08 Days best of Tanzania Wildlife Safari
Tour Code: TIA
Validity: Throughout the year
Minimum: 1 pax
Departure: Any day
Vehicle: 1 x 7 Seater 4×4 vehicles
Starts: Nairobi
Ends: Nairobi
Meals: as indicated on itinerary at a glance
ITINERARY AT A GLANCE
Day Location Accommodation Board Activity
1 Arusha-Serengeti N.P Serengeti Sopa Lodge LDBB AP
2 Serengeti National Park Serengeti Sopa Lodge LDBB P
3 Serengeti National Park Serengeti Sopa Lodge LDBB P
4 Serengeti-Ngorongo crater Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge LDBB AP
5 Ngorongoro-Lake Manyara L. Manyara Sopa Lodge LDBB AP
6 L. Manyara-Tarangire Tarangire Sopa Lodge LDBB AP
7 Tarangire National Park Tarangire Sopa Lodge LDBB P
8 Tarangire-Arusha Drop off L P
L-Lunch, D-Dinner, BB-Bed and breakfast, LDBB-Lunch, dinner, bed and breakfast, Trsf-Transfer, E-Early morning game drive, A-Morning game drive, P-Afternoon game drive, HDS-Half Day sightseeing, FDS-Full Day Sightseeing
FULL ITINERARY
Day 1– Arusha-Serengeti National G.P
Arusha- Serengeti Depart Maasai Mara after breakfast at around 08Am for Serengeti. The Serengeti National Park – with its endless plains, rolling into the distance as far as the eye can see. We head to the central park area, known as the Seronera area, one of the richest wildlife habitats in the park, featuring the Seronera River, which provides a valuable water source to this area and therefore attracts wildlife well representative of most of the Serengeti’s species. We arrive in time for an afternoon game drive in the Serengeti National Park.
Dinner and overnight in the Serengeti Sopa Lodge. Meal Plan {Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner}
Day 2– Serengeti National G.P
Serengeti Be one of only a few fortunate people to glide in a Hot Air Balloon over the Serengeti Plains (available at supplementary cost by pre-arrangement). Floating silently above the awakening bush, while spotting wildlife and enjoying the amazing scenery of Africa, across rivers and over numerous small villages. We do an after breakfast game viewing drive along the Sogore River Circuit, which loops into the plains south of the Seronera River, and which is good for possible lion, Thomson gazelle, topi, ostrich and cheetah sightings. The visitor’s Centre not far from the Serengeti Seronera Lodge and public campsites is well worth a visit after the morning’s game drive. This nicely designed Centre, offers some interesting wildlife displays as well as a gift shop selling information leaflets and maps of the area. The Centre also has a shop where cold drinks and snacks can be purchased, as well as a picnic area and information trail up and around a nearby kopje. We will enjoy a relaxed picnic lunch at the Centre in the shade of the giant acacia trees. In the afternoon we will follow the Kopjes Circuit, which goes anti-clockwise around the Maasai Kopjes, which usually attract a number of lion and some formidably large cobras. Kopjes are weathered granite outcrops, scattered around the plains, most of which are miniature ecosystems, providing shade and drinking water in pools left in the rock after the rains. This makes the kopjes particularly good for spotting wildlife in the dry seasons – including lions, which like to lie in wait for animals coming to drink!
Dinner and overnight in the Serengeti Sopa Lodge. Meal Plan {Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner}
Day 3– Serengeti National G.P
Serengeti Be one of only a few fortunate people to glide in a Hot Air Balloon over the Serengeti Plains (available at supplementary cost by pre-arrangement). Floating silently above the awakening bush, while spotting wildlife and enjoying the amazing scenery of Africa, across rivers and over numerous small villages. We do an after breakfast game viewing drive along the Sogore River Circuit, which loops into the plains south of the Seronera River, and which is good for possible lion, Thomson gazelle, topi, ostrich and cheetah sightings. The visitor’s Centre not far from the Serengeti Seronera Lodge and public campsites is well worth a visit after the morning’s game drive. This nicely designed Centre, offers some interesting wildlife displays as well as a gift shop selling information leaflets and maps of the area. The Centre also has a shop where cold drinks and snacks can be purchased, as well as a picnic area and information trail up and around a nearby kopje. We will enjoy a relaxed picnic lunch at the Centre in the shade of the giant acacia trees.
Dinner and overnight in the Serengeti Sopa Lodge. Meal Plan {Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner}
Day 4– Serengeti National G.P-Ngoro Ngoro Crater
NgoroNgoro Crater After breakfast at the lodge do we depart to Ngorongoro Conservation area? We will stopover at Olduvai Gorge, boasting with a history dating back to the dawn of time. It was here, that the anthropologists Drs. Lois and Mary Leakey discovered the skulls of the ‘Nutcracker Man’ and ‘Handy Man’, both very significant links in the chain of human evolution. We arrive in time for lunch at the lodge and spend the afternoon at leisure. Dinner and overnight Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge Meal Plan {Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner}
Day 5 – Ngoro Ngoro Crater Conservancy-Lake Manyara National. P
Ngorongoro conservancy to Lake Manyara National Park. We will pick you up after breakfast in your hotel in Arusha, and we drive towards Lake Manyara National Park. We arrive in time for lunch at the lodge and after lunch we head into the Lake Manyara National Park for an afternoon game drive.
The park is well known for its unusual tree-climbing lions and herds of elephant. The park is also home to hippos, baboons, giraffes, zebra, wildebeest, and is particularly good for bird watching, with over 380 species having been recorded.
Dinner and overnight Lake Manyara sopa lodges. Meal Plan [Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner]
Day 6– Lake Manyara G.P-Tarangire National Park
Lake Manyara-Tarangire Non game-viewing travel time: 3½ hours Distance: 155 km After breakfast we depart for the Tarangire National Park. The park runs along the line of the Tarangire River and is mainly made up of low-lying hills on the Great Rift Valley floor. Its natural vegetation mainly consists of Acacia woodland and giant African Baobab trees, with huge swamp areas in the south. Both the river and the swamps act like a magnet for wild animals, during Tanzania’s dry season. The Tarangire National Park is reputed to contain some of the largest elephant herds in Africa. This African National Park is also home to three rare species of animals – the Greater Kudu, the Fringed-eared Oryx, as well as a few Ashy Starlings. After a picnic lunch we do an afternoon game drive.
Dinner and overnight in the Tarangire Sopa Lodge. Meal Plan {Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner}
Day 7 – Tarangire National Park-full day
Tarangire National Park runs along the line of the Tarangire River and is mainly made up of low-lying hills on the Great Rift Valley floor. Its natural vegetation mainly consists of Acacia woodland and giant African Baobab trees, with huge swamp areas in the south. Both the river and the swamps act like a magnet for wild animals, during Tanzania’s dry season. The Tarangire National Park is reputed to contain some of the largest elephant herds in Africa. This African National Park is also home to three rare species of animals – the Greater Kudu, the Fringed-eared Oryx, as well as a few Ashy Starlings. After a picnic lunch we do an afternoon game drive. Dinner and overnight in the Tarangire Sopa Lodge. Meal Plan {Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner}
Day 8 – Tarangire National Park-Arusha
Tarangire-Arusha Non game-viewing travel time: 2 hours Distance: 120 km We enjoy an early morning game drive in the Tarangire National Park, followed by breakfast at the lodge. We will then transfer back to Moshi/Arusha. We will stop by Mto wa Mbu for a cultural village walk and a chance to meet and make new local friends, a local interaction and sampling a local lunch cuisine. Dinner and overnight in Mt. Meru Hotel Arusha Meal Plan {Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner}
Price
Price inclusive
• Transport in 7 seater Tour Land cruiser with pop up roof
• Accommodations as stipulated in the itinerary
• All park entrance fees
• All Government taxes and levies
• 3 Meals a Day Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian
• Game drives
• One Litre Mineral water a day while on safari
• Drivers Allowances
• Airport Transfers
Not included
• International airfare & flights
• Travel insurance
• Visa and Passport fees
• Alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks and beverages in Camp
• Anything not stipulated in the inclusive
Optional Activities:
• Masai Village Tour [Us dollars 30.00 per person]
• Hot Air Balloon Safaris [Us dollars 540.00 per person]
NATIONAL PARKS & RESERVES INFORMATION
Serengeti National Game Park
OPTIONAL MASAI MARA BALLOON SAFARI STARTING FROM USD 540 PER PERSON:
Close your eyes, and for a moment feel your body lift up, with you having no control over it, and there is a certain part of you, inside you, saying to yourself, I am crazy for taking this balloon safari. This is what most people feel, when the excitement of a Serengeti balloon safari crosses one’s emotion of self-control and independence.
Don’t stop! Tell me more about my Serengeti Balloon Safari in Tanzania?
The feeling is indescribable, crispness of the African air, chill in the wind that hits your face as your Serengeti hot air balloon gradually rises, smoothness in the exhale of your breath, and the excitement to see and learn more. One’s physical presence can be felt on the plains of the Serengeti when reading this.
Your trip begins when you get your wake up call at your safari lodge or tented camp in the early hours of the morning, as you yawn away, and thoughts about your wildlife viewing from an elevated position begins to stir your mind. The fresh Kenyan traditional hot tea and coffee quickly awaken you, in fact preparing you for a “mission”.
By 6.15 a.m. you are almost arriving at the hot air balloon site in the Serengeti. As you approach the site, the balloon seems bigger than you expected, the experience is one that has never been visited, and you are about to have a trip of a lifetime.
Liftoff! Up and away we go! At 6.30 a.m., the hot air balloon safari starts. The captain asks you to relax and experience the wonders under the African sky. As you finally start to get a grip on the elevation, an inner smile that resonates on one’s face does not need an explanation. The wildebeest moving in large numbers across the Serengeti plains, the beauty of the landscape when the rising sun’s bright orange colors are displayed, the elephants at the water pool, and the gazelles and zebras scampering away, just if it was their first time to witness an alien object in the sky.
By 7.30 a.m., one is very content with balloon safari, and it is almost touch down time. There is a celebration, and for those who prefer a toast, champagne is served, as hot breakfast in the bush is being prepared. You ask yourself, is this true? I am really doing this trip of a lifetime in Tanzania? In the Serengeti? As the sweetness and aroma of the African coffee surrounds you, with fresh eggs being served as you like it, you hope for another ride, and wish that such luxury never ended.
By the time you finish your breakfast, you have made up your decision to immigrate to Tanzania because such life is only found here. You begin to question yourself, and you feel an urgency to seek, live and enjoy this pristine beauty, a once in a lifetime “thing”.
By 9.00 a.m., you have been declared a champion, a mighty certificate of completion handed out to you which you hope to display in your home country, to family, friends, coworkers. Clapping and participation by everyone present makes you proud to have achieved a trip as wonderful as this.
By then you hear a blaring sound of music or even an annoying buzz, you turn around and switch of the alarm clock. Your eyes wide open, you know that you have to get back to Tanzania, to Serengeti; again otherwise the recurring
