Tanzania: Culture and Wildlife - 12 days

Tanzania is not just wildlife!  There are also fascinating cultures here. Look for elephants on the banks of the Tarangire River, visit beautiful Lake Manyara National Park and the incredible Ngorongoro Crater with volcanic landscapes and abundant wildlife.   Use up all your film/digital camrea cards among the vast herds of the Serengeti.  Then, unlike most travelers in Tanzania, you’ll also meet and interact with local communities. Visit a Masai Boma (village), walk with a Dagota Warrior and join in the daily activities of the Hadzape (Bushman)- one of the last tribes who still hunt and gather in Africa- collecting plants or hunting with bows and arrows. This is an extraordinary journey that combines both wildlife and cultural encounters

Day 1

Arrival at Kilimanjaro Airport / Transfer to Arusha
After arrival at Kilimanjaro airport you will be met and transferred to your hotel in Arusha, and, if time allows, you will have a short briefing.  Light dinner at your hotel.
Meals Included: Dinner
Overnight: Olasiti Lodge

Day 2

Arusha - Tarangire National Park
Depart with your naturalist guide for Tarangire, Tanzania's third largest national park, and a sanctuary for an unusually large elephant population.  Enjoy game drives in the park and a picnic lunch.   On your way out of the park visit Minjingu Women’s Group who make colorful handcrafts.  At the end of the day, your camp awaits, where you can relax with aperitives around the fire.
Meals Included: Breakgfast, Lunch, Dinner
Overnight: Maramboi Tented Camp or Lake Burunge Tented Camp

TARANGIRE NATIONAL PARK
Tarangire National Park is beautifully unspoiled. The land is hilly and dominated by the impressive valley of the Tarangire River, which attracts large numbers of migrant animals during the dry months, especially between July and September.  Throughout the year there are always a fantastic number of colorful birds swooping and strutting along the rough paths in front of your vehicle, such as the lovely Paradise Whyder and the endearing Yellow-collared lovebirds.  Safari drives here travel through regions of dense bush, high grasses and swamps, and enjoy views of distant purpled formations of volcanic mountain ranges. A particular feature of the park is its huge old baobab trees.  It’s also a great place to watch elephant gatherings at the river.  There are a few resident lion as well, who may be seen hunting the many animals who come into the park to drink during the dry season.  . 

Day 3

Tarangire National Park
An early morning visit to Tarangire National Park.  Brunch at the camp.  In the afternoon, enjoy a hike escorted by the Datoga Warriors.  Learn about their culture and use of plants as medicines.
Meals Included: Breakgfast, Lunch, Dinner
Overnight:  Maramboi Tented Camp or Lake Burunge Tented Camp

Day 4

MTO Wa Mbu and Karatu Visit
In the early morning, we begin our walk through the pans to Lake Manyara. After lunch, there’ll be a visit to the small village of Mto Wa Mbu and a visit to the Culture Program, run by the Government, which includes a visit to a local school and some of the plantations to learn about farming of the more than 30 species of bananas that grow in the area. 
Meals Included: Breakgfast, Lunch, Dinner
Overnight: Kisima Ngeda Tented Camp or Tindiga Tented Camp

Day 5 

Karatu-Eyasi
Depart for Lake Eyasi for an extraordinary cross-cultural experience. The dry and rugged landscape by the lake is inhabited by the Hadzabe (Bushmen), who live in nomadic groups. This is a unique opportunity to meet some of the last members of this tribe, one of the last tribes in Africa who still live by hunting and gathering. We will join one of the families on their normal daily routine, which can include hunting with bows and arrows or gathering roots, tubers and wild fruits, depending on the season.  Our local guide will interpret for you and discuss hunting techniques still used by the Hadzape.

In the afternoon, you’ll enjoy a visit to the Datoga tribe, a semi-nomadic pastoralist tribe who migrated into this area looking for good grazing land many decades ago. They have, so far, resisted cultural infiltrations from neighboring tribes. The women still wear locally fat-treated goatskin gowns and mark their faces and bodies, which is a sign of beauty. Learning about their history and culture is an unforgettable experience.
Meals Included: Breakgfast, Lunch, Dinner
Overnight: Kisima Ngeda Tented Camp or Tindiga Tented Camp.

Day 6

Eyasi - Karatu
This morning, walk along the lake shore, visit the large farms, and then return to the Camp for lunch. After lunch, depart for Karatu, where you will have the option to walk around the vegetable gardens, or just relax.
Meals Included: Breakgfast, Lunch, Dinner
Overnight: Ngorongoro Farm House or Tloma Mountain Lodge

Day 7

Ngorongoro Crater - Highlands
This morning depart for Ngorongoro Crater, with a picnic lunch.  Descend into Crater to view game on the vast grasslands of the crater floor.  Spectacular animal life can be found here throughout the year due to the permanent availability of grass and water. After lunch we will drive to the impressive escarpment in Endulen, in the Ngorongoro Highlands.

NGORONGORO CRATER
Ngorongoro Crater is the world's largest intact caldera, forming a spectacular bowl of about 100 square miles with sides up to 2000ft. high.  This extraordinary volcanic landscape is rich and fertile, with stunning craters and lakes. The Crater floor is home to about 30,000 animals and consists of a number of ecological environments that includes grassland, swamps, forests and Lake Makat, a central soda lake. Although animals are free to move in and out of this contained environment, the rich volcanic soil, lush forests and spring lakes attract both grazers and predators, who remain throughout the year.

Ngorongoro is a fascinating and unusual Conservation Area which comprises the phenomenal Ngorongoro Crater at its center and then extends through the Crater Highlands, where local tribes are permitted to reside and maintain their traditional lifestyles in as natural an environment as possible.
Meals Included: Breakgfast, Lunch, Dinner
Overnight: Ngorongoro Farm House or Tloma Mountain Lodge

Day 8

Laetoli / Ndutu - Serengeti National Park
After breakfast, visit a Masai boma (a family village) and take part in their morning activities. Enjoy a hike escorted by a Masai Warrior through the Highlands. Visit the Laetoli Museum. Enjoy a picnic lunch and then drive to the Serengeti.
Meals Included: Breakgfast, Lunch, Dinner
Overnight: Serengeti Kati Kati Camp

Days 9, 10, 11

Serengeti National Park
Spend three days discovering the amazing Serengeti National Park, perhaps the most impressive wildlife sanctuary in the world. These vast, seemingly unending plains are inhabited during the migration by enormous herds of wildebeest and zebra. The herds attract the attention of predators such as lion, cheetah and hyena. Another interesting feature of Serengeti are the massive granite “Kopjes”, old granite islands of rock worn away by erosion and set in a sea of grass. They possess an ecology all their own. The kopjes provide shelter to a great variety of plants and animals, including lizards, mongoose, monkeys, antelope, eagles, tiny dik-diks and elusive leopards.
Meals Included: Breakgfast, Lunch, Dinner
Overnight: Serengeti Kati Kati Camp

SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK
Serengeti National Park is one of the largest wildlife sanctuaries in the world, stretching about 6000sq. miles. Its name comes from the language of the Masai which means “endless plains”.  Serengeti is the mythical image of an Africa of large spaces, profound blue skies dotted with clouds, cool sunrises and fire red sunsets. It is situated on a high plateau which extends from east to west, from the highlands of Ngorongoro to Lake Victoria, and continues north to the Masai-Mara Reserve in Kenya.  It is home to a great variety of animals, including giraffe, hippo, hyena, lion, leopard, cheetah, elephant and a variety of antelope. More than 500 species of birds also live here, from enormous ostriches to tiny honey birds.

The most outstanding characteristic of this gigantic ecosystem is the enormous concentration of wildebeest, zebras, and antelope, and their annual migration.  At the end of the rains in April and May, around a million wildebeest and zebras congregate in the central plains of the park and commence a spectacular migration which takes them towards Lake Victoria on the west and towards Masai Mara to the north, where fresh pastures and permanent water await. This gigantic moving mass of animals attracts the large predators, such as lions and hyenas.
Meals Included: Breakgfast, Lunch, Dinner
Overnight: Serengeti Kati Kati Camp.

Day 12

Serengeti National Park- Arusha
Enjoy one last game drive in the Serengeti before departing for the drive back to Arusha. Lunch en-route.  Arrive at Arusha in the afternoon (approximately 5 pm). You will then be transferred to the airport in time for your evening departure.