16 days Luxury Safari with Beach Extension in Zanzibar
Experience an exciting combination of Tanzanian Safari & Zanzibar
Take in the wonders of the amazing Ngorongoro Crater, the world famous Serengeti National Park, Tarangire with its gigantic Baobab trees and huge elephant populations, and the tree climbing lions of Lake Manyara, ending at the exotic island of Zanzibar.
Enjoy a bit of luxury camping deep in the bush staying in large tents with private verandahs and full en-suite facilities. Between mobile camps you will relax at a small lodge on an old coffee plantation, and in a fabulous lodge on the edge of Ngorongoro Crater.
DAY 1: ARRIVE TANZANIA
Arrive at Kilimanjaro Airport where you will be met by our representative, and transferred to Mt. Village Lodge. The Mountain Village Lodge is situated on a coffee plantation with views of Mt. Meru and Kilimanjaro. Your accommodation will be in one of the charming stone cottages sat amidst beautiful gardens overlooking Lake Duluti.
Overnight at Mt. Village Lodge or similar. Dinner included.
DAYS 2-3: TARANGIRE NATIONAL PARK
After breakfast, you will depart by road to your private tented camp, situated at the boundary of Tarangire National Park., which is Tanzania’s third largest national park, and is known for it’s majestic baobab trees that dot the landscape, dwarfing the animals that feed beneath them.
The park supports a great diversity of wildlife, especially during the dry season of July to Novmeber, when the Tarangire River provides the only permanent water supply in the area. During this season wildlife, including up to 6.000 elephants concentrate along the river.
Overnight at Tarangire Treetops or similar. All meals included.
DAY 4: TARANGIRE - LAKE MANYARA
After breakfast you’ll drive across the floor of the Great Rift Valley to Lake Manyara National Park. This beautiful park with it’s lush vegetation and tropical forests of giant fig and mahogany trees, takes its name from the Maasai word for "euphorbia tirucalli", a bush which is used to make a thorny hedge to protect their cattle.
Elephant, giraffe, buffalo, zebra and a variety of antelope inhabit the park as well as a variety of monkeys and a large population of hippo’s. If you are lucky you may see the Manyara lions, well known for their tree climbing habits, lazily resting on the branches of an "Acacia tortilis" tree. The birdlife is also abundant, with flamingoes, pelicans, hornbills and plenty of forest species.
Overnight at Plantation Lodge or similar. All meals included.
DAY 5: NGORONGORO CRATER
This morning your drive takes you the short distance to the "eighth wonder of the world", the Ngorongoro Crater, the largest unbroken caldera on earth. The floor of this collapsed volcano spreads for 102 sq. miles and the walls are 2,000ft high, a truly awesome sight.
The crater floor is a virtual "Noah's Ark", inhabited by almost every species of wildlife indigenous to East Africa including the black named lion and the endangered black rhino. The crater contains a river, several swamps, a soda lake - complete with flamingoes, a forest and open plains. With a picnic lunch you will descend the crater walls and spend the afternoon and early evening wildlife viewing on the crater floor , returning to your lodge in time for a sundowner on the verandah.
Your lodging for the next two nights will be at the Ngorongoro Serena Lodge. Perched on the edge of the crater, this beautiful lodge affords panoramic views of the crater floor.
Overnight at Ngorongoro Serena Lodge or similar. All meals included.
DAY 6: NGORONGORO CRATER
After an early breakfast you will depart for a half day of wildlife viewing on the crater floor (where from July 2006 only half day game drives are possible).
On this day you can visit Empakaai and Olmoti Craters instead of Ngorongoro Crater game drive, less famous and less visited, but very interesting for Walking safaris off the beaten track.
Overnight at Ngorongoro Serena Lodge or similar. All meals included.
DAYS 7-10: SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK
After breakfast depart for Serengeti National Park with a stop en-route at Oldupai Gorge. Oldupai is the famous archeological site where the Leakeys discovered remains of Australopithecus, Homo Habilis and Homo Erectus, bringing crucial understanding to the study of the evolution of the human species.
From Oldupai you’re off to the “Great Serengeti”, likely the most famous wildlife sanctuary in the world. The vast Serengeti plains cover an area of over 14,763 square kilometers and during the months of the migration, is the habitat of huge numbers of wildebeest, zebra and Thomson’s gazelle with estimates of up to 1.5 million.
