13 Days/12 Nights - Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro, Serengeti & Zanzibar
Safari Highlights:
- Tarangire - 1 Night
- Lake Manyara - 2 Nights
- Ngorongoro - 2 Nights
- Serengeti - 3 Nights
- Zanzibar - 4 Nights
Activities: Game viewing, photography, nature walk, sightseeing & birding
Detailed Itinerary
About Tarangire National Park
Tarangire National Park is located at Manyara the Northern Region of Tanzania and about 2850 square miles. Its landscape mainly consists of Acacia woodland,ridges and the Tarangire river valley. There are several main tourist attractions and activities as explained below.
Tarangire National Park has a wide variety of wildlife, including, thousands of elephants, zebras and wild beasts.The concentration of animals peaks during the dry season (July to October) as animals migrate in seek of water from the Tarangire river and pastures. Lions,leopards,wild dogs and cheetahs lurk in the Savannah woodlands in hunt for prey. This gives a spectacular view of nature ecosystem balance. The park is a home to several species of birds and termite mounds that gives live to the landscape.
Read More
The Great Rift valley, Savannah woodlands,swamps and seasonal grasslands are the grazing grounds of the Masai community.This gives a fantastic view of nature and activities around it. Most activities at the safaris within the park include camping, hiking and walks which are available also at night time. Ancient Baobab trees surrounding the camps and safaris provides an epic environment for leisure.A walk thorough the Masai village reals ancient rock paintings and the culture bound with it.
Tarangire National park have vast attractions through the year. During the dry season( July to October) there is are herds of animals crossing the park. This is the best time to watch elephants, wild beasts and zebras to those who love wildlife. The rest of the year one can take walks around the safaris watching the birds and bush animals. Walks around the park gives you a spectral view of the natural phenomena surrounding the park. This include the the Rift valley floor,river Tarangire steeps, grasslands and woodlands. The Masai use these areas as grasslands where ancients rock carvings are found displaying the cultural aspect of the Park.
Day 1: Arusha - Transfer to Tarangire
0700 hours: Pick up from your Arusha hotel and departure for Tarangire. You will arrive mid-morning where you will have an introductory game drive as you head to the lodge for lunch. Have lunch, relax and later enjoy another game drive at 4o-clock.
Overnight at the lodge/camp
Meals: Lunch & Dinner
About Lake Manyara
The area of the park covers approximately 50km and sits at the base of the 600m high Rift Valley escarpment and the Manyara Lake. It is famous for its vast herds of elephants, flocking flamingos which inhabit the land and its highly unusual tree-climbing lions. The National Park is also home to baboons, giraffes, hippos, wildebeest, and zebras, providing you with an exceptional big four safari. A highlight of any visit to Manyara is without question its diverse population of birds.
Read More
The park is widely considered to be one of the best places for bird watching in the world and has an impressive 400 different bird species to be discovered. Bird watchers can spot birds such a flamingo's, herons, water fowls, crowned cranes, crowned eagles, and snipes. Lake Manyara offers visitors unique wildlife species, pristine wilderness and idyllic landscapes which have given it a strong reputation. Two-thirds of this National Park is covered by the lake. For such a relatively small reserve it has remarkably diverse habitats, from open savannah grassland, marshes, acacia woodland and of course the Manyara River.
Because the park is located closely to the Tarangire National Park and the Ngorongoro conservation area, a stay at Lake Manyara is often combined with a visit to both nearby parks, for either day trips or longer stays at the parks along the Northern Circuit.
Day 2: Tarangire - Transfer to Lake Manyara
Depart Tarangire for Lake Manyara to arrive mid-morning. Have a game drive as you head to the lodge or camp for lunch. Afternoon game drive is at 4o-clock.
Overnight at the lodge/camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Day 3: Lake Manyara - Full day game drive
Have breakfast then depart for a game drive till lunch time where you drive back to the lodge/camp for lunch. Relax the afternoon.
Overnight at the lodge/camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
About Ngorongoro National Park
The Ngorongoro National Park is a world heritage site located in Crater Highlands of Tanzania. It is famous for the Ngorongoro Crater, the world's largest inactive and unfilled volcanic caldera. Ngorongoro National Park is one of Africa's premier attractions and a world-renowned natural wonder.
Ngorongoro Crater
The main attraction of Ngorongoro National Park is the 2 million years old crater. It is about 610 metres in depth and its floor covers about 260 square kilometres of area. The estimated height of the original volcano ranges between 4,500 to 5,800 metres. Ngorongoro has two more volcanic craters: Olmoti crater, known for its stunning waterfalls and the Empakai crater, which holds a deep lake and lush, green walls.
Read More
Oldupai Gorge
The Oldupai Gorge archaeological site is said to be the seat of humanity after the discovery of the earliest known specimen of the human genus, Homo-habilis, and early hominids, Paranthropus boisei. It is considered to be one of the most important prehistoric sites in the world and research there has helped in the study and understanding of the early human evolution.
Wildlife
About 25,000 large animals, including black rhinoceros and hippopotamus, live in the crater. African buffalo or the Cape buffalo, the blue wildebeest, and Grant's Zebra are also seen in the area. Flamingos are very common at lakes in Ngorongoro. Walking safari and bird watching is encouraged in the park.
People & Culture
About 200 years ago, the Massai people arrived and have colonised the area since then. Today, about 42,000 Massai people live in Ngorongoro along with their goats, sheep, cattle and donkeys. Visitors can visit two Masai cultural bomas. Visit the Maasai Cultural bomas and learn more about their unique culture. There is an entrance fee to be paid but it is absolutely worth it.
Apart from all this, one can see various other lakes, the shifting sands composed of volcanic ash from Oldonyo Lengai, and much more in Ngorongoro National Park.
Day 4: Lake Manyara - Transfer to Ngorongoro
0800 hours: Depart for Ngorongoro after breakfast arriving before lunch time. Have a game drive en route to your lodge for lunch. After lunch relax before an afternoon game drive at the park.
Overnight at the lodge/camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Day 5: Ngorongoro Crater - Full day
After breakfast check out of the lodge with packed picnic lunch and depart for a tour of the crater floor, which is home to numerous plains game and the big five. Spend the day within the crater and have lunch at one of the famous picnic spots in the park. In the evening you will return to the lodge which is strategically perched on the rim of the collapsed volcano, with the most magnificent views of the crater floor.
Overnight: Lodge or camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
About Serengeti National Park
The Serengeti National Park is a Tanzanian National Park in the Serengeti ecosystem which is listed as the UNESCO World Heritage Site covering a whooping area of 12950 sq kilometers. The crocodiles in the Nile River are a major attraction in the Serengeti Safari tours besides the Great Migration, when millions of herbivores migrate to and from the Maasai Mara year after year in pursuit of environmentally friendly water and pastures.
Read More
The Great Migration not only brings massive numbers of zebras, wildebeests, and gazelles out for watching but also tempts in a lot of predators for hunting down the new-borns of the animals. One can also get to see enormous quantity of African Elephants in the Serengeti national park.
The park catches the eye of a wide range of wildlife because of its number of multiple warm swamps and ecosystems, where hippos slumber, with many shelters from the Acacia trees together with palm trees, which make the best daytime home for leopards, and even substantial bumpy outcrops, that may be noticed covered with elephants, or maybe making the appropriate slumbering position for a self-importance of cubs, cheetah plus lions. With the exception of these peculiar points of interest, the Serengeti is generally mile after mile of outstanding, grasslands, flatlands - one of the several causes that this park is so desirable as an illustration, mainly because of the visibility of the park, you can easily witness how a small group of lionesses will keep track of, quest, in addition, to get rid of their quarry much simpler compared with you can understand in a park that had more beautiful milestone disruptions versus the Serengeti.
Day 6: Ngorongoro - Transfer to Serengeti
Have an early breakfast then depart for Serengeti arriving before lunch time. Have an introductory game drive once you arrive at the park en route to the lodge for lunch. Game drive is at 4p.m.
Overnight at the lodge/camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Day 7 & 8: Serengeti - Full day
Have breakfast then depart for a full-day game drive carrying parked lunch with you. Enjoy searching for wildlife in this vast savannah land. Picnic lunch will be served at lunch time.
Overnight at the lodge/camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
About Zanzibar
Zanzibar is a destination by itself, located just 15 miles off the coast of Tanzania. It has a unique mix of breathtaking sea views and cultural insights along the edges of the whole island. Even the tiny villages are so delightfully simple and rustic. Flanked by barriers, the eastern shores will stun you with its breathtaking beaches surrounded by white, fine sands.
Zanzibar Channel
This is where the main town is and where the world renowned UNESCO World Heritage Site of Stone Town on the western edge is located, with the Arab fortresses, the Palace Museum, the House of Wonders and Dr. Livingstone's House, among others. Here is where the core of Zanzibar's culture come to life.
Read More
Spice Plantations
History of Zanzibar lies among the spices that brought the Sultan of Oman in the island and started the slave trade. Nutmegs, cloves, pepper, cinnamons, and many other spices can be seen in the plantations. You will be fascinated by the sight and smell of spices of different varieties and their uses to cooking, health and cosmetics.
Jozani Natural Forest Reserve
Home to the endemic Red Colobus Monkey, Sykes money and bush pigs located in the central east region of Zanzibar.
Other attractions include the fishing village at RasNungwi. This area in Zanzibar island has some amazing beaches and reefs ideal for snorkeling and diving. In the southern point is Kizimkazi fishing village, with the bottle-nosed dolphins. Then there's the Prison Island, used to be site for misbehaving slaves. It is surrounded by coral reefs and white beach, where Zanzibar is known for.
Day 9: Serengeti - Transfer to Arusha - Zanzibar (By flight)
Have breakfast then depart for Arusha to arrive before lunch. Have lunch in Arusha before being dropped at the airport for a flight to Zanzibar. Upon arrival in Zanzibar, you will be transferred to the hotel.
Overnight: Resort/Hotel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Day 11, 12 & 13: Zanzibar
Own activities
Overnight: Resort/Hotel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Day 14: Zanzibar - Transfer to Nairobi/Arusha (By flight)
You will have a transfer to the airport for your flight to Nairobi/Arusha
ENQUIRE
Inclusive of;
- All taxes/VAT
- Park fees in all the parks including Crater fees in Ngorongoro
- Accommodation in double rooms and meals as mentioned in the tour description
- Drinking water while on game drives
- Packed lunch en route to other areas
- Transportation in a 4*4 Land cruiser(s) with pop-up roof to facilitate game viewing and photography
- All game drives as mentioned in the tour description
- Services of a professional tour driver/guide (s)
- Boat ride + Crescent Island Walk in Lake Naivasha
- Lunch at Carnivore Restaurant on the last day
Exclusive of;
- International flights from home and back
- Tips & porterage
- Visa fees (if applicable)
- Travel insurance
- Other personal items
- Optional Activities: Balloon ride & Maasai Village visit
