. And it is very popular with the wildlife, too. The Seronera river enjoys year-round waterflow, so there is always something of interest to observe. Several game drives can be undertaken here and might reveal lions in sizeable prides, hippo or herds of elephants - whose populations in the park have risen in recent times. Depending on other attractions, we may choose to call in at the Serengeti Visitor Centre, where there is an excellent explanation of the park’s eco-system and a chance to understand the history of conservation in this area. In particular, you will find out about the work of Bernhard Grzimek and the Frankfurt Zoological Society who had the foresighted vision of preserving the Serengeti’s eco-system.
After lunch, we head south to Lake Eyasi. Here, we have an opportunity to remind ourselves that Tanzania is rich in human culture, as well as rich in fantastic wildlife. The Datoga tribes are our hosts this afternoon, as we are introduced to their village, customs and traditions. A colorful experience, not to be forgotten!
Accommodation at – Kisima Ngeda Tented Camp or similar
DAY 9: Lake Eyasi – Arusha
After breakfast and our morning walking safari gets you very quickly into the safari mood, visits to see the Hadzabe, hunter-gatherers and the local blacksmith.
Day’s Highlight
Everyone will have their own, favorite cultural experience today. But perhaps your lasting memory will be of the Hadzabe hunter-gatherers. Their lifestyle will make you ponder how uncomplicated – though not easy - life can be.
Lake Eyasi is located in the Great Rift Valley, southwest of the Ngorongoro Crater. Its salt-water levels experience dramatic changes with the seasons: in years with little rainfall, the lake can almost disappear. Near to the shimmering lake, we will first experience a hunting trip with the Hadzabe, the last hunter-gatherers in Tanzania, before visiting a local blacksmith as he practises his craft, fashioning pots and weapons from scrap metal.
After our lunch, we jump in our vehicle and start our drive travelling via the Great Rift Valley and the rural village of Mto wa Mbu to Arusha, arrive in early evening.
Accommodation at Gran Melia Hotel Arusha or similar
Day 10: Departure
After breakfast, you can relax at the hotel until it is time for you to transfer to the airport. This mark the end of our service!
Tour Included:
Lodge/Tented camp safari according to the itinerary
