Tanzania Safari Tour

Day 01: Kilimanjaro Airport – Arusha City

Upon arrival at Kilimanjaro Airport, our representative will meet you and pick you up. Enjoy the leisurely drive to Arusha. The drive will take approximately one hour. Your professional safari guide will be sharing the safari briefing with you today. While you get to know your guide, you can also learn a number of good tips on culture, safety and the exciting new adventure ahead of you. Overnight at lodge.

Day 02: Arusha City – Tarangire National Park – Karatu

After breakfast, you will depart early to Tarangire National Park. Tarangire is home to the largest elephant population in northern Tanzania along with plentiful numbers of zebras, giraffes, wildebeest, impalas, waterbucks, Grant gazelles, dik diks, jackals, lions, leopards, cheetahs, kudus, fringe eared Oryx, eland, wild dogs, hyenas, and hippos. The Tarangire River has water all year round and during the dry season, between July and October, many animals from the surrounding areas come to the river to drink. If you visit the park during the dry season, you will witness an unforgettable natural wonder as you observe exotic big mammals such as lions, giraffes, buffaloes, wildebeests, zebras, and various types of antelopes such as gazelles. During the dry season, Tarangire is also a haven for bird watchers with over 550 different species including the Maasai Ostrich – the world’s largest bird. Around lunchtime, you will stop at a suitable picnic place. After our visit in Tarangire National Park, we will head to Karatu. If time permits, you can visit Lake Manyara National Park on the way to Karatu. Jungle Lodge Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner.

Day 03: Karatu – Serengeti National Park (Central)

After breakfast, we head on to the Great Serengeti Plains. Welcome to Ndutu, the traditional birthing grounds of the great wildebeest herds. In this season, calves take their first wobbly baby steps. However, these precious moments can leave the herd at their most vulnerable! After witnessing nature’s drama around us we continue to our mobile tent, where hot dinner will be served. Overnight Luxury Tented Camp. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner.

Day 04: Drive: Serengeti North

This morning wake up to the sounds of the wildlife of the Serengeti, one of the most natural and probably the oldest ecosystems on earth. The essential features of climate, vegetation, fauna and flora have barely changed over the past million years. The patterns of life, death, adaptation and migration are as old as the hills themselves. This is probably where the Human story began. One of the greatest natural phenomena on earth is the “Great Migration,” for which the Serengeti is perhaps most famous. The Great Migration includes more than 2.5 million wildebeest, driven by ancient rhythms and instincts, following water sources in a clockwise cycle, traveling 600 miles per year. The Serengeti is also the best destination for viewing big cats and other wildlife species. Our main mission today is to follow the herds as they gather on the banks of the Mara River, waiting to cross over to seek greener grass. They instinctively know the spots where the water is shallow. As they gather, they wait and wait and assess the situation for any danger. They might wait for hours or days and sometimes for weeks until one brave Wildebeest will finally take the plunge. This is when this high drama starts to unfold. The herd will follow the one brave soul and rush through the water at full speed. This is the moment for the ever-elusive predators that lurk in these murky waters to make their move. The Nile Crocodile is the largest crocodile and the perfect match for this strong beast. The chaos is stunning, and you can smell the adrenaline in the air. Most of the herd will make it safely across but there may be some unlucky ones that get caught by the monsters. The whole thing might take just a few minutes and it’s all over. You are taking a chance to see this unique phenomenon and it is not staged or choreographed, so keep your cameras rolling. After a full day’s game drive in the Serengeti, we arrive at the lodge for evening leisure and a hot dinner. Overnight: Luxury Tented Camp. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner.

Day 05: Serengeti National Park – Central

Today you continue your exploration of the Serengeti. Look and listen carefully for clues of animal activity. We look forward to hearing about your interesting observations in this vast natural environment. As you return to your camp in central Serengeti, you never know what you might encounter next. This is wild, live and unscripted. Luxury Tented Camp. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Day 06: Serengeti Central – Ngorongoro

Early breakfast, and then descend into the crater for a half day crater tour. Ngorongoro Crater, formed 30 million years ago, is considered one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the world and one of Africa’s most remarkable geological sites. It is 100 square miles and drops a half-mile. It contains a unique ecosystem inhabited by 30,000 animals. A caldera is the floor of a volcano that has dissolved and dropped over time. Inside the world’s biggest caldera, you cannot fail to be captivated by the rich and diverse wildlife. In the grass steppes and Acacia forest, you will find almost every type of animal from the East African Savanna. The Big Five and most of the animal species found in the Serengeti, including giraffes, zebra, hippos, wildebeest, and cheetahs, can be viewed in the Ngorongoro Crater close up. The Ngorongoro maintains the historic balance between people and nature in a way that is not possible in other parks in Tanzania. Overnight: Ngorongoro area hotel or lodge. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner.

Day 07 Ngorongoro Crater – Kilimanjaro International Airport

Early morning optional Hadzabe visit: After an early breakfast, if time allows, you will meet a local guide who speaks the language of your next hosts. Your hosts are the Hadzabe Bushmen, a unique tribe that is likely the last of the hunter-gatherer tribes of the African plains. The Hadzabe live in a remote area near Lake Eyasi. Once you arrive they greet you warmly and explain their way of life and how they hunt. If you like you may be able to join them on their morning hunt. Yes, join a real deal bush trek: hunting, honey gathering, baobab fruit foraging, tribal chanting, dancing and sitting around their daily campfires. The time spent with the Hadzabe Bushmen is not choreographed in a specific way– we simply join in whatever they are doing during their day. As a result, it is important that we remain flexible. If game is near, the Hadzabe dash off into the bush for it and we can join them, given we can keep up with them. Time permitting, we can have a short visit with the Datoga people, another well preserved traditional tribe in the Lake Eyasi area, and participate in whatever they are doing, such as making yogurt in a calabash, milking cows, making butter and joining their traditional dances. After lunch, proceed to Kilimanjaro International Airport for your flight. Meals: Breakfast

Services include:

1. From Montreal to Arusha & onward.
2. Domestic Flights: Kilimanjaro Airport – Addis Ababa – Cape Town.
3. Accommodation: Neat, clean and safe hotels listed within the program outline (or similar).
4. Land Transport: Private 4×4 Safari Vehicle.
5. Tours: All tours listed within the program, with entrance fees included. (except Lake Manyara)
6. Guides: English speaking local Safari guides/driver throughout the trip.
7. Meals: 19 meals as per the itinerary – 07 breakfasts, 06 lunches, 06 dinners, plus in-flight meals.
8. Escorts: Off The Map Adventures Safari Guide.
9. Water: Mineral water up to 2 liters will be provided during safari.

NOT INCLUDED:

1. International Flights.
2. Entry visas for Tanzania and/or Ethiopia.
3. Soft drinks and alcohol
4. Personal expenses such as laundry, items of a personal nature, and gifts.
5. Any unexpected taxes/service charges levied by any governments/airport authorities in Canada or abroad.
6. Any expense that is incurred during the trip for personal or medical needs.
7. Tips and gratuities for local guides, drivers and other staff.
8. Insurance: Trip cancellation and interruption insurance and out of country medical coverage.

NOTE:

• This trip may only operate with a minimum number of participants.
• Sudden changes in the foreign currency rates can impact the prices. We can only protect our prices as long as they do not change over 5%.