12 Days Wildlife & Culture Safari

Day 1: Elewana Arusha Coffee Lodge.

On arrival at Kilimanjaro or Arusha Airport, you’ll be personally met and escorted by our driver-guide to the stylish Arusha Coffee Lodge in the heart of Tanzania’s safari center where you’ll spend the night. Activities, including swimming, shopping, or visiting local markets.

Day 2: Tarangire Sopa Lodge.

On this day you depart after breakfast to Tarangire National Park for a full-day game drive. Since this is one of the less-known parks in Tanzania, it still has an authentic safari atmosphere. The hilly landscape scattered with grand Baobab trees against the blue sky is breathtaking. Witness the world’s largest concentration of elephants. Herds of up to 300 elephants can be seen around the Tarangire River, drinking or enjoying a mud bath. Apart from elephants, Tarangire is a paradise for bird lovers. In the area around these swamps, you can also see lions, leopards, cheetahs and even tree-climbing pythons. Meals and Overnight at Tarangire Safari Lodge.

Day 3: Mandhari Lodge, Lake Manyara National Park.

After breakfast, you’ll embark on a full day’s game drive with a picnic lunch, ranging far and wide. Among many aspects of animal behavior, your Guide will point out the fascinating way elephants communicate with subtle interactions.
Drive to Lake Manyara National Park, passing through the cool shade of the groundwater forest before reaching the lakeshore. The Park is best known for its tree-climbing lions, but you are more likely to encounter elephants, buffalo, primates, and astounding bird life. After a picnic lunch, you continue game-viewing. Return as the sun sets behind the distant highlands and climb the Great Rift Valley escarpment to Mandhari Lodge on its edge for a relaxing dinner and overnight.

Day 4: Ziwani Lodge, Lake Eyasi.

Lake Eyasi-
Tucked between the Kidero Mountains in the south and the Eyasi Escarpment in the north, Lake Eyasi is situated in a remote, dry, arid landscape just south of Tanzania’s renowned Serengeti National Park. This seasonal lake features dry salt beds and is home to a variety of birdlife such as flamingos and pelicans. Beautiful surroundings of woodlands, forests, and ancient baobabs beckon to be explored, with numerous excellent walking trails. Visitors can learn about local cultures by visiting the pastoralist Datoga people as well as the nomadic hunter-gatherer Hadzabe group. Other popular activities include bird watching, hiking, walking safaris, and soaking up the spectacular views. Don’t miss the opportunity to visit the nearby enthralling Oldeani Mountain, the atmospheric swampy valley area of Yaeda, and the spectacular Serengeti.

We enter the true tribal areas of Tanzania after leaving the tourist trail after breakfast and heading towards Lake Eyasi. Upon arrival, we can interact with the Hadzabe/Datoga tribes by taking an afternoon wilderness walk of the area. Meals and Overnight at ZIWANI LODGE.

Lake Eyasi Cultural Day-
In the early morning, after having tea & and coffee in camp, you proceed driving with a local guide into the surrounding hills ridges in search of a Hadzabe encampment; arriving at their last known site of camp you proceed after them on foot. Upon meeting them you are introduced to the camp
members. Visit their tiny huts, follow the women on a gathering foray and see how roots are dug, mice are caught and berries and Baobab fruit are gathered and prepared, or follow the men on a hunt, led in the wildlife-rich woodland between towering Baobabs and acacias. The men are armed with longbows with poison-tipped arrows, which you can see produced in the village, and honey axes. If successful on the hunt, or finding a beehive, you will be offered to share their meal, a small antelope, a Francolin, or Guinea fowl as luck dictates that day. Return to your Camp for lunch. In the afternoon Set out and visit a Datooga community and learn about their traditional pastoral way of life. The women still wear leather dresses, traditional jewelry, and distinctive facial scarification, and the men armed with spears tend to their vast herds. Visit the traditional homesteads and experience their way of life and time permitting pass by the traditional Datooga blacksmith, that still resides in the area. In the late afternoon return to your camp.

Day 5: Ngorongoro Lion’s Paw Camp, Ngorongoro Crater.

An early morning ethnobotanical walk including a visit to the local Iraqw tribe. After breakfast, depart for Ngorongoro Conservation Area, ascending to the rim on the descent road of the Crater some 2,000 feet below. Tour the Lerai Forest with its yellow-barked acacias, searching for giant-tusked elephants, rare black rhinos, and black-maned lions. Ascend the crater rim at dusk through the verdant montane forest for dinner and overnight at Ngorongoro Lions Paw.

Day 6: Ngorongoro Lion’s Paw Camp, Ngorongoro Crater.

Walking/hike Day,
The hike is just 2.5 kilometers down to the crater but is quite steep. Along the way you will dip in and out of the thick forest vegetation, often passing underneath ancient trees and thick vines. Keep your eyes out for buffalo, baboons, and birdlife as you pass underneath the canopy on your way down to the lake. Meals and Overnight at Ngorongoro Lions Paw.

Day 7: Ole Serai Luxury Camp Seronera, Central Serengeti.

In the morning after breakfast, you depart for the Serengeti via Olduvai Gorge to visit the interesting museum at this world-famous archaeological site containing fossils of our early two-million-year-old human ancestors. Continue on a game drive through the vast Serengeti National Park to the luxurious Ole Serai Luxury Camp-Seronera for lunch. In the afternoon, head out for game drives before returning to camp for dinner and overnight.

Day 8: Ole Serai Luxury Camp Seronera, Central Serengeti.

Today you continue your safari in the Serengeti National Park. Its stunning landscape can be seen in some of the most impressive nature documentaries. The endless plains and abundance of wildlife are unsurpassed. The annual wildebeest migration with more than a million wildebeest is probably the highlight of the Serengeti. It is a true spectacle and impressive to watch millions of wildebeest, zebras, and gazelles thunder across the endless plains of the Serengeti. Together with your private guide, you will be looking for the herds across the plains. Apart from the migratory animals, you will also get to see lots of other animals, like lions, cheetahs, leopards, and many more. Expect to be impressed by the natural beauty of Africa’s most famous park. Meals and Overnight at Serai Luxury Camp-Seronera.
If you like to watch wildlife from another perspective, we recommend you go on a balloon safari. It is an amazing experience to drift silently above the plains with herds of wildlife, as well as Walk a safari with an armed ranger followed by a Sundowner.

Day 9: Ole Serai Luxury Camp Kogatende, Northern Serengeti.

After breakfast, you will drive heading to Northern Serengeti. The Serengeti is the largest park in Tanzania and has a diversity of habitats and landscapes including short grass plains, savannah, thick bush, swamps, mountains, and lakes. Bizarre rock formations called kopjes dot the grassy landscape where predators are often seen. Dinner and overnight at Ole Serai Luxury Camp – Kogatende.

Day 10: Ole Serai Luxury Camp Kogatende, Northern Serengeti.

After breakfast, you will set out for a full day of game drives inside Serengeti to spot migration and game drives for other wildlife as well. Then Meals and Overnight at Ole Serai Luxury Camp – Kogatende.

Day 11: Ole Serai Luxury Camp Kogatende, Northern Serengeti.

After breakfast, you will set out for another full day of game drives inside Serengeti to spot migration and game drives for other wildlife as well. Meals and overnight at Ole Serai Luxury Camp – Kogatende.

Day 12: End.

Breakfast. Game drives en route to Kogatende airstrip. Scheduled flight to Arusha and lunch. Following your transfer to Kilimanjaro International Airport for your international flight back home.