Day 1 - Flight to Tanzania
Check in for your overnight flight with Kenya Airways from London to Kilimanjaro - making a quick connection in Nairobi.
Includes meals on your flight.
Day 2 - Arusha
Arrive at Kilimanjaro Airport in Tanzania first thing in the morning where you will be met by a driver who will transfer you to the comfortable Arusha Hotel. Spend the day at leisure in Arusha, perhaps doing a little shopping or just wandering around this bustling Africa town. You have a relaxing overnight stop here before joining your group and guide the following day to depart on your comfortable camping safari.
Breakfast is included on the flight; lunch and dinner are an additional cost.
Day 3 & 4 - Tarangire National Park
Meet with your group and guide after breakfast at 08.00. After all the introductions have taken place you will be given a short safety briefing about your camping safari. After a short stop at a supermarket to buy drinks, drive out of Arusha and into rural Tanzania along good tarmac roads. After passing through numerous farms and small villages, and just after the tarmac gives way to dirt roads, arrive at the gates of Tarangire National Park around lunchtime.
Spend most of the afternoon seeking out wildlife in this lesser visited, but very beautiful park, covered primarily with acacia and mixed woodland. In Tanzania's dry season between July and November the park is full of animals, drawn here by the permanent waters of the Tarangire River. It is especially famous for the huge herds of elephants that gather along the river - it is no exaggeration to say that you might see up to 500 in one day in the park. If you visit in the wet season the park is stunning and green with a phenomenal diversity of birdlife.
In the evening you will arrive at your special private campsite just for your safari group, where you will spend the next two nights. The camp staff will have come ahead of you and set up everything, so when you arrive you only need to freshen up before supper. Meals at these camps are a sociable affair with everyone gathering together for an evening drink around the fire and then dining together at one large table - a relaxed atmosphere in which to discuss the highlights of your Tanzania camping safari thus far.
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 5 - Lake Manyara National Park
Leave Tarangire early in the morning so that you can spend a full day in Lake Manyara National Park, a stunning park which sits at the bottom of the Great Rift Valley Escarpment. Though it is only 330km2 and with two thirds of that taken up by a shallow alkaline lake, it is still incredibly biologically diverse. In one day you will drive across open plains, through thick acacia woodland and into tropical forest. The variety of habitats makes it a great park for birds, and many people come here just to see the flamingos which thrive in the alkaline lake. That said, Manyara also supports a good number of plains game, including giraffe, buffalo, zebra and impala, as well as elephant. There are also leopard and lion here, but the denser bush makes them a little more elusive. While Manyara does not have such abundant game as Tanzania's other parks, its biodiversity makes it a very worthwhile stop.
In the early evening you will leave the park and drive up to the Ngorongoro Crater, where your camp has been set up for the night. You will have time to freshen up, before enjoying a filling and hearty dinner by the campfire.
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 6 - Ngorongoro Crater
Leave camp first thing in the morning for a full day safari on the 260km2 Ngorongoro Crater floor. Your expert guide will take you in search of big game, and the relaxed animals allow you to get up close for great photos. This is one of Tanzania's top parks for sheer wildlife numbers and you are likely to see most of the big five, with lion, buffalo and elephant being almost certain, rhino relatively likely, and leopard a little more elusive.
You are also likely to see great numbers of zebra and wildebeest, as well as spotted hyena of which there are many on the Crater floor. All of this fantastic wildlife viewing is set against the backdrop of the 600m Ngorongoro Crater wall.
In the mid-afternoon, leave the Crater and head on to the Serengeti. On the way stop at the fascinating Olduvai Gorge, where a small museum explains its importance as an archaeological site. The area was discovered as one of huge importance by Professor Katwinkle in 1911, but it wasn't until Louis Leakey arrived in 1931 that proper excavation began. Olduvai then shot to fame when the first fossilised remains of Homo habilis were discovered. Then, in 1976, footprints created more than three million years ago by a party of early hominids were discovered. This has cemented Olduvai's nickname as 'the cradle of humanity'.
You can also opt to visit a Maasai village today, to learn a little more about this famous tribe. Have a tour of a boma (homestead) and take the opportunity to ask questions about the culture of these fascinating people. The cost for this visit - usually a small fee of ten US dollars for the group - is payable locally and direct to the village.
Your base in the Serengeti for the next three nights of your comfortable camping safari will be either a private camp, similar to those used earlier in the safari, or a larger and more luxurious semi-permanent camp. The choice depends on availability; if the larger camp is full you will carry on as before, staying in a smaller wilderness camp with just your group. In either case you will be located in the central Serengeti, a great base from which to explore the Seronera area, Maasai kopjes, Moru kopjes and southern plains - all of which offer great game viewing throughout the year.
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Days 7 to 8 - Serengeti National Park
The Serengeti is arguably Tanzania's premier park and certainly it's the most famous of the four parks in the north of the country. Its reputation is built on both scenery and abundance of game - and its volume of game rarely disappoints.
Over the next few days you will have plenty of time to explore this phenomenal area. On one day you may head out for a full day's drive with a packed lunch. This will allow you to explore far and wide so that you can really experience the vastness of this famous park. On another day you may take a more leisurely approach - and opt for a morning and an afternoon drive, with lunchtime spent as a siesta in camp.
Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Day 9 - Flight to London
On your final day, get up early to enjoy one last safari drive in the Serengeti. Then in the late morning connect onto a small plane and fly from central Serengeti to Kilimanjaro Airport and the end of a magical Tanzania camping safari. On arrival you will be met and transferred to the nearby Kia Lodge, where you have a day room to relax and freshen up in. At about 17:00 you'll transfer back to Kilimanjaro Airport in plenty of time to connect onto your flight back to London.
Alternatively, instead of returning straight home you may wish to relax on a white Tanzanian beach for a bit instead. If so then add one of our tailor-made Expert Africa beach add-on holidays to Zanzibar, Pemba, Ras Kutani or the Mafia Archipelago, to your safari itinerary. Call us to ask about this and to get a possible quote.
Breakfast and lunch is included; dinner is included on the flight
Day 10 - Arrive in London
Return home with fond memories and amazing wildlife photographs of an exciting Tanzania camping safari and the four parks: Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara and Tarangire.
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